Types of Chinese Architectures
The Chinese word for “palace” is Gong. The Forbidden City of Beijing, which still stands intact and which served as the imperial palace for both Ming and Qing emperors (1368-1911) covers an area of 720,000 square meters and embraces many halls, towers, pavilions and studies measured as 9,900 bays. It is one of the greatest palaces of the world. In short, palaces grew into a veritable city and are often called Gongcheng (palace city).
Apart from the palace, other abodes of the emperor are also called Gong. The Yiheynan Park used to be the Summer Palace. Then there is another type of Gong called Zhaigong, where the emperor prepared himself abstinence before he offered sacrifice at grand ceremonies. There is one such Zhaigong on the grounds of Beijing’s Temple of Heaven.
Inside a great number of Gongs, certain individual buildings may also be called Gong. The Qing emperors used to live at Qianqinggong (Palace of Heavenly Purity) in the Forbidden City, whereas the living quarters of the empresses were at Kunninggong (Palace of Female Tranquility). The imperial concubines of various ranks inhabited the six Gongs or palace quadrangles on either side of the central axis of the Forbidden City.
The name Gong is also used for religious buildings of great dimensions. The Potala in Lhasa is a Gong to the Chinese; the lame temple of Beijing is Yonghegong. The temples of Taoist priests are generally called Sanginggong (palace of triple purity).
For thousands of years, the word Gong was reserved exclusively for naming imperial and religious buildings. With the passage of time and political changes, many of the old Gongs have been opened to the general public for sightseeing. Furthermore, a number of buildings have been named Gong or palace. For instance, Taimiao of the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Beijing has been renamed the “Working People’s Palace of Culture”. Similar Gongs or palaces have been built in many cities of the country for the cultural, scientific and recreational activities respectively for workers and children.
A common sight in the country,
the Chinese pavilion (ting, which means also a kiosk) is built normally either of wood or stone or bamboo with any of several shapes – square, triangle, hexagon, octagon, a five-petal flower, a fan and more. But all pavilions have columns for support without walls. In parks or some scenic places, pavilions are built on slopes to command the panorama or are built by the lakeside to create intriguing images by water.
Pavilions also serve diverse purposes. The wayside pavilion is called Liangting (cooling kiosk) to provide weary wayfarers with a place for rest. The “stele pavilion” gives a roof to a stone tablet to protect the engraved record of an important event. Pavilions also stand by bridges or over water-wells. In the latter case, dormer windows are built to allow the sun to cast its rays into the well as it has been the belief that water untouched by the sun would cause disease. Occasionally you will find two pavilions standing side by side like twins. In modern times, kiosks have been erected in urban areas as postal stalls, newsstands or photographers’ sheds for snapshot services.
Rare among pavilions are those built of bronze. The most celebrated of these is Baoyunge Pavilion of Precious Clouds in Beijing’s Summer Palace. The entire structure including its roof and columns is cast in bronze. It is popularly known as the “Gold Pavilion” for its elegant and dignified.
The Tai was an ancient architectural structure, an elevated terrace with a flat top. In most cases be built of earth, stone and surfaced with brick, they are used as a belvedere from which to look into the distance. In fact, however, many well-known ancient Tai today are not just a bare platform but has some palatial halls built on top. A typical example is the Round City of the Beihai Park in Beijing. As a terrace five meters high, it has an area of 4, 500 square meters on its top and a main hall with side corridors.
The Tai could be built to serve different practical purposes. For example, Jianguomen in Beijing which dates back to the Ming and Qing dynasties is an observatory. It could also be used for military purposes like the beacon towers along the Great Wall, to transmit urgent information with smoke by day and fire by night in emergency. Also on the Great Wall, there is a square Tai at intervals of every 300 to 400 meters from which the garrison troops kept watch.
When the Chinese speak of a Lou, they refer to any building of two or more storeys with a horizontal main ridge. The erection of such buildings began a long time ago in the Period of the Warring States (475-221 B. C. ), when Chonglou (“layered houses”) was mentioned in historical records.
Ancient buildings with more than one storey were meant for a variety of uses. The smaller two-storeyed buildings of private homes generally have the owner’s study or bedroom upstairs. The more magnificent ones built in parks or at scenic spots were belvederes from which to enjoy the distant scenery. In this case, it is sometimes translated as a “tower”. A Tang Dynasty poet upon his visit to a famous riverside tower composed a poem, two lines of which are still frequently quoted “To look far into the distance, go up yet one more storey”.
Ancient cities had bell and drum towers (zhonglou and gulou), usually palatial buildings with four-sloped, double-caved, glazed roofs, all-around verandas and coloured and carved dougong brackets supporting the overhanging eaves. They housed a big bell or drum which was used to toll hours and the local officials would open the city gates at the toll of the bell early in the morning and close them with the strike of the drum in the evening.
The art of constructing tall buildings was already highly developed in China during ancient times. Many multiple-storeyed towers of complex structure had wholly wood frameworks fixed together with dougong brackets without the use of a single piece of metal. Yueyang Tower in Hunan and Huanghelou (Tower of the Yellow Crane) in Wuchang are masterpieces among ancient towers.
The Chinese Ge is similar to the Lou in that both are of two or more storey buildings. The difference between them is that the
Ge has a door and windows only on the front side with the other three sides being solid walls. Moreover, Ge is usually enclosed by wooden balustrades or decorated with boards all around.
Such storeyed pavilions were used in ancient times for the storage of important articles and documents. Take Wenyuange as an example, in the Forbidden City of Beijing was in effect the imperial library. Kuiwenge in the Confucius Temple of Qufu, was devoted to the safekeeping of the books and works of painting and calligraphy bestowed by the courts of various dynasties. Some of the Ge, notably those erected in parks, like other pavilions or towers (ting, tai and lou), were used for enjoying the sights.
The name Ge is also used to describe the towers which shelter the colossal statues one finds in some great monasteries. A prominent example is the Guanyinge of Dulesi Temple in Jixian County of Hebei Province. Twenty-three meters high and housing the huge idol of the Goddess of Mercy (Guanyin), it is the oldest exitsing multiple-storeyed structure of its kind in China. Built in the Liao Dynasty (916 – 1125 A. D.), it has withstood twenty-eight earthquakes including three of a devastating nature. When all the houses in the area collapsed, it was the only one that survived the disaster. This example shows how well its wooden frame was structured. Other well-known religious buildings housing Buddhist statues, big or small, include Foxiangge in Beijing’s Summer Palace and Zhenwuge in Ronxian of Guangdong Province. All of them, tall, graceful and dignified, can be listed as representative works of classical Chinese architecture.
Buddhism came to China during the Eastern or Later Han period. The oldest monastery (siyuan) on Chinese ground is the White Horse Monastery (Baimasi) in Luoyang.
A pagoda can also be seen as a symbol for a monastery. By the way, the word “pagoda” derives from the Sanskrit word bhagavat (cf. the book Bhagavatgita) “holy”.
The typical Chinese pagoda like we know it has surfacially nothing in common with the old Indian stupa and seems to be very different from the buildings of southern Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka (former Ceylon; chedi), Myanmar (former Burma), Thailand, Laos and Cambodia (all three countries adopting the Khmer style prang pagoda). But if we have a closer look at the shapes and appearances of the Chinese pagodas in earlier ages, we can find traces that can lead back to the Indian origin also of the typical octagonal and straight Chinese pagoda with the curved roofs. It reflects a pagoda of Bodhgaya, an important location of Buddhist worship in India, by which we can see some typical features of a pagoda or stupa: the tower is multi-storied and more or less decorated on the surface and tapers from bottom to top. The top is crowned with something that looks like a flower bud, in Buddhism an expression for the lotus flower.
In other cases, the construction at the top is an honorific umbrella with up to ten layers. Around the main tower we find small miniature pagodas, ranging from four to eight, depending on the shape of the whole pagoda complex. Most pagodas contain relics of the Buddha or at least a statue of the Enlightened. The inside of a pagoda may be a dome-like room or can be climbed by stairs to take care for the decorations or the jewels that are fixed atop of the lotus flower bud.
The oldest pagoda still intact on Chinese soil is the pagoda of Songyue Monastery of Dengfeng / Henan at the foothills of the sacred mountain Songshan. It stands near the famous Shaolin Monastery where monks of the Chan School developed Kungfu fighting for mental training. The brick pagoda is 41 m high and was erected in 523 under the patronage of the Northern Wei rulers. While the lower parts of the round pagoda are built of twelve flat surfaces symbolizing the twelve causes of sin, the upper part is octagonal and constructed in the shape of 15 steps. The top is crowned by a bud that once was adorned with jewels.
Internal Architectural Characteristics
Deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture, ancient Chinese architecture boasts the following national cultural characteristics:
Ancient Chinese architecture, like a silent cultural language, bears rich cultural symbols that reveal Chinese beliefs in life and society. For instance, houses belonging to people of higher social status will definitely have different types of roofs, steles, and couplets, compared with those of lower-status people.
Unlike many foreign buildings, which attach much importance to external appearance, some Chinese ancient buildings are simple externally but enjoy internal richness. Two typical examples are the Chinese Quadrangle (Siheyuan) and Gardens in Suzhou of East China’s Jiangsu Province .
Ancient Chinese architecture has remained almost unchanged over thousands of years due to a long history of feudal society in which people embraced similar values and lifestyles.
When appraising ancient Chinese architecture, instead of jumping into mere favorable or unfavorable comments, one should never neglect the fact that the architecture have weathered the storms of time and survived till today. Therefore, critics should be objective by taking historical situations into consideration when making comments.
The most influential idea in Book of Changes is that everything in the world is interdependent and one can never learn anything without placing it into a more general environment; Ancient Chinese architecture is no exception.
For instance, the reason why ancient Chinese buildings are made of wood rather than stones lays in the Chinese belief that wood symbolizes spring, green, and new life and therefore is used to build houses for the living. Stones, however, are usually used for mausoleums and graves.
What’s more, the Eight Diagrams (Bagua, relating to divination), the Yin-Yang Principle (concerning opposing elements), and Feng Shui (dealing with attracting positive energy) all have exerted great influences on ancient Chinese architecture.
External Architectural Features
Configurations and functions of ancient Chinese architecture, if necessary, can be easily changed, and rooms within them are easy to be dismantled, rebuilt, or shifted for other uses. China’s architecture focus particularly on the beauty of group combination, and often adopts a central-axis, symmetric compact composition method. But some types, such as gardens, certain mountain forest Taoist temples and certain residences adopt the method of free combination. The focus is paid to the pursuit of neutral, easy, reserved and deep esthetic characters, giving expressions to the esthetic habits of the Chinese nation.
Chinese architecture constitutes the only system based mainly on wooden structures of unique charming appearance which differs from all other architectural systems in the world which are based mainly on brick and stone structures. A structure not only has its engineering and technical significance, but the structural and decorative beauty manifested in its resourceful and ingenious combination are themselves part of the architectural beauty.
In the case of a wooden structural system, in particular, its complexity and delicacy are unmatched by brick and stone structures, and therefore demonstrate the wisdom of the Chinese. Further processing of the frame members of organic structures and other affiliated frame units forms unique Chinese constructional decoration, including interior and exterior decoration, color painting, wooden, brick and stone sculptures and color glaze, all of which contain very rich techniques and a vivid development process.
Chinese architecture prefers to use the symbolized decoration on the surface of the building. The most frequent used standards are dragon and phoenix. The dragon and the phoenix are the principal motifs for decorative designs on buildings, clothing and articles of daily use in the imperial palace. The throne hall is supported by columns entwined by gilded dragons, the central ramps on marble steps were paved with huge slabs carved in relief with the dragon and phoenix, and the screen walls display dragons in brilliant colors.
Graceful Garden Architectures
The Chinese garden architecture is one of the four essential factors for garden landscaping. The garden architectures should satisfy the requirements both for practical purposes and for landscaping the garden. They should blend with the environment within the garden and the natural environment, either as a central scenic spot or as an individual small scenic spot easy to access.
One of outstanding characteristics of Chinese garden architectures is taking advantage of the environment so that the natural scenes and human interest could be merged. The classic garden architectures are often embellished with calligraphy of poems and with paintings. They shun symmetry along an axis and adopt an irregular and complicated layout with plenty of large and small spaces. The appearance of a garden building should be aesthetic and expressive, and enhance the beauty of the surroundings. In its details, exquisite decorative means should be made use of, such as pretty guardrails, patterned windows, grilles, etc. A garden building is a place for viewing the scenery within or beyond the garden and is a key point of the garden. So both the direction of the building and the positions of its doors and windows should take into consideration the viewing angles and the routes.
Famous Chinese garden architectures include Chengde Mountain Estate, Yuanmingyuan Garden, Lingering Garden in Suzhou, etc.
Traditional Vernacular Dwellings
The Siheyuan is a building complex formed by four houses around a quadrangular countyard. The siheyuan is a typical form of ancient Chinese architecture, especially in the north of China. They are designed to make it as comfortable as possible to live in a climate that is at times inhospitable. For instance, the Siheyuan are enclosed and inward facing to protect them from the harsh winter winds and the dust storms of spring. Their design also reflects the traditions of China, following the rules of Feng Shui and the patriarchal, Confucian tenants of order and hierarchy that were so important to society.
Characters: Siheyuans are arranged in rows and vary in size and design according to the social status of the residents. The big Siheyuans of high-ranking officials and wealthy merchants were specially built with roof beams and pillars are beautifully carved and painted, each with a front yard and back yard. The specially built Siheyuans all face the south for get enough sunshine and resist cold wind from the north because the air-conditioning is our of the question in those houses at that time.
Rooms: It is normal for the four rooms to be positioned along the north-south, east-west axes. The room positioned to the north and facing the south is considered the main house and would traditionally have accommodated the head of the family. The rooms adjoining the main house are called “side houses” and were the quarters of the younger generations or less important members of the family. The room that faces north is known as the “opposite house” and would generally be where the servants lived or where the family would gather to relax, eat or study.
Outsides of Siheyuan: The gate to the courtyard is usually at the southeastern corner. Normally, there is a screen-wall inside the gate so that outsiders cannot see directly into the courtyard and to protect the house from evil spirits. Outside the gate of some large Siheyuan, it is common to find a pair of stone lions. The gates are usually painted vermilion and have large copper door rings. All the rooms around the courtyard have large windows facing onto the yard and small windows high up on the back wall facing out onto the street. Some do not even have back windows. Some large compounds have two or more courtyards to house the extended families that were a mark of prosperity in ancient times.
Cultural Background: Siheyuan is a mirror that reflects the history of Beijing. It still houses many of the city’s residents within the second ring road, which marks the limits of old Beijing. However, many of the Siheyuan, which consist of four rooms around a central yard, are being torn down at present, and quite a large proportion of those who have enjoyed courtyard living for generations have now moved to high-rise blocks of flats in new residential areas.
Tulou means ‘earth building’. It is named from its outer walls, which are made from rammed earth. Generally speaking, the large multi-storey Tulou was seldom seen in the areas where early Hakka lived. However, they are appeared in the perimeters of Hakka and other ethnic groups or around locations where Hakka fast developed after Ming and Qing dynasties.
Types of Fujian Tulou
The Tulou in the Fujian Province is divided into three types, Wufeng, Rectangular, and Round. Wufeng are located mainly in Yongding, and rectangular and round Tulou are distributed in Nanjing , Pinghe, Zhaoan West and Yongding East. In most of the villages, round and rectangular tulous are mixed together. Among three kinds of Tulous, the rectangular Tulous were the original ones.
Wufeng Tulou: The Wufeng tulous are obviously the results of a redesign of the Chinese courtyard by the Hakkas. ‘Three halls and two side rooms’ are a feature of the Wufeng tulou. The side rooms are the heightened wing-room of the Chinese courtyard. The center hall in the back yard becomes a multi-storey building. The earth walls in the four sides are enclosure. This was not only for defense reasons, but also as an expression of traditional Chinese architectural forms.
Rectangular Tulou: In reality, the rectangular Tulous were built earlier than round ones. For example, in the northern part of the Guzhu, Yongding, the rectangular tulou, named Wuyun Tulou was built five or six hundred years ago, while the round shape, Chengqi had only been built for three or four hundred years.
Round Tulou: The round Tulou has distinct characteristics. It is high, giant, and complex. Generally speaking, round Tulous can be divided into small, medium, and large types. Small round tulous are normally two or three storeys and consist of a single ring; medium round tulous are three or four storeys high and have wide diameters or two rings; large ones are four or five storeys with two rings or even three rings. A large number of round tulous are of medium size. The Tulou is occupied normally by a kin group. As a result it is more like an apartment or a small village rather than a single building.
Round Tulous normally have only one fortified door. Behind the door is the foyer. This is not only the major access, but also the public space for the occupants. The natural ventilation is ideal. No matter what size and how many storeys of round Tulous, the room sizes are the same at the same location on each floor. The ground floor is always the kitchen.
If there are only two storeys, the first floor becomes the bed-room. Most round Tulous are three or four storeys. The first floor becomes a storage room for food and furniture. The storage room does not have any windows. The second floor and above are bedrooms in this case. They have small windows, which open to the outside, and a larger widow opening to corridor. The corridors are built on the extension of the beams of the lower floor. As a result, the ground floor is free of columns, and creates a large open space. The interesting thing is the small eaves on the second or third floors. The obvious function is for drainage. However, the space created under the eaves can be used as a storage place
- Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui: Xidi and Hongcun
Xidi and Hongcun are two exceptionally well preserved traditional Chinese villages from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Their townscapes are developed in harmony with the natural environment, using the geomantic principles of Feng Shui. Therefore, most ancient villages are set up against mountains and facing waters. This is believed to bring good luck to all villages. In fact, this brought about convenience both to living and to farming for the villages. Furthermore, the village is segmented by winding and narrow lanes.
The Huizhou style is the predominant architecture in the villages: white walls, dark tiles, horse-head gables, stone drums or mirrors and open interior courtyards are common features. It was the style favored by the local merchant class. Reputed as “A Living Ancient Residential Museum” by experts and tourists at home and from abroad, they were listed as a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO in 2000.
The two traditional villages of Xidi and Hongcun preserve to a remarkable extent the appearance of non-urban settlements of a type that largely disappeared or was transformed during the last century. Their street plan, their architecture and decoration, and the integration of houses with comprehensive water systems are unique surviving examples.
Development of Chinese Ancient Architecture
Culture Expert 