In addition to a long history, China’s ancient buildings and structures boast continuous innovation and advanced technology in design, structure, construction, materials, decorations, and coloration. Even today, many Chinese buildings have become important parts of the world’s architectural heritage.
1. Types of Ancient Chinese Architecture
Ancient Chinese architecture can be roughly divided into the following categories:The first is imperial architecture, which includes imperial tombs, imperial palaces, etc.
The second is religious architecture, which includes Buddhist, Lamaist, Islamic, and Daoist architecture. Buddhist architecture has Buddhist temples, pagodas and grottoes. Lamaist buildings are mainly palace-style wooden buildings or blockhouse- style buildings of Tibetan Buddhism, such as the Jokhang Temple, the Potala Palace, and the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Tibet, the Taer Temple in Qinghai Province, the Labrang Monastery in Gansu Province, and the Wudang Temple of Inner Mongolia. The IsJamic mosques are places where Muslims and Uyghurs practice Islam. They mainly include Arabic-style architecture and traditional Chinese wooden architecture. The Daoist temples are generally built on mountaintops and have architectural principles and styles similar to imperial palaces but smaller in scale. All the Daoist temples feature bell towers and drum towers.The third is engineering architecture, including the Great Wall, Dujiangyan, and rhe Grand Canal. In terms of time to completion, sheer project size, difficulty and benefit, China’s large-scale engineering projects are nearly unmatched worldwide and thus possess great historical and cultural value.
The forth is garden architecture, which includes imperial gardens used by emperors, and private gardens for relatives of the emperors, civil and military officials, and the wealthy. Imperiul gardens arc usually large in scale, with mountains, waters and beautiful scenery. The most famous examples are the Summer Palace in Beijing and the Chengde Mountain Resort in Hebei. Private gardens which incorporate the same features on a smaller scale lack the magnificent size of the aforementioned sites but are nonetheless beautiful as well.
The fifth and final category includes ancient villages and dwellings, the time- weathered residences for ordinary people. Across China, different regions have different characteristics and styles in folk residence. Some of the most noteworthy examples are the Beijing Siheyuan courtyard homes, Fujian Tulou communal homes, Shanbei cave dwellings, Guangdong’s Weilongwu communal buildings, Yunnan’s “One Seal” courtyard homes, Jiangnan waterside towns, the Bachu stilted buildings, the Inner Mongolian yurts, Xinjiang’s Ayiwang courtyard homes, Pingyao Ancient City, Lijiang Ancient City, and the ancient villages in Anhui. These are all representatives of ancient Chinese villages and dwellings.
2. Imperial Architecture: The Former Imperial Palace in Beijing
The Former Imperial Palace or “Gugong” used to be called the Forbidden City. The ancient Chinese called the location of the Polaris “Celestial Enclosure”, which according to legend is where the Celestial Emperor lived. On earth, the palace of the terrestrial emperor was called the “Forbidden City”. In the past 500 years, 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties lived in the Forbidden City managing national affairs.
The Forbidden City was designed and built in accordance with Confucian principles. The ritual grades are expressed in the scale, form, number of rooms, roof decoration and location of the building. The three main halls in the front of the Forbidden City are “State Halls”, where the emperor handled state affairs and held major celebrations. The palace buildings beyond this are referred to as the “Inner Courts”, which are the living area of the emperor’s family and imperial concubines. The Forbidden City buildings are symmetrically arranged along a north-south central axis. The architectural styles and functions of the front halls and inner courts are different, as the grades must be kept clear and distinct. The center of the State Halls area is the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony, and the Hall of Preserving
Harmony. This area contains the largest square, the highest platform, the most magnificent buildings and decorations in the entire complex. To the north of the Hall of Preserving Harmony are the Inner Courts, the real “forbidden” area of the Forbidden City. This area includes the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union, the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, and the Imperial Garden. The Palace of Heavenly Purity was the home of 14 Ming and Qing emperors, and is also supposed to be where the emperor died in his bed. The Hall of Union is smaller and served as the empress’ bedroom. It is also the place where the empress’ birthday was celebrated and traditional festivals of worship were held. The Palace of Earthly Tranquility also served as the empress’ bedroom in the Ming Dynasty, but in the Qing Dynasty it was used by the emperor. The name and function of the Palace of Heavenly Purity and Palace of Earthly Tranquility correspond to each other. The single characters “清” in the Palace of Heavenly Purity and “宁” in the Palace of Earihly Tranquility hold the meaning of stability and peace, respectively.
The Forbidden City is an outstanding representative of ancient Chinese imperial architecture. Though the palace has lost the imperial authority and prestige of yore, what is presented to us is the incomparable wisdom and creativity of ancient artisans, who had labored to make the brilliant achievements of ancient Chinese architectural culture.
3. Traditional Courtyard Homes: Siheyuan
The Siheyuan is a traditional Chinese courtyard home with thousands of years of history. There are many types of courtyards across China. The Siheyuan in Beijing is one of the more famous types.A Siheyuan courtyard is generally rectangular in shape, and the houses and spaces are symmetrically arranged according to a central axis. The gate of the courtyard is opened in the southeast corner. According to Feng Shui geomantic theory, this can bring wealth. There is a screen wall facing the gate, which blocks the external line of sight to maintain privacy of the family. The screen wall is located in the front yard. The north wall of the front yard has a door called the “second door”, also called the “festooned door” because of its suspended short columns with carved or painted petals. Inside the festooned door is the inner courn ard, or the main courtyard. This is where the family lives, and outsider are uencrally not allowed to enter. Families do many things in the courtyard including planring flowers and trees, feeding birds and raising fish as the environment is quiet and comfortable. The north side of the courtyard is where the principal room is located. It faces south with its back to the north and is also the main building of the entire courtyard. Usually elders of the family live in principal room, while the wing-rooms on both sides are for children. Other rooms are smaller and have less decoration than the principal room. This kind of arrangement shows a relationship between superiors and inferiors, and the principal room is not only the center of the family life, but also a symbol of the family spirit.
A Siheyuan courtyard can be expanded into multiple courtyards as the family population increases or to accommodate other needs. This is also the traditional way of developing ancient Chinese family houses.
Cultural Notes
Stilted Houses
Also known as the “hanging house”, the stilted house is a traditional dwelling of the Miao, Zhuang, Tujia and other ethnic groups in China. The main house is built on the ground, and the wing-rooms are suspended by stilts. As such, the area remains dry and provides ventilation. Various household materials can be stored beneath the living quarters on the ground level. The stilted house has distinct ethnic characteristics and is known as the “living fossil” of the culture of Bachu area (now in Sichuan, Hubei and Hunan provinces).
Screen Wall
This is the wall used to block the line of sight in traditional Chinese architecture. With the screen wall, even if the door is open, outsiders can’t see into the house. The screen wall can also distinguish the house and improve its overall grandeur in comparison to other neighboring dwellings.