Architecture in Ancient China
For most visitors to China, sightseeing means a daily encounter
with Chinese architecture of one type or another ranging from
temples through gardens, mausoleum, pagodas, imperial palaces
to residential houses.
The Forbidden City in Beijing best exemplifies the elements of palace architecture. Imposing buildings, like the three great Halls of Harmony, stand well-spaced along the central axis. Facing south and rising from a terrace, these buildings represent the supreme power and authority emperors enjoyed during the feudalistic dynasties. The living accormdations of the imperial dfamily are found at the back of the City. Clustered around the Great Halls at a distance are numerous smaller buildillgs where the more influential eunuches and concubines were locked in struggle for power and influence.
To the south of the Forbidden City is the Temple of Heaven,
an exquisite example of what foreigners might call religious architecture,
for it was here that the emperor would go twice a year to carry
out ritual ceremonies of sacrifice, expressing gratitude to Heaven
for the previous harvest and praying for the next harvest. Constructed
without the use of a single nail, the round 39-meter-high Hall
of Prayer for Good Harvests has a three-tier roof, whose tiles
are painted deop blue, symbolizing the colour of heaven. The roof
is supported by 28 pillars, of which the four most massive ones
represent the four seasons. The double ring consisting of two
circles Of twelve pillars represent the 12 months, plus the traditional
divisions of the Chinese day, each comprising of two hours.
Visitors who see Chinese buildings Will invariably notice the extensive use of timber as a building material in addition to bricks and tiles. That is because timber was not only easily available and transportable but also was very practical. Heavy posts are capable of carrying the roof while the wood could be carved for decoration and embellishment. After all, Who would fail to be impressed by the highly elaborate decorations and embellishments in those buildings?
Pagdas are as much a part of Chinese scenery as churches are in England. Tall or low, massive or slender, pagodas dot China's landscape as evidence of Buddhist influence on and merge with Chinese culture. The oldest existing pagoda, also built of wood, is located in Yingxian County in north Shanxi. That the 67. l3 meter-high pagoda should have survived all the vicissitudes of life for more than 900 years, including some strong earthquakes, was a miracle. Because it is out of the way, most visitors do not see this pagoda. More frequently visited pagodas are the Great Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, the Pagoda of Six Harmonies in Hangzhou, and the Forest of Pagodas near Shaolin Monastery in Henan, central China, to name just a few.
What is it that gives China's building unmistakable Chinese characteristics? It is the ombination of the massive, often curved roof, the predominant use of timber, the terrace, the corbel construction, and the dazzlingly colourful decoration.
The roofs of Chinese temples and palaces lend an air of weightlessness to the generally large and massive buildings. The eaves, of ten slightly upturned, seem to let the entire roof float above the building as if carried on invisible columns. Another way of achieving this illusion of floating is the double roof. Here the roof is constructed in two stages and the low wall separating the two suggests a small additional storey. A practical funciton of uptumed roof gutters is to ensure enough light inside the building while making it easy to carry off rain-water. Additionally, the roofs of palaces are covered with glazed tiles. As the emperor's colour was yellow, those of the impe rial palace are in yellow. The Temple of Heaven, on the other hand, is appropriately covered ln blue tiles, the colour of the sky.
Buildings in China, be they temples or palaccs or pagodas, rise invariably from a terrace. That is as it should br, for the wooden frame, however flexible it is, has to be protected from any ingress
of water. OId texts, however, point to a symbolic cosmlogical meaning when they state "the Heaven covers and the Earth carries". The terrace in these terms represents the Earth and the roof the Heaven. Thus we come to the recurrent theme of ancient Chinese philosophy, which is a complete harmony between man and nature.
No discussion of traditional Chinese buildings can be completed without a mention of the corbel construction. Developed by Chinese craftsmen over the centuries, it is the ultimate form or style of Chinese architecture that is the pride of the Chinese nation and the admiration of foreigners. While posts and beams satisfy structural requirements and are often built without the benefit of glue or nails, corhels and brackets are artfully combined into incredibly complex and visually intriguing structures to support the roof. These corbel systems also give a clue to the social status of the owner of a house because ordinary people were not permitted to have them: they were the prerogative of people of rank.
Decorations for ancient Chinese buildings are largely of two types, i. e., colourful paintings and decorative sculptures. The former plays a decorative, symbolic or protective role. A classic exam-
ple is that found in the Long Corridor of the Summer Palace in Beijing. Decorative sculptures, which are found both inside and outside the main buildings, range from brick sculptures on walls, stone sculptures on balustrades, to the small sculptures of mythological beasts atop a palace or temple roof ridge and the large ones of men and beasts in front of a mausoleum. For example, in front of the Hall of Preserving Harmony there is 200-ton stone on the terrace which is an intricate1y carved design of dragon and pheonix.