Ancient Chinese Architecture (4)

In the Han Dynasty, five basic forms for roofs evolved: the xuanshan, wudian, juanpeng, cuanjian, and xieshan. Among the various roof styles, the highest grade was the chongyan wudian roof, which was excluxively used for palatial halls and the main hall of temples. This kind of roof, can be seen in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The second grade, chongyan xieshan roof, can be found in the Hall of Preserving Harmony. The roofs of palatial halls, chambers, and the temples of imperial ancestors were all covered with yellow glazed tiles because yellow was the color for emperors. Naturally, glazed tiles were denied to ordinary people.

The architectural painting on the columns, beams and crossbeams of a building also corresponded to the rank of the building. In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), architectural painting was categorized into three kinds to be applied in palatial halls and primary temple building; residential buildings and secondary palace chambers; and unimportant chambers respectively. Paintings were not allowed in ordinary people’s houses. The existing Qing Dynasty architectural paintings also fall into three categories: the hexi style; the xuanzi style; and the Suzhou style. Gorgeous colors, dignified design, meticulous craftsmanship and drawings of dragon and phoenix were featured in the former two types, while simpler drawings of beautiful scenes, flowers and lovely animals appeared in the latter type. The hexi style was for palatial buildings of the highest rank; the xuanzi style was for secondary palatial buildings and the main halls in Buddhist temples; the Suzhou style was mainly for imperial residential courtyards and gardens.

On the roofs of Chinese palaces, temples and mansions, there is a monster-like creature called chiwen or zoomorphic ornament, on either side of the main ridge and some on the sloping and branch ridges. Chiwen is believed to be one of the nine sons of the Heaven. According to Chinese mythology, it is able to put out fire.

At the end of the sloping and branch ridges there are often a string of smaller animals, their sizes and numbers being decided by the status of the owner of the building in the feudal hierarchy. Traditionally the correct set of the small animals should be in the following order: hen, dragon, phoenix, lion, unicorn, celestial horse, chiwen. If more were required, any of the figures could be repeated, with the exception of the hen and the chiwen, but always so as to form an odd number up to eleven. The reason for this was that odd numbers stand for Yang or male strength, or heavenly. The largest number and the conventional order of these zoomorphic ornaments are found on the roofs in the Forbidden City. However, in later days both the principle of odd numbers and the conventional arrangement of the animals have been forgotten. For example, in some places people can find a string of small terracotta warriors on the roof ridges.

Ancient Chinese Architecture (3)

The most popular method of construction was the banzhu ( plank building ) technique, in which the earth was tamped between vertical planks with poles, because it was inexpensive and provided good protection against the piercing cold of the North China winter.

Because the Chinese in ancient times built chiefly with timber and rammed earth, the term tumu ( earth and wood ) gradually became synonymous with architecture of civil engineering, and has been in common use ever since.

With the appearance of a class society, the concept of social stratum became gradually embedded in people’s thinking, as is manifested in almost every element of ancient architecture from the terrace on which a building stands to roof styles and paintings.

According to Chinese conventional belief, the terrace not only protected the building from ground moisture, but also more importantly, represented the supporting earth. Its design depended on the type of building that was to be built. The height of the terrace was determined by the rank of the structure within a building complex. Generally speaking, terraces fell into four ranks. The grandest type made of tiers of marble enclosed by marble balustrades can be found in imperial palaces and temples for buildings of the highest rank, for example, the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Hall of Da Cheng in the Confucian temple in Qufu, Shandong Province. The simplest terrace made of packed earth or a mixture of lime, earth, or other materials, coated with bricks is mostly for simple buildings.

The size of a building on a terrace shows the social status of its occupant. Normally, a building consisted of a number of bays. The number of bays is odd because one bay was laid out on the middle axis. The more bays a building had, the higher rank the occupant enjoyed. Generally speaking, for the size of a palatial hall, there were nine bays in the front and five on the side. In the Qing Dynasty, the expansion from nine to eleven bays shown in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City and the Hall of Imperial Ancestors in today’s Working People’s Cultural Palace further flaunted the power and prestige of the emperors. In both the Ming and Qing dynasties, strict regulations were set for the size of main halls in residential building complexes for people of different social strata. For example, in the Ming Dynasty (1368- 1644), dukes and officials from the third to the fifth grade were entitled to build in the residential courtyard a main hall with three bays, officials from the sixth to ninth grade a main hall with seven bays, ordinary people a mai chamber with no more than three bays. There were also structures of only one bay, e.g., very simple houses and pavilions.

The bracket system, a component and distinctive feature of timber framework in ancient China, is very special even in world architecture. First appearing in the Shang Dynasty, it was already in common use in the Han Dynasty. The bow-shaped piece which joins the beams is called gong, and the square block beneath it dou. Originally the bracket system was supposed to support the eave and to shift the bulk of the weight to columns and beams. With time, it gradually developed social status. Imperial buildings, temples and villas belonging to high dignitaries had bracket systems between the column zone and the roof; ordinary people were not allowed to have them. Official regulations dictated to what extent this system could be used for particular structures. The size of a bracket system had a lot to do with the number of layers it had. The more layers the system had, the higher rank it represented. For buildings of the same ear, the one with more sets of dougong was superior to the one with fewer sets.

Ancient Chinese Architecture (2)

Building techniques grew quit mature in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.). The timber frame structure and bracket system or dougong, the two prominent distinguishing features of classical Chinese architecture, had already taken initial shape and were widely used. Many varieties of bricks, tiles and tile ends were produced. All these made the construction of multi-storied buildings and the appearance of many different roof styles possible.

According to early records, China began to use the mortise-and-tenon joint in carpentry as early as 7,000 years ago, during the New Stone Age. In primitive society the Chinese used very simple tools to chisel out mortises and tenons to secure the joints of the beams. For centuries, people made columns and beams out of trees to build the house, thus the post and lintel frame were eventually created and become more widespread during the later period of primitive society, about 7,000 or 8,000 years ago. The use of timber framework as well as mortises and tenons formed the prototype of ancient Chinese architecture.

Timber frame structure enjoyed great popularity due to its structural advantages. The framework is largely composed of columns, beams and longitudinal purlins, on which the roof rests. This structure facilitates the changes of bracket system and roof styles. Besides, because the frame has the substantial weight-bearing function and the walls don’t, the space between the posts may be left open or filled with bricks or light materials to form partition walls, thus making the design and arrangement of rooms more flexible. For instance, during long hot summers, partitions between the supporting columns could be removed and taken away to let more cool air in.

Other advantages of the timber frame structure also made the Chinese give preference to wood over stone for thousands of years: wood was easier to transport and work with than stone, because large, single pieces could be used and it was strong enough to support heavy tile roof construction; wood structure was also resistant to earthquakes. A good example is the wooden pagoda in Yingxian County, Shanxi Province. Constructed in 1056, it is 67.13 meters high and is the oldest and tallest wooden pagoda extant in the world. More than 200 years after its completion, an intense earthquake lasting seven days occurred, but the pagoda remained intact. Wood was attractive to the Chinese from an aesthetic point of view as well, for it could be carved and painted elaborately to make the building beautiful and elegant.

Of course, wooden structures naturally had the disadvantages of being less permanent than stone structures. Wood catches fire more easily. It is not damp-proof, thus decaying more easily. These reasons help explain why few wooden structures from the first millennium have survived. Nevertheless, timber frame structure never lost its dominant position in ancient times.

Ancient Chinese Architecture (1)

In the long history of human development, ancient Chinese architecture has undergone all the changes from primitive thatched houses to splendid and imposing palatial buildings. In this whole process, ancient Chinese architecture gradually formed its own unique features. The art of ancient Chinese architecture is undoubtedly a very important chapter in world architectural history.

The dwellings of primitive men were natural caves. Today some people in the Northwest and North China still prefer to live in cave dwelling that are cool in summer and warm in winter. Later, the ancient Chinese learned to make their dwellings out of thatch and tree branches, which were called “nest residences.”

Archaeological findings showed that pit-style houses made their appearance during the clan society. Square or circular in shape, they took the inside bank of the pit as the walls. Pillars in the center of the room and around the walls were used to prop up the roof. Over the pillars were crossbeams and rafters covered with thatch. The roof and the walls were then coated with a mixture of mud and straw to prevent dampness. Sloping entrances and steps were the two types of doorway. A typical house of this kind can be found in the 6,000-year-old Banpo remains in the eastern suburb of Xi’an.

The Western Zhou Dynasty ( 1,046 B.C. –770 B.C.) saw a marked development in architecture. Adobe and tiles appeared, and people plastered the walls and floors with a mixture of earth, sand lime, which gives a hard and smooth surface. The layout of the courtyard was very much like that of quadrangle of today in North China. Architectural ornamentation, including painting and carving, was popular during the following Spring and Autumn Period ( 770 B.C.- 476 B.C.).