Chinese Architecture Ancient Chinese Architecture

Modern Chinese Architecture

Ancient Chinese architecture is considered to be an important part of the world architectural system along with architecture in Europe and Arabian architecture. Over centuries, the construction and architecture of China has developed in to a style of its own and is often characterized by the heavy timberwork that combines with stone carving and rammed earth construction and bucket arch buildings and other techniques that make it unique (Guo, 2005).

The Great Wall, Forbidden City and the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor are some of the examples of ancient Chinese architectural miracles that were created by the laboring people of the country.

The rampant use of timber framework was the primary and significant characteristic of ancient Chinese architecture. In order to make the buildings more beautiful and attractive the ancient Chinese architects used paintings and carvings that were put up into the architectural work. The Shang Dynasty dates between 16th century BC and 771 BC is perhaps the first recorded evidence of Chinese architecture. Hence the history is very long.

The Chinese architecture has distinct principles of structure and particular layouts that are not seen in other ancient architecture in other parts of the world. The industrious and clever laboring people of the country have created a very many wonders during the long history and the development process of Chinese architecture (Lou & Chen, 2002).

The Great Wall, White Horse Temple, Mogao Caves and the Summer Palace and Forbidden City are some of the super structures that were built in the ancient China and are among those ancient architectures that are considered to be miracles of the ancient world.

Wooden posts, beams, lintels and joists -- all part of the main timberwork in ancient China, comprised of the main framework of the buildings. The walls that served as room separators did not bear any weight of the building which is a unique characteristic of ancient Chinese buildings.

However with the advent of modern culture the Chinese architecture also adopted the modern ways of building construction. The modern Chinese architecture is no different from the rest of the modern buildings in the rest of the world. However even many of the modern buildings still have the ornamental elements of ancient Chinese architecture.

Ancient Chinese Architecture

The techniques and the methods of the use of timber in ancient architecture had improved form the primitive society to the buildings constructed during the Han Dynasty which were gradually improved and then perfected. The earth ramming skills were mastered by ancient architects. The art of firing tiles and building with stones were also known to ancient Chinese architects.

During the rule of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was rapid development in architecture. The quality of bricks as well as tiles had been improved by then along with the use of timber for building. The Sui and Tang Dynasties saw the development of a mixture of components for construction which became a fixed pattern. Many beautiful, gorgeous and diverse buildings were constructed during the Song Dynasty period. The models of buildings during this period also became more complicated and began to include palace, pavilion, multistory buildings and terraces (Wang, 2011).

Some Buddhist temples as well as Islamic mosques were constructed during this period. There was an influence of Tibetan Buddhism and Moslem architecture on many constructions through China during this period.

The period of Ming and Qing Dynasties saw the Chinese ancient architecture reaching its zenith with improvement in quality and quantity of bricks, timber construction and glaze tiles.

The primary characteristics of ancient Chinese buildings were supported by columns, beams, and purlins that were linked to each other by tenons and mortises. This granted a certain flexibility to the wooden structures found in ancient China. Dougong, a form of construction where brackets were inserted a crossbeam and the top of a column, is a design unique to ancient China.

The varied structure and the elegant profile of the ancient Chinese architecture lend it a special place in the global architecture such as in the overhanging eaves, the roof corners slanting upwards and the varied shapes of roofs. It exudes a sense of a combination of practicality and beauty (Wei, 2000).

The larger buildings in ancient China were quite complex -- especially buildings like the palaces, temples and folk houses. Most of the buildings were centered around courtyards and the, divided into rooms. The axis-centered principle was strictly followed in ancient China along with symmetrical wings. Hence this granted a symmetrical look to the buildings.

The ancient buildings in China...

Suiting the needs of the local customs, ancient Chinese architects used different colors and paintings. Strong contrast was created by the use of multiple colors. The buildings had furnishings inside of the building while they were ornamented outside. During the time, the architects used carved beams, couplets hung on the pillars, painted rafters, inscribed boards, various patterns and a wide range of wall paintings were used ot decorate both the outside and the inside of the buildings.
Some famous ancient Chinese buildings include imperial palaces, city walls, pagodas and alters and temples.

The extravagant lifestyle of kings and emperors were generally conveyed by the elegant and grand imperial palaces as well as for the purpose of administration which provided a centralized location and were a demonstration of imperial political control. These palaces today have become standing evidence of the majesty and dignity that the imperial power at that particular time possessed.

For example the Imperial Palace in Beijing -- celebrated as the largest palatial building of the ancient world, is also known as the Forbidden City. The complexity of the construction and architecture can be gauged form the fact that there are 980 preserved buildings that are made of wood and stone sometime between 1406 and 1420.

The Shenyang Imperial Palace is another marvel of ancient Chinese architecture which has 300 rooms and 20 courtyards which are connected with each other. This shows the complexities of the ancient architecture in China.

The Chinese culture gave significant importance to altars and temples. Apart from being a place of worship and religious ceremonies, these places were also used by scholars.

Glimpses of the genius of Chinese architecture can be seen in the many city alls that still surround -- at least in parts, many cities. These were meant to protect the city from foes. Often there were moats that surrounded the city walls.

Pagodas, the octagonal towers were introduced to China as a result of the spread of Buddhism. These were places of worship as well as places for scholars. These pagodas had very impressive architecture and some were quite large with intricate wooden carvings adorning the walls on both the interior and the exterior.

Modern Chinese Architecture

While the period of ancient architecture has a very long period of emergence, development and perfection, the modern architecture in China is not that long. Experts in architecture and history agree that the modern era of architecture began in China around the middle of the 1800s. During this period however three emerged a wide variety of styles in architecture. The modern Chinese architecture is a complex blend that contain the traditional elements and the contemporary methods along with the cutting edge technology of modern architecture.

During the 1840s after the beginning of the Opium wars and the contact of china with the West started the period where traditional Chinese architecture met with modern architectural styles along with the western architectural characteristics. These gave rise to the blended styles of architecture (Lu, 2007).

Even during this period, the characteristics of the architecture of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty remained prominent. Many of the important buildings constructed during this period still had the traditional characteristics of sweeping roofs with open courtyards, screens and intricately crafted wooden columns. At the same time, some other buildings like the restaurants, hotels and stores started to incorporate some of the western architectural elements.

This was accentuated when the Chinese imperial family commissioned the construction of Yuanming Yuan which is the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, this building had a lot of elements of Western architecture and was viewed the world over as a prime example of a perfect blend between traditional Chinese architecture and Western architecture.

The western architecture was also introduced in Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Qingdao and Harbin among other cities by the buildings that housed foreign consulates, local banks, elite clubs and corporate buildings. This happened during the trasitional period of 189th and the 20th century.

Chinese architecture underwent another change with the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 under a communist regime. The buildings during these initial years of this period saw buildings getting simpler and architectural styles were toned down and many buildings took a sparse look. Most of the structures of this period had composed of grey colors and simple designs while the larger government buildings managed to create a style of their own.

The period came to an end with the…