Chinese architecture

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Beijing Imperial Palace - Palace of Heavenly Clarity

With Chinese architecture , a developed in China, throughout history but widespread across much of East Asia is architectural style called.

Essentials

The structural principles of the style have remained astonishingly constant over the centuries, with changes often only covering decorative details. Regardless of certain regions and uses of the buildings, certain characteristics of Chinese architecture exist:

Traditional Chinese buildings emphasize the horizontal in a special way . The curved, overhanging rafters and the low accentuation of the vertical walls are also characteristic . More noble buildings, for example in the palaces of the emperor and the nobility, were often erected on massive stone terraces . In contrast to the more upward-striving western buildings, Chinese builders place more value on the visual impression of the width and generosity of a building. For example, the halls and palaces of the Forbidden City in Beijing have relatively low ceilings compared to European representative buildings, but the extensive grounds, courtyards and lanes in their entirety give an impression of the all-embracing nature of imperial China. The pagodas , which are comparatively seldom seen overall, are an exception .

Another characteristic of all Chinese structures from farmhouses to palaces is the emphasis on symmetry, which usually gives buildings an aura of grandeur and grandeur. The opposite conception, however, is pursued by the gardens , which were usually arranged as asymmetrically as possible and, similar to Chinese landscape paintings, sought to reproduce nature in its original state.

Chinese structures were occasionally built from red or gray bricks , but wood construction is predominant. This proves to be relatively earthquake-proof , but extremely prone to fire . The Chinese wooden grilles in doors and windows are a specialty . The rafters of Chinese houses are usually curved; There are detailed classification systems for the various gable and rafter shapes that are reminiscent of the classic column orders of ancient Europe.

It was common to reserve certain colors, numbers or directions for certain buildings or their owners. It reflects the traditional Chinese belief in immanence , according to which the properties of an object are derived from its very own inner being and are not ascribed to a transcendent God or world principle.

China has little to match the extensive architectural literature of the West. The earliest text of this kind, the kaogongji , was hardly ever received.

Imperial architecture

Certain design features were reserved for imperial buildings. These include, for example, the famous yellow roof tiles that can still be seen on the buildings of the Forbidden City today. The Temple of Heaven , however, uses blue bricks in allusion to its name. The walls are usually kept in an intense purple-red, according to the Chinese view the color of the North Star. The roofs are usually supported by extensive supporting beams, a feature that the imperial buildings share exclusively with the larger temple complexes. Traditionally, imperial buildings were always oriented with the entrance to the south . The symbol of the dragon often appears as a decoration , for example on the rafters, pillars and columns as well as on the doors.

Numerology also played a major role , in particular the “imperial” number 9, the largest of the digits: the Imperial Palace in Beijing allegedly has 9999 rooms - one less than the palaces in heaven. Only the buildings intended for the emperor and his family were allowed to have nine “jian” 間 (space between four columns). Only gates used by the emperor were allowed to have five arches - the middle of which was reserved for the emperor himself. Also of great importance in the Forbidden City were the numerous "axes" that not only connected the individual functional elements of the complex, but also ensured a clear division of the area into the areas of the emperor , his relatives and concubines as well as the servants.

Secular architecture

Ordinary people's homes, whether they be mandarins, merchants, or peasants, generally followed established patterns. In the center of the building was the shrine for worshiping gods and ancestors , which was particularly important on festive days. To his sides were the parents' bedrooms. The two outer wings, called "guardian kites" in Chinese, housed the rooms of the younger family members as well as the kitchen and dining room. Sometimes additional pairs of wings had to be added as the family grew. This led to U-shaped systems, which - at least in merchant and Mandarin households - were often closed with an imposing front gate.

The construction methods, especially the number of floors, dimensions and colors, were prescribed by law according to the social status of the owner.

Religious architecture

The Buddhist architecture generally follows the imperial style. A large Buddhist monastery is usually a series of halls and courtyards, the furnishings of which follow certain mandatory patterns. The first hall usually houses the laughing , ball -bellied Buddha Maitreya , the sword- armored General Weituo the defender of the doctrine (Dharma), and the terrifying colossal statues of the four heavenly kings . In the other halls there are one or more Buddha triads, often accompanied by 18 or 500 Luohan , sometimes also the female Bodhisattva Guanyin depicted with a thousand arms .

To the side are the accommodations for the monks and nuns. Occasionally Buddhist monasteries also have a pagoda in which relics of the historical Buddha are kept. Older specimens are mostly square, those of newer dates are octagonal. A special form of religious architecture are the numerous rock structures and cave temple complexes, which were mainly built between the 4th and 9th centuries AD along the Silk Road ( Mogao near Dunhuang, Yungang near Datong, Longmen near Luoyang etc.).

Chinese technical terms

Chinese names for certain building types include:

Abbreviation Long characters Pinyin meaning
楼 樓 lóu multi-storey building
台 臺 tái Terrace, plinth
亭 亭 tíng open single storey pavilion
阁 閣 gé two-storey pavilion, library, small wooden house
塔 塔 tǎ Pagoda, tower
轩 軒 xuān Walkway with windows, spacious open building, living room
榭 榭 xiè House or pavilion built on terraces
屋 屋 wū Rooms along covered walkways, house

Impact history

The Chinese architecture spread from the Tang Dynasty over all of East Asia and above all influenced the construction methods in Japan , Korea and Vietnam . A certain decline in the importance of Chinese architecture can be observed since the advance of Western construction methods in the early 20th century . In response to this, attempts have occasionally been made to integrate traditional Chinese elements in modern buildings built according to western patterns; although these efforts were usually only met with limited success.

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