China's four major ancient architectural complexes

China's four major ancient architectural complexes are: Summer Resort (Chengde City, Hebei Province), the Forbidden City (Beijing), Qufu three holes (Qufu, Shandong Province), Dai Temple (Tai'an, Shandong Province).

1, Chengde Summer Resort

Chengde Summer Resort, also known as Chengde Palace or Hot River Palace is located in Chengde City, Hebei Province. Built in the early 18th century, it is composed of the emperor's palace, royal gardens and a magnificent temple complex.

During the period of the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors of the Qing Dynasty, about half a year was spent in Chengde, where important political, military, national and diplomatic affairs of the country were dealt with in the early Qing Dynasty. As a result, the summer residence also became the accompanying capital and the second political center outside of Beijing.

2, the Forbidden City

The Forbidden City in Beijing is the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, also known as the Forbidden City. The palace has been "like the sky to establish the Palace" to indicate that the power of the monarch "by the sky". As the king for the son of heaven, the son of heaven's palace as the emperor of heaven to live in the "purple palace" forbidden land, so the name of the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was built in Ming Yongle four years (1406), Yongle eighteen years (1420) was completed. Through the Ming and Qing dynasties 24 emperors.

3, Shandong Qufu three holes

Qufu three holes is located in Qufu City, Shandong Province, within the South Gate, is a temple to Confucius. First built in 478 BC, with the former residence of Confucius as the temple, built to the specifications of the Imperial Palace, is one of the three major ancient architectural complexes in China, and occupies an important position in the world's architectural history.

The Confucius Temple in Qufu is the principal temple dedicated to Confucius, and it is the forerunner and model of more than 2,000 Confucius temples distributed in China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, the United States and other countries. It is claimed that the Confucius Temple was built in 478 B.C., and the Duke of Ai, Lu, converted the former residence of Confucius into a temple in the second year after his death (478 B.C.).

4, Shandong Tai'an Dai Temple

Dai Temple is a national key cultural relics protection units, also known as Dongyue Temple or Taishan Temple. Located in the north of the city of Tai'an, the southern foot of Mount Tai. Its north-south length of 406 meters, east-west width of 237 meters, a total area of 96,000 square meters, is the largest and most complete ancient architectural complex of Taishan, for the Taoist God's House, is the successive emperors and kings to hold the Feudal Ceremony and sacrifices to the Taishan God's place.

Architectural Art of Summer Resort

The Summer Resort and the surrounding temples are the largest surviving ancient imperial fancier and royal temple complex in China. It is a masterpiece of creativity that combines the ancient Chinese art of gardening and architecture.

In terms of gardening, it inherits and develops the traditional gardening idea of classical Chinese gardens, which is "to take the beauty of mankind into nature, to conform to nature and to transcend nature", and sums up and creatively utilizes all kinds of gardening materials and gardening techniques, making it an outstanding representative of the natural landscape garden and architectural gardening.

Architecturally, it inherits, develops and creatively utilizes various architectural techniques, captures the essence of famous gardens and temples in the north and south of China, and expresses the architectural theme of "shifting the sky and shrinking the earth in the bosom of the king" by imitating and creating.

In the specific construction of gardens and temples, monolithic and group buildings, the Summer Resort and the surrounding temples have realized the fusion of the gardening and architectural arts of ancient China in the north and south, which encompasses most of the architectural images of ancient China, such as pavilions, pavilions and temples.

Demonstrating the superior skills of ancient Chinese wooden frame architecture, and realizing the combination of wooden frame and masonry structure, Han-style architectural forms and minority architectural forms. Together with the use of the highest superb skills of ancient China such as architectural decoration and Buddhist statues, it constitutes a spectacle in the history of ancient Chinese architecture.