About Ancient Chinese Architecture

(a) the foundation: a said pedestal. Department of the ground above the base of the building. Used to support the building, and make it moisture, corrosion, at the same time can make up for the lack of Chinese ancient monolithic architecture is not very tall and majestic. There are four kinds.

1, ordinary foundation: with plain or gray soil or broken brick trompe l'oeil rammed and become, about a foot high, commonly used in small buildings.

2, higher pedestal: higher than ordinary pedestal, often built on the top of the pedestal alabaster railing, used in large buildings or palace buildings in the secondary building.

3, more advanced pedestal: that is, the Sumeru seat, also known as the vajra seat. "Sumeru" is the name of the mountain in ancient Indian mythology, is said to be located in the center of the world, is the highest mountain in the universe, the sun, moon and stars between them, the three worlds of the heavens also rely on it layer by layer to establish. Sumeru used as a statue of Buddha or shrine base, to show the Buddha's lofty greatness. Ancient Chinese architecture using the Sumeru seat to indicate the level of the building. Generally made of brick or stone, with concave and convex lines and decorations, built on the stage with white jade railing, often used in palaces and famous temples in the main hall building.

4, the highest pedestal: stacked by several Sumeru, so that the building appears more magnificent, often used in the highest level of construction, such as the Forbidden City, the three halls and Shandong Qufu Confucian Temple Dacheng Hall, that is, the highest pedestal on the towering.

(2) wood cylinder: commonly used pine or nanmu made of cylindrical wood. Placed on the stone (sometimes copper) for the bottom of the platform. Multiple wooden columns, used to support the roof purlins, forming a beam frame.

(3) open space: four wooden columns surrounded by a space called "room". Building the number of facing space is called "open space", or "face". The depth of the building is called "depth". Ancient China to odd numbers for auspicious figures, so the majority of the plan combination of openings for the single number; and the more openings, the higher the grade. The Imperial Palace in Beijing, Beijing, Taihe Temple Hall for eleven openings.

(4) beam (i.e., beam): the frame in the wood columns on one of the main wood to form the ridge. Commonly used pine, elm or cedar made. It is one of the main parts of the skeleton in traditional Chinese wooden buildings.

(E) arch: is a unique component of ancient Chinese architecture. Square block of wood called bucket, bow-shaped short wood called arch, oblique long wood called Ang, always called the arch. Generally placed in the column head and forehead visit (also known as appendage head, commonly known as look visit, located between the two gable columns, used to support the arch), between the roof, used to support the load beams and frames, picking out the eaves, as well as decorative role. By the bucket-shaped wood blocks, bow-shaped short wood, diagonally placed long wood composed of criss-crossed layers, layer by layer to the outside, forming a large under the small bracket.

(F) color painting: the original wooden structure is moisture-proof, anti-corrosion, anti-moth-eaten, and later to highlight its decorative, after the Song Dynasty color painting has become an indispensable decorative art of the palace. Can be divided into three levels.

1, and seal color painting: is the highest grade of color painting. Its main feature is: the middle of the picture by a variety of different patterns of dragons or phoenixes, complemented by floral patterns; picture on both sides with the " " frame, and leaching powder paste gold, gold and blue, very magnificent.

2, spinning color painting: second in rank to the and seal color painting. Picture with a simplified form of scrolling petals spinning flowers, and sometimes can also be painted dragons and phoenixes, both sides with the " " frame up, can be pasted with gold dust, can also not be pasted with gold dust. Generally used in secondary palaces or temples.

3, Su-style color painting: grade lower than the first two. Picture for the landscape, stories, birds, flowers, fish and insects, etc., on both sides with " " or ( ) frame up. "()" by the architects called "baggage", Su-style color painting, is from the Jiangnan baggage color painting evolved.

(7) roof (the ancient name of the roof): the Chinese traditional roof has the following seven kinds, including the heavy eaves hipped roof, heavy eaves hipped roof for the highest level, followed by a single-eaved hipped roof, single eaves hipped roof.

1, hipped roof: four sides of the slope, there is a ridge and four oblique ridge, the roof is slightly curved, also known as the four A top.

2, hipped roof: is the combination of hipped roof and hard roof, that is, four sides of the roof of the upper part of the slope turned into a vertical triangular wall. There is a ridge, four ridges, four ridges according to the composition of the ridge, so also known as the nine ridge roof.

3, hanging roof: roof double slope, both sides out of the wall. There is a ridge and four ridges on the roof, also known as the top of the mountain.

4, hard roof: roof double slope, both sides of the wall with the roof flush, or slightly higher than the roof.

5, save pointed roof: the plane is round or polygonal, on the conical roof, there is no ridge, there are a number of ridges intersecting the upper end. General pavilion, pavilion, tower commonly used in this type of roof.

6, rolled roof: roof double slope, there is no obvious ridge, that is, the front and back of the slope without the ridge and masonry curved surface.

(H) mountain wall: that is, the upper part of the two sides of the house into a mountain tip-shaped wall. Common mountain wall and wind volcano wall, characterized by the two sides of the mountain wall above the roof, with the slope of the roof and the stepped surface.

(IX) Zaojing: a kind of decoration on the ceiling in traditional Chinese architecture. The name "algal well", containing the five elements of water to fire, the meaning of fire prevention. Generally in the temple on the throne or the palace throne above. Is the concave part of the flat roof, square, hexagonal, octagonal or round, carved or painted, common "Double Dragon Playing with Pearls".