Why is stone used in Western architecture when wood was used in ancient Chinese architecture?

It is because in the history of Western architecture, stone has supported the magnificent history of the development of human civilization. In China, the memory of wood is ubiquitous, and its unique beauty amazes the world.

Stone buildings are more conducive to defense, so all the ancient Chinese walls were stone, even the famous Great Wall was stone but the city was often destroyed by war, so it is rare to see stone buildings other than the Great Wall. In big cities, common buildings that don't need to think about defense no longer need stone. Moreover, the common buildings were basically large buildings located in the plains. There was not much stone, and wood was easier to transport and use.

Stone buildings were also found in the mountains, but most of the centers of the ancient regimes were located in the plains, so the impression of ancient buildings was that they were made of wood. In fact, this was not the case. If this was a place where bamboo was plentiful, bamboo would have been used Western buildings were generally smaller and mountainous, so it was easier to gather stone. Ancient European nobles used stone to build their castles on mountains for defense.

They often lacked the strength to build a walled city on the plains. Also, stone buildings have a long history and can be preserved it gives the impression that all buildings in Europe are stone buildings after all, even if there are wooden structures, it's time to turn them into ashes. I think the main problem is the scale of the buildings. For example, the Louvre in France was built by several generations of kings for 300 years with a floor area of 4.8 hectares. The Forbidden City was built 14 years ago and has a floor area of 15 hectares. If the Forbidden City was covered in stone, it might not have been completed if the Great Ming City had been destroyed.

Notre Dame in Paris was built more than 180 years ago, and the Cologne Cathedral in Germany was built 600 years ago, Europe's theocracy outweighs the monarchy, and religious buildings belong to God. It had to be monumental, and after more than a hundred years of hard work, the use of stone was often constant.