Summarize the characteristics of classical gardens in China.

One of the most important features of ancient architecture in architectural structure. Because the ancient buildings in China are mainly wood structures.

Chinese classical gardens

Structure, that is, the frame of the house is composed of wooden columns and beams. The weight of the roof and eaves is transferred to the column through the beam frame, and the wall only plays the role of partition, not the structural part that bears the weight of the house. The old proverb "The wall falls down but the house doesn't fall down" generally points out the most important feature of China architecture as a frame structure. This structure can make the house meet the changing functional requirements of life and production under different climatic conditions. At the same time, because the house wall is not load-bearing, there is great flexibility in the setting of doors and windows. In addition, this frame-type wood structure has formed a unique component unique to high-rise buildings such as palaces and temples in the past, that is, a bunch of "bucket arches" under the eaves. It consists of bucket-shaped wood blocks and bow-shaped cross bars, which are criss-crossed and picked out layer by layer to form a support with a big top and a small bottom. This kind of member not only has the function of supporting the load-bearing beam frame, but also has the function of decoration. Only after the Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to the simplification of the structure, the beam was directly placed on the column, which led to the structural function of the bucket arch almost completely disappearing and almost becoming a pure ornament.

Courtyard group layout

From the images of ancient buildings in ancient documents and paintings to the existing ancient buildings, the plane layout of ancient buildings in China has a concise organizational law, that is, every building such as residence, palace, government office and temple is a courtyard surrounded by several single buildings, some cloisters and walls. Generally speaking, most courtyards are connected in series, reaching the backyard through the front yard, which is the product of China's feudal society's thought of "orderly aging, different inside and outside". The main characters in the family, or people who should be isolated from the outside world (such as girls from aristocratic families), often live in courtyards far from the outside door, forming a deep spatial organization of courtyards after courtyards. How deep is the courtyard written by Ouyang Xiu in Song Dynasty? In other words, the ancients once described the residence of a big bureaucrat as "the door is as deep as the sea", which vividly illustrated the important features of the layout of China architecture.

Chinese classical gardens

At the same time, this courtyard-style group and layout are generally designed symmetrically along the longitudinal axis (also known as the front and rear axis) and the horizontal axis. The more important buildings are placed on the vertical axis, and the secondary houses are placed on its left and right sides on the horizontal axis. The group layout of the Forbidden City in Beijing and the northern quadrangles is the typical example that best embodies this principle of group layout. This layout is closely related to the patriarchal clan system and the ethical code system in China feudal society. According to the feudal patriarchal clan system and hierarchical concept, it is most convenient to make a clear distinction between generations, generations, men and women, masters and servants in housing.

Compared with European architecture, the courtyard group layout in China has its unique artistic charm. Generally speaking, European architecture is more obvious. The ancient buildings in China, like a long scroll of Chinese painting, must be displayed one by one, and it is impossible to read them all at once. When you walk into the ancient buildings in China, you can only walk from one courtyard to another, and you must walk to see them. The Forbidden City in Beijing is the most prominent example. Every time people go in from Tiananmen Square, they will enter another courtyard. Walking from one end of the yard to the other, the scenery is changing step by step, giving people a deep feeling. The artistic image of the Forbidden City is deeply left in people's minds.

Various artistic images

As mentioned above, architecture is not only a technical science, but also an art. After long-term efforts, China ancient architecture absorbed the characteristics of other traditional arts in China, especially the plastic arts such as painting, sculpture and arts and crafts, and created colorful artistic images, and formed many characteristics in this respect. Among them, the following three aspects are more prominent.

1, decorating the roof

Ancient craftsmen in China discovered the possibility of using roofs to achieve artistic effects very early. In the Book of Songs, there is a phrase "wings of a temple", which shows that the poet praised the wings of the ancestral temple in his poems three thousand years ago. In the Han Dynasty, there were five basic roof styles in later generations —— the "Temple Ding Dian" with four slopes, the "pyramid roof" with four, six and eight slopes or circles, the "hard peak" with two gables flush with the roof, the "suspended peak" with two gables protruding from the gable, and the "suspended peak" with four slopes.

"Rest at the top of the mountain" is already available. Ancient artisans in China made full use of the characteristics of wood structure, created the roof's lifting and folding, and the roof's sloping and protruding, forming a curve in which the cornices stretched like bird's wings and all parts of the roof were soft and beautiful. At the same time, the ridge end of the roof is properly carved and the eaves tiles are decorated. After the Song Dynasty, glazed tiles were widely used to add color and luster to the roof. In addition, many other roof styles have appeared one after another, and various complex shapes with artistic effects have been combined from these roofs, which has made China ancient buildings gain rich experience in creating architectural artistic images by using roof forms and become one of the important features of ancient buildings in China.

2, the application of film building

The use of foil buildings is a common artistic treatment method for high-rise buildings such as palaces and temples in ancient China. Its function is to set off the main building. The earliest building with artistic characteristics was the "Que" built in front of the main entrance of the palace during the Spring and Autumn Period. In the Han Dynasty, besides palaces and tombs, temples and large and medium-sized tombs were also used. The existing Gaoyi Tomb in Ya 'an, Sichuan, is a typical work of the Han Dynasty, with exquisite shapes and carvings. Various forms of defects can often be seen in sculptures and murals after the Han Dynasty. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Que evolved into the meridian gate of the Forbidden City today. Other common art setting-off buildings include huabiao, archway, zhaobi and stone lion in front of the palace.

3, the use of color

Ancient craftsmen in China were the boldest and the best at using colors in architectural decoration. This feature is closely related to the wood structure system of buildings in China. Because wood can't be used for a long time, China architecture has long adopted the method of painting and tung oil on wood, protecting wood and strengthening wood components through tenon-mortise combination, and at the same time increasing aesthetics, so as to achieve a combination of practicality, firmness and aesthetics. Later, the columns and beams were decorated in red, or colored paintings were painted on the beams and squares of the bucket arch.