Briefly describe the artistic features of ancient architecture in China.

The ancient architecture in China is based on the principle of being close to mountains and water, and pays attention to the harmony and unity with the natural environment. The location and orientation of the building need to be coordinated with the surrounding mountains and rivers, and at the same time, natural elements such as topography and trees are used to play the role of shading and protection.

Because the ancient buildings in China are mainly wooden frame structures, that is, wooden columns and beams form the frame of the house, and the weight of the roof and eaves is transferred to the columns through the beam frame, and the wall only plays the role of partition, not the structural part that bears the weight of the house. As the old saying goes, "The wall falls down but the house doesn't fall down", it 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 forms a unique component of high-rise buildings such as palaces and temples in the past, that is, bundles of arches under the eaves.

Ancient literature records

From the images of ancient buildings in paintings to the existing ones, the plane layout of ancient buildings in China has a concise organization law, that is, every building such as residence, palace, official residence and temple is composed of several single buildings and cloisters and walls surrounded by some courtyards. Generally speaking, most courtyards are connected in series, reaching the backyard through the front yard, which is the product of the orderly development of China feudal society and other internal and external ideologies.

At the same time, this courtyard-style group and layout are generally designed symmetrically along the longitudinal 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.