The Spread of Traditional Architecture in China

In the world architecture system, China ancient architecture is a system with a long history and independent development. The system was initially formed in the Yin and Shang Dynasties at the latest more than 3,000 years ago, with elegant style and exquisite structure. The development of ancient architecture in China has roughly experienced seven periods: primitive society, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Qin and Han Dynasties, Three Kingdoms, Southern Jin Dynasty, Sui and Tang Dynasties, Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, and Ming and Qing Dynasties. Until the 20th century, it always maintained its own unique structure and layout principles, and spread and influenced other countries.

Features From the structural point of view, the characteristics of ancient architecture in China can be summarized into seven items: ① Using wood as the main building material, creating a unique wooden structure form as the skeleton, which not only meets the actual functional requirements, but also creates beautiful architectural forms and corresponding architectural styles. (2) Maintain the framework principle. Columns and vertical and horizontal beams are combined into various forms of beam frames, so that the load on the upper part of the building is transferred to the foundation through the beam frames and columns. The wall only plays the role of enclosure and separation, and does not bear the load. (3) Create a bucket structure. Bucket made of vertically and horizontally stacked short timber and bucket-shaped square timber is a transitional component between columns and beams, and gradually develops into an integral structural layer between upper and lower column grids or between column grids and roof beams, which is an ingenious form of wood structure in ancient China. ④ Standardization of single building. China ancient palaces, temples, houses, etc. It usually consists of several separate buildings. Regardless of the scale of a single building, its outline is composed of three parts: step foundation, house body and roof: the following is the masonry step foundation, which supports the whole house; Standing on the step foundation is a house with wooden columns as the skeleton and doors and windows partitions installed inside; Above it is a wooden roof truss, which makes a soft and elegant curve and extends around the house, and is covered with blue-gray tiles or glazed tiles. The plane of a single building is usually rectangular, and it can also be square, octagonal and round in special use. Ornamental buildings in gardens can adopt fan-shaped, zigzag and circular planes. Roof forms include Yunnan, Xie, Ding, Hanging, Hard, Pyramid and so on. Each form can be divided into single eaves and double eaves, and then can be combined into more forms. ⑤ Pay attention to the plane layout of buildings. Its principle is introversion, multi-level and striving for balance and symmetry. Except for some buildings, such as towers, bell and drum towers, etc. Single buildings rarely show all the outlines. Each complex has at least one courtyard, and at most several or dozens of courtyards. The combination is diverse and the levels are rich, which makes up for the shortage of single building stereotypes. The plane layout adopts the principle of left-right symmetry, with houses around and courtyards in the middle. The combination forms are all developed according to the central axis. Only the plane layout of the garden adopts the principle of free change. ⑥ Flexible arrangement of space layout. Indoor partitions are movable structures, such as fans, doors, covers, screens, etc. , easy to install and disassemble, can be arbitrarily divided and replaced at any time. Courtyard is the unity of interaction with indoor space, and it also provides conditions for buildings to create a small natural environment. You can plant trees and flowers, stack mountain pools, set up arbor flower stands, and some have cloisters as a transition between indoor and outdoor spaces to increase the interest of life. ⑦ Use the means of color decoration. The beam-column frame of wood structure building needs to be painted on the wood surface and other anti-corrosion measures, which has developed into a unique architectural oil decoration and color painting in China. Mineral pigments such as cyan, green and vermilion are often used to draw colorful patterns to increase the aesthetic feeling of buildings. Wooden decorative components, with colorful embossed decorative flat chess decals and various rhombic lattices made of wooden strips, are practical and decorative masterpieces. After the Northern Wei Dynasty, colorful glazed tile roofs, arches and zhaobi made the building brilliant.

From the perspective of traditional culture, the characteristics of ancient architecture in China can be summarized into five aspects: ① There are few real architectural theories. The emergence of architecture as a discipline is a modern thing. What guides the development of architecture is abstract philosophical theory, established moral norms and concrete political system. (2) The traditional Confucian etiquette is the main idea guiding architectural creation, supplemented by metaphysics and geomantic omen. (3) Full of China people's realistic attitude towards life. The concrete performance is not to seek the long-term existence of the building, but to meet the practical functional needs as the starting point. The standardization and generalization of architectural forms, the use of a structural type of building can meet the needs of multiple functions. ④ Standardized architectural individuals should express their individuality through the combination of architectural spaces. The arrangement of architectural groups is the essence of traditional architectural art, which embodies the rational thinking mode of combining time and space and the affinity between man and nature everywhere. ⑤ Represent a specific theme by symbolic means. It expresses artistic conception in gardens, world outlook in religious buildings and political system in palace buildings. Some decorative components and sketches, even single buildings, have become a symbol with fixed significance.

Types Ancient buildings in China can be divided into the following seven categories according to their functions: ① Residential buildings. It is the earliest building created by human beings, mainly in two forms: cave dwelling and dry fence. Early Neolithic sites dating from 7,400 to 6,700 years ago, such as buildings in Dadiwan, Qin 'an County, Gansu Province, are semi-crypt-type, that is, vertical caves with a certain depth are dug down from the ground, and the plane is round, oval or square, with a small area. In the late Neolithic period from 4900 to 3900 years ago, more houses were built on the ground, and caves in primitive society gradually evolved into palace-style houses. The representative type of palace-style residence is quadrangle. The early Zhou architectural site in Feng Chu Village, Qishan County, Shaanxi Province is the earliest known courtyard-style building. There are a large number of bungalows on the east and west sides of the central axis in the old city of Beijing, where the most typical quadrangles are concentrated. The earliest architectural remains of Gan Lan were found in Hemudu, Yuyao, Zhejiang, about 7000 ~ 5300 years ago. The floor is almost as high as people, and there are livestock under it. There are railings around the floor, around the platform and the house. The existing buildings in Gan Lan are much smaller than those in ancient times, and they are concentrated in ethnic minority areas in Yunnan and Hainan. ② Urban public buildings. It mainly includes city walls, towers and gates, as well as bell tower and drum tower. The city wall originated in the Neolithic age, and the material is mainly rammed earth. From the Three Kingdoms to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, brick walls were built outside the rammed earth city. In the Ming Dynasty, most important cities were built with bricks and stones. The gate is an important defensive position. The entrance is generally about 20 meters deep and 80 meters deep. The urn appeared in the border town in the Tang Dynasty, and a watchtower was built on it in the Ming Dynasty. The Zhengyangmen watchtower and watchtower in the inner city of Beijing and the southeast corner of the city east are outstanding works of the Ming Dynasty. Bell and Drum Tower is a public building dedicated to telling time in ancient cities. There was a record of setting bells and drums in high-rise buildings in the Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, the Drum Tower and Bell Tower were built at the northern end of Beijing's central axis, with brick piers at the lower part and wooden or masonry floors at the upper part. ③ Palace architecture. Palace refers to the place where the emperor holds ceremonies, handles government affairs and lives. The palace building concentrated the domestic financial and material resources at that time and was built at the highest technical level. The earliest known palace site was found in Erlitou Village, Yanshi County, Henan Province. It was built in Shang Dynasty 1500 years ago. The Forbidden City in Ming and Qing Dynasties is the last and most mature model of China palace architecture. The city plane is rectangular, with a width of 753 meters from east to west and a depth of 96 1 meter from north to south. There are four doors on the wall, a gatehouse and a turret. It gives full play to various architectural artistic techniques, mobilizes all architectural languages to express the theme, and has achieved unsurpassed achievements. (4) Ritual system and shrine architecture. Buildings where people hold sacrifices and commemorative activities are called ritual buildings, which are required by the "ritual system" and included in the official ritual code; All folk, mainly people's sacrificial objects, are called shrine buildings. Rituals and memorial buildings can be roughly divided into four categories: altars and temples offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, the sun, the moon and the stars, and famous mountains and rivers; From kings to scholars, temples and shrines dedicated to ancestors or religious ancestors; Tang Ming and Biyong held special political, religious and cultural ceremonies, music and publicity; Celebrity temples and shrines respected by the ruling class and commemorated by the people. The Temple of Heaven in Beijing is the most important relic of ancient temple architecture, which was built in the 18th year of Yongle in Ming Dynasty (1420). ⑤ Mausoleum building. This is a building dedicated to burying and offering sacrifices to the dead. It consists of underground and aboveground parts. The underground part is used to bury the dead and their relics, body double and martyrs. Part of the ground is reserved for the living to hold sacrifices and place the dead gods. Generally speaking, after the Han Dynasty, the tombs of emperors and ministers were called tombs. Qin Shihuang Mausoleum in Lintong County, Shaanxi Province is the first mausoleum in China. The Ming Tombs in Changping, Beijing are a group of tombs with complete planning and great spirit. ⑥ Buddhist architecture. It is a place where believers worship Buddha statues and bones, conduct Buddhist activities and live. There are three kinds: temples, towers and grottoes. Folk Buddhist temples in China began in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. The original temple is a gallery layout, and its center is built with a tower, or a Buddhist temple, or a tower temple. Pagodas can be divided into stone pagodas, brick pagodas, wooden pagodas, iron pagodas and pottery pagodas according to structural materials. , and according to the structural modeling is divided into pavilion tower, dense eaves tower, single tower. Grottoes are Buddhist temples dug on cliffs along the river. They originated in India and spread to China in the 3rd century. Their shapes can be divided into four categories: Tamiao Cave, Buddhist Cave, Monk Cave and Elephant Cave. Important remains of China Grottoes include Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in Gansu, Yungang Grottoes in Datong, Shanxi and Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan. ⑦ Gardens and garden buildings. Traditional gardens in China are a material environment that combines man-made and nature, and has feasible, promising, tourable and habitable functions. Its main elements are mountains, water, flowers, trees and buildings. It is a synthesis of various arts, reflecting the achievements of traditional philosophy, aesthetics, literature, painting, architecture, gardening and many other scientific arts and engineering technologies. According to the affiliation, it can be divided into four categories: royal gardens, private gardens, temple gardens and scenic spots. Among them, the most representative gardens are Suzhou Netscape Garden, Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering Garden, Yangzhou Geyuan, Wuxi Airport Garden, Beijing Summer Palace, Yuanmingyuan and chengde mountain resort.

In addition to the above seven categories, the functional types of traditional buildings in China also include military buildings, commercial buildings, bridges and other public transport facilities, square tables and other architectural sketches. Among them, the Great Wall has experienced a history of more than 2,000 years, stretching across Wan Li and becoming a symbol of the Chinese national spirit. Anji Bridge (Zhao Zhouqiao) in Zhao County, Hebei Province was built in the Sui Dynasty in the early 7th century. It is the first open-shouldered single-arch stone bridge in the world, about 700 years earlier than similar structures in the West. All these reflect the outstanding achievements of ancient architecture in China.