Comparison of Chinese and Western Architectural Culture

Architecture is the product of human material civilization and spiritual civilization, reflecting a type of culture, and the cultural style of architecture profoundly reflects the traditional cultural background and geographical background of a region or nation. The fundamental reason for the obvious difference between Chinese and Western architectural culture in terms of architectural features, art forms, humanistic concepts, and especially in terms of developmental origins lies in the differences in the cultural soils in which they were created, i.e., the significant differences in the backgrounds of different regional cultures or national cultures.

An analysis and comparison of the cultural differences between Western and Eastern architecture due to the geographical environment, national character, historical and cultural factors such as differences in the impact of Chinese traditional architecture and Western traditional architecture in the building materials and structures, building layout, decorative colors, artistic style, aesthetic value and so on, there are many differences.

From the building materials and building structure: Chinese traditional (classical) buildings are mainly made of wood, using frame structure, mortise and tenon installation, beams and frames. In the shape of the importance of curved beauty, vivid rhythm. Western traditional building materials are mainly stone products, using perimeter columns, coupon column structure, wall columns load-bearing. In the modeling, the application of blocks and surfaces is emphasized, and the form is heavy. The brick and wood structure of traditional Chinese architecture is adapted to the individual life of small families, which can be successful with experience and ingenuity, so traditional (classical) Chinese architecture has never risen to the height of modern mechanics research. Western traditional (classical) architecture to build large-span arches, domes to accommodate tens of thousands of congregation, to have sophisticated knowledge of mechanics, thus promoting the development of structural mechanics. From the architectural layout: traditional Chinese (classical) architecture for the group combination, that is, by a unit of the building combined into a large building complex, horizontal expansion of space, pay attention to the central axis of symmetry, the pursuit of the effect of depth. The layout of the city is mostly rectangular or square. The overall style is inward-looking, closed, rigorous, the pursuit of internal subtlety and privacy; while the Western traditional (classical) architecture focuses on the architectural effect of the monomer, the vertical expansion of space, pay attention to the towering, the pursuit of fa?ade effect. The layout of the city is mostly concentric and radial. The overall style is outward-looking, open and lively, pursuing external aggressiveness and freedom.

From the decorative color: Chinese traditional (classical) architecture due to the wooden components, the need for paint or paint protection, color to red, yellow, green, blue as the main hue, the pedestal is mostly alabaster, bright and colorful, with a strong contrast of character traits. The western traditional (classical) architecture due to the use of stone materials, color to white, gray, beige as the main color, simple and elegant, with the character of reconciliation, but the internal decoration of bright colors, the pursuit of a strange, confusing, hazy religious induction atmosphere. From the architectural concept: the Chinese traditional (classical) architectural style has a mild, practical, gentle, light and other characteristics, the performance of the world's living atmosphere, the practice of the spirit of rationality (or functionality) is more prominent, so it is called "humanistic architecture". Western traditional (classical) architectural style has a cold, hard, solid, abrupt, subtle and other characteristics, embodied in the worship of the gods as the object of religious spirit or a kind of abandonment of the world's religious concept of the world, so it is called "God-based architecture".

From the concept of space and time: Chinese traditional (classical) architectural culture emphasizes the time factor of architecture, while Western traditional (classical) architectural culture emphasizes the space factor of architecture. Specifically, Chinese architecture first through the creation of a number of heavy depth, deep, deep and winding, continuous group combination effect reflects the strong spirit of time, the center of the cultural concept of supremacy into the "space" for the "time" of the architectural performance is The architectural expression of "in space" to "in time" is the "central axis" layout. The traditional custom of Chinese architectural distribution of living rooms is expressed in the time consciousness of the order of the young and the old, while the western architecture is represented by the Gothic first of all will be the structure of the monolithic and the strong upward sprint of the spatial awareness of the fullest performance. In addition, the use of new technologies and materials has led to the further exaggeration of the spatial awareness of the vastness of the vertical space inside the Western architecture and the sense of movement of the overall shape of the external space. From the perspective of values: Chinese traditional (classical) architecture is characterized by "metabolism" (that architecture is man-made), highlighting the word "good", i.e., focusing on the utility of the building; while Western traditional (classical) architecture is characterized by "eternity" (that architecture is man-made), highlighting the word "good", i.e., focusing on the utility of the building; while Western traditional (classical) architecture is characterized by "eternity" (that architecture is man-made), emphasizing the utility of the building. Eternal" (that the building is God for the), highlighting the "beauty", that is, focusing on the art of architecture.

From the historical changes: Chinese traditional (classical) architecture from ancient times to the present, from east to west, from south to north, are all the same, very little change. "Great unity", **** the characteristics of prominent; and Western traditional (classical) architecture is constantly innovating, changing styles, with outstanding personality, colorful features, successively Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Gothic, Byzantium, the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo Empire style and other buildings.

From the aesthetic effect: Chinese traditional (classical) architecture aims to narrow the subject-object "identity" distance, giving people a "close" feeling; and Western traditional (classical) architecture aims to expand the subject-object psychological distance, so that people have a "reverence". "reverence", "admiration" feeling. Chinese traditional (classical) architecture, gentle and thick, vivid, curvilinear beauty is prominent; Western traditional (classical) architecture, majestic and heavy, soaring and domineering, block, surface volume feeling strong.

From the tour appreciation: Chinese traditional (classical) architecture focuses on dynamic "tour" rather than static "observation", people in the building, step by step, the scene changes, the mood with the situation, you can carefully taste the sparseness of the various lines, color intensity, volume changes, the perception of a variety of lines and density, color, volume changes. Volume changes, physical and virtual conversion, so as to understand the charm of the building. Appreciate the Western traditional (classical) architecture, like the appreciation of sculpture, it is clearly separated from the surrounding area, the outside world is for people to play with, it is exposed, radiating, and its appreciation of the way to focus on can be "watching" rather than can be "touring".

The reasons for the cultural differences between Chinese and Western architecture

Geographic reasons Chinese traditional (classical) architecture is a group of buildings with wooden frames as the main structure and complicated roofs. The reasons why the Chinese chose wooden buildings are: firstly, there were a lot of forests in the Central Plains in ancient times, so it was easy to get the materials locally; secondly, it was relatively difficult to find the suitable stone for building in the Central Plains and it was inconvenient to carry it; and thirdly, under the influence of the cultural concepts, except for the mausoleums, the ancient Chinese people didn't intentionally pursue the eternity of the buildings. In the traditional (classical) building structure form, the West and China have a significant difference: China's traditional (classical) building more earth and wood structure, beams and frames load-bearing; the West's traditional (ancient) building more stone structure, walls and columns load-bearing. Due to the western (ancient Greece, ancient Rome) natural environment characteristics (more exposed rocks, lack of trees), especially the geological factors of rocks, the western traditional (classical) architecture reflects a stone-based style, that is, the main use of cold and hard, thick and heavy, pang and big stone, in order to pursue a tall, powerful, mysterious, majestic, shocking effect and embodies a kind of abandonment of the world's religious worldly spirit. Spiritual phenomena are always closely related to spatial consciousness.

Most scholars believe that the strong spatial consciousness of Western culture is related to its earliest origin in its specific natural geographical background. Ancient Greece, as an important birthplace of Western culture, represents the splendid glory of Mediterranean civilization. The vastness of the Mediterranean Sea is scattered with many islands, discontinuous and separate from each other, and its mixed farming economy and fishing activities make the western people living here have a strong sense of geographic location and spatial layout, and it is very easy to produce a strong sense of space. The relative isolation of the many islands in ancient Greece has invariably nurtured the spatial concepts of the ancient Greek nation, and accumulated its subconsciousness of "pure space". Variable terrain, objectively in the Western concept of "space can be limited, limited" thinking stereotypes and cognitive patterns. Although we can't say that the spatial concept in western culture is directly originated from the complex natural background of the Mediterranean coast, at least one thing can be sure, that is, this unique terrain, undoubtedly contributed to the germination of this spatial consciousness, and in the process of the formation of the spatial characteristics of the western culture in the future, play a role in the subtle influence.

The Oriental people, who live in an agrarian geographic environment, work at sunrise and rest at sunset on the gently rolling alluvial plains, live a very regular life, and work in a fairly orderly manner, living an idyllic life of cyclical repetition from day to day and from year to year. With its single-farming economic structure and its strong reliance on the changing seasons, it is easy for people to develop a strong sense of time.

This different view of time and space naturally affects the differences in architectural style, the Chinese traditional (classical) architectural culture favors the time factor of the building group, while the Western traditional (classical) architectural culture emphasizes the spatial factor of the building monolith. Because the eastern peoples mostly live in the river basin, the living environment is superior and relatively stable, and the living environment is in a relatively isolated state with the outside world, so the eastern peoples have developed a quiet and indifferent, natural and inactive, docile and well nourished, the pursuit of harmony and other cultural characteristics. Western peoples live in a poorer geographical environment and have an unstable way of life, often having to fight against nature and foreign enemies, thus forming cultural characteristics such as struggle, competition, practicality and truth-seeking. At the same time, the geographical environment of the Oriental people belongs to the monsoon climate, rain and heat in the same season, the river floodplain soil is fertile and loose, irrigation is convenient, the combination of light, heat, water, soil and other natural factors is good, and the rhythm of farming life is stable and orderly, which gives rise to the idea of "unity of man and nature" and "the middle ground"; and other ideas. " and other ideas; Greece and other European peoples in the Mediterranean region, the climate is dry in summer and rainy in winter Mediterranean climate, barren land, light, heat, water, soil and natural factors are not harmonized (Western Europe's natural factors are also inharmonious), coupled with the sea life is often fighting with the fierce winds and waves, so that "the sky and man are divided", "Man will win the day" and other ideas. This cultural concept is reflected in the architectural style, traditional Chinese architecture than the Western traditional architecture pay more attention to the harmony of the natural environment, the style is relatively calm and subtle.

Cultural concepts of the reasons for the difference between Western and Eastern architectural culture in addition to the geographical environment, the more important reason is the cultural concepts, especially the concept of space and time, religious culture, political and cultural concepts of the impact.

(1) Analysis of the impact of space-time concept: space-time concept is the fundamental view of time and space. In the field of architecture, most scholars believe that the spatial and temporal view of architecture is the overall perception of the architectural layout and its surrounding environment when people plan and design, visit and tour the architectural monoliths and group combinations. Although time and space are inseparable, but due to the differences in regional and national traditions and cultural backgrounds, Chinese and Western architectural culture on the orientation of the two have their own tendencies, Western architectural culture emphasizes the spatial concept of the building monolithic, Chinese architectural culture favors the time consciousness of the building group. Ancient Greek civilization originated from the interaction between the islands in the ocean, the isolation of each island, facing the geographical landscape of spatial division, so that the Greeks early produced a strong sense of spatial awareness. This consciousness was manifested in the scientific understanding and description of the external world, that is, the existence of the world is matter, matter is composed of atoms, and atoms exist independently of each other, and this existence shows distinctive spatial characteristics. Heisenberg pointed out in his book "The Changes in the Foundations of the Rigorous Natural Sciences in Recent Years" that ": In atomism, only the smallest and most unmeasurable component of matter (i.e., the atom) is regarded as something that 'exists', and its only property is to occupy space. And the qualitative differences between the various perceptible things must be accounted for by the different shapes, movements and arrangements of atoms in space." This not only describes for us a picture of the construction of spatial consciousness of the ancient Greeks, but also marks the gradual maturity of Western spatial consciousness. With the passage of time, this consciousness has been continuously strengthened and proved, and the Western culture has created its scientific and cultural outlook along this path. The characteristic of space is always "many", not "one"; always different and limited, not unified and infinite. The cornerstone and means of western science are actually built on this spatial feature.

Mr. Zhao Jun in "Culture and Space-Time" discusses that "from atomic theory, geometry to Newtonian mechanics, all of them practice the principle of spatial thinking. The theory of relativity really introduces the concept of time, but it is not yet a time-based idea. Its space changes position because of time, but does not disappear or come into being because of the change of time, and this is where the theory of relativity remains different from ancient Chinese thought." This understanding of Western natural science, profoundly affecting Western philosophy and various cultures, so that it shows its spatial thinking stereotypes, and affects a variety of specific cultural phenomena, including the cultural phenomenon of Western architecture.

The Chinese nation has nearly six thousand years of history, the traditional culture of the nation has a deep, rich content. There is the doctrine of yin and yang as the main body, the unity of heaven and mankind of Taoist thought; there are etiquette, mediocrity as the main body of Confucianism; there are emphasizing the reincarnation, cause and effect relationship between the Buddhist thought; there are also production practices and regional factors in the formation of folk culture and folk culture. These traditional cultures have repeatedly rendered the concept of time in Chinese architecture.

It is precisely because of this concept of time, so in the limited form of life in the pursuit of unlimited value of life, in the limited process of individual life in the pursuit of unlimited continuation of life in the group, thus respect for the ancestors, the importance of the heir to the formation of the "filial piety" as the center of the concept of patriarchal family, in order to pass on the generation of life in the group and the continuation in the immortalization of the individual life in time. The concept of patriarchal family centered on "filial piety" was formed, so as to pass on the family name and the continuity of the group's life, and to obtain the immortality of individual life in time. Spiritually, Confucianism advocates active "initiation" into the world, emphasizes moral virtues, and seeks the transcendence and limitlessness of spiritual life through the transmission of lessons to future generations. The fact that Confucianism is so persistent in pursuing the endlessness of life proves its important tendency to think about life from the perspective of the philosophy of time in the first place. Buddhist thought has the time consciousness of the cycle of cause and effect. According to Chinese Buddhism, the universe is a combination of the concepts of time and space. All beings and all things are the reality in the sea of life that has no beginning and no end. All existences in reality are the result of karmic harmony, and the flow is unceasing. The accumulation of the past is the cause and the present is the effect; the accumulation of the present is the cause and the future is the effect, and the causes and effects are endless. There is no beginning in the past and no end in the future. All phenomena are caused by the interconnectedness of various phenomena, and then through the four stages of formation, residence, change, and extinction, they give birth to the beginning of a new life. This Buddhist concept of time and space is in fact the development of all things in nature into a cyclical time sequence, which emphasizes the sense of time.

Chinese folk culture has a strong sense of time culture. Sunrise to work, sunset to rest of the working people in the long-term practice of production and life through the proverbial, colloquialisms, sayings and other expressions of the Chinese people condensed the concept of time. Such as "a day without seeing as three autumns; a day husband and wife a hundred days of grace; a day for the teacher, life as a father; a year in the spring, a day of planning in the morning, a lifetime of planning in the diligence; an inch of time an inch of gold, an inch of gold can not buy an inch of time; and also such as the first into the main, the first to the king, the eldest and youngest in the order of the folk customs and ways of thinking. These are the embodiment of the Chinese concept of time. In a word, Chinese cultural thinking is full of favoritism to time. Although there is not a deep spatial consciousness in people's traditional cosmology and outlook on life, the cosmology itself contains two dimensions of time and space and the mutual transformation of the two. Although the ancient Chinese people did not ignore or dismiss the existence of space in the conceptual construction of their cosmology, the Chinese people favored the movement of space, i.e., time, rather than the existence of space itself. The time view of traditional Chinese culture is y reflected in Chinese architectural culture.

(2) Analysis of the influence of religious cultural concepts: China is a country where the concept of religious culture is relatively thin, and the concept of religious worldly, utilitarian color is relatively strong. Religious culture has little influence on the building. Such as the earliest Buddhist temple was built on the basis of the government, so there is no difference in form with other buildings in feudal society. Religious buildings in China either adopt the scale pattern of official buildings, or adopt the characteristics of folk architecture", deification", "out of the world" features are not prominent. Chinese pagodas are also imitations of secular buildings. Therefore, it has been said that ": the temple is a replica of the world government offices", "the reflection of the world of the red world". Chinese religious architecture reflects the "human-centered cultural concepts" and "practical rationality". Western religious buildings deliberately reflect the "spirit of religious gods" and "out of the world" idea. Medieval architecture Gothic style of Christ Church, with towering spires, superhuman scale, light and strange decorations, reflecting the cultural concepts of Westerners to conquer nature and aspire to the Kingdom of Heaven, and the spire of the dome of the sky, but also expresses the religious fervor of the people to worship God (to draw their attention to the sky, yearning for the Kingdom of Heaven, and forgetting the reality) and the desire for earthly happiness. The architects aimed to glorify the beauty of the sublime, the beauty of the soul, the beauty of religion and the beauty of the ultimate.

(3) political and cultural concepts of the impact of analysis: the layout of ancient cities in China, the volume and form of various types of buildings are mostly square, the main from the clear, through the axis, in order, and from north to south, from east to west for thousands of years to maintain a unified style, the basic form of no major changes. This phenomenon profoundly reflects the basic characteristics of Chinese feudal political culture, namely, national unity, supremacy of the emperor, strict hierarchy, complete rules and regulations, production and lifestyle changes are very small, the tradition of ideology is very strong (the concept of grand unity), highlighting the concept of ethical order of the feudal society and the rhythm of people's lives. Ancient China's traditional political thought on the ancient architecture of the great influence, which is mainly manifested in China's traditional (classical) architecture in the culture of three major features: ① to the great claim to power: the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Chengde Summer Palace, the Afang Palace, and so on, none of the masterpieces are not to the great claim to power. ② to honor: such as the Zhou capital site selection to "choose the world and set up the country (capital)", in the capital city planning, to "choose the country and set up the Palace. The main buildings of the complex should be built on the central axis. ③ rites above all: that is, the building has a very strict concept of hierarchy, which can be seen from the form of the roof, the height of the platform, the number of broad intervals and so on.

And Europe's ancient Greek building friendly and bright style, the city layout was concentric radial and generally built a larger area of the square, reflecting the democratic and cheerful life of Western society; ancient Roman architecture majestic, solid, luxurious style, is the slave masters militaristic, extravagant life portraits (such as the Arc de Triomphe, the Colosseum, etc.). China's architect Liang Sicheng once said ": architecture is a mirror, which faithfully reflects the political, economic, ideological and cultural aspects of a certain society". Whether you appreciate the Chinese traditional (classical) architecture, or Western traditional (classical) architecture, should pay attention to the traditional political culture to carefully experience and grasp. Chinese traditional political culture emphasizes unity and ignores differences; emphasizes groups and ignores individuals. The West is the opposite. These are reflected in the architectural culture.

In summary, there are many differences between Chinese traditional (classical) architecture and Western traditional (classical) architecture in terms of building materials and structures, building layout, decorative colors, artistic style, aesthetic value. These differences can be found from the geographical environment, cultural concepts and other aspects of the formation of some reasons, get some interesting answers.