Ancient architectural technology, how did those tall buildings get built when the ancients didn't have cranes?

There were many high-rise buildings in ancient times, some of which were very exaggerated in height, even reaching the level of some high-rise buildings now. There are many famous buildings that are not only built very high, but also have a good overall architectural level. Building these tall buildings will certainly consume a lot of resources.

And some buildings, unlike the products of that era, such as the famous pyramids, in which pyramid of khufu was as high as 146 meters, and there were many tall buildings in ancient China. The ancients advocated climbing very much, especially attached importance to the construction of pavilions. Any tower is tens of meters at a time. These tall buildings can be built if they are built with modern technology, but it is doubtful to put them in ancient times.

The architectural wisdom of the ancients, there were no cranes in ancient times, how were those tall buildings built?

This is about to talk about the characteristics of ancient buildings in China. High-rise buildings in ancient times were often built of wood and stone, so people would try their best to lay a good foundation in the process of construction, such as some pagodas and other buildings, which had huge foundations, while some pavilions were often built on high platforms.

During construction, high-rise buildings are piled up continuously by ladder method based on high platform. Gao Tai architecture was the mainstream architecture before the Tang and Song Dynasties, and it was also the representative of high-rise buildings at that time. The height of Gao Tai built by rammed earth is guaranteed. For example, Chu once built a platform as high as 30 meters, so there is no need to build a palace or castle on it, and the building itself can be guaranteed by the height of Gao Tai.

However, high-rise buildings also need superb construction methods. It is a model of wood and stone, with a complicated wooden structure on it. This kind of high-rise building based on earth and stone can be built with the productivity at that time without the help of cranes.

With the development of the times, some changes have taken place in high-rise buildings. High-rise pavilions have begun to replace high-rise buildings, and some are still high-rise city walls. For military needs, many city walls are built so high that they look like a huge monster from a distance.

How on earth did people build these things at that time?

Ancient high-rise buildings are generally made of wood, so they are not as laborious as masonry buildings, and the transportation of materials is relatively convenient. However, most of the high-rise pavilions before the Song Dynasty were not preserved, and wooden buildings were very prone to fire. Most high-rise buildings in ancient times were destroyed by war, which increased the difficulty of exploring their construction methods.

In the process of construction, sliding is the object of decision, which has been used since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. People use pulleys to build various buildings, and it is also widely used in life. The appearance of pulleys gave people the foundation for building high-rise buildings. Considering that most of the wood at that time was light, and heavy wood was often used in the buildings at the bottom, it was still possible to transport light wood by the power of pulleys.

In addition, ancient civilizations in China and other places explored a special method during construction. For example, some temples in ancient Egypt, as well as some giant statues in China legend, all dug a huge pit first, then built a huge platform with soil, and then people stood on the platform to operate. As the height of the building is getting higher and higher, the height of the workbench can be increased. Moreover, the Egyptians also invented a method, that is, to arrange the stones used for building neatly.

Arrange it as the ground floor of the building you want to build, then fill all these stones with mud, and then continue to pile stones on it. According to the requirements of the building, each additional floor will be filled with mud. When the height meets the design requirements, attach a boulder to it for capping. Then it is not enough to pile up stones, so people will continue to dig out the fill in each layer. Now that the stones have been piled up, all that remains is to carve and fix each layer while digging.

This method avoids the operational difficulties caused by height. Many high-rise buildings in ancient Egypt and China were built on mountains, and many of them were built directly on cliffs. Using this method, craftsmen can operate better. Of course, many people have a wrong understanding of the layout of ancient high-rise buildings in China, because there are few existing buildings. In fact, these high-rise buildings in China are not single buildings, but many, such as satellite buildings, surrounded by high-rise buildings, such as the stars arching the moon.

When building, people can't always build a high platform as a fulcrum, so there are scaffolding. China is rich in bamboo and wood resources, so it is natural to build some simple scaffolding, which almost appeared together with ancient high-rise buildings. With the development of the times, scaffolding construction technology is more and more developed, and the quality of scaffolding built naturally is very good, and it can be continuously heightened to better build some high-rise buildings.

The higher the building, the more complicated the scaffold structure. On the one hand, it can ensure the safety of construction workers, on the other hand, it can also ensure that people can use scaffolding to continuously transport building materials and personnel. Scaffolding also has a special way of going up and down. After all, it is very similar to modern construction sites, and the ancients also built tall buildings in this way.

But when it comes to the difficulty of building tall buildings, the pyramids are undoubtedly very large, with a height exceeding 100 meters, and they are all made of huge stones. Such a building can make such a height, which is worthy of being a miracle of human architecture. There is still much controversy about how the pyramids were built, but some people put forward a very feasible view that they can be built without cranes.

That is, the ancient Egyptians mastered certain specific manufacturing methods. According to the stones on the pyramid of khufu, some scholars have analyzed that these stones are not naturally formed, and some stones are mixed with human hair. Therefore, when the pyramid is built, it is equivalent to fixing the concrete at the bottom first, and then picking it up and forming it on the spot. Naturally, there is no need to consider any transportation problems. One more thing, when they were building, they adopted a spiral construction method, that is, they built spiral steps along the four walls and went up the stairs while covering them.

In contrast, ancient high-rise buildings in China are rarely dominated by bricks and stones. After all, the main buildings in China are made of wood, so the number and height of surviving buildings are not comparable to those of some civilized high-rise buildings.

One more thing, China had strict requirements on the height of buildings in ancient times. The palaces and capitals where the monarch lives are the highest and largest cities in China, and the buildings in other places cannot exceed the specified height. Otherwise, they will violate the regulations, but they will be severely punished. This regulation also limits the development of high-rise buildings in China. High-rise buildings such as pagodas usually play a symbolic role. If they are built too high, no one dares to look down on them. However, a giant building like Leshan Giant Buddha,

Moreover, due to the limitation of wood, it is still difficult to build higher buildings. Only masonry concrete can build higher buildings. With the increasing application of modern concrete, people can build more skyscrapers, and the building materials and tools are more advanced than those in ancient times. However, some high-rise buildings in ancient China, such as pyramids, have been preserved until now. Today's high-rise buildings made of concrete have a relatively short life span, but now the practicality of high-rise buildings is better than that of ancient times, greatly alleviating the problem of insufficient land resources brought about by population growth.

References:

The history of the construction of Egyptian pyramids

History of Ancient Architecture in China