Chinese Ancient Architecture Culture and Appreciation
1.1 Characteristics of architectural art
Practicality of architectural functions: With the exception of individual monuments, most buildings provide a pleasant environment for people to work, rest, and entertain.
The dual nature of architectural functions (practicality and plastic art)
The difference between architecture and painting and sculpture: Architecture cannot express characters, plots, or scenes. Reason: The image of a building determines its functional practicality and the material structure it uses.
1.2.1 Different materials and structures
Comparison between ancient Chinese and Western architecture: different materials and structures; different architectural images
The West uses stone, China uses wood
1.2.2 Pursuit of architectural image
Western: The grandeur and stature of individual images, and whether they are shocking
China: Group Effect
1.2.3 Reasons for Difference: Technology and Culture
Ancient Chinese structures were made of wood, while ancient Western structures were made of stone.
In terms of collection, transportation, processing and construction, wood is much more labor-saving than stone.
Wood is collected from forests and stones are mined from mountains.
The difference between stone buildings and wooden buildings: In addition to being easy to construct, wooden buildings also have an important good performance - earthquake resistance
The reason: Wood is inherently resilient and elastic; the key lies in the mortise and tenon joints (the protruding wood is called the tenon, the recessed wood is called the mortise). These joints are called flexible joints and can withstand sudden impacts, the greatest of which is an earthquake (stone buildings have rigid joints). Culturally, in the West, the church long outweighed imperial power, and the church held the most dominant position. Temples and other structures were considered grand and long-lasting, representing the nation's long-term stability. In ancient China, however, imperial power outweighed religious power. Over two thousand years of feudal society, dynasties shifted, and palaces were demolished and rebuilt, naturally favoring wooden structures. While wooden structures are much more durable than stone structures, they are inherently less durable. (This is why many temples and churches from centuries ago remain in the West, while many Chinese structures have been destroyed.)
Wood weaknesses: afraid of fire, moisture, and insects
1.3.1 Roof
Wooden structure: From the roof, beams, ceiling, doors and windows, all have been finely processed and decorated, forming a unique wooden culture of Chinese architecture.
The basic type of wooden structure: erect pillars on the ground; place beams and rafters between the pillars; in order to avoid rain and snow in the future, sloping roofs will be adopted except in arid areas; place small beams on the beams, place purlins on the small beams, and place rafters on the purlins, and the wooden structure is completed.
Laying tiles on the rafters, building walls between the columns, and opening doors and windows completes the space of a house.
One characteristic of Chinese architecture is that the roofs are particularly large. Some roofs are as high as the body of the house, and some even exceed the height of the body of the house.
Various roof forms:
The gable roof has four slopes; the hip roof has two slopes; the spire has several slopes on several sides; the roof is concave (curved) and the eaves are made to curl up at both ends (for example: the temples in Yunnan, the whole eaves become a very elastic curve, with flying eaves and wing corners, like bird wings), and the curled corners are decorated with some plant patterns, some are decorated with cranes, making the huge roof look light and flexible (for example: the Mahayana Pavilion of Puning Temple in Chengde, four small roofs surround a large roof in the middle; the Chuanfo Temple in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, is divided into several sections and layers from top to bottom and front to back, decomposed into a combination of roofs; the corner towers of the Forbidden City, the cross hip roof and the double-eaved hip roof form a composite roof; a Buddhist temple scripture hall in rural Xishuangbanna has a nine-ridged roof, a total of 72 ridges, and a hip roof, 240 ridges).
1.3.2 Beam
In some rural ancestral halls, the beams are straight and curved according to the material used. Curved wood is more important than flat beams in terms of bearing capacity, and visually it is more flexible and beautiful than flat beams.
Moon beam – a flat beam with a curve;
The decoration on the beams is mostly relief, with flowers or crane beaks carved at both ends and opera scenes carved in the middle, forming a carved beam;
Some small curved beams are carved into a pair of lions playing with a ball.
Tuodun: It transmits gravity between two beams and is also carved with patterns, plants and animals, pavilions, towers, or lions.
Through: The wooden pieces that connect the small pillars standing on the beams do not bear weight and are carved to create a paper-cut effect.
The lower half of the pillars under the eaves are sawed off and supported by the beams extending from the inside. They are carved into round, square, octagonal, flower basket, plant and grass shapes, lotus petals, and revolving lantern shapes.
1.3.3 Brackets, Corbels, and Supports
The long eaves can block the sun and rain to prevent the wooden structure from being damaged by the sun and rain. The bracket is used to support the eaves.
Dougong (a bracket arch) is a flexible structure made of many small wooden blocks connected by mortise and tenon joints, capable of withstanding sudden impact. Placed beneath the eaves, it serves as a decorative overhang. It is often decorated with carvings, such as dragon-shaped bracket arches and elephant trunks and raised mouths.
Corbel: A triangular piece of wood supporting the eaves, decorated with palindromes, animals, and figures.
Support arch, support beam: a piece of wood supporting the eaves, decorated with paintings and carvings.
These structures and decorations make the eaves a wooden structure composed of various carvings.
1.3.4 Ceiling and caisson
Ceiling: Below the beams, a layer of ceiling is constructed to form a complete space. To prevent dust from falling from above, a ceiling is constructed. Ceilings must be decorated. A crisscross ceiling: Wooden strips are arranged in a crisscross pattern, with each square opening supported by a pad. These pads are decorated with various patterns, such as plants and flowers. This is similar to the carved crisscross ceilings of the Forbidden City.
Caisson: The central decorative part of the ceiling, a culmination of all decorations. There are round ones (the round caisson in the Imperial Vault of Heaven of the Temple of Heaven), ones transitioning from octagonal to round, square ones (the Islamic caisson, which is not allowed to use animal decorations and is entirely decorated with plant patterns, geometric patterns, and Arabic characters), and complex caissons.
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