Chinese Architecture Tour

As one of the outstanding traditional Chinese Culture, the Chinese architecture is a particularly beautiful branch in the tree of Chinese civilization. Traditional Chinese architecture is based mainly on Han architecture, comprising roughly 15 types of structures, including the palaces, temples, mausoleums, Buddhist, grottoes, garden, tower and pavilion, residential house and bridge, etc. From the vast East Asian region to the countries of Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Mongolia, the same system of construction is prevalent.In the long process of development, China's architecture has consistently kept intact the basic character of the system. Chinese architecture pays particular attention to the beauty of group combination, and often adopts a central-axis, symmetric compact composition method. The most important is the emphasis on the horizontal axis, in particular the construction of a heavy platform and a large roof that floats over this base, with the vertical walls not as well emphasized. Chinese architecture stresses the visual impact on the width of the buildings. The halls and palaces in the Forbidden City, for example, have rather low ceilings when compared to equivalent stately buildings in the West, but their external appearances suggest the all-embracing nature of imperial China. For the most of Chinese architectures, the main structure is located along the central axis, while the secondary structures are positioned as two wings on either side to form the main room and yard. The distribution of interior space reflects Chinese social and ethnical values. For example, a traditional residential building assigns family members based on the family's hierarchy.In the long history of china, there developed many styles of Chinese architectures. They mainly are categorized into three groups. Imperial ArchitectureThere were certain architectural features that were reserved solely for the buildings built for the use of the emperors in ancient china. One of the features of imperial architectures is the significance of the number nine. As nine is the largest single digit number, it is considered categorically masculine. Another example is the use of yellow roof tiles. For example, yellow is the dominant color in the Forbidden City. Roofs are built with yellow glazed tiles; decorations in the palace are painted yellow; even the bricks on the ground are made yellow in special process.The Temple of Heaven, however, uses blue roof tiles to symbolize the sky. The wooden columns of the buildings, as well as the surface of the walls, tend to be red in color. Black is also a famous color often used in pagodas. They believe the gods are inspired by the black color to descend on to the earth.The Chinese five-clawed dragon, adopted by the first Ming emperor for his personal use, was used as decoration on the beams, pillars, and on the doors of the imperial architectures. Curiously, the dragon was never used on roofs of imperial buildings.Religious Architecture The religious architectures can be categorized into three groups, the temples, pagodas and grottoes. One of the features of Chinese architecture is the Buddhist& Taoist temples which can be found scattered around China. The typical Buddhist temple has a front hall, housing the statue of a Bodhisattva, followed by a great hall, housing the statues of the Sakayamuni, the founder of Buddhism. Accommodations for the monks and the nuns are located at the two sides. Buddhist temples also have pagodas, which may house the Buddhist scripts and Buddha’s statues. For example, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Xian originally constructed in the Tang Dynasty in 7th century AD to store the Buddhist scriptures brought back from ancient India to China. Taoist architecture, on the other hand, usually follows the commoners' style. The main entrance is, however, usually at the side, out of superstition about demons which might try to enter the premise. In the Taoist temple, the main deity is located at the main hall in the front, the lesser deities at the back hall and on the both sides. Most of the Taoist temples were constructed on the mountains everywhere in China, among which the most famous are Mt. Wudang in Hubei Province, Mt. Qingcheng in Sichuan Province, Mt. Laoshan in Shandong Province, Mt. Longhu in Jiangxi Province, etc. With the beautiful natural sightseeing and unique cultural relics, they all have become the famous scenic spots in China tours. Garden ArchitectureGenerally speaking, the Chinese Garden Architecture falls into two categories, including the imperial garden architecture in the north of China and the private garden architecture in the south of China. The principle underlying the garden's composition is to create enduring flow and also to emulate nature. The ancient workers designed the gardens by placing the emphasis on the harmonious unity of the architecture with the nature. The imperial gardens feature the grand dimensions, luxurious buildings, and exquisite decorations. The Summer Palace in Beijing is one of the China's largest and best-preserved imperial gardens. It is a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design, integrating the natural landscape of hills and open water with man-made features into a harmonious and aesthetically exceptional whole. In contrast to the imperial gardens in the north, the gardens in the south are smaller and more elegant. And most of them were private owned. Normally with the central pond on focus, the garden is a compound of various structures, including marvelous hills, clear waters, exquisite buildings and exuberant trees and flowers. The ancient workers employed the artistic way of dealing with the spaces between various kinds of architectural form to create a peaceful and pleasant atmosphere. The best examples of them include the Lingering Garden in Suzhou, Yu Garden in Shanghai, the humble administrator’s Garden in Suzhou, etc. If you would like to take the Chinese architecture tour, please check the details of the information.