Contenido

La arquitectura de la civilización china tiene unas características reconocibles a las de las demás partes del mundo.

Horizontal emphasis

The most important is the emphasis on the horizontal axis, in particular the construction of a heavy platform and a large roof floating above this base, with the vertical walls also not emphasized. This contrasts Western architecture, which takes care to grow in height and depth. Chinese architecture emphasizes the visual impact of the width of buildings. The halls and palaces in the Forbidden City, for example, have somewhat low ceilings compared to equivalent stately buildings in the west, but their appearances indicate the hoarding nature of imperial China. These ideas have found a place in modern Western architecture, for example through the work of Jørn Utzon.[10] In any case, this does not apply to pagodas of course, which are relatively singular and limited to religious building complexes.

Architectural bilateral symmetry

Another important characteristic is its emphasis on articulation and bilateral symmetry, which emphasizes balance as its objective. Bilateral symmetry is found throughout Chinese architecture, from large complexes or palaces to modest farmhouses. Where possible, plans for the renovation or extension of a house will attempt to maintain this symmetry, provided there is sufficient budget to do so.[11] Secondary elements are positioned on either side of the main structure to maintain overall bilateral symmetry. The buildings are planned to have an even number of columns per structure, to generate an odd number of spaces between elements, and thus, by placing the main entrance to the building in the center, maintain symmetry.

In contrast to buildings, Chinese gardens are a notable exception, as they take care to be asymmetrical; The principle underlying the composition of the garden is to cause lasting circulation,[12]​ and also to emulate nature.

Fenced

Architectural practices in contemporary Western buildings typically arrange a garden or open area around the property. This contrasts with much traditional Chinese architecture, which constructs buildings or complexes that surround an entire property, enclosing the green areas within. These closed spaces are of two possible types:[11]​.

These enclosures serve to regulate temperature and ventilate the building complex. Northern courtyards are typically open and face south to allow for maximum exposure of the walls to the sun, while protecting them from the cold north winds. The southern sky wells are relatively small and serve to collect rainwater through the roofs (carrying out the same function as the Roman impluviums), while reducing the amount of light entering the building, and expelling warm air rising from the building, leaving room for fresh air to enter the rooms from the outside.

Hierarchy

In Chinese architecture, the hierarchy that each building reflected, as well as its importance and uses, was strictly based on the location of each element in the built complex. Buildings with doors facing the front of the property are considered more important than those facing the sides, and those facing the back are the least relevant.

Buildings facing south and those that combined a certain level of privacy with greater exposure to the sun were more valued and were reserved for older members of the family. Those facing east, on the other hand, were for the youngest members, while those facing north provided shelter for servants and assistants.[13]​.

The buildings placed in front of the back are especially intended for celebrating rites and placing halls and ancestral plaques. When there are multiple patios, the central ones and their buildings are considered more important than the rest, more used for warehouses or service rooms, and even kitchens.[11]​.

Cosmic concepts

Early Chinese architecture used concepts from Chinese cosmology such as feng shui (geomancy) and Taoism to organize the construction and arrangement of elements from vulgar residences to religious and imperial structures.[11] This included the use of:.

The use of certain colors, numbers and cardinal points in traditional Chinese architecture reflected beliefs in a certain immanence that meant that the nature of a thing could be contained entirely in its own form. Although a body of architectural literature gradually developed in the West, not much was written in China, and the most primitive text, the Kaogongji, was never discussed. However, ideas about cosmic harmony and city order were usually interpreted at their most basic level, so that no reproduction of an ``ideal'' city ever existed. Beijing, as it was rebuilt over the centuries, is one of the best examples of traditional Chinese urban planning.

Materials and history

Unlike other building construction materials, old wooden structures do not survive because they are more vulnerable to the elements and possible fires, and are also susceptible to rot over time naturally. Although many now-nonexistent wooden residential towers, watchtowers, and pagodas preceded it temporarily, the Songyue Pagoda, built in 523, is the oldest existing pagoda in China; The use of brick instead of wood had a lot to do with its resistance during these centuries. From the Tang Dynasty (618-907) onwards, brick and stone architecture gradually became more common and replaced wooden buildings. The oldest examples of this transition can be seen in building projects such as the Zhaozhou Bridge (finished in 605) or the Xumi Pagoda (built in 636), although it is known that stone and brick architecture had already been used in underground tombs of earlier dynasties.

At the beginning of the century, there were no Tang dynasty buildings built entirely of wood that still existed; The largest discovery until then was the discovery in 1931 of the Guanyin Pavilion in Dule Monastery, dated around the year 984 during the Song dynasty.[16] The surface measured 34 × 17.66 m (111 × 57 ft).[17]

This was until in 1937, a team of architectural historians led by Liang Sicheng" (1901-1972) discovered that the East Great Hall of the Foguang Temple on Mount Wutai in Shanxi was reliably dateable to the year 857.[16]

A year after the discovery of Foguang, the main hall of the nearby Nanchan Temple" was reliably dated to the year 782,[18] while a total of six Tang-era wooden buildings have been found in the 19th century.[19]

The oldest existing and intact wooden pagoda is the Fogong Temple Pagoda, from the Liao Dynasty, located in Ying County of Shanxi. While the East Hall of Foguang only contains seven different types of dougong in its construction, the Fogong Pagoda, from the 17th century, has fifty-four.[20]​.

The oldest walls and platforms in China were made of rammed earth, but over time, brick and stone became more common. This can be seen in ancient sections of the Great Wall of China, while the brick and stone Great Wall seen today are a renovation from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Chinese classifications for architecture inclusion:.

Commoner or popular

As for commoners, whether bureaucrats, merchants or farmers, their houses tended to follow a pattern: the center of the building would be a sanctuary for deities and ancestors, which would be used during celebrations as well. On its two sides were the bedrooms for the elderly; The two wings of the building (known as "the guardian dragons" by the Chinese) were for the younger members of the family, as were the living room, dining room, and kitchen (although sometimes the living room could be very close to the center).

Sometimes extended families grew so large that they had to add additional wings, resulting in a U-shaped building, with a yard suitable for farm work; Merchants and bureaucrats, however, preferred to close the front with an imposing main door. All buildings were legally regulated, and the law indicated the number of floors, the length of the building and the colors of use according to the class of the owner.

Imperial

There were certain special architectural features that were reserved only for the Emperor of China. An example is the use of yellow ceiling tiles, this having been the imperial color; Yellow roof tiles still adorn most of the buildings within the Forbidden City. The Temple of Heaven, however, has blue ceiling tiles that symbolize, precisely, heaven. The roofs are almost supported by "dougong" (also called brackets) which is a feature shared only with the largest religious buildings. The wooden columns of the buildings and the surface of the walls are red. Black is also a color often used in pagodas, as it was believed that the gods were motivated by the color black to come down to Earth.

The five-clawed Chinese dragon, an emblem adopted by the first Ming emperor for his personal use, was used extensively on imperial architecture - on roofs, on beams and pillars, and on gates, although not on roofs.

Only buildings used by the imperial family could have nine jian (the space between two columns, which we previously alluded to when talking about bilateral symmetry). Only gates used by the Emperor could have five arches, with the center of one, of course, reserved for the Emperor himself. The ancient Chinese were very fond of the color red in the buildings of the Empire, and they used to look towards the south because the north had a cold wind, which, in any case, was vox populi and was also taken into account by private homes.

Beijing became the capital of China after the 19th century Mongol invasion, completing the eastward transfer of the Chinese capital begun since the Jin dynasty.

The Ming uprising in 1368 reaffirmed Chinese authority and established Beijing as the seat of imperial power for the next five centuries. The Emperor and Empress lived in palaces on the central axis of the Forbidden City, the Crown Prince in the eastern part, and the concubines in the back (which due to their abundant number was often called "the courtyard of three thousand"). However, in the middle of the Qing dynasty, the Emperor's residence was moved to the western side of the complex. It must be noted that it is misleading to speak of an "axis" in the Western sense of the term, which seems to ask for a visual perspective of something similar to a façade, since the Chinese axis is more understandable as a privilege, generally expressed by restricting access to the different areas of the building - there is no open and free panorama that allows identifying a continuous axis of naves or buildings, but rather a series of doors and pavilions that give rise to the phases of construction.

Numerology influenced imperial architecture, hence the excessive use of nine (the largest single-digit number) in much of the construction. The importance of the East (the direction of the rising sun) in orienting and locating imperial constructions is an expression of solar worship found in many ancient cultures, where the notion of the ruler is affiliated with the sun.

Tombs and mausoleums of members of the imperial family, such as the century-old Tang Dynasty tombs at Qianling Mausoleum, can also be counted as part of the imperial architectural tradition.

These above-ground mounds and pyramids had underground vaulted and fortified structures that were lined with brick walls from at least the time of the Warring States (481 – 221 BC).

Religious

In general terms, Buddhist architecture follows the imperial style. A large Buddhist monastery has a hall first, housing the statue of a Buddhist, followed by a large hall, usually housing statues of Buddhas. The accommodations for the monks and nuns are located on the two sides. Some of the greatest examples of this come from the century-old Puning and Putuo Zongcheng temples. Buddhist monasteries sometimes also have pagodas, which may house the relics of Gautama Buddha; Older pagodas usually have four sides, while later pagodas generally have eight sides.

Daoist architecture, on the other hand, follows the style of commoners generally. The main entrance is, however, on the side, because of superstition about demons who may try to enter (see feng shui). In contrast to Buddhists, in a Daoist temple the main deity is located in the main hall at the front, and the lesser deities in the back hall and on the sides.

"In China we do not find the opposition between the divine and the human, between man and nature, so characteristic in the West since the Greeks, nor the vision of the world as a creation born of and sustained by ritual, nor the indifference to the temporality of the Indian mental universe."[21].

The tallest premodern building in China was built for mixed religious and military use. The Liaodi Pagoda", dating from 1055 AD, has a height of 84 m, and although it served as the coronation pagoda of Kaiyuan Monastery in old Dingzhou, Hebei, it also served as a military watchtower for soldiers of the Song Dynasty.

Mosque architecture in China and Gongbei often combines traditional Chinese styles with Middle Eastern influences.

Approximately five thousand years BC. C., during the times of Huang Di (黃帝, period of Emperor Huang), people worshiped a single color. After Huang Di and during the Shang, Tang, Zhou and Qin dynasties, emperors selected colors as symbols, based on the theory of the five elements. The order of the five elements are water (水), fire (火), wood (木), metal (金) and earth (土). These correspond to the colors black, red, blue-green, white and yellow, respectively. Ancient Chinese people believed that the five elements were the source of everything in nature. Just as these five elements are the source of everything, colors also come from the five elements. Based on the understanding that “colors come naturally, while black and white come first,” people gradually established the relationship between colors and the principle of the five elements, which guided the natural movement of Heaven and the divine Dao (path).

In the traditional Chinese system, the five colors, black, red, blue-green, white and yellow, are considered standard colors.

The color black was considered the color of the sky in the Yi Jing (I Ching or Book of Changes).

The colors were also widely used in urban planning, murals and paintings. For example, after the Ming Dynasty, only those who were related to the emperor could live in houses with red walls and yellow tiles. The houses of the common people could be made only of blue bricks with blue roof tiles or white walls with black roof tiles, but despite that the carved beams and pillars were still full of colors.

In Chinese traditions, the culture around color is even richer. Yellow is the color for emperors, royal palaces, royal altars, and royal temples often use it. Yellow also represents freedom from worldly concerns; Therefore, it is also a respected color in Buddhism. The monks' clothes are yellow and the temples are also yellow. Red is one of the colors most appreciated by the Chinese people. During the celebration of the New Year, weddings, holidays and meetings, the color red cannot be missing. Purple is the color of an auspicious omen and solemnity. White is the color of mourning. The ancient Chinese only wore white clothes and hats when they mourned the dead. This tradition is still practiced today.

Although the Chinese claim great constructions made in the Ha dynasty (century BC) and the Tcheóu dynasty (century BC), it does not seem that the oldest buildings that exist today are prior to the first centuries of our era, nor is anything else possible given the fragility of their material. The exception is, however, the Great Wall of China, an enormous stone and brick construction that dates back to just over the century BC. C. and occupies an area 2,500 long, built with the intention of containing the invasions of the peoples of the north.

Contenido

La arquitectura de la civilización china tiene unas características reconocibles a las de las demás partes del mundo.

Horizontal emphasis

The most important is the emphasis on the horizontal axis, in particular the construction of a heavy platform and a large roof floating above this base, with the vertical walls also not emphasized. This contrasts Western architecture, which takes care to grow in height and depth. Chinese architecture emphasizes the visual impact of the width of buildings. The halls and palaces in the Forbidden City, for example, have somewhat low ceilings compared to equivalent stately buildings in the west, but their appearances indicate the hoarding nature of imperial China. These ideas have found a place in modern Western architecture, for example through the work of Jørn Utzon.[10] In any case, this does not apply to pagodas of course, which are relatively singular and limited to religious building complexes.

Architectural bilateral symmetry

Another important characteristic is its emphasis on articulation and bilateral symmetry, which emphasizes balance as its objective. Bilateral symmetry is found throughout Chinese architecture, from large complexes or palaces to modest farmhouses. Where possible, plans for the renovation or extension of a house will attempt to maintain this symmetry, provided there is sufficient budget to do so.[11] Secondary elements are positioned on either side of the main structure to maintain overall bilateral symmetry. The buildings are planned to have an even number of columns per structure, to generate an odd number of spaces between elements, and thus, by placing the main entrance to the building in the center, maintain symmetry.

In contrast to buildings, Chinese gardens are a notable exception, as they take care to be asymmetrical; The principle underlying the composition of the garden is to cause lasting circulation,[12]​ and also to emulate nature.

Fenced

Architectural practices in contemporary Western buildings typically arrange a garden or open area around the property. This contrasts with much traditional Chinese architecture, which constructs buildings or complexes that surround an entire property, enclosing the green areas within. These closed spaces are of two possible types:[11]​.

These enclosures serve to regulate temperature and ventilate the building complex. Northern courtyards are typically open and face south to allow for maximum exposure of the walls to the sun, while protecting them from the cold north winds. The southern sky wells are relatively small and serve to collect rainwater through the roofs (carrying out the same function as the Roman impluviums), while reducing the amount of light entering the building, and expelling warm air rising from the building, leaving room for fresh air to enter the rooms from the outside.

Hierarchy

In Chinese architecture, the hierarchy that each building reflected, as well as its importance and uses, was strictly based on the location of each element in the built complex. Buildings with doors facing the front of the property are considered more important than those facing the sides, and those facing the back are the least relevant.

Buildings facing south and those that combined a certain level of privacy with greater exposure to the sun were more valued and were reserved for older members of the family. Those facing east, on the other hand, were for the youngest members, while those facing north provided shelter for servants and assistants.[13]​.

The buildings placed in front of the back are especially intended for celebrating rites and placing halls and ancestral plaques. When there are multiple patios, the central ones and their buildings are considered more important than the rest, more used for warehouses or service rooms, and even kitchens.[11]​.

Cosmic concepts

Early Chinese architecture used concepts from Chinese cosmology such as feng shui (geomancy) and Taoism to organize the construction and arrangement of elements from vulgar residences to religious and imperial structures.[11] This included the use of:.

The use of certain colors, numbers and cardinal points in traditional Chinese architecture reflected beliefs in a certain immanence that meant that the nature of a thing could be contained entirely in its own form. Although a body of architectural literature gradually developed in the West, not much was written in China, and the most primitive text, the Kaogongji, was never discussed. However, ideas about cosmic harmony and city order were usually interpreted at their most basic level, so that no reproduction of an ``ideal'' city ever existed. Beijing, as it was rebuilt over the centuries, is one of the best examples of traditional Chinese urban planning.

Materials and history

Unlike other building construction materials, old wooden structures do not survive because they are more vulnerable to the elements and possible fires, and are also susceptible to rot over time naturally. Although many now-nonexistent wooden residential towers, watchtowers, and pagodas preceded it temporarily, the Songyue Pagoda, built in 523, is the oldest existing pagoda in China; The use of brick instead of wood had a lot to do with its resistance during these centuries. From the Tang Dynasty (618-907) onwards, brick and stone architecture gradually became more common and replaced wooden buildings. The oldest examples of this transition can be seen in building projects such as the Zhaozhou Bridge (finished in 605) or the Xumi Pagoda (built in 636), although it is known that stone and brick architecture had already been used in underground tombs of earlier dynasties.

At the beginning of the century, there were no Tang dynasty buildings built entirely of wood that still existed; The largest discovery until then was the discovery in 1931 of the Guanyin Pavilion in Dule Monastery, dated around the year 984 during the Song dynasty.[16] The surface measured 34 × 17.66 m (111 × 57 ft).[17]

This was until in 1937, a team of architectural historians led by Liang Sicheng" (1901-1972) discovered that the East Great Hall of the Foguang Temple on Mount Wutai in Shanxi was reliably dateable to the year 857.[16]

A year after the discovery of Foguang, the main hall of the nearby Nanchan Temple" was reliably dated to the year 782,[18] while a total of six Tang-era wooden buildings have been found in the 19th century.[19]

The oldest existing and intact wooden pagoda is the Fogong Temple Pagoda, from the Liao Dynasty, located in Ying County of Shanxi. While the East Hall of Foguang only contains seven different types of dougong in its construction, the Fogong Pagoda, from the 17th century, has fifty-four.[20]​.

The oldest walls and platforms in China were made of rammed earth, but over time, brick and stone became more common. This can be seen in ancient sections of the Great Wall of China, while the brick and stone Great Wall seen today are a renovation from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Chinese classifications for architecture inclusion:.

Commoner or popular

As for commoners, whether bureaucrats, merchants or farmers, their houses tended to follow a pattern: the center of the building would be a sanctuary for deities and ancestors, which would be used during celebrations as well. On its two sides were the bedrooms for the elderly; The two wings of the building (known as "the guardian dragons" by the Chinese) were for the younger members of the family, as were the living room, dining room, and kitchen (although sometimes the living room could be very close to the center).

Sometimes extended families grew so large that they had to add additional wings, resulting in a U-shaped building, with a yard suitable for farm work; Merchants and bureaucrats, however, preferred to close the front with an imposing main door. All buildings were legally regulated, and the law indicated the number of floors, the length of the building and the colors of use according to the class of the owner.

Imperial

There were certain special architectural features that were reserved only for the Emperor of China. An example is the use of yellow ceiling tiles, this having been the imperial color; Yellow roof tiles still adorn most of the buildings within the Forbidden City. The Temple of Heaven, however, has blue ceiling tiles that symbolize, precisely, heaven. The roofs are almost supported by "dougong" (also called brackets) which is a feature shared only with the largest religious buildings. The wooden columns of the buildings and the surface of the walls are red. Black is also a color often used in pagodas, as it was believed that the gods were motivated by the color black to come down to Earth.

The five-clawed Chinese dragon, an emblem adopted by the first Ming emperor for his personal use, was used extensively on imperial architecture - on roofs, on beams and pillars, and on gates, although not on roofs.

Only buildings used by the imperial family could have nine jian (the space between two columns, which we previously alluded to when talking about bilateral symmetry). Only gates used by the Emperor could have five arches, with the center of one, of course, reserved for the Emperor himself. The ancient Chinese were very fond of the color red in the buildings of the Empire, and they used to look towards the south because the north had a cold wind, which, in any case, was vox populi and was also taken into account by private homes.

Beijing became the capital of China after the 19th century Mongol invasion, completing the eastward transfer of the Chinese capital begun since the Jin dynasty.

The Ming uprising in 1368 reaffirmed Chinese authority and established Beijing as the seat of imperial power for the next five centuries. The Emperor and Empress lived in palaces on the central axis of the Forbidden City, the Crown Prince in the eastern part, and the concubines in the back (which due to their abundant number was often called "the courtyard of three thousand"). However, in the middle of the Qing dynasty, the Emperor's residence was moved to the western side of the complex. It must be noted that it is misleading to speak of an "axis" in the Western sense of the term, which seems to ask for a visual perspective of something similar to a façade, since the Chinese axis is more understandable as a privilege, generally expressed by restricting access to the different areas of the building - there is no open and free panorama that allows identifying a continuous axis of naves or buildings, but rather a series of doors and pavilions that give rise to the phases of construction.

Numerology influenced imperial architecture, hence the excessive use of nine (the largest single-digit number) in much of the construction. The importance of the East (the direction of the rising sun) in orienting and locating imperial constructions is an expression of solar worship found in many ancient cultures, where the notion of the ruler is affiliated with the sun.

Tombs and mausoleums of members of the imperial family, such as the century-old Tang Dynasty tombs at Qianling Mausoleum, can also be counted as part of the imperial architectural tradition.

These above-ground mounds and pyramids had underground vaulted and fortified structures that were lined with brick walls from at least the time of the Warring States (481 – 221 BC).

Religious

In general terms, Buddhist architecture follows the imperial style. A large Buddhist monastery has a hall first, housing the statue of a Buddhist, followed by a large hall, usually housing statues of Buddhas. The accommodations for the monks and nuns are located on the two sides. Some of the greatest examples of this come from the century-old Puning and Putuo Zongcheng temples. Buddhist monasteries sometimes also have pagodas, which may house the relics of Gautama Buddha; Older pagodas usually have four sides, while later pagodas generally have eight sides.

Daoist architecture, on the other hand, follows the style of commoners generally. The main entrance is, however, on the side, because of superstition about demons who may try to enter (see feng shui). In contrast to Buddhists, in a Daoist temple the main deity is located in the main hall at the front, and the lesser deities in the back hall and on the sides.

"In China we do not find the opposition between the divine and the human, between man and nature, so characteristic in the West since the Greeks, nor the vision of the world as a creation born of and sustained by ritual, nor the indifference to the temporality of the Indian mental universe."[21].

The tallest premodern building in China was built for mixed religious and military use. The Liaodi Pagoda", dating from 1055 AD, has a height of 84 m, and although it served as the coronation pagoda of Kaiyuan Monastery in old Dingzhou, Hebei, it also served as a military watchtower for soldiers of the Song Dynasty.

Mosque architecture in China and Gongbei often combines traditional Chinese styles with Middle Eastern influences.

Approximately five thousand years BC. C., during the times of Huang Di (黃帝, period of Emperor Huang), people worshiped a single color. After Huang Di and during the Shang, Tang, Zhou and Qin dynasties, emperors selected colors as symbols, based on the theory of the five elements. The order of the five elements are water (水), fire (火), wood (木), metal (金) and earth (土). These correspond to the colors black, red, blue-green, white and yellow, respectively. Ancient Chinese people believed that the five elements were the source of everything in nature. Just as these five elements are the source of everything, colors also come from the five elements. Based on the understanding that “colors come naturally, while black and white come first,” people gradually established the relationship between colors and the principle of the five elements, which guided the natural movement of Heaven and the divine Dao (path).

In the traditional Chinese system, the five colors, black, red, blue-green, white and yellow, are considered standard colors.

The color black was considered the color of the sky in the Yi Jing (I Ching or Book of Changes).

The colors were also widely used in urban planning, murals and paintings. For example, after the Ming Dynasty, only those who were related to the emperor could live in houses with red walls and yellow tiles. The houses of the common people could be made only of blue bricks with blue roof tiles or white walls with black roof tiles, but despite that the carved beams and pillars were still full of colors.

In Chinese traditions, the culture around color is even richer. Yellow is the color for emperors, royal palaces, royal altars, and royal temples often use it. Yellow also represents freedom from worldly concerns; Therefore, it is also a respected color in Buddhism. The monks' clothes are yellow and the temples are also yellow. Red is one of the colors most appreciated by the Chinese people. During the celebration of the New Year, weddings, holidays and meetings, the color red cannot be missing. Purple is the color of an auspicious omen and solemnity. White is the color of mourning. The ancient Chinese only wore white clothes and hats when they mourned the dead. This tradition is still practiced today.