Imperial architecture

4-31 Hall of Supreme Harmony, Imperial Palace, Bejing, Begun 17th c.

The Forbidden City, Beijing

The Forbidden City, Qing period

Imperial Beijing, the Three Great Hall, Qin Dy.

The Forbidden City• Built during Ming and Qing Dynasties (14-20th centiries;

founded in 1407; many halls were built in the 18th C.• Purple Forbidden City-identification of the emperor with the

numinous purple radiance of the Pole Star• As the Son of Heaven, the emperor maintained cosmic order

by performing annual rituals such as those at the Altars of Heaven and Earth, the Temple Imperial Ancestors, and the Altar of Society

• Oriented North-south axis; encompassed the main altar complexes, with the palace building facing south

• The complex surrounded by walls, which protecting the royal family from the outside world.

Feng Shui• Qi (energy) is the most important• Belief that people and nature are linked in an invisible

dialogue.• The flow of energy along the surface and within the earth are

believed to have the power to influence the lives of people near them.

• The flow of qi runs from mountains along the outlines of hills. It may altered and improved along the landscape, plant, and objects.

• The principles of feng shui reflects the Chinese beliefs in the wholeness of the universe and the necessity of living in harmony with nature.

Yin and Yang• Two opposite forces that emerged from the primordial Dao,

and whose interaction defines and regulates the mechanisms of the universe

• It is the constant process of changes; countless patterns of existence; the transformations of energy can be systematically charted (The Book of Changes)

• In ancient time, Yin and Yang were symbolized by the tiger and the dragon, and in later period by the yin and Yang diagram (taiji diagram)

Yin and Yang• Yin and Yang are two complementary modes of being which characterize

and animate all phenomena• Yang is seen as a mode of being which included male, the bright, dryness,

and heat, the creative, the sun, characterize the east and the south• Yin includes the complimentary, phenomena not opposite: the female, the

dark, moisture, and cold, the recessive, the moon, characterize the west and the north

• As for the elements, they associated with the 5 elements (Wood, fire, earth, metal, water), the seasons, and the colors

Yin and Yang

• A color is associated with each element-direction-season: E=Green; S=Red; W=white; N=Black; center=yellow

• The associate with colors have a great important with rituals and liturgy, for clothes, ornaments, and offering have to conform with colors

View of the Forbidden City

Hall of Three Treasure, Forbidden City

Palace complex

• Hall of Supreme Harmony-in the center of the complex; laid in N-S axis; built in 1697

• Housed the Emperor’s thorne• Used for celebration of the Emperor’s birthday, the

new year, and other important proclamations or ceremonies.

• 11-bay structure; double eave hipped roof decorated in the yellow tiles symbolic of imperial status

Wumen (Meridian Gate, the Forbidden City

Hall of Supreme Harmony, Forbidden City, 17th

Temple of Heaven Complex

Hall for Player for Prosperous Year

E Pang Palace• E Pang Palace, the most

famous palace architectural complex in Chinese history, is splendid in scale and on sight. It was built in 212 B.C. After unifying China, the emperor Chin Shi Huang built the tomb at the foot of the Li Mountain while built the great Epang Palace in the Shanglin Parkland the south of the Wei River with the 700,000 prisoners and farmers.

E Pang Palace

焚书坑儒【 fénshūkēngrú 】 burn the books and bury 460 scholars alive in 213 BCE.

Li Si: Memorial on the Burning of Books, page 209 in the Source Book, v.1

Zhao Gao, the First Eunuch Chancellor

Who Overpowered an Emperor

• 指鹿为马• 【 zhǐlùwéimǎ 】 call a

stag a horse - deliberately misrepresent.

• A test/threat posed by Zhao Gao to the second emperor.

Chen She/or Chen Sheng & Wu Guang

The First Uprising• Chen Sheng was born in Yangcheng ( 陽城 , in modern Dengfeng,

Henan). In 209 BC, he was a military captain along with Wu Guang when the two of them were ordered to lead 900 soldiers to Yuyang ( 漁陽 , in modern Beijing) to help defend the northern border against Xiongnu. Due to storms, it became clear that they could not get to Yuyang by the deadline, and according to the Qin Rule, if soldiers could not get to their posts on time, they would be executed.

• Chen and Wu, believing that they were doomed, led their soldiers to start a rebellion. They (falsely) announced that Ying Fusu, the elder son of Qin Shi Huang and elder brother of Qin Er Shi, who had wrongly been forced to commit suicide, and Xiang Yan ( 項燕 ), a beloved general of Chu, had not died and were joining their cause. They also declared the reestablishment of Chu. Before long, more than 20,000 people joined.

Uprising at Daze Village, (209 BCE) Prefecture Su, Anhui Province

DAMING PALACE OF TANG DYNASTY

PALACE OF GREAT BRILLIANCE

• SERVED AS THE ROYAL RESIDENCE OF THE TANG EMPERORS FOR 220 YEARS

• DESIGNATED AS A NATIONAL HERITAGE SITE IN CHINA

• ORIGINALLY NAMED AS YONG’AN PALACE , BUT WAS RENAMED AS DAMING PALACE IN 635

• 662-RENOVATIONS WERE MADE, ITS NAME WAS CHANGED TO PENGLAI PALACE

• 670- RENAMED AS HANYUAN PALACE• 701- DAMING PALACE AGAIN

• Beginning from the south and ending in the north, on the central axis, stand the Hanyuan Hall, the Xuanzheng Hall, and the Zichen Hall.

• These halls were historically known as the "Three Great Halls" and were respectively part of the outer, middle, and inner court.The central southern entrance of the Daming Palace is the Danfeng Gate.

• The gate consisted of five doorways.

OUTER COURT

• After passing through the Danfeng Gate, there is a square of 630 meters long with at the end the Hanyuan Hall. The Hanyuan Hall was connected to pavilions by corridors, namely the Xiangluan Pavilion in the east and the Qifeng Pavilion in the west. The pavilions were composed of three outward-extending sections of the same shape but different size that were connected by corridors. The elevated platform of the Hanyuan Hall is approximately 15 meters high, 200 meters wide, and 100 meters long. The Hanyuan Hall, where many state ceremonies were conducted, would serve as the main hall for hosting foreign ambassadors during diplomatic exchanges.

MIDDLE COURT

• The Xuanzheng Hall is located at a distance of about 300 meters north of the Hanyuan Hall. State affairs were usually conducted in this hall. The office of the secretariat was located to the west of the Xuanzheng Hall and the office of the chancellery was located to the east. From this area, the department of state affairs, the chancellery, and the secretariat handled the central management of the Tang empire, which was done in a system with Three Departments and Six Ministries.

INNER COURT

• The Zichen Hall, located in the inner court, is approximately 95 meters north of the Xuanzheng Hall. It housed the central government offices. For officials, it was considered a great honor to be summoned to the Zichen Hall. Taiye Lake, named after the pond excavated by the Han emperor Wu during the construction of his Jianzhang Palace in the first century BC, is lies to the north of the Zichen Hall. It expanded over 240 mu (40 acres or 0.16 km²) and an island representing the mythical land of Penglai was built within it. The pond and island have been recreated, as have the former gardens. These were based on the historical record, with separate peony, chrysanthemum, plum, rose, bamboo, almond, peach, and persimmon gardens.

FORBIDDEN CITY

BEIJING AND SHEN YANG

• The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty. It is located in the center of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.

• Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 72 ha (180 acres).[1] The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture,[2] and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987,[2] and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

• Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Part of the museum's former collection is now located in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Both museums descend from the same institution, but were split after the Chinese Civil War.

• The Forbidden City is a rectangle, measuring 961 metres (3,153 ft) from north to south and 753 metres (2,470 ft) from east to west. It consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,886 bays of rooms;[29][30] however this figure may not include various antechambers.[29] Another common figure points to 9,999 rooms including antechambers;[31] although this number is frequently cited, it is likely an oral tradition, and it is not supported by survey evidence.[32] The Forbidden City was designed to be the centre of the ancient, walled city of Beijing. It is enclosed in a larger, walled area called the Imperial City. The Imperial City is, in turn, enclosed by the Inner City; to its south lies the Outer City.

• The Forbidden City remains important in the civic scheme of Beijing. The central north–south axis remains the central axis of Beijing. This axis extends to the south through Tiananmen gate to Tiananmen Square, the ceremonial centre of the People's Republic of China, and on to Yongdingmen. To the north, it extends through Jingshan Hill to the Bell and Drum Towers.[33] This axis is not exactly aligned north–south, but is tilted by slightly more than two degrees. Researchers now believe that the axis was designed in the Yuan dynasty to be aligned with Xanadu, the other capital of their empire.[34]

• The Forbidden City is surrounded by a 7.9 metres (26 ft) high city wall[11] and a 6 metres (20 ft) deep by 52 metres (171 ft) wide moat. The walls are 8.62 metres (28.3 ft) wide at the base, tapering to 6.66 metres (21.9 ft) at the top.[35] These walls served as both defensive walls and retaining walls for the palace. They were constructed with a rammed earth core, and surfaced with three layers of specially baked bricks on both sides, with the interstices filled with mortar.[36]

• At the four corners of the wall sit towers (E) with intricate roofs boasting 72 ridges, reproducing the Pavilion of Prince Teng and the Yellow Crane Pavilion as they appeared in Song dynasty paintings.[36] These towers are the most visible parts of the palace to commoners outside the walls, and much folklore is attached to them. According to one legend, artisans could not put a corner tower back together after it was dismantled for renovations in the early Qing dynasty, and it was only rebuilt after the intervention of carpenter-immortal Lu Ban.[11]

• Plan of the Forbidden City. Labels in red are used to refer to locations throughout the article. - – - Approximate dividing line between Inner (north) and Outer (south) Courts.

• A. Meridian Gate• B. Gate of Divine Might• C. West Glorious Gate• D. East Glorious Gate• E. Corner towers• F. Gate of Supreme Harmony• G. Hall of Supreme Harmony• H. Hall of Military Eminence• J. Hall of Literary Glory• K. Southern Three Places• L. Palace of Heavenly Purity• M. Imperial garden• N. Hall of Mental Cultivation• O. Palace of Tranquil Longevity

MERDIAN GATE

• The design of the Forbidden City, from its overall layout to the smallest detail, was meticulously planned to reflect philosophical and religious principles, and above all to symbolise the majesty of Imperial power. Some noted examples of symbolic designs include:

• Yellow is the color of the Emperor. Thus almost all roofs in the Forbidden City bear yellow glazed tiles. There are only two exceptions. The library at the Pavilion of Literary Profundity ( 文渊阁 ) had black tiles because black was associated with water, and thus fire-prevention. Similarly, the Crown Prince's residences have green tiles because green was associated with wood, and thus growth.[42]

• The main halls of the Outer and Inner courts are all arranged in groups of three – the shape of the Qian triagram, representing Heaven. The residences of the Inner Court on the other hand are arranged in groups of six – the shape of the Kun triagram, representing the Earth.[11]

• The sloping ridges of building roofs are decorated with a line of statuettes led by a man riding a phoenix and followed by an imperial dragon. The number of statuettes represents the status of the building – a minor building might have 3 or 5. The Hall of Supreme Harmony has 10, the only building in the country to be permitted this in Imperial times. As a result, its 10th statuette, called a "Hangshi", or "ranked tenth" (Chinese: 行十 ; pinyin: Hángshí),[54] is also unique in the Forbidden City.[67]

• The layout of buildings follows ancient customs laid down in the Classic of Rites. Thus, ancestral temples are in front of the palace. Storage areas are placed in the front part of the palace complex, and residences in the back.[68]

MUKDEN PALACE(SHEN YANG)

• The Mukden Palace (simplified Chinese: 盛京宫殿 ; traditional Chinese: 盛京宮殿 ; pinyin: Shèngjīng Gōngdiàn) or Shenyang Gugong (simplified Chinese: 沈阳故宫 ; traditional Chinese: 瀋陽故宮 ; pinyin: Shěnyáng Gùgōng), also known as the Shenyang Imperial Palace, is the former imperial palace of the early Qing dynasty of China.

• It was built in 1625 and the first three Qing emperors lived there from 1625 to 1644. Since the end of monarchy in China, the palace was converted to a museum that lies in the center of Shenyang city, Liaoning province.

• Early construction began in 1625 by Nurhaci. By 1631, additional structures were added under Emperor Huang Taiji.

• The Mukden Palace was built to resemble the Forbidden City in Beijing. However, the palace also exhibits hints of Manchurian and Tibetan styles.

• After the Qing dynasty replaced the Ming dynasty in 1644 in Beijing, the Mukden palace lost its status as the official residence of the Emperor. Instead, the Mukden Palace became a regional palace.

• In 1780, Emperor Qianlong further expanded the palace. Successive Qing dynasty emperors usually stayed at Mukden Palace for some time each year.

• In 1955, Mukden Palace was converted into the Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum.

• In 2004, it was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List as an extension of the Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, or Forbidden City, site in Beijing.

DAZHENG HALL

BRIDGE ARCHITECTURE

• Chinese bridges from ancient times, highly varied in material and form, are an important legacy with national characteristics, occupying an important position in the world history of bridge building. China, a country with such a long history, has inherited from her past bridges without number: there are, it is said, four million of them if one counts the stone arch bridges alone. In the southern regions of rivers and lakes, the landscape is dotted with bridges of various sized and descriptions, which make it all the more picturesque.

BEAM BRIDGE

• A beam bridge means setting up bridge columns or bridge piers in the water, on which cross beams are erected which are linked together into a bridge. Beam bridges differentiate themselves into bridges with single span and multiple spans, and into stone beam and wooden beam bridges. It is also possible to build covered ways on them.

• The earliest reference to the beam bridge in Chinese history is the Ju Bridge dating from the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th century B.C.)

• From the Zhou Dynasty through to the Qin and Han Dynasties, bridges with timber beams and stone piers were predominant.

ANPING BRIDGE• Anping Bridge is a stone beam bridge

in China's Fujian province. It is 2,070 metres (1.29 mi). It is a nationally protected historic site registered with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

• It is named after Anhai, which was formerly known as Anping.

• It was originally 811 zhang 2,223 metres (1.381 mi)] long and 1.6 zhang 4.4 metres (14 ft)] wide, with 362 spans. Upon completion, it was the longest bridge in China until 1905.

Wan'an Bridge

• Wan'an Bridge, a timber arch lounge bridge, is seen in Changqiao Village of Pingnan County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Dec. 21, 2012. Built in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and rebuilt several times since then, the bridge is 98.2 meters long and 4.7 meters wide. It has been listed as one of the state key cultural relics protection units.

Jiangdong Bridge

• The Jiangdong Bridge in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province boasts the largest stone beams. In the first year of the reign of Jiaxi (A.D. 1237) of the Song Dynasty, the timber beams of this bridge were replaced by stone ones.

• The bridge had 15 spans, each consisting of 3 slices of stone beams. But today only 5 spans remain.

Fengyu Bridge• "Feng Yu" means wind and

rain.• The Feng Yu Covered Bridge,

in Chongqing, China, is known throughout the Far East for its traditional beauty topped by a pagoda-style roof that stretched 303 metres across the region's Apeng River.

• A bridge that existed from 1591 to 2013 in Chongquing, China. In 2013, the bridge caught fire and was destroyed.

ARCH BRIDGE

• Arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct (a long bridge) may be made from a series of arches, although other more economical structures are typically used today.

Anji Bridge• The oldest arch bridge in China.• The Anji Bridge, also known as the

Zhaozhou Bridge, at Zhouxian, Hebei Province, built in the Sui Dynasty.

• The Anji Bridge has a segmental deck and the parapets are engraved with dragons and other animals.

Feng Bridge

• The extant Feng Bridge (the Maple Bridge) (built in the Qing Dynasty), mentioned in the well-known poem "A Night Mooring Near the Maple Bridge" by Zhang Ji of the Tang Dynasty, is characterized by its shell arch.

• The thinnest arch ring is merely 1/66.7th the span, whereas for an average arch the ring is 1/20th the span.

Baodai Bridge• The grandest among all of Suzhou's

bridges, however, is Baodai (Precious Belt) Bridge, which is located in the south of Suzhou, near the Grand Canal. It is a bridge with 53 underneath arches, measuring 316.8 meters long. The bridge has been listed as one of the most famous multi-arched bridges in the worldwide.

• The Baodai (Precious Belt) Bridge was built by Wang Zhongshu, a magistrate of Suzhou prefecture during the time of the Yuanhe emperor of the Tang Dynasty (805-820). To raise money to finance the bridgework, Wang used his expensive belt, hence the name.

• Cable Suspension BridgeCable suspension bridge vary in kind

according to the materials of which the cables are made rattan, bamboo, leather and iron chain.

Famous bridges Jihong Bridge spans over the

Lancangjiang River at the place where Shuizhai Township of Baoshan City connects with Shanyang Township of Yongping County.

Luding Bridge is a bridge over the Dadu River in Luding County,Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China, located about 80 kilometers west of the city of Ya'an. The bridge dates from the Qing Dynasty and is considered a historical landmark.

• Floating BridgeA pontoon bridge or floating

bridge or bridge of boats is a bridge that floats on water and in which barge- or boat-like pontoons support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads.

• To cross the river ,boats were linked together to form a floating bridge. it is also named Qiaohang (the boat bridge) and Zhouliang (the boat beam).

• Zhouliang example

• Qiaohang example

• The earliest reference to the floating bridge is shown in the Book of songs. In the 12th century B.C, King Wen of the Zhou dynasty ordered a bridge to be built on the Wei river. Pujing floating bridge in the tang Dynasty.

• Pujing floating bridge in the tang Dynasty.