Chinese Architectual Elements

All Chinese buildings embody certain elements that make them uniquely Chinese. These elements are greatly influenced by culture.

One of the most familiar of these elements is the stone lions that adorn temples, palaces, and important residences throughout China. The lion is a very important animal to the Chinese, it was believed to represent power and prestige. Lions also held great significance in the Buddhist faith. It was believed that the lion is a divine animal of nobleness and dignity, which could protect the truth and ward off evils. These beliefs lead to the tradition of placing two stone lions in front of a traditional building. The lions were usually male and female with the male lion resting his paw on a ball and the female lion fondling a cub. The ball represented the unity of the empire while the cub represented thriving offspring. Because of the power lions were believed to represent they were often posted outside important peoples homes and used to show status. Ranking officials would show their importance by placing lions outside their how. The amount of curly tufts of hair on the lion were used to show the importance of their owners. Thirteen tufts represented first grade officials with the number decreasing in proportion from there. Officials below the seventh grade were not allowed to post stone lions outside their house. Lions were also often incorporated in bridges. The best example of this is the Lugouqiao (also known as the Marco Polo Bridge) bridge in Beijing. This bridge has some 485 lions along its length for good luck and decoration.

Another common element of Chinese architecture is a screen wall. These are used to shield a dwelling for and outsiders gaze. Traditionally a screen wall was a symbol of status, with only noblemen, religious temples, and palaces allowed to have one. However they have been adopted by many wealthy and or influential people in more recent history. Apart from keeping passers-by from peeping into the courtyard, the screen wall could also be used by visitors, who could get off their carriage and, standing behind the wall, tidy up their dress before going in. Screen walls were usually quite plain and made of ceramic tiles, brick, stone, wood, or often a mix of all four. In the picture to the left a screen wall can be easily viewed. I n the front of the court yard there is a structure covering the entrance. The back wall of this makes up the screen wall. This design not only protects a visitor from the rain as he enters the courtyard but also provides the inhabitants of the house a felling of tranquility and separation from the outside world. Also easily visible in this picture is the symmetry which all Chinese buildings display.

The grandest of the screen walls are a set of three walls called the "Nine Dragon Walls." They are made of bright glazed tiles and are all over 100 feet long. Before being moved to different locations in China they were parts of palaces and temples making them all functional parts of traditional Chinese architecture. The pictured "Nine Dragon Wall" is now located in Beijing's Beihai Park, and is widely believed to be the grandest of the three.

Chinese architecture has also been greatly influenced by the number nine. In Chinese culture odd numbers are masculine and even numbers are feminine. Because nine is the highest single digit odd number it is viewed as being the supreme and most powerful number. As a result almost all Chinese architecture even modern architecture is somehow related to the number nine. The pictured Heaven Temple is a great example. Its three tiers are a factor of nine it also is raised three levels above the surrounding courtyard. Its 99 steps take you to its base where you can chose from nine entrances. The Forbidden City is also built with nine in mind. The towers guarding the four corners of the palace compound each have nine beams and 18 columns. There are also three famous screen walls that each include nine dragons. The number nine is sometimes combined with the number five to symbolise imperial royalty. The great hall on Tienanmen is nine bays wide by five bays deep. Many stone paved paths going to palaces are also five pavers wide.

Chinese roofs all share a kind of ornament called a Zoomorphic. These ornaments are located on the main roof ridges of palaces, temples, and mansions throughout China. There are many cultural reasons for these decorative objects. "The monstrous thing at either end of the main ridge, called chiwen, appears roughly like the tail of a fish. Fierce and formidable, it looks as if it were ready to devour the whole ridge; so it is also known as tunjishou or the ridge-devouring beast. It is, according to Chinese mythology, one of the sons of the Dragon King who rules the seas. It is said to be able to stir up waves and change them into rains. So ancient Chinese put a chiwen at either end of the main ridge for its magic powers to conjure up a downpour to put out any fire that might break out. But for fear that it might gobble up the ridge, they transfixed it on the roof with a sword." The size of the animals along the ridges also was significant. The larger the animals the more important the building. When a person thinks of Chinese architecture chances are the first thing they think of is the signature roof structure with its upturned ends. Not only is this very unique it is also functional. The curves in the roofs were created because of the Buddhist belief that curved lines repelled evil spirits better than straight ones. The roofs on Chinese buildings were an engineering marvel that rivaled most modern day architectural innovations. They supported a tremendous amount of weight in the form of ceramic tiles. The invention that allowed the roofs to support this much weight were corbel brackets (known as "dugong" in Chinese) that were placed on column heads to support the projecting eaves. This system created a extremely strong structure that was supported entirely by the columns at the buildings corners rather than walls. During the 10th Century Tang Dynasty, a favorite saying was, "The walls may topple down, but the roof would not collapse." This architectural style allowed any number of windows and doors to be included in the structure without any compromise in the buildings strength. The resulting roof was beautiful but not because it was deigned to be beautiful it was instead a direct result of the functional qualities of the corbel brackets.

Another important part of Chinese architecture was the pailou, also known as paifang. This was an archway for decorative or sometimes memorial reasons.They were made of wood, brick, or stone, and sometimes contained glazed tiles. These arches were normally placed were at crossroads, temples, government offices, bridges, parks, or tombs. They generally were inscribed with moral principles or government achievements. They also could serve as the facade of a shop to attract customers. "According to records, there used to be some 57 archways in old Beijing. Among the well-known ones were one each at the crossroads of Dongdan and Xidan, four each at Dongsi and Xisi, one at Qianmen and a couple standing astride Chang'anjie, the main street running east-west in front of Tian'anmen. Nearly all of these have been taken apart or moved elsewhere."
One of the most striking arches is the one in front of the main entrance to the Summer Palace Park. It was built 200 years ago and still stands in its original place. However its the painting on on it that makes it so unique. There are 176 golden dragons and 36 golden phoenixes painted on its walls and roofs giving it an unforgettable appearance. As stated before another main reason for arches of the memorial type was the Confucian philosophy of filial piety. This was the belief that ancestors should be held in great honor after they die. Not only did this belief spawn beautiful arches but it also lead to the creation of great Confucian temples and schools that taught people the philosophy. These temples and schools further enhanced the architecture of the age by mixing it with new ideas creating Chinese architecture as we know it.