China's ancient architecture is based on many different factors. Demons and evil spirit's influenced the curved and pointed roofs. China's ancient architecture was also closely connected with the shapes of Chinese pictographs.
From many characters related to architecture that appeared inJiaguwen(scripts written in tortoise shells and animal bones), we could see the development of the structure of ancient Chinese architectures.
For instance, from the original shape of the character
(gao, high) inJiaguwenwe can deduce that in the Shang Dynasty (17th- 11thcentury BC) there was a kind of architecture built on a terrene platform. The character
(gong, palace) looks like a rooftop with two empty rooms under it. The shape of the character 
(jia, home) looks like a rooftop with a
(pig) under it, which means that a family raises a pig in the house.
In addition, many character components such as 
(xue, hole), 
(men, door),
(hu, door),
(mu, wood),
(wa, tile) and 
(tu, earth) and so on are also closely connected to architecture.
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