Traditional Chinese architecture is based
mainly on Han architecture, comprising roughly 15 types such as city, palace,
temple, mausoleum, monastery, Buddhist pagoda, grottoes, garden, government
office, folk public building, landscape, tower and pavilion, imperial palace,
residential house, great wall and bridge. In the long process of development,
China's architecture has consistently kept intact the basic character of the
system. The history of architectural development can be divided into several
major stages:
The period from the Shang Dynasty
(17th century-11th century BC) to the Qin and Han dynasties was its embryonic
growth stage; the Qin and Western Han dynasties (221BC-220AD) were the first
high tide of development.
The period from Wei and Jin through to Sui,
Tang and Song dynasties (220-1279) were a stage of maturity. The achievements of
the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties were even more brilliant,
representing the second high tide, which can be regarded as the summit of
Chinese architecture.
The period from the Yuan to Ming and Qing
dynasties (1271-1911) were the enrichment and summary stage and the period from
the Ming (1368-1644) to early Qing Dynasty (1644-1840) was the third high tide
of development.
It can be seen that each upsurge was
correspondingly accompanied by the unification of the country, long-term
stability, radical cultural exchanges and other social backgrounds. For example,
the unification of the Qin and Han dynasties accelerated exchanges between the
Central Plain culture and the Chu and Yue cultures. The unification of Sui and
Tang dynasties increased the cultural exchanges between China and other Asian
countries, as well as between north and south China; the unification of Ming and
Qing dynasties strengthened exchanges among various Chinese nationalities and
began the exchange of Chinese and Western architectural cultures.
It can be said that unification, stability,
economic prosperity, enhancement of national strength and cultural exchange are
the internal opportunities for the development of architectural art.
China's architecture pays particular
attention to the beauty of group combination, and often adopts a central-axis,
symmetric compact composition method. But some types, such as gardens, certain
mountain forest Taoist temples and certain residences adopt the method of free
combination. No matter which composition method is adopted, great attention is
paid to the pursuit of neutral, easy, reserved and deep esthetic characters,
giving expressions to the esthetic habits of the Chinese
nation.