China is an ancient country with a long and brilliant history, numerous ethnic groups and a vast territory. Due to its varied natural conditions and cultural traditions, there exists in China a large selection of building patterns where doors and windows are especially striking and rich in their implications.

 Natural Beauty

People in ancient China emphasize the simple and unsophisticated beauty of a structure's doors and windows. Most traditional Chinese doors and windows are made of brick, wood and stone -- be it a humble or wealthy home. Sometimes, even memorial temples, pavilion s and cloisters use such building materials.

As early as the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280), a great many ingenuous craftsmen emerged in Zhejiang Province . Carvings of various designs and content were made on building doors and windows, most of which were not lacquered, retaining the natural color of the wood and exhibiting its natural beauty.

In the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), rich merchants adorned their doors and windows with gold foil.

 Fengshui

Traditional Chinese doors and windows embody the concept of fengshui (also called "the geography of the yin and the yang"). A building's door and window locations were usually governed by the theory of fengshui in ancient China. Regarding the placement of doors and windows, the theory of fengshui focuses on highlighting the natural scenery and sunlight. According to historical records, a box and needle invented by Wu Lu of the Ming Dynasty was used to make presumptions about the location of each door and window according to fengshui .

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