CHINESE ARCHITECTURE." 



Rv Stkphen W. P.i siiF.iJ.. ('. M. (}.. P.. Sc, iM. D. 



The first impression given \)y (he \ie\v of a Chinese city from the 

 panijiet of the city wall — whether it l)e Tientsin, with the ir»().0()0 

 houses of its ]:)0]:>nlation of shoi)men and artisans, or Ptdving. with 

 its temples, its impcM'ial and princely ])a]aces, and its jjuhlic huild- 

 iiigs — is tliat of a certain monotony, ivsultino- from tlie predomi- 

 nance of a single type of ai'chitectui'e. After a long residence this 

 impression still remains, and it is very rarely that a JMiilding stands 

 out ^^hich is not redncil)le to one general formula. 



China, in fact, in every epoch of its history and for all its edifices, 

 civil or religious, ])ul)lic or ]iriA ate. has kei)t to a single architectural 

 model. Even Avhen new types have been introduced from the West 

 under the influence of Budtlhism and ]Mohannnedanism, the lines 

 have become gradually toned down and conformed to his own 

 standard by the leveling hands of the Chinese mason. It is a car- 

 dinal rule in Chinese geomancy that every important building must 

 face the south, and the uniform orientation resulting from this adds 

 to the general impression of monoton3^ 



The most general model of Chinese buildings is the t'ing. This 

 consists essentially of a massive roof with recurved edges resting 

 upon short cohnnns. The curvilinear tilting of the corners of the 

 roof has been supposed to be a survival from the days of tent 

 dwellers, who used to hang the angles of their canvas pavilions on 

 spears; but this is carrying it back to a very dim antiquity, as we 

 have no records of the Chinese except as a settled agricultui'al peo- 

 ple. The roof is the princijjal featui'e of the building and gi\-es to 

 it when finished its qualities of grandeur or simi)licity, of strength 

 or grace. To vary its aspect the architect is induced occasionally 

 to double, or even to trii)le, it. This i)i't>ponderance of a part usually 

 sacrificed in Avestern architecture is justified by the smaller vertical 



"Chapter III, Cliiuese Art, by Stcplieii W. P.uslicll ; ])uliIisli(Ml by tlif lionril 

 of ('(lucation, South Ken.<!in.ij;ton, Victori.-i niid Allicrt Miiscuni. London. 1!MI4. 

 Reprinted by peniiission of the controller of Ills Majesty's st;i(ionai-y otlice. 



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