CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND ITS RELATION TO 

 CHINESE CULTURE. 1 



[With 10 plates.] 



By Ernst Boerschmann. 



I left Germany in August, 1906, to make an extended exploration 

 in China. The route was via Paris, London, and America, where I 

 saw treasures of Chinese art in the museums, thence via Japan, to 

 acquire a fleeting impression of that branch of oriental culture; and 

 finally I arrived at Peking early in December. In the summer of 

 1909, upon completing my work in China, I returned, via the Siber- 

 ian Railroad, to Germany, after an absence of exactly three years. 



Dr. Bachem had discussed the importance of a study of the Chinese 

 before the Reichstag in 1905, and the late Baron von Richthofen, 

 then secretary of the foreign office, as well as a large number of other 

 high officials, so interested themselves in the proposed journey that 

 the German Imperial Government, with the approval of the Reich- 

 stag, provided the necessary means. 



I owe profound thanks to all who aided this exploration, first for 

 the effectual development of the idea of endeavoring to solve the 

 important problems of the Far East from a purely scientific point of 

 view, and also personally for their confidence in assigning me this 

 important duty. 



My commission bore the title : "An investigation of Chinese archi- 

 tecture and its relation to Chinese culture." I could not have desired 

 a more comprehensive designation of this task for such a country as 

 China, with its 18 Provinces, covering an area seven times greater 

 than Germany, and with remarkable coincidence exactly seven times 

 its population. 



A solution of the problem appeared to be possible by confining 

 myself to the northern part, especially around Peking, which, from 

 a previous residence there for two years, I knew to be the center of 



1 Reprinted by permission from Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic Organ der Berliner Gesell- 

 schaft fiir Anthropologic Ethnologie und Urgeschichte, Berlin. 1910. 42d year, parts 

 3 and 4, pp. 390-426. 



539 



