CIVIL ARCHITECTURE. 



585 



Chines?. 



archiiec- 



t'tire. 



General 



remarks. 



Pr:ice. the form and bigneis of storehouses, and lodgings for the 

 - . ' poor, and the country people that bring their goods to 

 sell ; and the large gardens that lie behind this lovely pa- 

 >.ce of a caravansary, no less famous for its founder, 

 Abas the Great, who caused this sumptuous structure 

 to be erected. Near adjoining to it stands the Palace 

 Royal; and over against it, another designed for the lod- 

 ging of ambassadors. Both the one and the other, with 

 very large gardens behind them, were built at the char- 

 ges of" that renowiied monarch. Besides that, there is 

 ia the middle a void space for their carousals, and other 

 exercises on horseback." Sir John Chard in, p. 412, 

 413. London edit. 1686. See CARAVANSERA. 



CHINESE ARCHITECTURE. 



Before leaving Asia, we must advert to the architec- 

 ture of a people, singular in many respects, placed at the 

 eastern extremity of the Old World, and far removed 

 from the restless activity and ambition of Araba and Eu- 

 ropeans. The extensive and populous empire of China 

 has long remained stationary, with regard to customs, 

 arts, and sciences. The practice of its architecture Las 

 been too long established, and our intercourse with the 

 country too recent, to enable us to trace any account of 

 its origin ; but the general principles of its construction 

 have evidently been taken from the tent. Its citiei are 

 only large encampments. In each individual building, 

 the outlines of its form, its numerous small parts, its 

 slender columns and slight covering, are all measured and 

 modelled by the tent. 



During the last two centuries, China has, however, 

 been frequently visited by men of talents and observation, 

 who, in spite of the jealousy of its government, and the 

 prejudice* of its inhabitants, have acquired and communi- 

 cated minute and satisfactory accounts of the practice of 

 its architecture. The authors from whom we shall chief- 

 ly select information, are, Duhalde, Le Compte, Cham- 

 bers, and Barrow. 



From Sir William Chambers we learn, that there are 

 temples of various dimensions and forms. 1. Some very 

 small, consisting of one apartment only. 2. Having a 

 court, surrounded by a gallery leading to a ting (or large 

 apartment) containing idols. 3. Composed of several 

 courts, encircled by galleries, wherein Bonzes have their 

 Ci.ll>. and the idoU their halls; these last are more pro- 

 j erly convents. 4. The lofty tower, or Taa. All these 

 are known by the i.ame of Pagoda. 



The first object in the pagoda of Ho-nang, in the 

 south suburb of Conan, is an extensive court, where an 

 avenue formed by three rows of trees conducts to a ves- 

 tibule, which is open, and ascended by steps. This is 

 succeeded by a second vestibule, cocta:a.ng four colossal 

 statues, composed of a sort of stucco representing mar- 

 ble ; they are seated, and have in their har.ds various sym- 

 bols. This last vestibule leadi to a large court, encom- 

 pasntd by colonnades and celU for the Bonzes, and ha- 

 ving in the middle four pavilions or temples, two stories 

 high, filled with idols, before which the Bonzes perform 

 their religious rites. In the corners of the court are also 

 four pavilions, where the superior Bonzes reside. Be- 

 hind the colonnades, between the cells, are four halls 

 which contain idols. Near the middle of the length of 

 ihi large court, two smaller courts surrounded with 

 buildings are projected, of which those on one side serve 

 for kitchens and refectories, and those on the other for 

 hospitals. The forms of the pavilions are various. The 

 .rlU of the Bonzes are very small, and have no light ex- 



VOI.. VI. PAKT H. 



Sir William 

 Clumbert. 



Figoda of 

 jnjf. 



cept what is admitted by the door. The pavilions' and Practice, 

 their pillars, as well as those of the colonnades, are of '* T~~* 

 wood, with marble bases. All the buildings are covered 

 with tiles of coarse porcelain, painted green and varnished. 



This disposition is common to a'l temples of this sort ; This dispo- 

 and by omitting the pavilions in the middle of the great sition corn- 

 court, it bears a near resemblance to most Chinese edi- mon - 

 Sees of importance. The palaces of the emperor, prin- 

 ces of the blood, mandarins, and Kong-Quaen, or col- 

 leges of letters, are all nearly of the same form. 



To the lofty lowers the Chinese give the name of Lofty tow. 

 tans; but they are known to Europeans by the name r $or l-us. 

 of pagtidits. Duhalde says, they are so common, as, in 

 some provinces, to be met with in every city and large 

 town, and even in the villages. The most celebrated 

 are the Porcelaine Tower at Nang-king, and that at Porcelain 

 Tong-Tschang Fou. Of the former, from Duhalde tower of 

 (Vol. I. p. 129,) we learn, that this tower, unquestion- N^S' 1 " 

 ably the tallest and most elegant in China, has eight 

 faces, each 15 feet in breadth, and is 20 Chinese toises 

 (200 feet French) in height. It is divided into nine 

 stories, by floorings within, and cornices without, which 

 support small roofs covered with glazed tiles of a green 

 colour. From p. 200 of the same volume, we learn al- T ong _ 

 so, that the tower at Tong-Tschang-Fou consists of TscHang 

 eight stories ; that its outside is of porcelain, decorated Fou. 

 with various figures ; that the interior is lined with high- 

 ly polished marbles of different colours ; that a staircase, 

 formed in the thickness of the wall, leads to the several 

 stories ; and that at each story there is, on the outside, a 

 marble gallery quite round the tower, protected by lat- 

 tices of gilt iron. At each corner of these galleries 

 small bells are suspended. These octagonal towers di- 

 minish as they ascend, as well in the height as in the 

 breadth of each story ; arci, in general, the apex of thi> 

 edifice supports a long pole, encompassed by a number 

 of iron rings, and secured by eight chains fastened at one 

 end to the top of the pole, and at the other end to the 

 angles of the upper roof. In some of these towers, the 

 stain are in the inside in the middle of octagonal cham- 

 bers, and the cornices consist of a fillet and large cavetto, 

 decorated with representations of the scales of fishes, 

 an ornament very common in China. 



In Plate CLv. is given an elevation of a Taa or pago- PI.AH 

 da of this sort, which is situated upon the shore of Ta-no CLV. 

 (great river,) between Canton and Hoang-Pour. 



Respecting the imperial palace, Duhalde furnishes a Imperial 

 description given by a missionary whu was admitted in- palace, 

 to the presence of the emperor in his own apartment?, 

 of which the following is the substance : The southern 

 gate never being opened but for the emperor, he enter- 

 ed by a western gate into a court which lay to the 

 south of the palace. Its form was a double square ; at 

 each extremity was an edifice of an oblong form, two 

 stories high ; the lower story having three openings like 

 the gates of a city, the court from north to south was 

 more than 200 geometrical paces ; it was paved with 

 coarse bricks laid on edge, and intersected by walks 

 paved with large flat stones. In passing from this to a 

 second court, a canal lying east and west was crossed- 

 by one of six bridges of white marble, erected near its 

 middle, and facing four vaulted gateways, which are 

 surmounted by a large platform or turret, and upwards 

 of 20 geometrical paces in breadth. At the entrance of 

 the bridge leading to the middle gateway were two large 

 round columns of white marble, placed on pedestals, in- 

 closed by a balustrade of the same material, and having 



4E 



