ancient and traditional Chinese buildings have something of
a curved, swooped appearance, rather than the appearance of
boxes, triangles, and other geometric shapes characteristic of
Western architecture. One of the chief innovations of ancient
Chinese architecture was development of the corbel bracket.
A corbel is any kind of projecting support that extends out-
ward from a building’s roofl ine. Th e corbel can be decorated,
and it was the use of corbels on ancient Chinese buildings
that gave the roofs their distinctive style.
Th e most dominant form of architecture that survives
from ancient China is imperial architecture, referring to
structures associated with ruling dynasties. Rulers, of course,
had access to immense funds to build huge mausoleums
(tombs) and palaces, and they could command the eff orts of
literally thousands of architects and builders as well as slaves
and prisoners of war to perform the actual labor. Although
many ancient buildings in China were constructed of stone
and even of metals, most were constructed with wood, which
was plentiful. But because wood is a nondurable material,
most of the ancient structures archaeologists have studied
exist only in ruins. In many cases, archaeologists have only
foundations to study.
Tombs and mausoleums were prominent structures in
ancient China. For many centuries Chinese imperial rulers
constructed elaborate tombs and mausoleums for themselves,
and these structures are scattered about China since diff erent
dynasties ruled from diff erent capital cities. Employing the
principles of feng shui, they typically backed these structures
up against hills and mountains, with the entrance looking
out over a plain. Usually, a prominent feature was a Shendao,
meaning “the Sacred Way.” Th is was a broad, long entrance
leading to the tomb. Guarding the tomb would typically be
rows of statues of humans and animals. Along with the tomb
would be other elaborate structures designed to enhance the
dignity and power of the deceased.
Before arriving at his tomb, however, an ancient Chinese
ruler would occupy a royal palace. As noted, these and other
structures in ancient China were oft en built with wood, so
they employed massive beams and posts that transferred the
weight of the structure to the ground. Th e earliest such struc-
tures were painted primarily to protect the wood from the
elements, but over time painting became much more elabo-
rate, colorful, and decorative. One of the most famous palace
complexes in China, built for the emperor Qin Shi Huang
more than 2,000 years ago during the Qin Dynasty (221–207
b.c.e.), is called the Epanggong Palace. (Gong was the Chinese
word for palace, though depending on the context it could
also mean simply “home.”) Th e complex’s Front Palace was
immense, capable of holding many thousands of people and
covering an area of about 861,000 square feet. (By compari-
son, a football fi eld, including the end zones, covers 57,600
square feet.) Another prominent set of palaces included those
of the Western Han Dynasty (202 b.c.e.–9 c.e.), collectively
referred to as Weiyanggong, which had some 40 palaces with-
in an area measuring just 6.8 miles across.
Much of the imperial architecture of ancient China in-
corporated the number 9, which had special meaning. Ac-
cording to the principles of yin and yang, yin represented
even numbers, while yang represented odd numbers. Odd
numbers were thought of as masculine, while even numbers
were considered feminine. To display their power (and mas-
culinity), ancient Chinese emperors insisted on designs that
incorporated 9, the largest odd number less than 10, and its
multiples. Th us, for example, ancient temples and palaces
were oft en built with nine sections, and gates were oft en built
with various materials, including lumbar and stone, arranged
in nine columns and nine rows. Another common feature on
ancient Chinese palaces was the depiction of dragons and
phoenixes. Th ese fi gures were totems, or personal emblems,
and they represented the emperor and his wife or consort.
Columns, screens, walls, and other elements were painted or
carved with representations of dragons and phoenixes.
Of nearly equal importance in ancient China were tem-
ples and other structures with religious signifi cance, such as
pagodas. It is estimated that during the Northern Wei Dynas-
ty (386–535 c.e.), some 30,000 temples were built throughout
China under orders from the emperor. Many of these temples
were built with as much splendor as imperial palaces, and
many were built in a shape that resembled that of a mush-
room, suggesting the concept of rapid growth.
Like palaces, temples were extremely symmetrical, with
the building balanced on a central axis and facing south. On
the fl anks of the temple proper were annexes and other build-
ings, again constructed with great symmetry and balance.
Temples typically included an elaborate gate, a “heavenly
king hall,” and a library, as well as more practical elements
such as dormitories, kitchens, dining halls, and rooms for
receiving visitors. Also prominent in China are some 3,000
existing pagodas, which were built with various materials,
including wood, stone, brick, iron, and bronze. Some of these
pagodas are as high as 130 feet. Most are multistoried, and
they were built as religious shrines, memorials, or temples. In
many cases a temple was constructed below the pagoda.
One of the most famous Chinese architectural achieve-
ments is the Great Wall of China, the world’s longest artifi cial
structure at nearly 4,000 miles. However, the Great Wall that
exists today is only one of fi ve diff erent walls built by the Chi-
nese. Th e fi rst, made primarily of rammed earth, was built
during the Qin Dynasty in 208 b.c.e. Very little of this fi rst
wall remains intact, though archaeologists have discovered
remains of it along with the remains of watchtowers con-
structed along its length. Th e wall was not built as a single
project; rather, construction was a matter of joining together
a number of regional walls primarily to mark China’s north-
ern boundary at the time. Most of the laborers who built the
wall were slaves, prisoners of war, and political prisoners,
and it is estimated that up to a million of them died during
the wall’s construction, giving the wall the nickname “the
long graveyard.” A second wall, built during the Han Dy-
nasty (202 b.c.e.–220 c.e.) during the fi rst century b.c.e., wasarchitecture: Asia and the Pacific 67