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16 Comments

BeeGoes Said,
January 26th, 2010 @11:50 pm  

this is wonderful. got the software but never made one. I will now ;thanks

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swd521 Said,
January 27th, 2010 @12:35 am  

Chinese is fancier. With the red & yellow colors. Western is more plain and flatter.

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Anonymous Said,
January 27th, 2010 @12:36 am  

dragon speaker is my most POPULAR book…check it out

mygif
January 27th, 2010 @5:58 pm  

no,very different , the architecture in beijing just like the Forbidden City is very different from the tang and song dynasty architecture ,not to mention before, the style of tang and song architecture is like the japanese architecture .because japan learnt it from china during tang dynasty

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BeeGoes Said,
January 27th, 2010 @7:19 pm  

I love Blurb!

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January 28th, 2010 @12:11 am  

Imperial architecture

The yellow roof tiles and red walls are visible in this Forbidden City image of a building under snow.There were certain architectural features that were reserved solely for buildings built for the Emperor of China. One example is the use of yellow roof tiles; yellow having been the Imperial color, yellow roof tiles still adorn most of the buildings within the Forbidden City. The Temple of Heaven, however, uses blue roof tiles to symbolize the sky. The roofs are almost invariably supported by brackets, a feature shared only with the largest of religious buildings. The wooden columns of the buildings, as well as the surface of the walls, tend to be red in colour.

The Chinese dragon, an emblem reserved for the imperial regime, were heavily used on imperial architecture – on the roofs, on the beams and pillars, and on the doors. Only the buildings used by the imperial family were allowed to have nine gan (space between two columns); only the gates used by the Emperor could have five arches, with the centre one, of course, being reserved for the Emperor himself. The ancient chinese favored the color red. The buildings faced south because the north had a cold wind.

Beijing became the capital of China after the Mongol invasion of the 13th century, completing the easterly migration of the Chinese capital begun since the Jin dynasty, the Ming uprising in 1368 reasserted Chinese authority and fixed Beijing as the seat of imperial power for the next five centuries. The Emperor and the Empress lived in palaces on the central axis of the Forbidden City, the Crown Prince at the eastern side, and the concubines at the back (therefore the numerous imperial concubines were often referred to as "The Back Palace Three Thousand"). However, during the mid-Qing Dynasty, the Emperor's residence was moved to the western side of the complex. It is misleading to speak of an axis in the Western sense of a visual perspective ordering facades, rather the Chinese axis is a line of privilege, usually built upon, regulating access – there are no vistas, but a series of gates and pavilions.

Numerology heavily influenced Imperial Architecture, hence the use of nine in much of construction (nine being the greatest number) and reason why The Forbidden City in Beijing is said to have 9,999.5 rooms – just short of the mythical 10,000 rooms in heaven. The importance of the East (the direction of the rising sun) in orienting and siting Imperial buildings is a form of solar worship found in many ancient cultures, where the notion of Ruler is affiliated with the Sun.

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Supman Said,
January 28th, 2010 @3:49 am  

Bank of China by I.M. Pei in Hong Kong.

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U Hala Z Said,
January 28th, 2010 @8:26 pm  

are they doing a good job of "preserving" the Tibetans?

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BeeGoes Said,
January 28th, 2010 @8:41 pm  

This is fantastic! Can’t wait to get started on mine.

mygif
January 29th, 2010 @12:54 am  

They are very superstitious. The shapes promote good fortune.

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a giver Said,
January 29th, 2010 @1:30 am  

There are loads of ancient Chinese architecture, but the thing is, the Chinese government prefers to showcase its 'western buildings' as opposed to its ancient and traditional buildings.

Also, during revolutions, the winning leaders would destroy the buildings and try to change the culture of people's everyday life, such as forcing people to wear a specific garment, have a certain hairstyle etc.

Having said that, I think you will find that the number of Chinese ancient architecture exceeds those of Korea's and Japan's. People only think of the east of China and forget about the rural areas, which have well-preserved culture and buildings.

In addition, Chinese people prefer to look forward rather than to look back, which is the case with Koreans and Japanese.

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HEY!!!:) Said,
January 29th, 2010 @9:01 am  

Ancient Chinese buildings were made of wood. Description of other materials used see section on "Foundation" and "Wooden Frame" Timber was readily available and easily transportable. So no special tools were used. ohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Chinese_wooden_architecture
And http://www.xabusiness.com/china-resources/ancient-china-architecture.htm

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BeeGoes Said,
January 29th, 2010 @3:42 pm  

i know right? i had written a book! will you buy it? come and get spoon, the brave and order of cheap!

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BeeGoes Said,
January 29th, 2010 @4:37 pm  

American ingenuity at it’s best. I’m a professional photographer and I’m just floored by this.

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BeeGoes Said,
January 29th, 2010 @4:51 pm  

i made mine, and kids at school are asking for me to order it! did i mention that you keep all the money from the people that ordered it? About there is 600,000 owners of books there and they have money. But there’s catch, you only have 15 days to order it and then they get rid of it.

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