◆By Li Youzi

　　Ancient Chinese architecture enjoyed a long history and great achievements, and created many architectural miracles such as the Great Wall. In the process of its development, superior architectural techniques and artistic design were combined to make unique Chinese architecture be one of the three greatest architectural systems.

　　Ancient Chinese architecture features unique timber framework that clearly identifies supporting structure and bounding structure. The top load of a structure will be transferred to its groundwork through its posts, beams, lintels and joists. Walls bear no load and separate space only so that windows and walls will not be restricted to certain locations on the walls.

　　Timber framework decides that colour is the main ornament used on ancient Chinese architecture. At the beginning, paint was used on wood for antisepsis, while later painting became an architectural ornament.

　　In feudal society, the use of colour was restricted according to strict social status classification. Since yellow was deemed noblest colour and green the second, they were often applied on palace painting, which was called Hexicaihua (a kind of Chinese colour painting) in Chinese.

　　Usually, dragons or phoenixes were painted on a green background with massed gold powder or foil. This style of painting would give the structure a clear-cut and a magnificent noble image under the background of a white granite basement. In a unique way, such sharp colour contrasts achieve artistic effects.

　　The sophistication of ancient Chinese Architecture gives it a special place in the architecture of the world. There are magnificent imperial palaces, solemn and breathtaking imperial tombs, mysterious sacrificial and ancestral altars and temples as well as a variety of ordinary dwellings of natural simplicity. Religious buildings are dotted about the country, with a riotous profusion of Buddhist, Taoist and Islamic temples or mosques. On top of all this, city walls and fortifications, civic buildings for miscellaneous purposes are rich in variety and form impressive landmarks.

　　Paifang

　　Paifang, also called Pailou, is an architectural form that is uniquely Chinese. It is an archway, usually made of fine wood or stone, that is painted or ornamented with glazed tiles. Calligraphers are usually requested to write moral inscriptions that are carved into the centre beam.

　　These structures are found in downtown areas, or at the entrances of mausoleums, temples, bridges

　　Paifang are erected in memory of virtuous people, making them one form of memorial architecture, although they can also be built to function as mere decoration.

　　In feudal times, inscriptions carved on the beams of the Paifang that reflected the people's life aspirations.

　　Building Paifang was an important folk ritual in feudal society. The event that marked the erecting of the Paifang was considered a solemn occasion. Ceremonies expressing praise, honour, prayer, commemoration, or blessing would be performed.

　　The completed structure is a perfect representation of the harmony between ancient Chinese architectural modelling art and sculpting art, both of which enjoy long histories and have great artistic value.

　　The Paifang structure also mirrors feudal ethics and traditional norms in ancient China. It acted as a physical manifestation of those ethics and norms. Various Paifang, such as chastity Paifang (exclusively for widows), loyalty Paifang and filial piety Paifang, were set up to give honour to those deserving of it.

　　Paifang are witnesses to history. Many a Paifang was built to commemorate historical events and important historic figures, giving those structures great significance in the study of Chinese history.

　　Paifang have long become a symbol of China. They are valued for their rich connotations and unique art form. They are also a silent evidence of China's ancient customs, China's ancient values, and China's long history.

　　Dwelling houses

　　Traditional villages are familiar primarily as a popular motif in Chinese literature. Now they are to be shown in their full astonishing variety for the first time.

　　The range of colours and forms of ordinary dwellings in China can be traced back over hundreds of years, the astonishing variety bearing clear topological characteristics and having been determined by a broad spectrum of historical conditions.

　　Styles and geometric shapes ranging from the most elementary and primitive to the most luscious and colourful as well as the architectural details are all clearly illustrated. The decorative motifs employed are as varied and as fantastic as the landscape of China itself. The following eight distinctive local dwelling houses are of distinctive features and merit our special attention.

　　Anhui: Scales of tiles and white walls

　　Anhui-style dwelling houses are planned and constructed with the aesthetic concept of "being simple but outshining all the others in the world". They are built solely of brick, wood and stone. With only the black and white contrast and the natural wood grain as a form of expression, there are no special colours lavished on the buildings. Simple as their forms are, they boast a lively and diverse appearance. Courtyards are surrounded by the front hall, the back rooms and the wing rooms. The entire structure is centred on a courtyard with its surrounding buildings and inner open spaces.

　　Most Anhui-style dwelling houses are built close to rivers. People build their houses on a river bank, and sometimes across a brook. The streets between the houses run from east to west and are interspersed with lanes from south to north. Each house has a skylight, a main gate, an entrance hall, a courtyard, a front hall, screen doors, screen windows, roofs and walls with flues for heating. The horse-head gables that stand unevenly on either side of the walls have five layers, signifying "the five sacred mountains looking up to the heaven".

　　South of the Yangtze River: Peaceful families beside brooks and small bridges

　　Ever since ancient times, there has been a very famous saying in China: "Incomparable is the wonder of the Heaven above, but indescribable is the beauty of Suzhou and Hangzhou below." The area south of the Yangtze River is a land of abundant fish and rice production. It has always been the place where rich merchants and officials would gather to live.

　　Dwelling houses here usually cover a very large area. Residences often have two or three parallel axes. The front courtyard and the back courtyard are both decorated with rockeries, flowers and woods. Pavilions and towers are built in such a way as to create a secluded, elegant and refined atmosphere.

　　The area is famous for its numerous rivers and lakes and the liveliest and vivacious spot of the gardens is the part around the water, which embraces the white clouds, the little rockeries, the dark green stones and the swimming fishes. The dwelling houses here, always accompanied by the gardens that form a pleasant contrast with the landscape, embody the tone and mood of the traditional Chinese culture.

　　Although dwelling houses south of the Yangtze River have many carving decorations, there are hardly any colour paintings except a few simple but elegant ones. This gives expression to the cultural characteristics of the area, such as elegance, delicacy and grace.

　　Yunnan: Seal houses

　　In the plateau region of Yunnan, the climate is always warm and spring-like, free from severe cold, snow or frost. However, it is a windy region, so houses there have thick walls and heavy tiles and a square, compact layout, which give them the look of seals, and therefore they are referred to as "seal houses".

　　A seal house is square on a plane figure, with tiled roofs and tamped earth walls, and consists of main rooms, wing rooms and a small yard in the middle. Because there are usually three main rooms, four wing rooms and a small yard eight chi in length, it is conventionally called "four-mains-two-wings with an eight-yard".

　　Most houses in low-lying regions of Yunnan are Ganlan. It is recorded in ancient books that Ganlan are built in mountainous regions that abound in poisonous plants, adders and rats, and are accessed by a ladder. They are supported on bamboo poles erected on a clearing among a groove, with four overlaying roofs of different sizes and light, simple and elegant bamboo walls and staircases.

　　Fujian and Guangdong: The legend of the Hakka people

　　Fujian and Guangdong, rimmed by a long and winding coastline, are mountainous and hilly on their western, northern and southern borders. They are divided into separated areas by rivers that flow into the sea among the hills, and the construction culture of this region differs greatly from area to area. Therefore houses in this region are of richer varieties and more distinct characteristics than elsewhere.

　　Dwelling houses in Fujian are usually tamped earth buildings and castles, red brick and grey brick houses. The tamped earth buildings mainly include such types as the five-phoenix buildings, square buildings and circular buildings, with such variations as crescent buildings.

　　The tamped earth buildings, usually built with ramped clay walls for the whole community, are fortified for defensive purpose, and they are great in number and widely distributed. The tamped earth castles, which are of a special design, are also widely distributed but not so great in number. They come in a variety of shapes and styles, but share the common feature of being compounds surrounded by "bulwarks". Red brick dwelling houses are magnificent, brightly coloured and richly ornamented, while grey brick dwelling houses are of a primitive simplicity and an unadorned elegance.

　　Jiangxi: White walls and blue tiles with interlocking eaves

　　Most Jiangxi dwelling houses are wood-structured and tile-roofed. Some of them even have double eaves. Buildings of this type usually stand very tall. Without exception, the houses have two gabled sloping roofs constructed with the lateral structure bear the weight and the ridgepole and purlins put lengthways.

　　Jiangxi dwelling houses are characterised by their folding courtyards, which occupy a unique place among all the courtyards of Chinese dwelling houses. Buildings of this type utilise flexible canopies to adjust the shade and create a favourable indoor physical environment and more efficient lighting. This concept of dynamic design is also beneficial to the construction of modern courtyards and gardens.

　　The most famous Jiangxi dwelling houses are found in Maoyuan. There are 57 unique ancient houses in Yan Village, Maoyuan County. The layout is described as "all buildings are an integral whole". If it happens to rain or snow, across the halls to the rooms, from the front of the village to the end of it, people will not wet their clothes. The carvings are characterised by delicacy and elegance, presenting a splendid and magnificent sight.

　　Shaanxi: Cave dwellings

　　Shaanxi is a province of vast and thick loess. There have been cave dwellings ever since man lived on this land. The construction of cave dwellings is convenient and can save a lot of time and labour. The interior of caves is cool in summer and warm in winter, which makes them very suitable for people to live in. Cave dwellings are the main forms of dwelling for people both in the clan societies of the Neolithic Age or in the modern town and cities.

　　The loess plateaux have a criss-cross network of gullies of monotonous yellow colour. In order to beautify their lives, people living inside the cave dwellings decorate their home with paper cuts. The windows of cave dwellings may be the most beautiful and exquisite part of the whole cave. According to the pattern of the window lattice, people put paper cuts on them in a pleasing and appropriate way. The window of a cave dwelling provides the main source of light. The paper cuts are pasted on the outside of the window. They look brightly-coloured from the outside and lively, sprightly and comfortable from the inside. In this way, the building can produce a peculiar beauty of form that integrates light, colour and tone.

　　Tibet: Charm of the plateau

　　Traditional Tibetan houses, like other representations of Tibetan culture, have their own distinct characteristics. They are of a dazzling variety, including the pillbox houses in southern Tibet, tents in northern Tibet and wood-framed houses in the wooded areas along the Brahmaputra River, each with its own characteristics, and even cave dwellings, which can be found on the Ali Plateau. There is a long history behind these Tibetan houses, for rich remains of Tibetan construction have been found at the 4,000-year-old Karuo Neolithic site.

　　Pillbox houses are the most typical representatives of the Tibetan style of dwelling houses. Mostly built of stones and timber, they are of a dignified and firm appearance, with a primitive, uninhibited simplicity, distinctly showing their ethnic quality. The outer walls, white-washed or retaining the original colour, form wide patches of white, in stark contrast to the black window frames and stripes of the parapets. They look clear-cut and pretty on a backdrop of the azure sky of the plateau.

　　Sichuan: Houses projecting over the water

　　The Sichuan Basin is a mountainous region, so there is no strict rule governing what direction the door of a house should face, and it may face whatever direction that suits the environment. Courtyards are usually on a miniature scale, and the houses on a mountain are relatively scattered. Therefore you will often find a single house with a courtyard in a cool valley, hidden among lush bamboo and green mountains. With snow-white walls set off by navy blue tiles and shadows of green leaves rocking under low eaves, the house is cosy, bright and pleasant.

　　On the banks of streams or rivers, where it is hard to make foundations on account of the steepness of the ground, people would build houses upon pilings. They are commonly referred to as "houses projecting over the water". They have a special appeal for they command a fine view of both mountains and water. They are either overhanging far beyond their bases or composed of several stories, which give them a remarkable grandeur.