Sung Dynasty Architecture
Liuhe Pagoda (Hangzhou, 1165 AD)
The architecture of the Sung Dynasty, beginning in the 900's AD, continued the tradition of Buddhist pagodas. People wanted their pagodas to be tall and thin, with high spires. Buddhist pagodas began to be built of stone. To make them fancier, they had complicated wooden lattices all around them.
An illustration from the Yingzao Fashi
During the Sung Dynasty, in 1103 AD, Lie Jie wrote an important book about architecture, the Yingzao Fashi. The Yingzao Fashi brought together older books about architecture in one book. The Sung emperor Huizong published Lie Jie's book, so that there would be one set of standards for all architects in China. Lie Jie established standard sizes for lumber, and also standard rates of pay for the construction workers.
The Jiquinglou tolou (1400's AD)
During the Southern Sung Dynasty, in the 1100's AD, people in southern China began to live in a new kind of house called a tulou. These were big round buildings made of rammed earth on a stone foundation, and inside they rose high up with many levels of rooms around a central round courtyard. The one in the picture has 53 rooms on each level. Their roofs were of clay tiles. These apartment houses were popular because they were efficient to build and heat, using very little wood, and they also provided safety from bandits.
Another Sung Dynasty pagoda (Hong Kong)
Yuan Dynasty architecture
Main Chinese Architecture page
Main China page
To find out more about ancient Chinese architecture, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
The British Museum Book of Chinese Art, by Jessica Rawson and others (1996). Rawson is a curator at the British Museum, and she uses the collection of the British Museum to illustrate this book. Library Journal calls it "easily the best introductory overview of Chinese art to appear in years".
Art in China (Oxford History of Art Series), by Craig Clunas (1997). Not specifically for kids, but a good introduction to the spirit of Chinese art. Warning: this one is not arranged in chronological order. Instead, it has chapters on sculpture, calligraphy, and so on.
