Being an important component of the Chinese gorgeous culture, the imperial architecture records the great intelligence and creation of the laborious ancient people that had a profound influence on the design of modern architecture at home and abroad. Generally speaking, it features the highest achievement of the Chinese ancient architecture that includes imperial palace, imperial mausoleum and garden architecture.
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 ("dougong"), 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. Black is also a famous color often used in pagodas. They believe the gods inspired the color black to come into the earth. The yellow roof tiles and red walls are visible in this Forbidden City image.
The Imperial Mausoleum Architecture
Architecture of the imperial mausoleum is another important component of Chinese imperial architecture, revealing the imposing majestic manner of royalty. Imperial mausoleum architecture accounts for a major part in ancient Chinese architecture since they usually stand for the highest architectural techniques of the time. Chinese emperors hoped to continue their luxurious imperial life after death and would often force thousands of the nation’s best architects to build these structures. They would withdraw millions, even billions from the exchequer to fund their tombs. Stately mausoleums hence were built to satisfy their greed.
These tombs were always magnificently deluxe and consisted of finest structures of the period. Imperial mausoleums were usually built against hills or mountains and facing plains. Most imperial mausoleums have broad ways called Shenlu (the Sacred Way) at the entrance. Along both sides of the Shenlu, there are stone sculptures of men and animals which guard the tombs. Under huge hills of clay, splendid and superior structures were constructed with fine facilities such as drainage systems.
How they were been built were very much dynasty-influenced, especially the economy, social ideology and taste of the period then. For instance, before the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC-771BC), coffins with exterior wooden enclosure were popular. The Qin and Han Dynasty emphasized very much on large scales and hence, many imperial tombs were built into an earth pyramid with a wide base. Emperor Qin's Tomb is a typical representation of this. The mausoleum of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, Zhao Mausoleum features the characteristics of mausoleum style during the Tang Dynasty, which was to set it against a mountain. The Qing Dynasty is the glorious period in the history of Chinese ancient mausoleum as it added the idea of the harmonious unity of mausoleum construction with nature. The Eastern Qing Tombs, the largest tomb complex in China, is worth visiting if exploring the mausoleum culture of the Qing Dynasty interests you.
The Imperial Palaces Architecture
The long Chinese feudal society saw the construction of numerous palaces, built to satisfy the emperors' extravagant lifestyles and protect the stateliness of their reign. Served as the venue where public affairs were dealt with and where the royal family lived, the construction of imperial palaces emphasized on the splendorous appearance and regular layout. From the E'pang Palace of the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC), Weiyang Palace of the Han Dynasty (206BC-220) to the Forbidden City of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the scale of Chinese imperial palaces became larger and larger. Most of them are axial symmetrical, with splendid buildings standing at the middle axis and smaller attached houses located along both sides.
During the long Chinese history, emperors of different dynasties kept building palaces. Since palaces are where emperors live and practice their reign, palaces of different dynasties integrates essences of Chinese architecture. The famous palace complex, Efanggong built by and for Qin Shi Huang Emperor. It is said that its Front Palace, built more than 2,000 years ago, covered 80,000 square meters and could hold 10,000 people. The Weiyanggong of the Western Han Dynasty had more than 40 palaces within a periphery of 11 kilometers. The Forbidden City, also called the Imperial Palace, which was set up under the reign of the Ming dynasty and still stands intact, covers an area of 720,000 square meters and consists of more than 9900 palaces and other structures. It is the grandest and biggest palace in the world.
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 Imperial China, was heavily used on Imperial architecture, especially on the Imperial Palaces - on the roofs, on the beams and pillars, and on the doors. Dragon and phoenix, called Long and Feng in Chinese respectively, are totems of Chinese people. They were used to represent emperors and their consorts and were the main decorative patterns to be seen on various imperial structures. Palaces, columns, pathways and screen