Editing Chinese architecture (section)

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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox art movement
|name = Chinese architecture
|image = {{photomontage
|photo1a = Forbidden City - Beijing (3048773129).jpg
|photo2a = The Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou, China (37825378061).jpg
|photo3a = Iron Pagoda Cropped.jpg
|photo4a = Shanghai_Qingpu_-_Zhujiajiao_IMG_8256_Chenghuang_Miao_Taoist_City_God_Temple.jpg
|size =  300
|color_border = #AAAAAA
|color = #F9F9F9
}}
|caption = Top: The [[Forbidden City]] in Beijing, Middle: The [[Humble Administrator's Garden]] and the [[Iron Pagoda]], Bottom: The Zhujiajiao God Temple
|yearsactive =
|countries =
}}

'''Chinese architecture''' ({{zh|s=中国建筑|t=中國建築|p=Zhōngguó jiànzhú}}) is the embodiment of an [[architectural style]] that has developed over millennia in [[China]] and has influenced architecture throughout [[East Asia]].<ref name="Sturgis Press">{{cite book |author1=L. Carrington Goodrich |title=A Short History of the Chinese People |publisher=Sturgis Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1406769760}}</ref><ref name="McCannon">{{cite book |last=McCannon |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tA_3y2XsMMsC |title=Barron's how to Prepare for the AP World History Examination |date=19 March 2018 |publisher=Barron's Educational Series |isbn=9780764118166 |access-date=19 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320105618/https://books.google.com.au/books?id=tA_3y2XsMMsC&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=20 March 2018 |url-status=live |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="Formichi">{{cite book |last=Formichi |first=Chiara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QIiAQAAQBAJ |title=Religious Pluralism, State and Society in Asia |date=1 October 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134575428 |access-date=19 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320044016/https://books.google.com.au/books?id=-QIiAQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=20 March 2018 |url-status=live |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="Winks">{{cite book |last=Winks |first=Robin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u2G63IrFXpgC |title=The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume V: Historiography |date=21 October 1999 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=9780191542411 |access-date=19 March 2018 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Since its emergence during the early ancient era, the structural principles of its architecture have remained largely unchanged. The main changes involved diverse decorative details. Starting with the [[Tang dynasty]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Steinhardt |first=Nancy Shatzman |date=June 2004 |title=The Tang Architectural Icon and the Politics of Chinese Architectural History |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3177416 |journal=The Art Bulletin |volume=86 |issue=2 |pages=228–254 |doi=10.2307/3177416 |jstor=3177416 |issn=0004-3079|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Chinese architecture has had a major influence on the architectural styles of neighbouring East Asian countries such as [[Japanese architecture|Japan]], [[Korean architecture|Korea]], [[Vietnamese architecture|Vietnam]], and [[Mongolian architecture|Mongolia]] in addition to minor influences on the architecture of Southeast and South Asia including the countries of [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]], [[Indonesia]], [[Sri Lanka]],<ref name="Bandaranayake">{{cite book |last=Bandaranayake |first=S. D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tJM3AAAAIAAJ&q=East+Asia |title=Sinhalese Monastic Architecture: The Viháras of Anurádhapura |date=19 March 1974 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9004039929 |access-date=19 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320043956/https://books.google.com.au/books?id=tJM3AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&vq=East+Asia#v=onepage&q=East+Asia&f=false |archive-date=20 March 2018 |url-status=live |via=Google Books}}</ref> [[Thailand]],<ref name="Editions Didier Millet">{{cite book |last1=Sthapitanond |first1=Nithi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hC5TMZ5QTV0C |title=Architecture of Thailand: A Guide to Tradition and Contemporary Forms |last2=Mertens |first2=Brian |date=19 March 2018 |publisher=Editions Didier Millet |isbn=9789814260862 |access-date=19 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320044022/https://books.google.com.au/books?id=hC5TMZ5QTV0C&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=20 March 2018 |url-status=live |via=Google Books}}</ref> [[Laos]], [[Cambodia]], and the [[Philippines]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://openthedorr.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/filipino-chinese-coalitions/|title=Filipino-Chinese Coalitions|last=ddmdomag|date=2013-04-09|website=openthedorr|language=en|access-date=2019-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020171625/http://openthedorr.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/filipino-chinese-coalitions/|archive-date=20 October 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

Chinese architecture is characterized by bilateral symmetry, use of enclosed open spaces, [[feng shui]] (e.g. directional [[Hierarchy|hierarchies]]), a horizontal emphasis, and an allusion to various cosmological, [[myth]]ological or in general symbolic elements. Chinese architecture traditionally classifies structures according to type, ranging from ''[[pagodas]]'' to palaces. Due to the frequent use of [[wood]], a relatively perishable material, as well as few monumental structures built of more durable materials, much historical knowledge of Chinese architecture derives from surviving miniature models in ceramic and published diagrams and specifications.

Although unifying aspects exist, Chinese architecture varies widely based on status or affiliation, such as whether the structures were constructed for emperors, commoners, or for religious purposes. Other variations in Chinese architecture are shown in vernacular styles associated with different [[Geography|geographic]] regions and different ethnic heritages.

{{Blockquote|The architecture of China is as old as Chinese civilization. From every source of information—literary, graphic, exemplary—there is strong evidence testifying to the fact that the Chinese have always enjoyed an indigenous system of construction that has retained its principal characteristics from prehistoric times to the present day. Over the vast area from Chinese Turkistan to Japan, from Manchuria to the northern half of French Indochina, the same system of construction is prevalent; and this was the area of Chinese cultural influence. That this system of construction could perpetuate itself for more than four thousand years over such a vast territory and still remain a living architecture, retaining its principal characteristics in spite of repeated foreign invasions—military, intellectual, and spiritual—is a phenomenon comparable only to the continuity of the civilization of which it is an integral part.|[[Liang Sicheng]]|1984<ref>[[Liang Sicheng]], year 12, ''A pictorial history of Chinese architecture : a study of the development of its structural system and the evolution of its types'', ed. by Wilma Fairbank, Cambridge (Mass.): [[MIT Press]].</ref>}}

In more recent times, China has become the most rapidly modernizing country in the world. In the past few decades, cities like Shanghai have completely changed their skyline, with some of the worlds tallest skyscrapers dotting the horizon. China also has one of the most extensive [[High-speed rail in China|high speed rail networks]], connecting and allowing its large population to travel more efficiently.

Throughout the 20th century, Chinese architects have attempted to bring traditional Chinese designs into [[modern architecture]]. Moreover, the pressure for urban development throughout China requires high speed construction and a greater [[floor area ratio]]: thus, in cities the demand for traditional Chinese buildings (which are normally less than 3 levels) has declined in favor of high-rises. However, the traditional skills of Chinese architecture, including [[carpentry|major and minor carpentry]], [[masonry]], and [[stonemasonry]], are used in the construction of [[vernacular architecture]] in China's rural areas.