Editing Chinese architecture (section)

===Materials and history===
[[File:Earthenware architecture models, Eastern Han Dynasty, 3.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Models of watchtowers and other buildings made during the [[Eastern Han dynasty]] (AD 25–220); while these models were made of ceramics, the real versions were made of easily perishable wood and have not survived.]]
Wood was typically utilised as a primary building material. Also, Chinese culture holds that life connects with nature and that humans should interact with animated things. By contrast stone was associated with the homes of the dead.<ref>Li, Lin; Tang, Lei; Zhu, Haihong; Zhang, Hang; Yang, Fan; and Wenmin Qin (2017). ''Semantic 3D Modeling Based on CityGML for Ancient Chinese-Style Architectural Roofs of Digital Heritage'' (http://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/6/5/132/htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180609035251/http://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/6/5/132/htm |date=9 June 2018 }}). Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.</ref> However, unlike other building materials, wooden structures are less durable. The [[Songyue Pagoda]] (built in 523) is China's oldest extant ''pagoda''; its use of [[brick]] instead of wood allowed it to endure across the centuries. From the [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907) onwards, brick and stone architecture gradually became more common. The earliest examples of this transition can be seen in building projects such as the [[Zhaozhou Bridge]] completed in 605 or the [[Xumi Pagoda]] built in 636. Some stone and brick architecture was used in subterranean tomb architecture of earlier dynasties.

[[File:Gao Yi Que2.jpg|thumb|200px|A stone-carved pillar-gate, or ''[[que (tower)|que]]'' (闕), {{convert|6|m|ft|abbr=on}} in total height, located at the tomb of Gao Yi in Ya'an, [[Sichuan]] province, [[Eastern Han dynasty]] (25–220 AD);<ref>Liu, Xujie (2002). "The Qin and Han Dynasties" in ''Chinese Architecture'', 33–60. Edited by Nancy S. Steinhardt. New Haven: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|0-300-09559-7}}. Page 55.</ref> notice the stone-carved decorations of roof [[tile]] eaves, despite the fact that Han dynasty stone ''que'' (part of the walled structures around tomb entrances) lacked wooden or ceramic components (but often imitated wooden buildings with ceramic roof tiles).<ref>Steinhardt, Nancy N. (2005). "Pleasure tower model," in Recarving China's Past: Art, Archaeology, and Architecture of the 'Wu Family Shrines', 275–281. Edited by Naomi Noble Richard. New Haven and London: Yale University Press and [[Princeton University Art Museum]]. {{ISBN|0-300-10797-8}}. Pages 279–280.</ref>]]
[[File:Han Dynasty Granary west of Dunhuang.jpg|thumb|These [[rammed earth]] ruins of a [[granary]] in Hecang Fortress (Chinese: 河仓城;  Pinyin: Hécāngchéng), located ~11 km (7 miles) northeast of the [[Yumen Pass]], were built during the [[Western Han]] (202 BC – 9 AD) and significantly rebuilt during the [[Western Jin]] (280–316 AD).<ref>Wang Xudang, [[Li Zuixiong]], and Zhang Lu (2010). "Condition, Conservation, and Reinforcement of the Yumen Pass and Hecang Earthen Ruins Near Dunhuang", in Neville Agnew (ed), ''Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites, Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, People's Republic of China, June 28 – July 3, 2004'', 351–357. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, J. Paul Getty Trust. {{ISBN|978-1-60606-013-1}}, pp 351–352.</ref>]]
In the early 20th century no known fully wood-constructed Tang dynasty buildings still existed; the oldest so far discovered was the 1931 find of Guanyin Pavilion at [[Dule Monastery]], dated 984 during the Song dynasty.<ref name="steinhardt 2004 228">Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. "The Tang Architectural Icon and the Politics of Chinese Architectural History," ''The Art Bulletin'' (Volume 86, Number 2, 2004): 228–254. Page 228.</ref> Later architectural historians [[Liang Sicheng]], Lin Huiyin, Mo Zongjiang, discovered that the Great East Hall of [[Foguang Temple]] on [[Mount Wutai]] in [[Shanxi]] dated to 857.<ref name="steinhardt 2004 228"/> The ground floor of this monastic hall measures {{convert|34|by|17.66|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="steinhardt 2004 233">Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. "The Tang Architectural Icon and the Politics of Chinese Architectural History," ''The Art Bulletin'' (Volume 86, Number 2, 2004): 228–254. Page 233.</ref> The main hall of nearby [[Nanchan Temple (Wutai)|Nanchan Temple]] on Mount Wutai was later dated to 782.<ref name="steinhardt 228 229">Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. "The Tang Architectural Icon and the politics of Chinese Architectural History," ''The Art Bulletin'' (Volume 86, Number 2, 2004): 228–254. Page 228–229.</ref> Six Tang era wooden buildings had been found by the 21st century.<ref name="steinhardt 2004 238">Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. "The Tang Architectural Icon and the Politics of Chinese Architectural History," ''The Art Bulletin'' (Volume 86, Number 2, 2004): 228–254. Page 238.</ref> The oldest intact fully wooden pagoda is the [[Pagoda of Fogong Temple]] of the [[Liao dynasty]], located in Ying County of [[Shanxi]]. While the East Hall of Foguang Temple features seven types of [[Dougong|bracket arms]] in its construction, the 11th-century Pagoda of Fogong Temple features fifty-four.<ref name="steinhardt 1994 13">Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. "Liao: An Architectural Tradition in the Making," Artibus Asiae (Volume 54, Number 1/2, 1994): 5–39. Page 13.</ref>
[[File:Great wall of qi 2008 07 14.jpg|right|thumb|Remnants of the [[Great Wall of Qi]] on Dafeng Mountain, Changqing District, [[Jinan]], which was once part of the ancient [[Qi (state)|State of Qi]] during the [[Warring States period]] (475–221 BC).]]
[[File:Peking Great Wall-20071019-RM-113742.jpg|thumb|The [[Great Wall of China]] at Mutianyu, near Beijing, built during the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644)]]
The earliest walls and platforms used [[rammed earth]] construction. Ancient sections of the [[Great Wall of China]] used brick and stone, although the brick and stone Great Wall seen today is a [[Ming dynasty]] renovation.

Buildings for public use and for elites usually consisted of earth mixed with bricks or stones on raised platforms which allowed them to survive. The earliest of this sort of construction was during the [[Shang dynasty]] ({{circa|1600}} – 1046 BCE)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chinese Architecture|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Chinese_Architecture/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513011943/https://www.worldhistory.org/Chinese_Architecture/ |archive-date=13 May 2021 }}</ref>