What is the development history of ancient Chinese architecture?
The development history of Chinese ancient architectural characteristics.
China's original buildings are "Mao Ci earth steps" with little artificial decoration. Their colors are mostly the true colors of grass, wood and earth building materials, which are primitive and simple. With the improvement of social productivity and the enhancement of people's aesthetic awareness, paints such as red clay, white clay, and clam shell ash are used on buildings for decoration and protection. Later, pigments such as stone green, cinnabar, and ocher appeared. At first, people mostly based on color preferences, totem symbols, Feng Shui, etc. Paint the building red, white, black and yellow.
Due to the emergence of the stage, the rulers gave the colors on the buildings class content, which was stipulated in the Book of Rites: "Ying. The princes of Tianzi Dan are dark, and the officials are blue and earthy." The consciousness of these ruling classes The form is clearly reflected in the grade and color of the building. In the palaces of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the pillars were mostly red and the walls were white. The "hall" and front eaves of the palace were mostly decorated with colorful "brocade quilt hall" curtains, wall coverings and other embroideries and paintings, making the rulers' The architecture is noble, luxurious and magnificent. The Zhou Dynasty also stipulated that green, red, yellow, white and black were the correct colors. Palaces, pillars, walls, and platform bases are mostly painted red. This tradition of using red as a noble color has continued. Judging from the tile patterns unearthed during the Warring States Period, green dragon, white tiger, red bird, and black dragon were used in the east, west, south, and north respectively. It can be inferred that black, white, red, and yellow were used in architecture at that time to represent different directions. At this time, colorful paintings appeared on the beams of the building, making the building more colorful.
The palaces and official buildings of the Han Dynasty also mostly used red. There are a large number of written records of "Dan Ying", "Zhu Que" and "Dan Qi". In the Han Dynasty, apart from the relatively simple interiors of ordinary folk houses made of bricks and mud wood, the palaces and terraces were extremely magnificent. The ceiling is generally green, the pillars are yellow, red, gold, and blue, and the columns and walls are red or bright red. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Buddhism had a huge influence, and the trend of competing for luxury and splendor was prevalent. The colors are more luxurious than before. Not only are red, green, green, yellow and brown and various layers of dizzy colors used, gold, silver and jade are also required materials. Green and cyan glazed tiles became popular, and dark blue and reddish cyan glazed tiles began to be used. From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the exposed parts of the wooden structures of buildings were all painted with vermilion, and the walls were painted with white powder. A combination of red and white was used. The red and white set off, bright and pleasing to the eye, and the simple and bright color sense is its characteristic.
Since the Han Dynasty, red has taken a back seat to yellow in terms of hierarchy. The combination and contrast of cyan, red, white, black and yellow colors have also been used to create "Tongxuan Purple Pillars" and "Danqi Ethereal Wall". , "green pillars and red pillars" with many changing architectural color combinations. The theoretical definition of the patterns that constitute architectural color paintings is: "Green and red are called writing, red and white are called seals, white and black are called embroidery, black and green are called embroidery, and five colors are called embroidery."
Since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, with the emergence and use of glazed tiles on roofs, yellow has become the most noble color. Palaces, temples, and official residences in the Sui and Tang Dynasties mostly used red columns, white walls, and beams with colorful paintings. The roofs were made of gray tiles, black tiles, and colored glazed tiles. "Trimmed" roofs also appeared, enriching the color changes of the roofs.
The Song Dynasty liked lightness and elegance, focusing on expressing taste. The color palette of architectural paintings and interior decorations pursued stability and simplicity, which was influenced by the Confucian and Zen philosophical thoughts of the Song Dynasty. During this period, components were often carved and decorated, with green and green paintings, red and gold decoration, white stone bases, and red walls and yellow tiles.
The palaces after the Song and Yuan Dynasties used white stone bases, red walls, red pillars, doors and windows, yellow and green glazed tile roofs, and "multicolored decorations", "milled jade decorations", and "green overlapping decorations" under the eaves. Color painting techniques such as "halo edge decoration" strengthened the contrast between warm and cold colors in the shadows of buildings. This practice has always influenced the Ming and Qing Dynasties. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the architectural color hierarchy was more strict and distinct. The highest color of glazed tiles was yellow, followed by green, and there were also blue, purple, black and white colors with different uses. These colorful glazed tiles form the soft curves of the roofs of ancient Chinese buildings, and together with the colorful ridges and animal kisses, they constitute the most prominent and beautiful features of ancient Chinese buildings.
The white walls, gray tiles, green and maroon beams of ancient Chinese residences form a sharp color contrast with the natural environment. This contrast further highlights the natural, simple, beautiful and elegant style of the residences.
The white platform, red walls and yellow tiles of ancient Chinese royal buildings echo the blue sky and green trees, forming a strong contrast of primary colors. The warm-colored buildings and the cool-colored paintings under the eaves form a contrast between warm and cold colors, creating a magnificent color style. Among them, the use of color in the architecture of the Forbidden City is particularly typical.