History of Chinese Architecture: Philosophy and Principles
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 มิ.ย. 2024
- Hi friends, here's part 2 of my "course notes" from a Tsinghua University online course called History of Chinese architecture. This part is focused on the guiding philosophy and principles ~
Part 1: • History of Chinese Arc...
The interesting paper I mentioned in the video: science.sciencemag.org/conten...
Thank you very much. As an architecture student, I find it very important and useful. Not much is taught about Chinese architecture even in Asia. I really love to know more about Chinese architecture. China ha the great history and is full of architecture projects in the past. I would love to visit China and practice for some years. Thank you!
Thank you! Your work is precious, because as you said before, there is so little information about Chinese architecture in English (or Russian) and it is so wonderful to have a possibility to hear the summery of lectures of Chinese professor.
And by the way, the phylosophy of Chinese architecture is very fascinating.
So well scripted and beautifully presented. It highlights the subtle effects of eurocentrism, and how that can draw appreciation away from chinese architecture, and thus chinese history. As an asian studying in a western education system, I found that this presentation illuminated many precious concepts, and has motivated me to learn more about my heritage. Much appreciated!! You are very well spoken and clearly educated.
I see old structures are being rebuilt now. Plenty of amazing structures I have seen that match europe. If daming palace is completed, will definitely show how developed china was over thousand years ago. Also weiyang palace, largest ever built in world history
At 6:02. I'd like to push back on this. The most monumental urban layout I've ever experienced was in Beijing--and I've been to Paris, Washington D.C. and Rome! I started at 前门 south of Tiananmen Square. Then I kept going in a straight line through the square, then 天安门, then 午门, then through the central axis of the Forbidden City. Then I finally arrived at 神武门, exited it, and went up the hill in Jingshan Park. All on that same straight line. Yet I could've kept going north of Jingshan Park on that same straight line, to the Drum Tower and Di'anmen. Or south from 前门 on that very same straight line to the Temple of Heaven and Yongdingmen. It was very clear why that straight line was there--to honor and worship the emperor, whose throne stood at roughly the middle of that VERY LONG straight line, under the roof of 太和殿. So...yeah...I don't think the Ming and Qing emperors really followed this "humility" line from Confucius. Because this "imperial Beijing axis" put the Paris axis, from La Defense to the Arc de Triomphe to the Champs Elysee to the Louvre, to utter shame. Even the French kings and emperors didn't go this far in worshipping their mighty selves through urban layout. LOL.
At 0:46. Oh, the Chinese built monumentally. The largest palace in recorded history was built in the Han Dynasty, in Chang'an. This was roughly at the same time the Roman Forum and the Colosseum were being built in Europe. The Weiyang Palace was apparently 7x the size of the present Forbidden City in Beijing. It survived for centuries, up until the end of the Tang Dynasty, when it went up in a giant fire during a sacking of Chang'an by marauders. That's the danger of building all-wooden structures, even the gigantic, monumental ones--they go up in smoke so easily.
My purpose here is mainly for minecraft research, but two videos in, and you've been an invaluable asset. Thank you for all of this :)
Hello! How are you? I hope you're doing great!
I'm a Brazilian, Visual Arts student, and I'm currently doing an animated short for a story I'm writing, set in Han Dynasty China. I've always had a hard time with backdrops and architecture when it comes to drawing, and didn't even know where to start. I decided to look up some videos about Chinese architecture, and came across your series, and it's great! You break things up in such an easygoing way, I feel much more comfortable to get to working. Thank you for your content, I wish you a lot of success, you're a lovely person!
At last after half a century. Now i am listening to an english speaking chinese lady telling me all about Chinese architecture. Wow! I have gone high and low searching for an answer. Thank you Ninja Whale.
Haha I’m really glad to hear that my videos were useful to you in some way! ^__^
I'm still watching the video but as you mentioned the difference between the luxury (or lack thereof) in architecture, it reminded me of a time when Confucianism and Legalism had different forces in China. I am taking this class on Chinese Dynasties, and I will probably have to review it a couple of times to fix information properly, but I have a feeling that during the time Legalism was stronger than Confucianism, they were more focused on power, which if we think about it, the ostentatious side of power is through big palaces and such, right?
It also reminded me of this specific time when Wu Qi went to the Kingdom of Chu, if I am not mistaken, it was there where he became a minister and counseled the Emperor by saying the nobility had too much wealth accumulated, while the kingdom wasn't that strong military wise (Wu Qi's expertise). The Emperor not only took a lot of their privileges, but also sent the nobles to the country, which makes me think if such nuances in architecture aren't because of events like this. Not for all cases, but you know, specificities here and there.
Anyway, the information is still a little fuzzy in my head, so feel free to correct me 😊
/Edit: I wanted to watch everything in case you were gonna answer my question, but! Is there a reason why the houses are kinda like build as squares, with an "empty" space in the middle? The rooms seem to be side by side while drawing the contour of a square. Do you think this is a reflection of the Yin Yang concept or is there a different reason for that? I see this type of house a lot (think of Farewell My Concubine, the movie with Leslie Cheung, not the opera) and I always wondered why is it built like that.
Also, in general, I think the luxury of Chinese architecture lies in the details rather than the construction itself. But that's something I would rather call it "opinion" haha.
Thank you for another great video! 💞
Had the spontaneous urge to learn more about architecture and these have been absolutely fascinating, thank you so much for sharing! I honestly have never though much about architecture before, but in watching a collection of other videos that were focused on Roman and Venetian styles and how they've influenced western design, I got curious (in exactly the way you talked about in the last video) why I knew so little about Chinese architecture, and these are just wonderful accessible videos answers the exact questions I was asking, and even giving more context that I hadn't known I was looking for!
Thank you so much for sharing knowledge. Very informative. I am a Chinese but I don't know much about it.
thanks for the encouragement, and im glad you liked the video! :)
One of the best videos I watched on TH-cam. Thank you very much!
Thank you for your hard work!
At 3:41. Well, that makes sense when you plug this architectural philosophy of "building for sustenance for humans 'on this side'" with Confucianism. Confucius and his philosophy really emphasizes the here and now, within the span of realistic human lifespans, not what lay beyond death, which tended to be an obsession of the Greco-Romans and the Christian Europeans. And now Chinese imperial architecture--guided by Confucian principles--makes sense.
This gives me such a revelation that I never thought about before. The humble architecture actually reflects the moral, ethics, etc. Really interesting.
Ahhhhhh thank you ray!! Yes!! This was the most enlightening part of the course so far for me as well!! glad u enjoyed it ^___^
Thank you so much! I love your videos. I find them very insightful and well articulated. I enjoy watching them. Hope you make more.
Interesting to hear about Confucian frugality vs impressive structures like 天坛!
Ancient is a relative term - I highly recommend looking at both Megalithic sites, and Megalithic Art! Depending on how far you have looked at Chinese material culture, I promise you will make discoveries that will boggle your lovely mind.
This is very useful and you explained it clearly. Thank you so much!
I’m so happy that the vid was useful!
Thanks for making videos !
I feel that this coarse is something that is lacking in the knowledge of western institutions. I am grateful for your explanations. I wish I knew this when in china I would have been able to look at the buildings differently
感觉这一期你应该准备了挺长时间的，谢谢你的视频，真的涨知识了。
哈哈哈哈这次的参考资料对我来说确实比之前的难懂😂, 谢谢支持～ 很高兴你喜欢这个视频～～
Thanks for your excellent videos! One question I keep wondering is, Why the uplifted corners on East Asian buildings? I find it so beautiful and graceful, but wonder specifically if there was also a practical reason. Of course, if it was just about grace and beauty, who could take issue with that?
ooooooo thank you! will have to do some searching and get back to you on that -- definitely a newbie to this area haha
I do still have curiosity on chinese arquitecture. You may consider the followings for future videos :). Look, I am from a tropical central american country and it is a curious for me:
1. Where the houses warm? China has the winter season, with snow (at least I believe so). I think the walls are not that wide as in the Occidental Europe. And moreover, materials are "fresh": wood and probably bamboo. I have not idea the indeed materials used to traditional walls.
2. Is the roof also made of wood? I have never been in China, but traditional roofs looks gorgeous. Is the roof also design for winter (snow)?
3. Do they used to use nail to join the pieces of wood, or was it by "fitting" each piece? I am might referring to method of construction 😅.
Thank you for your video!
Aaaaa thank you so much for these amazing questions! Sorry for the late response -- was pretty worn out and didn't surf the net much over the holidays.
These are questions that I also don't know the answer to and would love to find out!! My intuition is that there were regional differences in architecture, but hopefully will be able to provide better answers in a future video after I do some reading!! So lovely to meet people with similar interests living in a different place! :)
I mean....they would not make the walls that way in cold regions if it did not work and they froze lol.....there was definitely stone buildings, just less common.
chinese architecture are truly magnificent grand
a marveous presentation about chinese architecture.
Thank you 🥺 I take no credit because I basically just re-presented an online class, but I’m glad it was helpful for you!
Just one thing, roman buildings were not only build for gods they were build for people too like the roman Baths our the aqueducts. @ninja_whale .
Such a great video. Love it! Thank you for sharing this information. ¡Gracias!
thanks for the encouragement; im glad you liked it! :)
Your quote from Confucius!!! What is the word in the fourth place in lines 2, 3 & 4 - and if you removed one vertical element, what does it mean? It is the character that is written on one side of my Moon bridge pendant, and I would most dearly love to know the meaning of it, if it is not lost in prehistory.
⭐️
If I walk though the forests for 4 kilometers, I find myself before the only engraved dolmen (Megalithic chamber-tomb) known in the Limousin Region of France. Have you visited Megalithic sites in China, & if so, seen any with extensive engraving? You might have to look closely, or remove some moss, if possible - but the effort is more than worth it.
How long did it take you to put in subtitles?
Hahahhaa quite long >____< maybe a few hours >__< i hope they're helpful hahaha
@@ninja_whale of course they are helpful! thanks for putting them in! i was just wondering how long because a lot of youtubers have complained about how difficult and time-consuming it is to edit and sync subtitles
But i wonder about resources, technology factors.. being able to mine and transport quart, granite.. carving... also tradition, if past kingdoms prized stone they will continue to use stone and make it grander.. if asia prized wood, they couldn't see outside of that either
yep, i totally agree, also this video is a generalization haha i totally agree that there are many many factors at play, and the chinese did build with other materials as well (esp in the context of temples); I'll show some nice brick pagodas in a coming video ^__^
but you're absolutely right, availability of material and convenience of processing definitely has to do with it, though I do still think philosophy plays a role. In the West, wanting buildings to last for generations likely factored into choosing stone as a material (making the tradeoff with ease of processing), while in China, because it wasn't so important to have buildings last generations, naturally historically people gravitate towards timber, and it becomes a positive feedback, just like you said -- once you start having better and better techniques for working with one material, you prefer to stick to it :) i think there are many many factors at play, and so i totally agree ^__^
@@ninja_whale The whole idea makes me fantasize about China using stones in the past, if they created giant structures, how would it look!
@@AnythingGoals For the use of bricks: the chinese great walls, brick tombs, walled compounds, raised pavillions... to name just a few examples in decreasing order of magnitude...Stone was used massively in non-native achitecture: the multi-storied buddhist pagodas, a direct derivate of the stupa.
配上中文字幕可以作为中国学生学英语的素材，尤其是相关专业的同学
哈哈以我目前的中文水平配中文字幕可能有点困难 😂
美
I really liked this Video, but i have to disagree with you. I think that classical chinese architecture can be extremly monumental. Just in a different way than in classical western architecture. In western architecture is one building the main Focus, while in east asian styles the ensamble if the complex is more Import and monumental
Hi, Thank you so much for the videos, I got a personal question, I know you are Chinese, then why do you call yourself Ninja Whale?
I was asking myself the exact same question, but then it dawned on my that ninjas existed in china long before the were "invented" in Japan, or at least that is what some random chinese legend will have you believe... hahaha
@@1969mmoldovan I couldnt believe I ask this stupid question before. I wasn't trying to say that chinese cant like ninjas, I just want to hear from her the back stories of why she fancies ninjas.
Chinese architecture is so unique to be incomparable to Western architecture. It is pointless to make comparisons. Material method and culture are main determinants.
Like what.
Was your professor Asian?
Don’t move your hands so much! It’s irritating. It doesn’t help me concentrate on what you’re talking about!