英译丨从燕京之沿革观察中国建筑之进化

本文刊发于《建筑史学刊》2022年第3期

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ARCHITECTURE：A BRIEF HISTORICAL ACCOUNT BASED ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE CITY OF PEKING

CHU CHI-CHIEN

1 CAPITAL PLANS BEFORE CH’IN(255—207 B.C.)

The city of Peking is the work of many centuries. In its various structures and buildings are embodied the artistic standards and workmanship of nearly all the important dynasties. Here among the architectural remains one can still trace an unbroken line of development not only from the founding of the city to the present but also from the earliest attempts at capital-building in the history of China. It is natural, therefore, that an inquiry into the evolution of the city of Peking should best serve as the basis for such a brief study of Chinese architecture as this.

The habit of choosing and building a capital befitting the dignity and power of the ruler must have begun in the remote past. It is not to be expected that capitals in the tribal and feudal times should possess such grandeur and elaborateness as were found in the later imperial capitals. However, Chinese architecture, like all Chinese culture, has followed an unbroken line of tradition, of which the earliest beginnings are usually traceable in the ancient Classics. It may be well, therefore, before proceeding to the city of Peking itself to turn to a paragraph in the Book of Odes, which gives such a vivid account of the building of the new capital by Chou Tai Wang ( 周太王, 1200 B.C.) as follows:

He cheered them on, and placed them on the land,

On left and right their different sites he planned,

Divisions, large and small, soon marked the plain,

And channels, or to irrigate or drain.

From east to west the acres he defined;

Nought that was needed ’scaped his active mind.

He named two officers who should preside

O’er all these labours, and the people guide,

These to direct the building work he calls;

True to the plummet rise the many walls.

They bind the frame-boards, ’till they stand aright,

And rear th’ ancestral temple in its might.

With earth in baskets crowding workmen came,

Which then with shouts they cast into the frame.

There with responsive blows the earth they pound.

And trim and pare until the walls are sound.

At once, five thousand cubits long, these rise,

The drum unheard amidst the toilers cries.

The palace next they built. Its outer gate

Arose with lofty and imposing state.

The inner portal of the court they reared.

With massive pomp. Anon, hard by, appeared

The altar for the Spirits of the land.

Where the State’s greatest movements should be planned.

The ‘outer gate’ corresponds to the T’ien An Men, and the ‘inner portal’ to the Ch’ien Ch’ing Men, both of which are familiar sights in Peking today. 'The Altar for the Spirits of the Land’ was probably the forerunner of the present Temple of Earth. Thus, one sees the antiquity of the origin of the capital plan of Peking.

It is true that neither the Book of Odes nor the Book of Spring and Autumn gives any details in regard to the construction of city walls and palaces, but in that part of Chou Li which deals with public works there are found certain interesting specifications for the building of a capital as follows:

The city is of nine li in square perimeter with three gates on each side, each gate opening to a broad avenue divided into three parallel ways, of which the middle one is for vehicles, the left for male pedestrians and the right for female pedestrians.thus forming a square lattice with nine ways running from north to south and another nine from east to west. In the centre of the city stands the Imperial Palace with the ancestral temple of the imperial family on its left and the Shê, or the Altar of the Land on its right. In front of the Palace but still within the forbidden walls is the Imperial Court while behind the Forbidden City lies the market.

These few sentences already suffice to testify to a measure of completeness in planning. The present city of Peking with its broad level avenues at right angles to each other, its T’ai Miao (ancestral temple) on the left of the Wu Mên and its Altar of the Land on the right is after all similar to it in general plan.The book then goes on to describe the Ming T’ang ( 明堂), or the Hall of Brightness, which was said to be the residential palace of the early emperors and which owed its complicated design to certain astrological origins. Modern research on the subject has arrived at the conclusion that it was a set of buildings arranged in the shape of the Greek Cross with a round concave roof over the centre space which was used as an audience hall. The structure must have been of some magnitude and its construction conceivably laborious and expensive. It is to be inferred that by the time of the Contending States (C. 260—221 B.C.) this type of architecture had almost entirely gone out of existence, for Mencius was once asked by Ch’i Hsuan Wang ( 齐宣王) whether it should be rebuilt in accordance with the previous tradition. Although Ming T’ang as an institution must be considered as belonging to the remote past, it continued to live in the memory of most Confucian scholars since the days of Han. It is known, for instance, that Han Ming T’i (58—75 A.D.)repeatedly attempted to restore it from the reconstructed plans drawn up by his contemporary scholars. This signifies that the idea of Ming T’ang had already taken root in Chinese culture and all subsequent buildings of palaces have incorporated in their technique and style something of the spirit of Ming T’ang.

Besides the Ming T’ang, there must have been other palaces for regular imperial functions. The architectural features of these palaces also find a vivid description in the second part of She King which reads:

On yonder banks a palace, lo! upshoots,

The tender blue of southern hill behind;

Firm-founded, like the bamboo’s clamping roots;

Its roof made pine-like, to a point defined.

Fraternal love here bear its precious fruits,

And unfraternal schemes be ne’er designed!

Ancestral sway is his. The walls they rear,

Five thousand cubits long; and south and west.

The doors are placed. Here will the king appear,

Here laugh, here talk, here sit him down and rest.

To mould the walls, the frames they firmly tie;

The toiling builders beat the earth and lime.

The walls shall vermin, storm, and bird defy:—

Fit dwelling is it for his lordly prime.

Grand is the hall the noble lord ascends:—

In height, like human form most reverent, grand;

And straight, as flies the shaft when bow unbends;

Its tints, like hues when pheasant’s wings expand.

High pillars rise the level court around;

The pleasant light the open chamber steeps;

And deep recesses, wide alcoves, are found，

Where our good king in perfect quiet sleeps.

The impression which one gathers from reading the above stanzas is not far from that of seeing the Peking palaces for the first time, with their far projecting and up-turned roofs, their yellow and blue glazed-tiles, their immense courtyards, their huge pillars and beams, and their complicated systems of supporting brackets.

2 FROM HAN TO TA’NG (206 B.C.—907A.D.)

It is only when we stop to think that the She King was written at least as early as the Chou dynasty (1122—249 B.C.),over three thousand years ago, that are we conscious of theancient origin of the Peking palaces.

As a result of political unification during the Ch’in and Han ( 汉) dynasties Chinese architecture reached a height of grandeur and magnificence, compared with which the previous attempts of the feudal kingdoms seemed only insignificant. After the amalgamation of the Six States ( 六国) Ch’in Shih Huang Ti ( 秦始皇) immediately began the construction of the great palace of O Fang Kung ( 阿房宫), about twenty li southwest of Hsienyang ( 咸阳) his ancestral capital. The palace was erected within the park or hunting-ground called Shang Lin Yuan ( 上林苑) and according to one of the reliable records of early Han as many as 700,000 criminals and prisoners were employed at forced labour in its construction. The surrounding terrace was said to be of such dimensions that 10,000 persons could be easily assembled within it, and banners fifty feet in height might be unfurled below. Its grandeur and magnitude must have been of a degree hardly surpassed by the later palaces in Peking. Although the whole structure was later destroyed by fire in the end of the dynasty, its construction had undoubtedly contributed immeasurably to the art of building and had set up a standard of palatial grandeur which the later capital builders constantly sought to excel.

The architecture of the Han dynasty following its historymust be divided into two periods. The Earlier or Western Han (206B.C.—8 A.D.) capital at Ch’angan ( 长安) and the Later or Eastern Han (25—220 A.D.) with the capital removed to Loyang ( 洛阳). It must be pointed out in general that although with the advent of the Ch’in and Han dynasties Chinese architecture had entered upon a new era, the traditional capital plans were still more or less followed. The odes of Pan Ku ( 班固32—94 A.D.) and Chang Heng ( 张衡78—139A.D.) both of the Han dynasty, mention three gates on each of the four sides of the city wall, each gate opening to a straight, spacious and level avenue lined with buildings of the same height on both sides. This gives us a plan almost identical with those of the pre-Ch’in capitals. It may be interesting, however, in order to ascertain the main changes in the process of evolution, to compare the architecture of the Han palaces with that of the Peking palaces today:

Painting and Decoration—In the same descriptive ode by Pan Ku it is also mentioned that in the palaces not only were the pillars generally inlaid with jade, which was set on gold, but the walls and even the cornices were also chiefly andfreely decorated with precious stones of  diverse kinds. Such poetic descriptions of gorgeousness and luxury are fortunately corroborated by other contemporary accounts written in rather precise and matter-of-fact prose, which historians today believe to be more or less accurate. While carving, painting and gilding were essentially for decorative purposes, painting and gilding were also employed as means of preserving the wood; for in those days the collection and transportation of good wood naturally involved tremendous labour and expense besides a protracted period of waiting, and calculating rulers soon learned to economize on wood materials. Painting and gilding were then not only used to enhance the durability of wood but also in the case of wood of a cheaper quality to give it the appearance of good wood. In the later days when decoration became far less elaborate and the stress on the quality of things gradually slackened, colour painting was used more to represent the real carvings and inlayings in the old palaces than for other purposes. Thus, among the painting artisans in Peking today there are still found in use such technical terms as gilding, jadeinlaying, pearl inlaying and other vicarious appellations, which are only reminiscent of their actual presence once in Chinese architecture. Ceiling decoration had already attained certain elaborateness during the Western Han. One of the favourite ceiling designs of the time was a square lattice-work, with the red flower of Nelumbo (water-lily) and its accompanying rootstock in each square. The flower was usually painted in full bloom with its petals facing downwards. The octagonal

and round designs of the later dynasties must have been modifications of this early pattern. In the present Peking palaces one sees the extensive use of stoneworks and the elaborate carvings, especially on the railings and balustrades. This is also traceable to early Han. Every written account we have of the Ch’angan palaces bears witness to the carved marble stairs and painted ground in all imperial buildings. The practice of painting the ground was later abandoned when sufficient improvement had been made in the art of brick-making towards the end of Han.

The Projecting and Up-Turned Roofs.—The characteristic Chinese roof with two concave converging ridges culminating in a massive horizontal bar and the far projecting and up-turned edges is also traceable to early Han. Contemporary descriptions agree that the ridges of the roof usually sloped down until they came to the edges when the tiles were made to turn slightly upwards. The practical reason for the side projection was said to protect the building from rain and storm and other inclemencies of weather, while the up-turned part was to admit more sunlight into the room. The historical development of the Chinese roof is a question which cannot be entered into here for lack of space. Whether the modern Chinese roof is the synthesis of all the previous forms is still somewhat debatable. It must be pointed out, however, that there has been certainly more than one type of up-turned and projecting roof in the development of Chinese architecture and that the development has not, in all likelihood, followed a straight line.

The Tradition of T’ai I Lake. ( 太液池) —Since the Han dynasty there has not been a single palace built without some semi-artificial lakes within its precincts as decoration to the landscape. The History of Han mentions the lake of T’ang Chung ( 唐中) west of Chien Chang Palace ( 建章宫), which occupied many square li in area, and to the north the vast T’ai I Lake, in the centre of which stood a palatial mansion of 200 feet in elevation called the Chien Tai ( 渐台), around which were scattered the so-called ‘Fairy Isles’of Peng Lai, Fang Chang, Ying Chou and T’ai Liang. The vivid lines in Pan Ku’s ode:

The fairy palaces look down

On the undulating waves at play.

are redolent of grandeur and serenity. The nearest existing equivalent today to the T’ai I Lake is the San Hai or the Three Seas, in Peking, and it is quite probable that the present Ch’iung Tao ( 琼岛) in Pei Hai was built in imitation of the Chien T’ai; for Pan Ku describes a stone statue of a human being standing aloft on the terrace of the Chien T’ai with one of the hands holding out a basin for receiving the dew-drops, which“ are to purge the world of its dust and pollution,”and there is found on Ch’iung Tao today a structure almost of similar description. The important spiritual element that entered into Chinese architecture during Western Han was the influence of Taoism under Wu Ti, of which the building of the T’ai I Lake and the Fairy Isles was the immediate manifestation. The Taoist element has since been maintained in Chinese architecture and must be considered today as one of the basic religious beliefs embodied in it.

When the Later or Eastern Han removed the capital to Loyang, which thenceforth became a political and culturalcentre till the beginning of Sung, it must have brought over with it also the art of building. But the architecture of Loyang soon took on new features. Under the influence of revived Confucianism, when scholars returned to the study of ancient Classics, an extensive building program was carried out, which included the reproductions of certain important pre-Ch’in buildings, the principal ones of which were the Ming T’ang, which we have already mentioned In connection with the pre Ch’in capitals, the Pi Yung ( 辟雍) and the Ling T’ai ( 灵台). The Pi Yung was originally the college of highest learning. It was a stately structure surrounded by a marble lake, of which the present Kuo Tzu Chien ( 国子监) in Peking is an exact imitation. Ling T’ai was the earliest meteorological station of theChou Dynasty.

The development of Loyang into a centre of architectural importance must be attributed, however not to Eastern Han, but to the later Wei dynasty, particularly when under the rule of Emperor Hsiao Wen ( 魏孝文帝)who, though not a Chinese by birth, loved Chinese culture so much that he removed his capital from Yünchung ( 云中) in the north to Loyang. Besides the magnificent palaces, walls and streets, a new significant feature of this city was the large number of Buddhist temples and private gardens. The people of the Northern Dynasties (369—581 A.D.) were mostly devout Buddhists, while prominent officials and wealthy merchants not infrequently bequeathed their mansions for conversion into temples. Among the temple structures the best known was undoubtedly the pagoda of the Yung Ning Temple ( 永宁寺) which was built on the model brought back by Sung Yun ( 宋云) from India. According to contemporary accounts its style was somewhat similar to the White Pagoda in Peking, though very likely surpassing it in gorgeousness of decoration. The art of garden-planning made such progress during the Northern Dynasties that the plans of the famous gardens in Loyang were afterwards jealously copied by the Sungs. A lengthy treatise on the famous gardens in Loyang was later written by a Sung writer, which gives details both to plans and decorative methods. The presence of so many temples and private gardens in Peking today is reminiscent of Loyang in its days of glory.

In the T’ang dynasty (618—907 A.D.) although Ch’angan was the official capital, Loyang was called the East Capital which maintained its appropriate dignity. After the rebellion of Huang Tsao ( 黄巢) the capital was removed to Loyang and thence, after the fall of the dynasty, to K’aifeng ( 开封). Shortly afterwards, Tai Tsung, the founder of the Liao dynasty, invaded K’aifeng, where during his short stay he collected a large part of the local treasures together with a group of famous artisans which he later brought back with him to the North. He soon made the present-day Peking the South Capital, where he came to stay at varying intervals. It must be pointed out that during the T’ang dynasty Peking was but the provincial capital of Yu Chou ( 幽州), where only the viceroy resided, and that it was not until the Liao Emperor had set up his capital here in control of China that the city began to assume permanent importance. It was also then that the art of building with its general traditional principles unchanged and coming by way of Hsienyang, Ch’angan, Loyang and K’aifeng set about creating its glories in the new-founded capital. So, roughly speaking, the present architecture of Peking has been directly the inheritor of Loyang and indirectly of Ch’angan.

3 PEKING UNDER THE LIAO (1066—1125 A.D.), CHIN (112—1234 A.D.), ANDYUEN (1280—1368 A.D.) DYNASTIES

The site of the Liao capital is now definitely known to have been southwest of the present city. According to The History of Liao, the area of its city proper covered thirty-six li in square perimeter and that of its Forbidden City seven li and 103 pu (one pu is equivalent to five Chinese feet). As a large part of the buildings of this period were shortly destroyed in the wars between Liao and Chin, very little is now known in written form of the details of its architecture. Suffice it to say, however, that when Chin succeeded Liao and Peking was to continue as capital, the remains of the previous dynasty were far from satisfying Prince Hai Ling’s idea of grandeur. A new capital plan, similar in many ways to the capital at K’aifeng, was soon drawn up by one named K’ung Yen-chou ( 孔彦舟) and strictly executed by 800,000 levied and 400,000 paid, labourers in not less than five years and with untold number of deaths. Various ornamental accessories were brought to the capital from K’aifeng, which the Chin had taken. Both contemporary and later accounts bear out the fact that though the plans were copied from the Sung capital, the actual finished constructions turned out to be far more imposing. Glazed tiles were used for the roof. Gold, red and azure were employed as the main colours in the decoration of walls, ceilings, and cornices, with black and white as subordinates. There is no doubt that Prince Hai Ling was a man of the most meticulous and exacting sort, for several contemporary accounts have it that more than once a whole building was pulled down only to be rebuilt in strict conformity with the minutest specifications of style and workmanship. It is therefore little marvel that in the days of Hai Ling the architectural features of the city should have provoked tales of wonder among Southerners.

The site of the Chin capital lay south of the present city. It is said that Feng’tai, where now several railways meet, was then the location of its South Gate. The present Pei Hai in Peking was one of its many suburban palaces, which included not a few of the temples and gardens in the Western Hills today. During reigns of Ta Ting ( 大定, 1161—1189) and Ming Ch’ang ( 明昌,1190—1195) there was a period of political enlightenment and national prosperity when the two emperors devoted their energy and time to the work of beautifying the capital to a degree unsurpassed by any capital of the former dynasties. The world-famous Marco Polo Bridge on the Yung Ting River was but one of the surviving buildings of that period. The important thing that deserves our attention is that since the demolition of Ch’angan and Loyang and the removal of a greater part of the traditional treasures to the North, the capitals in the South represented only the lineage of political succession and no longer the centres of art and culture. One need only to compare the style and appearance of the North Sung architecture, so fully described in the Ying Tsao Fa Shih, ( 营造法式) with those of Chin and Yuan such as are found in contemporary chronicles to acknowledge the superority of the latter both in grandeur of magnitude and in gorgeousness of decoration. Even compared with the architecture of Ming and Ch’ing, of which most of the buildings are still to be seen, the architecture of North Sung seems to fall sadly behind. The capital of South Sung at Hangchou, ( 杭州) contributed practically nothing to the development of Chinese architecture. Palaces changed their names to suit the needs of the time instead of following any definite system. In short, only simplicity and frugality characterize its few architectural undertakings.

The site of the Yuan capital, called Ta Tu, built by Kublai Khan in the fourth year (1280 A.D.) of his illustrious reign, was northwest of the previous Chin city and slightly north of the present city of Peking. Its Forbidden City, which was approximately to the west of the present one, was situated in the south part of its capital city. A copy of inscriptions on a contemporary memorial tablet found in the works of a late Yuan scholar reveals the fact that the chief architect of the palaces at the time was an Arab named Yehhei-t’i-erh ( 也黑迭尔), who was appointed together with two Chinese by Kublai Khan to take charge of the building of palaces in the capital. There were many other foreigners serving in the court in various capacities throughout the Yuan dynasty. A-ni-ko( 阿尼哥)，a native of Nepal, was appointed the Chief of Sculptors in the tenth year of Chih Yuan ( 至元，1278 A.D.) being most skilled in drawing, modelling and gold-casting. The best idols in the temples were mostly works from his hands. The famous Liu Yuan ( 刘元) ,also renowned for his art of modelling, was among those who studied under him. Stone was used extensively in all Yuan buildings. This was undoubtedly due to the introduction of certain western Asiatic architectural features, which were based on a long tradition in brick construction, such as artificial fountains, secret chambers, stone pavilions, and bathing pools. Stone quarrieswere discovered in the environs of Peking, which gave impetus to increasing use of ashlars for the construction of terraces, railings, balustrades and gates. The Ming and Ch’ing dynasties also followed the tradition of Yuan in employing stoneworks. Thus, the stoneworks in the Peking Palaces still represent at the present day

the culmination of that art in this country.

A significant new feature in the Yuan palaces was the finial of the roof, which according to contemporary accounts, was a gold vase of unknown symbolic origin. This has been interpreted, however, by later writers as evidence of the Buddhistic influence on the roof, for both the colour and shape of it are unquestionably Buddhistic. During the Han dynasty the finial of the roof was usually a male-phoenix of metal, which the T’ang emperors later standardized into an iron one for their palaces. It is at least safe to say that the gold vase could have no traditional background in Chinese architecture itself. A new kind or roof covered with coir instead of tiles also made its appearance among the Yuan places. This was supposed to have cooling and healthful effect in the summer. The exact historical origin of this roof is not certain, but the only two probable places from which it might have come at this time were India and the Malayan Archipelago, where such coir-thatched roofs are still to be found. The presence of a flat Mongolian roof on some common houses also found special mention in contemporary records. Another significant feature that deserves our attention was the new corner towers, one at each of the four corners of each palace-wall. An early Ming chronicle describes the outlines of the Forbidden City of Yuan as consisting of five square red walls, one enclosed within another and in the corner of each wall stood a corner tower. Other significant works in the Yuan capital included the Ouighor ( 畏兀儿) Palace, which was an imitation of Mohammedan architecture, the miniature ‘crystal-palaces’ said to be built of glass, the artificial fountains, the stone bath-pools and secret chambers and the formidable waterroutes,which are still navigable today.

In connection with the decorative colours an interesting story was told in the Biography of Darma, the Resident-Governor of the Ta Tu, who was also commissioned by the Great Khan to build the Pleiades Hall ( 七星堂). In the construction, Darma departed from the contemporary practice of using gold, red, and green for decoration, and used instead plain and quiet colors to attain effect. When the Great Khan returned from his travels, he greatly marvelled at the innovation thus made and touching on the walls with his own finger exclaimed ‘How resourceful is the Resident-Governor!’ This shows clearly that, instead of the quieter and simpler colors of Sung, gorgeous coloring had been in vogue since Chin, and the Great Khan being satiated with red and green must have felt rather relieved when standing before quiet colors. In short, the Yuan dynasty represented a period of the most imposing and variegated architecture. The Great Khan, knowing too well that the traditional ideas of the Chinese people could not be ignored, strictly followed tradition in the building of his new capital, but only magnified the plan. The square walls and the twelve gates were all modelled after the Chinese plan, but the inner chambers and living quarters were often in the style of his own country or of his conquered territories. The Mongol Empire was in its very formation a conglomeration of many races and nations; its architecture as well as its political system reflected a catholicity of taste, which none of the later dynasties could lay equal claim to.

4 THE ARCHITECTURE OF MING(1368—1662 A.D.) AND CH’ING (1662—1911 A.D.)

Unlike the Great Khan, whose respect for tradition was only equaled by his delight in novelty, the founder of the Ming dynasty ordered the immediate demolition of the Yuan City including the palaces, and changed its name to Peiping. (1368A.D.) This was done so to speak, to obliterate the ‘imperial potency’ of the former dynasty. Prince Yen, who was then given this part of the country, retained in fact only a small part of the old structure as his residence. While the Ming capital was at Nanking, Peiping remained a demolished city until thirty-five years later when Prince Yen ascended the throne and removed the imperial residence back to the old capital. He changed its name to Peking and immediately set about restoring the Yuan palaces with little alteration.

The palace occupied by Yung Lo himself was originally the Western Palace of the Yuan City, the only part of the former palaces that had been left intact. The new Forbidden City, which is the one we see today, was built east of it. The city proper following the removal of the city wall was moved further south, thus emptying the northern part of the Yuan city and at the same time slicing off one gate from the east and west walls respectively. Hence, while in the Yuan city there were three gates on both the west and east sides, in the Ming City there were only two to be found. The dilapidated mud wall, which still stands outside the Te Sheng Men ( 德胜门) today, was the very abandoned site of the Yuan wall. In the thirty-second year of Chia Ching ( 嘉靖) , an outer city wall began to be built as a result of the increased number of inhabitants outside the city, but when the cost of the entire construction was afterwards thought too expensive, the plan was abandoned on the completion of the south wall. Besides the extension of the city, a super-incumbent layer of bricks was later placed on the inner side of the wall, which was originally built of mud. The outer layer of the wall must have been put on at the time of its construction.

The architecture and site of the Ming palaces were largely like those of the palaces today; even in the matter of names only those of the three Tien or Halls in front were changed at the beginning of the Ch’ing dynasty. The respective functions of the halls and palaces also remained unchanged to the end of Ch’ing. The three main Halls in front were for formal imperial audiences, while the Wen Hua Tien ( 文华殿) was for the study of Classics, the Wu Ying Tien ( 武英殿) for the residence of the elder scholars of the land, the Tung Liu Kung, or the Six Eastern Palaces, ( 东六宫) all for the emperor’s consorts, and the two main palaces, i.e. the Ch’ien Ch’ing Kung ( 乾清宫) and K’un Ning Kung ( 坤宁宫), were the respective living quarters of the Emperor and the Empress. The plan inside the Forbidden City was, however, somewhat different from what we see today. The imperial residence then occupied a very extensive area, outside of which, (but still considered inside the Forbidden City), were two smaller precincts: (1) the west,which included the present San Hai and their environs, and (2) the east, which included the territory north of Nan Ch’ih Tzu ( 南池子) and south of Chi Ho Lou ( 骑河楼) today. The latter precinct was occupied by Emperor Ying Tsung ( 英宗) during his forced retirement, but later, on re-ascending the throne he demolished this part of the Forbidden City, which had naturally for him many unpleasant memories. But when Shih Tsung ( 世宗) succeeded to the throne, it was here that he built his Ancestral Temple. 

An interesting fact in connection with the Ming palaces was their almost immediate destruction by fire after completion. The three Tien, which were completed in the eighteenth year of Yung Lo (1420 A.D.), were burnt down in the year following and rebuilt in the fifth year of Chêng Tung (正统，1440 A.D.).In the ninth year of Cheng Te ( 正德，1514 A.D.) the two Kung met with the same fate when painted lanterns were displayed. They were rebuilt in the eleventh year of the same reign, (1516 A.D.) again burnt in the thirty-sixth year of Chia Ching, rebuilt in the forty-first year of the year of the same reign, but again burnt in the twenty-fifth year of Wan Li ( 万历，1597 A.D.) and reconstructed in the seventh year of Tien Ch’i ( 天启，1627 A.D.). Thenceforth they existed till the rebellion of Li Tzu-cheng (李自成, died 1645 A.D.) who on hearing of the arrival of the Manchu troops immediately set fire to the palaces. The two Kung, the

three Tien, the Wu Men and the nine gates were all reduced to ashes in one conflagration. When Emperor Shun-Chih ( 顺治) of Ch’ing dynasty came to Peking, the court was first held at Wu Ying Tien, the residence of the elder scholars. The Huang Chi Tien and the Ch’ien Ch’ing Kung were both hurriedly rebuilt by Shun Chih, but it was not until the eighth year of K’ang Hsi ( 康熙，1669 A.D.) that proper restoration of them was under taken.

The important thing about these restorations was that practically all of them were executed on the original plans and in not a few cases, by a number of the same workmen and artisans. To-day among the remains of Ming architecture in and around Peking the two most impressive buildings are the famous Ming Tombs at Ch’angping ( 昌平) and the Ta Kao Hsuan Tien ( 大高玄殿), which stands between the Coal Hill and Pei Hai and by the north side of the palace moat. The architecture and beauty of the Ming Tombs need no mention here, since the subject has been most ably dealt with by many Western writers. The Ta Kao Hsuan Tien was built by Emperor Chia Ching as one of his palaces of devotion and dedicated on its completion to the worship of the Three Purities ( 三清) of Taoism. A number of dancing-girls attached to the court were stationed here during his reign to learn the rites and hymns of worship, while only Taoists of some recognition were admitted into its halls. There are still two pailous on the east and west side of the entrance gate, each bearing some Taoist inscriptions; another pailou in front of the gate was pulled down in 1928 when the upper part of it was thought about to tumble. The most striking feature of the whole structure is undoubtedly the two symmetrical pavilions at its entrance, which can be easily studied from the street. The roofs are triplex, i.e. arranged in three tiers and bear the most elaborate workmanship.The eunuchs in the Ming palaces often referred to them as structures of‘ nine beams and eighteen pillars’ (九梁十八柱)，alluding undoubtedly to the complexity of the roof architecture.One may take them as representing the most complicated single wooden structures extant in China. It is fortunate that in spite of the repairs made in the reigns of Yung Chen (1723—1735 A.D.)and Ch’ien Lung (1736—1795 A.D.) in the Ch’ing dynasty, they still retain their original solidity of form.

The Ming architecture, though traditional in its technical aspects, has, nevertheless, distinctive qualities arising out of the cultural characteristics of the period. The Ming artists in general were characterized by an extreme sense of refinement which found expression in their love of mellow colours, their fastidious insistence on the quality of materials used, and in the development of a much finer and more delicate type of handicraft. We are told by contemporary chronicles that in the construction of the two Kung only large trunks of the persea nanmu collected from Szechuan and Kueichou could be used for pillars and beams, while stone was specially collected from Fang Shan ( 涿州房山)，variegated marble from Hsuchou ( 徐州) and bricks from Lingch’ing ( 临清) and Soochow. The preparation of the various dyestuffs together with glue involved a laborious process which occupied many able minds. Unlike the Yuan rulers, who preferred the loud vermilion and green and a staring kind of yellow in decoration, the Ming emperors used mostly subdued tones of quiet colours, such as old bronze, deep purplish-red, and the greenish-blue. The construction of the capital city and the palaces lasted for almost twenty years, while over two hundred thousand workmen were kept at work throughout the greater part of the year. Taxes became exorbitant and the work soon became an unbearble burden to the people and particularly to those who were paying service and were thus kept away from tilling their own lands.

The early rulers of the Ch’ing dynasty were at once more conservative and calculating. When Emperor Shun Chih entered Peking he found the greater part of the places already reduced to debris, but nothing further was demolished after his arrival. When later the reconstruction of the burned palaces began in K’ang Hsi’s reign, the extravagant practices of the Mings were severely censured. An imperial edict couched in the most benevolent terms was issued, which ordered the use of yellow pines from Manchuria for all imperial buildings and pointed out the fact that pinewood was equally as durable as persea nanmu, which was used by the Ming emperors.

Passing from Ming to Ching the most noticeable feature aboutthe city was the systematic construction of citadels along the city wall. It may be mentioned in connection with this that in the Yuan dynasty a defense system of the capital had already been built chiefly with arsenals and barracks attached to various sections of the city wall. In the fourth year of Cheng Tung ( 正统， 1439 A.D.) in the Ming dynasty the Cheng Yang Men ( 正阳门) tower was restored together with the building of one outer tower on each of the south, east and west sides of the barbican, one tower on each of the other gates and their barbicans, and also one corner tower at each of the four corners of the city wall. The moats surrounding the city were deepened and stone-bricks placed on their banks. A stone bridge was built over the moat outside each city gate, and between each two bridges was placed a dam. This system was not only completely preserved but also elaborated upon by the Ch’ing Emperors. The distance between the various bastions was adopted only after careful calculation based on strategic considerations. With the exception of the Cheng Yang Men barbican, which had three gates as mentioned above, the remaining eight barbicans of the city were all built opposite to each other, with the opening either on the left or right of the city gate, as the case may be. Thus every gate of the city was protected from direct attack. The archery towers of the different gates were built of brick and stone and provided with three tiers of cannonwindows. The four corner towers were specially constructed to facilitate the protection of the adjacent two walls as well as the shooting of arrows and guns. The corner towers were already in existence in the Ming dynasty but it was not till the reign of K’ang Hsi that they were fortified with guns.

The building of shops and houses on the two sides of the streets was already subject to certain regulations during the Ming dynasty, but the early Ch’ing emperors were far stricter in enforcing such rules. Any common building that deviated from the set measurements was immediately ordered to be pulled down. But towards the end of the dynasty, when the enforcement of the rules gradually slackened, the shops and houses began to encroach on the street. Looking from Ch’ien Men, or Cheng Yang Men, today one can see that the shops on both sides of the street have so extended as to have entirely broken down the straight line that used to run from Ch’ien Men to the wall of the Temple of Heaven on one side and that of the Temple of Agriculture on the other. On occasions of national celebration buildings of a decorative nature would be erected at certain points on both sides of the street to accentuate the sense of exultation; this practice was followed until as late as the birthday celebration of the late Empress Dowager.

Since the introduction of Buddhism into China, every capital has abounded in temples, but Peking alone can claim to have preserved the largest number of them since the days of Yuan and Ming. The Hu Kuo Szu ( 护国寺) was in the Yuan dynasty the residence of Tokto, the Prime Minister; Lung Fu Szu ( 隆福寺) was built in the reign of Ching T’ai ( 景泰，1450—1456 A.D.) with the old materials from the Nan Nei of the Forbidden City; Chang Chun Szu (长椿寺)was the place where Empress Li of the Ming dynasty kept her ancestral portraits; Pai T’a Szu ( 白塔寺) which was built in the Chin dynasty to house relics of Buddha, was afterwards turned into a Lama Temple by Kublai Khan, the pagoda of which was modelled after that of the Yung Ning Sze in Loyang; and the Yung Ho Kung ( 雍和宫) was originally the residence of Emperor Yung Cheng ( 雍正) before he ascended the throne, but later became the centre of the yellow sect of Lamaism. The temples in the Western Hills, some of which occupy extensive areas and excellent scenic locations and which contribute no small part to the beauty of Peking, have more or less the same plan of construction, and may be taken as representing the predominant type of Buddhistic architecture since the Yuan dynasty.

The making of glazed tiles and bricks of various colours, to which the palaces owe a great deal of their gorgeous effect, occupies an interesting page in the history of Chinese architecture. In the Han dynasty painted tiles without any vitreous coating were first used for the more expensive buildings. The process of their manufacturing according to a casual reference in the Accounts of the Western Countries in the History of Han Dynasty ( 汉书西域传) was introduced into China by‘people from the West!’ In the time of North Wei ( 北魏386—532 AD.) a certain merchant from Indo-Scythia, who claimed to be able to make multicoloured crystals out of stone, was given the necessary facilities to try his art. His products proved at once far superior in colour and brightness to the painted tiles which had been in use. But, as no extensive use was made of it at the time, the art was soon lost, until it was rediscovered by Ho Chou ( 何稠) in Sui. In Li Chieh’s Ying Tsao Fa Shih a detailed account is given of the method of making yellow glazed tiles, according to which some glazed tiles were at the time manufactured in the same kilns with other clay tiles without the vitreous coating, but they were still not used extensively. Not long afterwards when the Sung embassies arrived at the Chin capital, they were greatly struck by the gorgeousness of the glazed-tiled roofs of the palaces. This historical fact tends to prove that the Chins must have already used glazed tiles to a great extent. In the Yuan dynasty special officers were appointed to take charge of the making of such tiles, which were used extensively for the roofs inside the Imperial City. Though the founder of the Ming dynasty demolished the greater part of the Yuan palaces, their love for decorative colours did not permit them to lessen the use of glazed tiles. Eunuchs were appointed to supervise their manufacture. The art improved greatly during the Ch’ing dynasty. New kilns were established southwest of Ch’ien Men to meet the increasing use of glazed articles in the imperial household. A greater variety of colours and shapes was attained after years of experimenting with different kinds of clay and diferent formulas. To-day most of the trade names for the various glazed articles are of Ch’ing origin. 

Although the Ch’ing palaces inside the city were on the whole less pretentious than those of the preceding dynasty, the suburban palaces far surpassed those of Yuan and Ming both in style and in number. The Nan Yuan in the south suburb which was originally a hunting park in the Yuan dynasty, where later the Tuan Ho Palace ( 团河宫) was built, was used for the same purpose by the Ch’ing emperors since K’ang Hsi. The Buddhist Temples in the west suburb, which were mostly suburban palaces of the Chin and Yuan emperors but were occupied throughout the Ming dynasty by influential eunuchs as country villas or temples of worship, now became centres of court life and elegance; for the Ching emperors much preferred staying in these so-called ‘Traveling Palaces’ ( 离宫) than in the city palaces, were there was more than enough of dignity but certainly too little of pleasure. Of all the ‘Traveling Palaces’ the one at Jehol and the Yuan Ming Yuan( 圆明园) must be considered the most impressive and at the same time the best representations of independent Ch’ing architecture. The Jehol Palace represents the harmonious union of the cultural refinement of the native Chinese and the physical robustness of the non-Chinese elements. The Palace was at once the political, religious, and cultural centre of the land. It is said in the Chronicle of Jehol that there was a garden of ten thousand trees where ten thousand persons with their tents set up could be accommodated without being crowded. It is undeniable that in area, in multiplicity of buildings, in elaborateness of decoration and in complexity of design, it even excelled Yuan Ming Yuan, the famous summer palace which was destroyed by fire and pillage in the War of 1860.Yuan Ming Yuan was originally the villa given by Emperor K’ang Hsi to his son, who later became the Emperor Yung Cheng. During the flourishing period of the Chang Chun Yuan ( 畅春园),YuanMing Yuan was only an extra garden attached to it. But it was expanded during the reign of Yung Cheng and again by Ch’ien Lung, who had copied in it all the beautiful gardens which he had witnessed in his travels in the Yangtze Valley such as the Shih Tzu Lin ( 狮子林) in Soochow, the Hsiao Yu Tien ( 小有天) in Chien T’ang ( 钱塘) the An Lan Yuan ( 安澜园) in Hai Ning ( 海宁)，the Chan Yuan ( 瞻园) in Nanking, all of which had been justly celebrated in literary writings. The combined effect of all such diversely artistic designs made Yuan Ming Yuan a construction of supreme beauty. Furthermore, in order to please the Empress Dowager, Ch’ien Lung ordered the construction of a street of shops in its neighborhood in imitation of the shopping district at Soochow. The Yi Ho Yuan ( 颐和园), which was built in the reign of Kuang Hsu on the site of Wan Shou Shan, the old Summer Palace built by Ch’ien Lung for his mother, supposedly to take the place of the destroyed Yuan Ming Yuan, can not be compared with either the Jehol or the Yuan Ming Yuan in any respect, being altogether of a much smaller plan and crudely executed. 

It may be said that since the days of Tung Chih (同治, 1862—1874 A.D.), no noticeable progress has been made in Chinese architecture.Not only is the incarnation of imperial grandeur and assimilation no longer to be seen, it is no longer possible even to find more than a few who have the understanding and appreciation of it. This is borne out by a pathetic instance that after the deplorable destruction by fire in the fifteenth year of Kuang Hsu (1889 A.D.) of the Chi Nien Tien ( 祈年殿) and Huang Ch’iung Yu ( 皇穹宇)in the Temple of Heaven, no one could give the plan and the measurements on which to carry out the work of reconstruction, until fortunately an old workman was secured who, having participated during his youth in the work of repairs, remembered roughly the measurements of the structure. It is to be hoped that more and abler minds with technical knowledge and artistic judgment will join this field of study and that the long line of tradition, of which one sees but the lingering shadows today, may be rendered continuous.

责任编辑：杨澍

审核：赵荣

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