Editing Chinese culture (section)

== Architecture ==
{{Main|Chinese architecture}}
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 | image1 = Dingzhou Liaodi Pagoda 3.jpg
 | caption1 = [[Liaodi Pagoda]], Song dynasty 
 | image2 = People's Republic of China Beijing Tianningsi Tianing Temple David McBride Photography-0045 02.jpg
 | caption2 = The Pagoda of [[Tianning Temple (Beijing)|Tianing Temple]], [[Liao dynasty]] 
 | image3 = Hohhot White Pagoda 2.jpg
 | caption3 = The Ten Thousand Copies of the Huayan Sutra Pagoda, commonly known as the White Pagoda, Liao dynasty 
 | image4 = Poyang Yongfu Si Ta 2017.11.25 10-04-37.jpg
 | caption4 = Poyang Yongfu Temple Pagoda, Song dynasty 
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Chinese architecture is a style of [[architecture]] that has taken shape through the ages and influenced the architecture of East Asia for many centuries. The structural principles of Chinese architecture have remained largely unchanged, the main changes being only the decorative details. Since the Tang dynasty, Chinese architecture has had a major influence on the architectural styles of East Asia such as [[Japanese architecture|Japan]] and [[Korean architecture|Korea]]. Chinese architecture, examples for which can be found from more than 2,000 years ago, is almost as old as Chinese civilization and has long been an important hallmark of Chinese culture. There are certain features common to Chinese architecture, regardless of specific regions, different provinces or use. The most important is [[symmetry]], which connotes a sense of grandeur as it applies to everything from palaces to farmhouses. One notable exception is in the design of gardens, which tends to be as asymmetrical as possible. Like Chinese scroll paintings, the principle underlying the garden's composition is to create enduring flow, to let the patron wander and enjoy the garden without prescription, as in nature herself. [[Feng shui]] has played a very important part in structural development. The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. It includes both the vast gardens of the [[Emperor of China|Chinese emperors]] and members of the imperial family, built for pleasure and to impress, and the more intimate gardens created by scholars, poets, former government officials, soldiers and merchants, made for reflection and escape from the outside world. They create an idealized miniature landscape, which is meant to express the harmony that should exist between [[man and nature]].<ref name="Michel Baridon p. 348">Michel Baridon, ''Les Jardins – paysagistes, jardiners, poḕts''.  p. 348</ref> A typical Chinese garden is enclosed by walls and includes one or more ponds, rock works, trees and flowers, and an assortment of halls and pavilions within the garden, connected by winding paths and zig-zag galleries. By moving from structure to structure, visitors can view a series of carefully composed scenes, unrolling like a scroll of landscape paintings.

=== Chinese palace ===
{{Main|Chinese palace}}
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 | caption1 = Corner tower of the [[Forbidden City]], [[Beijing]]. It symbols imperial class in ancient China.
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The Chinese palace is an imperial complex where the royal court and the civil government resided. Its structures are considerable and elaborate. The Chinese character ''gong'' (宮; meaning "palace") represents two connected rooms (呂) under a roof (宀). Originally the character applied to any residence or mansion, but it was used in reference to solely the imperial residence since the [[Qin dynasty]] (3rd century BC). A Chinese palace is composed of many buildings. It has large areas surrounded by walls and moats. It contains large halls (殿) for ceremonies and official business, as well as smaller buildings, [[Chinese temple|temples]], towers, residences, galleries, courtyards, [[Chinese garden|gardens]], and outbuildings. Apart from the main imperial palace, [[Chinese dynasties]] also had several other imperial palaces in the capital city where the empress, crown prince, or other members of the imperial family dwelled. There also existed palaces outside of the capital city called "away palaces" (離宮/离宫) where the emperors resided when traveling. Empress dowager [[Empress Dowager Cixi|Cixi]] (慈禧太后) built the [[Summer Palace]] or Yiheyuan (頤和園/颐和园 – "The Garden of Nurtured Harmony") near the [[Old Summer Palace]], but on a much smaller scale than the Old Summer Palace.{{efn|There are currently some projects in China to rebuild the Imperial Gardens, but this appears as a colossal undertaking, and no rebuilding has started.}}

=== Paifang ===
{{Main|Paifang}}
''Paifang'', also known as a ''Pailou'', is a traditional style of [[China|Chinese]] [[Chinese architecture|architectural]] [[arch]] or gateway structure that is related to the [[India]]n ''[[Torana]]'' from which it is derived.<ref>{{cite book |author=A.H. Longhurst |title=Story of the Stupa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gs1sFlMGy2AC&pg=PA17 |year=1995 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-81-206-0160-4 |pages=17– |access-date=1 November 2017 |archive-date=22 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022223518/https://books.google.com/books?id=gs1sFlMGy2AC&pg=PA17#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The word ''paifang'' ({{zh|c=牌坊|p=páifāng}}) was originally a collective term for the top two levels of administrative division and subdivisions of ancient Chinese cities. The largest division within a city in ancient China was a ''fang'' ({{zh|c=坊|hp=fāng|labels=no}}), equivalent to a current day [[ward (electoral subdivision)|ward]]. Each fang was enclosed by walls or fences, and the gates of these enclosures were shut and guarded every night. Each fang was further divided into several ''pai'' ({{zh|c=牌|hp=pái|l=placard|labels=no}}), which is equivalent to a current day (unincorporated) community. Each pai, in turn, contained an area including several [[hutong]]s (alleyways). This system of urban administrative division and subdivision reached an elaborate level during the [[Tang dynasty]], and continued in the following dynasties. For example, during the [[Ming dynasty]], [[Beijing]] was divided into a total of 36 fangs. Originally, the word ''paifang'' referred to the gate of a fang and the marker for an entrance of a building complex or a town; but by the [[Song dynasty]], a paifang had evolved into a purely decorative monument.

=== Chinese garden ===
{{Main|Chinese garden}}
[[File:Jichang Yuan.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|[[Jichang Garden]] in [[Wuxi]] (1506–1521), built during the Ming dynasty, is an exemplary work of South Chinese style garden.]]
The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over the years.<ref>Michel Baridon, ''Les Jardins - paysagistes, jardiners, poḕts''.  p. 348</ref> It includes both the vast gardens of the [[Emperor of China|Chinese emperors]] and members of the imperial family, built for pleasure and to impress, and the more intimate gardens created by scholars, poets, former government officials, soldiers and merchants, made for reflection and escape from the outside world. They create an idealized miniature landscape, which is meant to express the harmony that should exist between man and nature.<ref name="Michel Baridon p. 348"/> A typical Chinese garden is enclosed by walls and includes one or more ponds, rock works, trees and flowers, and an assortment of halls and pavilions within the garden, connected by winding paths and zig-zag galleries. By moving from structure to structure, visitors can view a series of carefully composed scenes, unrolling like a scroll of landscape paintings. The earliest recorded Chinese gardens were created in the valley of the [[Yellow River]], during the [[Shang dynasty]] (1600–1046 BC). These gardens were large enclosed parks where the kings and nobles hunted game, or where fruit and vegetables were grown. Early inscriptions from this period, carved on tortoise shells, have three Chinese characters for garden, ''you'', ''pu'' and ''yuan''.  ''You'' was a royal garden where birds and animals were kept, while pu was a garden for plants. During the [[Qin dynasty]] (221–206 BC), ''[[wikt:園|yuan]]'' became the character for all gardens.<ref>Feng Chaoxiong, ''The Classical Gardens of Suzhou'', preface, and Bing Chiu, ''Jardins de Chine, ou la quete du paradis'', Editions de La Martiniere, Paris 2010, p. 10–11.</ref>

[[File:Yellow Register Archives of the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing (flickr 1559896574).jpg|thumb|left|A [[Moon gate]] in a Chinese garden]]

The old character for  ''yuan'' is a small picture of a garden; it is enclosed in a square which can represent a wall, and has symbols which can represent the plan of a structure, a small square which can represent a pond, and a symbol for a plantation or a pomegranate tree.<ref>Tong Jun, Records of Jiang Gardens, cited in Feng Chanoxiong, ''The Classical Gardens of Suzhou''.</ref> According to the ''Shiji'', one of the most famous features of this garden was the ''Wine Pool and Meat Forest'' (酒池肉林). A large pool, big enough for several small boats, was constructed on the palace grounds, with inner linings of polished oval shaped stones from the sea shores. The pool was then filled with wine. A small island was constructed in the middle of the pool, where trees were planted, which had skewers of roasted meat hanging from their branches. King Zhou and his friends and concubines drifted in their boats, drinking the wine with their hands and eating the roasted meat from the trees. Later Chinese philosophers and historians cited this garden as an example of decadence and bad taste.<ref name=Che>Che Bing Chiu, "Jardins de Chine, ou la quete du paradis"</ref>{{rp|11}} During the [[Spring and Autumn period]] (722–481 BC), in 535 BC, the ''Terrace of Shanghua'', with lavishly decorated palaces, was built by [[King Jing of Zhou (Gui)|King Jing]] of the [[Zhou dynasty]]. In 505 BC, an even more elaborate garden, the ''Terrace of Gusu'', was begun. It was located on the side of a mountain, and included a series of terraces connected by galleries, along with a lake where boats in the form of blue dragons navigated. From the highest terrace, a view extended as far as [[Lake Tai]], the Great Lake.<ref name=Che/>{{rp|12}}