Chinese Architecture：A History

AnunprecedentedsurveyoftheoriginsandevolutionofChinesearchitecture,fromthelastmillenniaBCEtotodayThroughouthistory,Chinahasmaintainedoneoftheworld’srichestbuiltcivilizations.Thenation’sarchitecturalachievementsrangefromitsearliestwalledcitiesandtheFirstEmperor’svisionofcityandempire,tobridges,pagodas,andthetwentieth-centuryconstructionsoftheSocialiststate.Inthisbeautifullyillustratedbook,NancyShatzmanSteinhardtpresentsthefirstfullycomprehensivesurveyofChinesearchitectureinanylanguage.Withrichpoliticalandhistoricalcontext,Steinhardtcoversfortycenturiesofarchitecture,fromthegenesisofChinesebuildingthroughtothetwenty-firstcenturyandthechallengesofurbanexpansionandglobalism.SteinhardtfollowstheextraordinarybreadthofChina’sarchitecturallegacy—includingexcavationsites,gardens,guildhalls,andreliefsculpture—andconsiderstheinfluenceofChinesearchitectureonJapan,Korea,Mongolia,andTibet.ArchitecturalexamplesfromChineseethnicpopulationsandvariousreligionsareexamined,suchasmonasteries,mosques,observatories,andtombs.SteinhardtalsoshowsthatChinesearchitectureisunitedbyastandardizedsystemofconstruction,applicablewhetherbuildingsaretemples,imperialpalaces,orshrines.Everyarchitecturaltypeisbasedonthemodelsthatcamebeforeit,andprinciplesestablishedcenturiesearlierdictatebuildingpractices.China’suniquesystemhasalloweditsbuiltenvironmenttostandasaprofoundsymbolofChineseculture.Withunprecedentedbreadthunitedbyacontinuouschronologicalnarrative,ChineseArchitectureoffersthebestscholarshipavailableonthisremarkablesubjectforscholars,students,andgeneralreaders.