• an: A Chinese nunnery.
• ang: In traditional Chinese construction, a kung (in the tou kung system of construction) which is raked at an angle; functions as a leverage arm to counterbalance the force applied by the purlins. After the Sung dynasty (10th to 13th cent.), served only as a decoration.
• ch’a: A Chinese temple of medium size; usually located in an isolated area.
• chai t’ang: In a Chinese religious establishment, a room which serves as a reception area for vegetarians.
• chai yuan: The courtyard of a traditional Chinese mansion.
• ch’an t’ang: In Chinese architecture, a chamber set aside for meditation, mainly in the Zen sect of Buddhism.
• chen ch’uan: In Chinese construction, a semi-circular arch or triangular arch.
• chen huan: In Chinese architecture, a triangular arch.
• cheng huang miao: A Chinese temple dedicated to a deity who acts as the city magistrate, in a supernatural way.
• chi nien kuan: In Chinese architecture, a memorial hall. Also see chi nien t’ang.
• chi nien t’ang: In Chinese architecture, a memorial hall. Also see chi nien kuan.
• chi shou: Decorative glazed terra-cotta animals or figures along the ridge of a traditional Chinese roof.
• chia ch’uan: In Chinese architecture, a corbel arch.
• chia liang: A wood-beam roof framing system in a traditional Chinese building.
• ch’iao: In traditional Chinese construction, the bracket member of the tou kung system of construction; located under the ang bracket.
• chien: A standard unit of floor space or bay in a Chinese dwelling.
• Ch’in: A dynasty in China, 221-206 B.C., marked by the emergence of a centralized government and the construction of much of the Great Wall of China.
• chin kang ch’iang: In Chinese masonry bridge construction, the abutment wall from which the arch of the bridge springs; usually submerged in water. 2. Any load-bearing wall.
• ch’in tien: In an ancient Chinese royal cemetery, a ceremonial palace in which an emperor’s coffin was placed.
• China architecture: Most ancient of nations, center of Asiatic civilization at different epochs…
• Chinese architecture: A highly homogenous traditional architecture which repeated throughout the centuries established types of simple, rectangular, low-silhouetted buildings constructed according to canons of proportions and construction methods which varied with each dynasty and period and varied from one region to another…
• Chinese fret: Lattice ornament on balustrades, gates, friezes, and rails, made of square sectioned timber, and forming square and rectangular patterns, with diagonals adding triangular and other shapes. It was common in 18th c. Chinoiserie-inspired design.
• Chinese garden-design: From the time it was first impinged on European sensibilities in the 17th c., it profoundly influenced developments in the West.
• Chinese lacquer: A natural varnish obtained from an Asian sumac, used to produce a highly polished, lustrous surface on wood. Also called Japanese lacquer.
• ch’ing chen ssu: An Islamic temple in ancient China; follows designs similar to such temples in the Near East, but assimilated into the Chinese style since the Yan dynasty (14th to 17th century); usually constructed of wood but many are masonry.
• Chinoiserie: Decorative design characteristic of the Chinese.
• Chou: A Chinese dynasty, c1030 B.C.-256 B.C., marked by the division of China into separate feudal states and the emergence of Confucianism and Taoism, which gave thrust to all subsequent Chinese culture.
• chou chu: In Chinese architecture, a stone abutment for a simple span bridge.
• ch’uan: In traditional Chinese construction, an arch.
• ch’uan tzu: In traditional Chinese construction, a purlin on the exterior portion of the roof, projecting from a gable.
• ch’uang: In Chinese architecture, a window. May be of the casement type with side hinges, it may have hinges along the top or bottom, it may be a sliding window, or it may be a fixed opening used to frame a landscape or filled with a decorative grille. Double glazing is used in the north; similar to mado in Japanese architecture.
• ch’uang ling: A wood grille, either carved or made in strips, formed in different patterns; used in fenestration in traditional Chinese architecture.
• chung lou: A structure which houses a bell; either a pavilion or a tower located at the right side of an entrance court of a Chinese temple or shrine, or at the right side of a city gate or palace entrance.
• Classical Chinese gardens: In contrast to the buildings, Chinese gardens are a notable exception which tends to be asymmetrical. The principle underlying the garden’s composition is to create enduring flow.
• Classical Chinese roofs: Most Chinese roofs had large overhangs that were not just for an artistic effect but also functioned as guard from the rain and sunlight. The quintessentially Chinese gable-and-hip roof with pronounced dragon-spine ridges and upturned flying eaves first appeared during the Han (BC 206 – AD 220) Dynasty.
• Confucianism: A philosophy that dominated China until the early 20th century: an ethical system based on the teachings of the Chinese philosopher, Confucius, c551-478 B.C., emphasizing love for humanity, harmony in thought and conduct, devotion to family, and reverence for parents, including the spirit of one’s ancestors.
• di xue: Chinese term for moon-door (circular doorway in a garden-wall framing a view), also adopted in the West.
• dou: In Chinese and Japanese architecture, notched wooden block supporting a bracket in a timber system in which many brackets are employed.
• dougong: A bracket system used in traditional Chinese construction to support roof beams, project the eaves outward, and support the interior ceiling. The absence of a triangular tied frame in Chinese architecture made it necessary to multiply the number of supports under the rafters. In order to reduce the number of pillars this would normally require, the area of support afforded by each pillar was increased by the dougong. Also, tou-kung.
• fa ch’uang: In traditional Chinese architecture, a masonry arch.
• fang: A wall plant, rectangular in cross section, which lies along the top of a main lintel on peripteral columns in traditional Chinese architecture. 2. A member which interconnects and ties together clusters of tou kung. 3. In traditional Chinese architecture, a permanent structure, usually of wood but sometimes of stone, built in the shape of a barge and located adjacent to a lake or pond as a feature of landscape architecture; used for dining, drinking, and relaxation.
• fang chang: A building, within a Chinese temple compound, used as the abbot’s quarters.
• feng huo t’ai: Along the Great Wall of China, one of a number of well-fortified rectangularly shaped towers, placed at intervals of approximately 1 and 1/2 miles; fires, built on such towers, were used as signals or beacons.
• feng shui: Chinese practice of arranging elements to achieve the greatest harmony and balance.
• frette: Meander, or bandlike ornament of shallow short fillets touching each other at right angles, called variously angular guilloche, Greek key, or lattice, depending on the type. If some fillets are set diagonally it is called Chinese fret, found in Chinoiserie and Regency work. 2. Trellis-work. 3. Any interlacing raised work. 4. Complex patterns of ribs on a Gothic vault. 5. Net-like forms, as in tracery.
• fu: In Sung architecture (China, 11th to 13th centuries), a beam which supports purlins that are perpendicular to the longitudinal side of a building.
• gong: A cantilevered bracket in traditional Chinese construction. Also, kung.
• Great Wall of China: A fortified wall commenced under the Zhou dynasty to protect China against nomads from the north and serve as a means of communication. Various sections were built and connected until, during the Ming dynasty, 1368-1644, it extended for 1,500 miles (2,415 km), from southern Kansu province to the coast east of Peking. Rebuilt and refaced repeatedly, it is the only human-made construction visible from outer space.
• gulou: A large drum tower or pavilion in Chinese architecture, located at the left side of a city gate, palace entrance, or forecourt of a temple.
• hsi lou: A structure used for performances in a Chinese courtyard; includes a stage, changing room, storage facilities for scenery, and sometimes a playing area for an orchestra.
• Hsia: A legendary dynasty in China, 2205-1766 B.C. Also, Hsia.
• hsiao shih ta mu: Any timber construction in Chinese traditional architecture which does not employ the tou kung system of construction; usually used for common dwellings and less important buildings.
• hua chuan: A decorative grille, usually made of flat or curved terra-cotta tiles; used to lessen the weight of masonry walls; a feature of traditional Chinese landscape architecture. Also called lou ch’uang.
• hua piao: A monumental stone pylon at the entrance of a Chinese palace; a symbol of welcome.
• imperial roof decoration: A row of small figures along the unions of the roofs of Chinese official buildings.
• India ink: Lampblack in water with gelatin; made in stick form in China, Japan, and India.
• jardin chinois: Literally, a Chinese garden; a piece of ground laid out in an ornamental fashion with what passed in the 18th century for Chinese taste, with trees clipped in odd fashion and little bridges crossing narrow canals.
• jie jing: Chinese term meaning ‘borrowed views’, it refers to the inclusion of background natural landscape outside a garden or courtyard into the composition. Called shakkei in Japanese, it is used to enhance small urban gardens.
• joss house: In the semi-English language of traders in the east, a Chinese temple. The term “joss,” meaning a divinity, seems to be a mispronunciation by the Chinese of the Portuguese word deos.
• k’an: In ancient Chinese architecture, a niche for the storage of manuscripts; later such niches were used as shrines for the tablets of ancestors or for statues; the more elaborate niches include pedestals and columns; the less elaborate niches (in small houses) were used to display works of art or to house incense burners.
• kang: A built-in divan in Chinese houses, made of brick and tile and heated by enclosed fire.
• k’ang: In dwellings and palaces in northwest China and Korea, a radiant heating system in which hot air is supplied from a central furnace to hollow clay-tile blocks set in the floor.
• ku lou: In traditional Chinese architecture, a drum house; a structure that houses a large drum, either a pavilion or a tower located at the left side of an entrance court of temples and shrines, or at the left side of a city gate or palace entrance.
• kuan ti miao: A Chinese temple dedicated to the God of War (a general in the Han dynasty, 200 B.C.). Also called wu miao (martial temple).
• kung: In traditional Chinese architecture, buildings of no special importance which are within a compound, especially for royalty and/or monasteries; often not constructed along the central axis of the site plan.
• k’ung miao: A Confucian temple having a palace of learning attached to it; since the Sung dynasty, all large cities had such a temple. Also called wen-miao.
• k’uo: In Chinese architecture: 1. A citadel. 2. A fortified city wall. 3. The battlements on a city wall.
• lan kan: In traditional Chinese architecture, a balustrade of wood, bamboo, stone, or brick; the designs in masonry were derived from wood construction.
• lang: In traditional Chinese architecture, a covered walkway which connects buildings; may be entirely enclosed or may be open; some are lean-tos against a building, as in a garden.
• lang chu: In traditional Chinese architecture, a column…
• lang yuan: In traditional Chinese architecture, a courtyard which is surrounded by a covered walkway.
• li kung: In ancient China, a palatial resort complex serving as the administrative center for the emperor during the months when the capital was especially hot or cold or when he wished to hunt; sometimes had gardens in which foreign settings were reproduced.
• li pai tien: In China, a main hall used for worship and for performing ritual ceremonies. 2. A Christian church in China.
• liang: In traditional Chinese construction, a beam; usually a bearing member perpendicular to the purlins or a bearing member parallel to the purlins. Similar to the hari in Japanese architecture.
• lin tzu: In traditional Chinese construction, a purlin which is round in section; also see fang. Similar to keta in Japanese construction.
• ling: A group of buildings at the cemetery of a Chinese emperor.
• ling hsing men: A Chinese gateway having two main posts; an inclined member is attached to each post, at an angle which tilts upward toward the centerline; constructed of wood or stone.
• liu li: In traditional Chinese architecture, a decorative porcelain glaze on terra-cotta tile or brick; a means of weatherproofing.
• lou: In traditional Chinese architecture: 1. A multistoried building. 2. Rooms that are not on the ground floor.
• Magot: Seated obese male figure, often with crossed legs, found in Chinoiserie decorations, also known as a Pagod or Poussah, associated with Contentment and the Chinese deity Pu-T’ai.
• men: In Chinese architecture, a gate or door.
• miao: In traditional Chinese architecture, a temple.
• minimalist garden: Characterized by clean lines, pure form, and a strong sense of place, it employs imaginative ecologically aware planting and sparing use of materials to create tranquil retreats, often quite small (perhaps a spatial extension to the home), sometimes in courtyards, on roofs, and occasionally featuring water. It is not uninfluenced by Chinese and Japanese gardens…
• Minton porcelain: Earthenware decorated in the Chinese style and first produced in 1793.
• moon gate: In traditional Chinese architecture, a circular opening in a wall.
• moon-door: See di xue. In a Chinese garden it might be circular, polygonal, or shaped like a gourd or leaf.
• mu: In Chinese architecture, a tomb.
• mune: In traditional Chinese architecture, the ridge of a roof.
• nei chu: In traditional Chinese architecture, a column…
• ovum mundi: The Chinese symbol representing the mystic union of the two fundamental principles, the material or feminine and the spiritual or masculine. Also see Great Monad.
• pagoda: A temple or sacred building, typically in an Asian nation, usually pyramidal, forming a tower with upward curving roofs over the individual stories.
• p’ai lou: A monumental Chinese arch or gateway with one, three, or five openings; erected at the entrance to a palace, tomb, or processional way. Usually built of stone in imitation of wood construction.
• pai t’a: A stupa in a Chinese lamasery; first appeared in 6th century and flourished in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); usually incorporated as a feature in Lamaist temples where bronze statues of the Mongolian khans were installed.
• pai-loo: In China, a decorated gateway.
• pai-lou: A monumental Chinese arch or gateway with one, three, or five openings; erected at the entrance to a palace, tomb, or processional way. Usually built of stone in imitation of wood construction.
• pang k’o lou: In China, a pavilion in a Muslim temple (located in the middle or at one corner of a courtyard) which functions as a minaret. In Sinkiang province, similar to the minarets of the Middle East. Also called kuang t’a.
• paoh-tah: In China, a temple, especially the tower-like forms of the Buddhists, always of an uneven number of stories.
• pieh kuan: A structure in an elaborate Chinese garden which by its design attracts special attention; usually served as the studio for the emperor or a famous scholar.
• p’ing chu: In traditional Chinese architecture, a column…
• ping ch’uan: In Chinese architecture, a multi-centered arch.
• ping feng: A movable screen having a wood or bamboo frame, used in traditional Chinese homes to supply privacy or to provide a setting for pieces of furniture. The panels, set into the frame, may be paintings on paper, fabric or lacquered boards, or carved wood, carved ivory, or precious stone. Both sides of the screen may be painted or carved. One large panel may be used or a number of smaller, equally sized panels connected by hinges.
• pu ti: Stone or tile paving, in various patterns, in traditional Chinese architecture.
• Qin: A dynasty in China, 221-206 B.C., marked by the emergence of a centralized government and the construction of much of the Great Wall of China. Also, Ch’in.
• scholar’s garden: Space designed to nourish the heart, incite poetic reverie, and provide a place of peaceful retreat: a precious terrain feeding the creative imagination, according to 17th c. Chinese texts. The hermit-like aesthetic life led by the scholar had a profound impact on Chinese garden-design. See Ji Cheng; philosopher’s garden; sanctuary.
• shan ch’iang: In traditional Chinese architecture, a gable.
• Shang: A Chinese dynasty, c1600 B.C.-1030 B.C., marked by the introduction of writing, the development of an urban civilization, and a mastery of bronze casting. Also, Yin.
• shang lin yuan: A royal garden within the capital of an ancient Chinese state; opened to the public once a year.
• Sharawadgi: First used by Sir William Temple in his Upon the Gardens of Epicurus (1685) to describe the Chinese way of planting in an apparently haphazard manner ‘without any Order of Disposition of Parts’… 2. Sharwadgi was used (somewhat pretentiously) in town-planning circles in the 1940s to describe irregular, asymmetrical, informal designs.
• Sharawaggi: First used by Sir William Temple in his Upon the Gardens of Epicurus (1685) to describe the Chinese way of planting in an apparently haphazard manner ‘without any Order of Disposition of Parts’… 2. Sharwadgi was used (somewhat pretentiously) in town-planning circles in the 1940s to describe irregular, asymmetrical, informal designs.
• she li t’a: A Chinese stupa or pagoda, usually of masonry, used as a shrine to house the relics of a prominent Buddhist monk or sage.
• shen ch’u: A sacred kitchen, used to prepare offerings; located at the rear left side of a traditional Chinese temple, tomb, or shrine.
• shen pao: A sacred slaughterhouse used to prepare live sacrifices; located at the rear right side of a traditional Chinese temple, tomb, or shrine.
• shen tao: A sacred path leading to a traditional Chinese temple, tombs, or shrines; located along the central axis of approach.
• ssu: A Chinese temple in a monastery; special types include: of ssu (Buddhist temple), ch’ing chen ssu (Islamic temple), and lama ssu (Lamaist temple).
• ta: In Chinese architecture, a pagoda, especially: 1. A high tower used for observing scenery or for military purposes. 2. A tower, of religious origin, used as a memorial; built of timber with a masonry core, or built completely of masonry.
• t’a: Chinese name for a pagoda, probably derived from a stupa, and occurring in Chinoiserie work.
• ta mu tso: A traditional Chinese method of timber construction above the columns of the building and below the roof, used with the tou kung system, usually used in elaborate buildings, such as for royalty, temples, and large monasteries.
• taa: Chinese name for a pagoda, probably derived from a stupa, and occurring in Chinoiserie work.
• t’ai: In the traditional Chinese architecture of palaces and groups of religious buildings, a pedestal or platform on which a building is constructed; may be a single platform or a series of platforms, the number of platforms designating the importance of the building. Some were rectangular in plan with several receding stories.
• t’ai miao: An official shrine for royal Chinese ancestors; usually located on the east side of a royal palace.
• Tai-kih: In Chinese philosophy, the Great Uniter, bringing the world of opposites into fructifying union.
• tan: In traditional Chinese architecture, a series of raised platforms used as a podium or altar.
• Tang: A dynasty in China, A.D. 618-907, marked by territorial expansion, the invention of printing, prosperous trade, and the development of poetry. Also, T’ang.
• t’ang: In a traditional Chinese house, a living room or a room for receiving guests. Sometimes there was a separate building for this function, always on the central axis of the site plan.
• Taoism: Chinese philosophy and religion considered next to Confucianism in importance. Based on the teachings of the Chinese philosopher, Lao-tzu, c604-531 B.C., it emphasizes a life of simplicity and noninterference with the course of natural events in order to attain a happy existence in harmony with the Tao. As a religion, it dates from A.D. 143, becoming popular during the decline of the Han dynasty and the introduction of Buddhism to China.
• t’ieh t’a: In ancient Chinese architecture, a masonry pagoda which is clad with bronze-colored glazed terra-cotta panels in relief; usually of Buddhist origin. Because of the color of the glaze, the Chinese character mean literally “iron tower.”
• tien: In traditional Chinese architecture, an important building within a compound especially for royalty and/or monasteries. Such buildings were on raised platforms with steps and were always constructed along a central axis of the site plan.
• t’ien ching: In Chinese architecture, a courtyard which is surrounded by buildings.
• t’ien hua: In Chinese architecture, a suspended ceiling in a temple, palace, or prosperous home; a wood ceiling to which two layers of paper are glued; the paper often carries a design which is decorated in color. 2. A general term for a ceiling.
• t’ien tan: A “temple of heaven,” the building (one of a group) which contained an altar at which the Chinese emperor paid tribute to heaven at the beginning of each year; each dynasty had one such temple at its capital.
• t’ien wen tai: A Chinese term for an observatory.
• tile-ends: A Wadang (tile-end) is a particular piece of tile that is placed over the last tile in each line of tiles on the traditional Chinese roof.
• t’ing: Chinese pavilion, roofed, but with no walls…
• t’ing chuang: A living room or reception room, more formal than a t’ang; sometimes a separate building for this function, in which case it is always on the central axis of the site plan. 2. In Chinese architecture, a yard which is surrounded by walls and/or structures.
• tou kung: A cantilevered bracket in traditional Chinese construction; tiers or clusters of brackets are used to carry rafters which support purlins far behind the outermost columns of a building.
• tou-kung: A bracket system used in traditional Chinese construction to support roof beams, project the eaves outward, and support the interior ceiling. The absence of a triangular tied frame in Chinese architecture made it necessary to multiply the number of supports under the rafters. In order to reduce the number of pillars this would normally require, the area of support afforded by each pillar was increased by the dougong. Also, tou-kung.
• ts’ai hua: In Chinese architecture, decorative color patterns on ceilings, structural members, and panels in buildings; different dynasties and different building types used different designs.
• ts’un lo: A Chinese village or group of farmhouses.
• tu ti miao: A Chinese temple or enclosure dedicated to a local deity, sometimes combined with the image of a ch’eng huang miao deity.
• t’ung ch’uan: In Chinese architecture, a semi-circular arch.
• wa : A tile roof in traditional Chinese architecture.
• wu pao: A fortification used by ancient Chinese landlords or small warlords.
• wu ting: In traditional Chinese architecture, a roof.
• Xia: A legendary dynasty in China, 2205-1766 B.C. Also, Hsia.
• yamun: The official residence of a Chinese mandarin.
• Yang-shao: A Neolithic culture in China centered around the fertile plains of the Yellow River, characterized by pit dwellings and fine pottery painted in geometric designs.
• yao: A cave dwelling in the clay regions of northwest China, of three common types: 1. A simple hole dug into a cliff. 2. A simple hole dug into a cliff, covered by a lean-to. 3. A vaulted chamber in a cliff; has rounded arch-shaped sections; some arches and walls are reinforced with bricks or stones.
• yen chu: In traditional Chinese architecture, a column…
• Yin: A Chinese dynasty, c1600 B.C.-1030 B.C., marked by the introduction of writing, the development of an urban civilization, and a mastery of bronze casting.
• ying pi: A free-standing wall, either inside or outside the main entrance of a Chinese building courtyard; usually constructed of masonry, but may be of wood or clay; used to block vision, providing greater privacy and a windbreak; the middle section of these walls carried decorative reliefs. Also called chao ch’iang or chao pi.
• you: Ancient Chinese hunting-park containing artificial mounts (on which the Emperor would perform rituals) that evolved into gardens where birds, fish, and livestock could breed and plants with symbolic meanings could be cultivated to provide agreeable settings and habitats. IT evolved into the yuan. See Chinese garden-design.
• yuan: In Chinese garden-design the you was gradually transformed into the yuan which included forests, lakes (for pleasure-boating, naval exercises, and aesthetic reasons), pastures (including areas for breeding and raising animals), and pavilions placed throughout the whole of the landscape (really a large park). Aspects of this transitional landscape influenced the subsequent evolution of Chinese garden-design.
• yuan tzu: In Chinese architecture, a courtyard which is surrounded by walls and buildings. Also t’ien ching.
• Yungang: A large Buddhist monastic center in northwest China, begun in A.D. 460, where there are numerous cave temples, each having a shallow, oval-shaped interior with a massive central image of Buddha flanked by two smaller Buddhas: the concept of carving into cliffs is believed to have come to China from India. Also, Yun-kang.
• zhonglou: A bell tower or pavilion in Chinese architecture, located at the right side of a city gate, palace entrance, or forecourt of a temple.
• Zhou: A Chinese dynasty, c1030 B.C.-256 B.C., marked by the division of China into separate feudal states and the emergence of Confucianism and Taoism, which gave thrust to all subsequent Chinese culture. Also, Chou.

Also see Architecture Origin index.

Also see Architecture index.