History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c34.s2.2

v2.c34.s2.2

ONE of the great difficulties experienced in any description of Chinese architecture is the absence of plans of either temples, palaces, monasteries or dwellings. Within the last few years the photographic camera has lent its aid in the illustration of the great palaces at Pekin within the walls of the Forbidden City, and of the Imperial Temples north of the city, and an elaborate work has been published with over one hundred photographs taken after the siege,¹ accompanied by a short description, giving only the names of the buildings, and without a single plan or diagram to show their juxtaposition. In some cases views of the interior only are given which might have been of service if we were dealing with buildings erected by any of the European races, but in China where the constructional arrangements are often of a very complicated nature which do not seem to have been regulated by natural laws, to evolve a plan from them is an almost impossible task. This is especially the case in the two most important circular buildings, viz.: the Temple of Heaven (the Ch'i-nien-tien Hall Heaven palace) and the Temple of the Year Star (Huang-Chiang-yen), in both of which the attempt to construct a circular domed building with materials which lend themselves only to rectangular structures has resulted in makeshifts of a very peculiar nature.