Chinese architecture has obvious distinctions between masculine and feminine. Since ancient times, there have been two major systems of traditional architectural art in my country. One is the formal official-style buildings, which mainly include the palaces and palaces that directly serve the emperor. The sacrificial altars and temples that serve the feudal patriarchal ritual system, as well as the official offices, mansions and defensive buildings in the capital and elsewhere are generally designed and constructed in accordance with the laws and regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Industry of the central government. The most common characteristics of this type of building are formality, rigor, and tallness, often with brightly colored glazed tile roofs. The eaves of the house are often doubled or even tripled to enhance the momentum. The brackets and colorful paintings are gorgeously and solemnly decorated, which strongly expresses the majestic masculine beauty. On the other hand, there are various types of residential buildings distributed in remote villages in the north and south of the Yangtze River. These buildings, which are the largest in ancient times, are free and eclectic in construction, and are closely integrated with the surrounding natural environment. Their floor plans are flexible. The structure also uses local products as appropriate and adapts them to the village, thus creating extremely rich and diverse forms. Take the rural houses in the hills of Jiangnan, with three rooms and four pillars, white walls and green tiles, nestled against mountains and rivers, blending naturally with the breeze, white clouds, hazy morning light, secluded woods and meandering streams, showing a kind, beautiful and yet kind Implicit beauty, those landscape buildings specially designed to appreciate the beauty of natural scenery, famous mountains and rivers, and small gardens that recreate the beauty of mountains and rivers, are also distinguished by their elegance, brightness, refinement and charm, and are the main components of architecture that express feminine beauty. part.
"The six kings are finished, the four seas are one, the Shu Mountain is Wu, and Afang comes out." After reading the simple and vivid opening sentences of Du Mu's "Ode to Afang Palace", it is not difficult for people in later generations to imagine the majesty and grandeur of the palace. It is a typical example of the masculine beauty of Zhou and Qin architecture. Afang Palace is actually the front hall of Qin Shihuang's palace on the south bank of the Wei River. The planning of Afang Palace is centered on the front hall, with "five steps to one floor, ten steps to one pavilion", going straight to Lishan Mountain in the east, and extending to Zhongnan Mountain on the south axis. At the peak, there is a complex road to the north across the Wei River and connected to the Xianyang Old Palace. If this plan is fully realized, the entire Epang Palace will be "overwhelmed for more than 300 miles and isolated from the sky", becoming an unprecedented palace cluster embodying masculine beauty in history. Unfortunately, Qin Shihuang passed away more than two years after the construction started. Later, the built palace was burned by Xiang Yu, which lasted for three months. You can imagine its grand scale.
Like other traditional arts, the architectural style of the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties also focused on the expression of masculinity and magnificence. Its image pursued "the joy of grandeur and sublimity" and its details pursued "the wrong use of gold." It is a garden that is complementary to the formal architecture and should show softness and beauty. It also pursues multiple views and panoramic views. There are many high platforms in the garden and all kinds of rare flowers and birds are on display. Just as described in the great poems of the former Han Dynasty, the gardens at this time were grand and all-encompassing, trying to show luxury and wealth, but did not have the poetic charm and subtle charm of later gardens. Therefore, from the aesthetic concept of yin and yang combining virtue and hardness and softness, , the architectural art at this time was childish, overly revealing, and a relatively crude and material grasp of the external world. As history developed into the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the turbulent social politics caused a large number of scholars to consciously keep a distance from the real society. The trend of discussing mysteries emerged, and they respected "The Book of Changes", "Laozi" and "Zhuangzi" as the three mysteries. It has also injected new vitality into the more orthodox and boring art theory since the Han Dynasty. This is reflected in the architecture. Simple, elegant, quiet and natural village gardens have developed rapidly. As a supplement to the high-rise buildings in Guangdian, they appropriately express the beauty. , natural feminine beauty.