Through a thousand years of time and space,
Ancient Chinese architecture is no longer just a civil structure,
It is a work of art that condenses history and culture,
The beauty of a painting-like mood.
Ancient Chinese craftsmen dared to use color in architectural decoration, and China's classical architecture had a bright color, a wide variety of colors, and a large area of color blocks paved with contrast, forming a unique Chinese flavor color scheme. The colorful colors on the buildings are our unique national characteristics.
As the most simple world view, the color of traditional Chinese architecture reflects the aesthetic cognition of the world and artifacts of the ancients, as a symbol medium that conveys aesthetic intentions, traditional architectural colors will bring people different psychological hints, and affect people's judgment of physical objects and environmental atmosphere experience.
The development of color in ancient Chinese architecture
If the building wants to have an overall effect, it cannot lack the coordination of color. Ancient craftsmen created different color environments through the different effects of color on people's physiology and psychology, and successfully obtained the artistic effects pursued by residential buildings and palace gardens. This is the expressive power of color, and it is also the cultural role of color.
In the palace of the Yin Shang period, the pillars were mostly red, the walls were white, and the "hall" and front eaves of the palace were mostly decorated with colorful draperies, wall coats and other embroidered embroideries and paintings, making the ruler's building noble, luxurious and magnificent.
The Zhou Dynasty also stipulated that blue, red, yellow, white, and black were positive colors. Palaces, pillar walls, and pedestals are painted red. This tradition of using red as a noble color has continued.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, not only the palace building pillars, parapets, beams on the walls are painted, and vermilion, blue, light green, yellow gray, white, black and other colors have been used.
The Qin Dynasty inherited the etiquette of the Warring States period, and black was the main color from then on.
Palaces and official buildings in the Han Dynasty also used red. In the Han Dynasty, in addition to the general brick mud and wood houses in the Han Dynasty, the interior was relatively simple, and the palace platform was extremely magnificent. Smallpox is generally turquoise, the beams are yellow, red, gold and blue, and the columns and walls are red or large red.
Han Weiyang Palace
Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the appearance and use of glazed tiles on the roof, yellow has become the supreme status.
During the Tang Dynasty, the color was more luxurious than before, not only using big red, green and green, yellow-brown and the intercolor of each layer of blending, gold and silver jade were the necessary materials. After the red level regressed to yellow, the beam frame was painted with color, and the roof was popular for gray tiles, green and cyan glazed tiles, which were bright and pleasant, and the simple and bright color sense was its characteristic.
Tang Daming Palace
The Song Dynasty liked light and elegant, focusing on the expression of taste, and the pursuit of stable and simple architectural and interior decoration tones was influenced by the Confucian and Zen philosophical ideas of the Song Dynasty. Therefore, Song Dynasty buildings often carved and decorated the components, and the colors were turquoise color paintings, Zhujin decoration, white stone platform foundations, and red walls and yellow tiles.
Song Jin Ancestral Hall Dou Arch Painting
In the Yuan Dynasty, the interior was rich in colors, and the decoration paintings were red, yellow, blue, green and other colors.
The Ming Dynasty inherits the light and elegant tradition of the Song Dynasty, the color is thick and clear, and the color is used to see the beautiful and elegant environment in the gorgeous and luxurious.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the color grade of the building was more strict and distinct, and the glazed tiles were the highest in yellow, and there were blue, purple, black and green colors, with different uses. These colorful glazed tiles constitute the soft curves of the roofs of ancient Chinese buildings, and the rich and colorful roof ridges and animal kisses constitute the most prominent and beautiful features of ancient Chinese architecture.
The "five elements" of the color of ancient buildings
The use of color is closely related to the aesthetic psychology of the Chinese nation. In the Han Dynasty, Chinese formed the theory of the five elements of yin and yang, believing that all things in heaven and earth are composed of five basic elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth, and the movement of the seasons, the change of orientation, and the classification of colors are closely related to the five elements, and the five colors are closely related to the five elements, the five colors with the five elements and the five directions.
Traditional Chinese architecture generally shows the characteristics of white, blue, black, red and yellow, which is a cultural phenomenon of the evolution of architectural color. These five colors represent traditional Chinese culture, reflect the diversity of architectural categories and patterns, and also express the close relationship between people, housing, environment and ecology.
▼Wood blue (east)--Green Dragon--Spring (sky, spring)
Take the Suzhou garden as an example
▼Fiery Red (South)--Suzaku--Summer (Kingship, Warmth)
Take the Forbidden City in Beijing, for example
▼ Earth Yellow (Middle) - Dragon -------- (Land, Status)
Take the Forbidden City in Beijing, for example
▼Golden White (West) - White Tiger - Autumn (Sacred, Auspicious)
Take the Potala Palace, for example
▼Water Black (North)--Xuanwu--Winter (Mysterious, Solemn)
Take the Huizhou Ancient Ancestral Hall as an example
In the process of the development of human material life and spiritual life, the color of Chinese architecture has always radiated magical charm. People not only discover, observe, create and appreciate the world of brilliant and colorful colors, but also deepen their understanding and application of architectural colors through the long changes of the times.
The research and exploration of traditional architectural colors have guiding significance for modern urban planning and color coordination. The design of modern architectural colors is the expression of the degree of civilization, development, quality of citizens and cultural heritage of a city or region, and it is also an environmental function, which can bring convenience, practicality and efficiency to the life, work and study of citizens.
Traditional architecture as a solidified art and cultural carrier preserved to this day, has become a rare heritage of the world, we should pay attention to the inheritance and continuation of traditional colors, and should be effectively used in modern design, looking for the convergence of ancient and modern color culture, for the survival of human beings "color space", but also for the continuation of those precious ecological spaces, more in-depth exploration and research, so that the increasingly indifferent reinforced concrete building color clothing reappears, re-giving human emotions.
Ancient Chinese craftsmen,
Good at using color in architectural decoration.
Colorful on the building,
Wide variety of colors,
It is our unique national characteristics.
Let's take a look
The development and evolution of the color of ancient Chinese architecture.
Original architecture
China's original architecture is "Maozi Soil Steps", rarely artificial decoration, and its color is mostly the natural color of grass, wood and earth building materials, which is primitive and simple.
With the improvement of social productivity and the enhancement of people's aesthetic awareness, laterite, white clay, mussel shell ash and other paints are used to decorate and protect buildings, and later pigments such as stone green, cinnabar, and ochre appear.
Shang Zhou period
At first, people mostly painted red, white, black and yellow colors on the building according to color preferences, totem symbols, feng shui, etc.
In the palace of the Yin Shang period, the pillars were mostly red, the walls were white, and the "hall" and front eaves of the palace were mostly decorated with colorful "splendid quilts" draperies, wall coats and other embroidered and painted products, making the ruler's building noble, luxurious and magnificent.
The Zhou Dynasty also stipulated that blue, red, yellow, white, and black were positive colors. Palaces, pillar walls, and pedestals are painted red. This tradition of using red as a noble color has continued.
Spring and Autumn Warring States
Due to the emergence of the stage, the rulers gave the color on the buildings a class content, stipulating in the book of rites: "楹." Tianzi Dan princes are dark, doctors are cang, and earth. The ideology of these ruling classes is clearly reflected in the hierarchy and color of architecture.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, not only the palace building pillars, parapets, beams on the walls are painted, and vermilion, blue, light green, yellow gray, white, black and other colors have been used.
Judging from the wadang patterns unearthed in the Warring States period, the green dragon, white tiger, suzaku and Xuanwu were used in the eastern, western, southern and northern parties respectively, and it can be speculated that black, white, red and yellow were used in the building at that time to represent different directions.
At this time, there were also painted paintings on the beam shelves of the building, and the colors of the building were more colorful.
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty inherited the etiquette of the Warring States period and paid more attention to black. After the unification of Qin Shi Huang, the color of the costume and the color of the flag were changed to black. "Don't make a statue in black and white" "History", black as the main color began.
Han Dynasty
Palaces and official buildings in the Han Dynasty also used red. There are a large number of "Danyu", "Zhu Que", "Danqi" written records.
In the Han Dynasty, in addition to the relatively simple interior of the general brick mud and wood houses in the Han Dynasty, the palace platform was extremely magnificent. Smallpox is generally turquoise, the beams are yellow, red, gold and blue, and the columns and walls are red or large red.
In the Han Dynasty, the theory of the five elements of yin and yang in the Zhou Dynasty was developed, and the five colors represented the orientation more specifically. Turquoise symbolizes the green dragon and represents the East, vermilion symbolizes the Suzaku, guide fang, white symbolizes the white tiger, represents the west, black symbolizes Xuanwu, table north, and yellow symbolizes the dragon, indicating the center. This idea continued until the end of the Qing Dynasty.
Tang Dynasty
Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the appearance and use of glazed tiles on the roof, yellow has become the supreme status.
During the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism had a great influence, and the trend of competing for luxury prevailed. The color is more luxurious than before, not only with big red, green and blue, yellow brown and various layers of intercolor color, gold and silver jade is a must-use material.
After the red level regressed to yellow, the palaces, temples and official residences of the Sui and Tang Dynasties were mostly painted with red columns, white walls, and beams, and the roofs were gray tiles, black tiles and colored glazed tiles, which were bright and pleasing to the eye, and the simple and bright color sense was its characteristic.
Green and cyan glazed tiles were popular, and crimson cyan glazed tiles were used. It also uses the combination and contrast of blue, red, white, black and yellow colors to appear many different architectural color combinations of "Tongxuan Purple Pillar", "Danqi Miaobi" and "Green Pillar Zhuyi".
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty liked to be light and elegant, focusing on the expression of taste, and the pursuit of stable and simple architectural color and interior decoration tones was influenced by the Philosophical Ideas of Confucianism and Zen Buddhism in the Song Dynasty.
During this period, the components were often carved and decorated, and the colors were turquoise paintings, Zhujin decoration, white stone platform foundations, and red walls and yellow tiles.
Yuan Dynasty
In the Yuan Dynasty, the interior was rich in colors, and the decoration paintings were red, yellow, blue, green and other colors.
After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the palace used white stone pedestals, red walls, red columns, doors and windows, yellow and green glazed tile roofs, and eaves under the eaves to apply color painting methods such as "multicolored decoration", "milled jade clothing", "green and green overlapping halo between the edges", etc., which strengthened the contrast between the cold and warm colors in the shadows of the building, which has always influenced the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty inherits the light and elegant tradition of the Song Dynasty, the color is thick and clear, and the color is used to see the beautiful and elegant environment in the gorgeous and luxurious.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the color grade of the building was more strict and distinct, and the glazed tiles were the highest in yellow, followed by green, and there were blue, purple, black, and white colors, with different uses.
These colorful glazed tiles constitute the soft curves of the roofs of ancient Chinese buildings, and the rich and colorful roof ridges and animal kisses constitute the most prominent and beautiful features of ancient Chinese architecture.
Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty paint painting is popular, the color of the house is mostly the natural color of the material, the northern gray tone is the mainstay, the southern pink wall, green tile, beams and columns with dark brown, brown paint, and the southern evergreen natural environment in harmony.
The white pedestals of ancient Chinese royal buildings, red walls and yellow tiles echo with the blue sky and green trees, forming a strong primary color contrast. The white walls, gray tiles, green and maroon beams of ancient Chinese dwellings contrast with the natural environment.
Traditional colors of ancient Chinese architecture
In ancient feudal society, the hierarchy was strict, and there were strict institutional regulations on the color of buildings. The style of yellow and green tiles, green beams, vermilion wall pillars, and white balustrades has become the typical color characteristics of ancient Chinese wooden architecture in the minds of ordinary people.
The method of using primary colors such as Zhu, blue, yellow, white and gold has a strong and vivid effect, and seeks coordination and unity in contrast, which has become the success of architectural colors. The five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth are combined, gold is white, wood is blue, water is black, fire is red, earth is yellow, and the colors of the five elements are mutually exclusive.
Chinese Red
Zhu is also known as Chinese red, the favorite color of the Chinese nation.
Red plays a pivotal role in ancient Chinese architecture. Red represents festivity, auspiciousness, enthusiasm, unrestrainedness, fighting spirit and loyalty. In the Ming and Qing imperial buildings, red and yellow are the exclusive colors of the Ming and Qing royal buildings. Widely used in columns, doors, windows, walls and other parts, representing nobility, authority, solemnity.
Glass yellow
The symbol of huang junquan, in China's color culture, yellow has a lofty symbolic significance, often regarded as a symbol of monarchy.
In ancient times, whether it was royal or folk, from top to bottom, they liked that intense color. Because the meaning of color is more important than the color itself, bright colors make people feel auspicious and festive, and "joy in color" is how it comes! Only royal palaces can use yellow glazed tiles for roofs. Other buildings, as well as officials and royal palaces, are not allowed to lay yellow glazed tiles on the roof of their buildings. The palace walls of the Forbidden City are red, while the glazed tiles above and the roofs of many temples are yellow, which reflects the principle of red fire and yellow earth from the analysis of the five elements.
Advocating yellow is related to the idea of "respecting the soil". Yellow glazed tiles were a special ornament for the royal nobility. Its solid materials, bright colors and glossy glaze are masterpieces in the history of architecture. In the Qing Dynasty, there were strict regulations on the use of glazed tiles: yellow glazed tiles were used in imperial palaces and mausoleums; green glazed tiles were used in royal palaces; blue glazed tiles were used for sacrificial buildings; black glazed tiles and purple glazed tiles were used for pavilions and pavilions in imperial gardens.
Blue and blue
Blue, also known as blue and white blue, is the most widely used in blue and white porcelain, quiet and elegant, idyllic, warm and elegant, is a very representative color in Chinese cultural color.
National locust green
Green, lush, full of vigorous vitality and natural style, also known as the national locust green, commonly used liang fang and other parts, showing luxurious and rich effects.
Great Wall Ash
Gray, also known as the Great Wall gray, folk colors mostly use white wall gray tiles. The winding and majestic Great Wall, the black tile and white walls of Jiangnan Water Town, and the ever-changing ink brush edge. Gray is a color with a unique charm.
BY | Architectural Historiography
The historiography of architecture | the text
Figure | Gongbu Lang network
The copyright of graphics and texts belongs to the original author or institution
Compilation | Shanxi Evening News all-media reporter Nan Lijiang
Audit | Fang Tianji
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