Читать книгу Chinese Art - Stephen W. Bushell - Страница 12

Juyong Pass, 15th c.

50 km northwest of Peking.

Qi Nian Dian (Altar of Prayer for Grain)

Dragon Phoenix caisson, 1420. Wood. Peking.

China, in every epoch of its history, and for all its edifices, civil or religious, public or private, has kept to a single architectural model. Even when new types have been introduced from the west under the influence of Buddhism and Mohammedanism, the lines have become gradually toned down and conformed to his own standard by the levelling hands of the Chinese mason. It is a cardinal rule in Chinese geomancy that every important building must face the south, and the uniform orientation resulting from this adds to the general impression of monotony.