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Traditional Chinese Architecture

Twelve Essays

Xinian Fu author Alexandra Harrer translator Nancy Steinhardt editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Princeton University Press

Published:13th Jun '17

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Traditional Chinese Architecture cover

A groundbreaking book by one of the world's leading historians of Chinese architecture Translated by Alexandra Harrer Fu Xinian is considered by many to be the world's leading historian of Chinese architecture. He is an expert on every type of Chinese architecture from every period through the nineteenth century, and his work is at the cutting edge of the field. Traditional Chinese Architecture gathers together, for the first time in English, twelve seminal essays by Fu Xinian. This wide-ranging book pays special attention to the technical aspects of the building tradition since the first millennium BC, and Fu Xinian's signature drawings abundantly illustrate its nuances. The essays delve into the modular basis for individual structures, complexes, and cities; lateral and longitudinal building frames; the unity of sculpture and building to create viewing angles; the influence of Chinese construction on Japanese architecture; and the reliability of images to inform us about architecture. Organized chronologically, the book also examines such topics as the representation of architecture on vessels in the Warring States period, early Buddhist architecture, and the evolution of imperial architecture from the Tang to Ming dynasty. A biography of Fu Xinian and a detailed Chinese-English glossary are included. Bringing together some of the most groundbreaking scholarship in Chinese architectural history, Traditional Chinese Architecture showcases an uncontested master of the discipline.

"This volume can be read as an introduction to Chinese architecture, or it can be used as a detailed reference tool. An important resource for anyone interested in architectural history." * Choice *

ISBN: 9780691159997

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 1021g

448 pages