Chinese Architecture in an Age of Turmoil, 200-600 / / Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt; ed. by Xing Ruan, Ronald G. Knapp.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Asian Studies Backlist (2000-2014) eBook Package
• VerfasserIn: Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman,
• HerausgeberIn: Knapp, Ronald G.,; Ruan, Xing,
• Place / Publishing House: Honolulu : : University of Hawaii Press, , [2014]; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (496 p.) :; 362 illustrations, 114 in color

Between the fall of the Han dynasty in 220 CE and the year 600, more than thirty dynasties, kingdoms, and states rose and fell on the eastern side of the Asian continent. The founders and rulers of those polities represented the spectrum of peoples in North, East, and Central Asia. Nearly all of them built palaces, altars, temples, tombs, and cities, and almost without exception, the architecture was grounded in the building tradition of China. Illustrated with more than 475 color and black-and-white photographs, maps, and drawings, Chinese Architecture in an Age of Turmoil uses all available evidence-Chinese texts, secondary literature in six languages, excavation reports, and most important, physical remains-to present the architectural history of this tumultuous period in China's history. Its author, Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt, arguably North America's leading scholar of premodern Chinese architecture, has done field research at nearly every site mentioned, many of which were unknown twenty years ago and have never been described in a Western language.The physical remains are a handful of pagodas, dozens of cave-temples, thousands of tombs, small-scale evidence of architecture such as sarcophaguses, and countless representations of buildings in paint and relief sculpture. Together they narrate an expansive architectural history that offers the first in-depth study of the development, century-by-century, of Chinese architecture of third through the sixth centuries, plus a view of important buildings from the two hundred years before the third century and the resolution of architecture of this period in later construction. The subtext of this history is an examination of Chinese architecture that answers fundamental questions such as: What was achieved by a building system of standardized components? Why has this building tradition of perishable materials endured so long in China? Why did it have so much appeal to non-Chinese empire builders? Does contemporary architecture of Korea and Japan enhance our understanding of Chinese construction? How much of a role did Buddhism play in construction during the period under study? In answering these questions, the book focuses on the relation between cities and monuments and their heroic or powerful patrons, among them Cao Cao, Shi Hu, Empress Dowager Hu, Gao Huan, and lesser-known individuals. Specific and uniquely Chinese aspects of architecture are explained. The relevance of sweeping-and sometimes uncomfortable-concepts relevant to the Chinese architectural tradition such as colonialism, diffusionism, and the role of historical memory also resonate though the book.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Notes on Romanization and Spelling -- Chronology of Chinese Dynasties -- Introduction Two Pagodas, Myriad Caves and Tombs -- Part One: Background to Architecture in an Age of Turmoil -- 1. Division and Reorganization into Visions of Empire -- 2. Han Beginnings -- Part Two. Four Centuries of Great Monuments -- 3. The Third Century: Emergence of Buddhist Architecture -- 4. The Fourth Century Permanent Materials for Worship, Death, and Defense -- 5. The Fifth Century Architecture for Barbarian Dynasties -- 6. The Sixth Century Wooden Halls Revealed -- Part Three. Understanding and Resolution of Architecture in an Age of Turmoil -- 7. Patterns and Achievements of Thirdthrough-Sixth-Century Architecture -- 8. Seeing China Through Korea and Japan -- Postscript The Borders of Chinese Architecture -- Notes -- Character Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author