Ancient Chinese Architecture

The architectural tradition of China from antiquity through the imperial era, built overwhelmingly in timber post-and-beam frames rather than masonry, organized around symmetrical, axial courtyard planning, and marked by the distinctive bracket sets, dougong, that transfer the load of deep overhanging eaves down through the columns rather than through solid walls. Its principles governed palace, temple and vernacular building alike for more than two thousand years and reached their most complete surviving expression in the Forbidden City in Beijing, begun under the Yongle Emperor in the early fifteenth century.