Forbidden City Architecture Roof

The ming 1368 1644 and qing 1644 1912 dynasties.

Forbidden city architecture roof.

Marco hernandez even today it sounds a near impossible task. The largest earthquake we ve ever recorded in history had a 9 5 magnitude. These brackets in forbidden city architectures were no longer used to support the house and absorb the effects of earthquakes but only for decoration. One example is wenyuange the imperial library in beijing s forbidden city which amidst many yellow roofs stands under a roof of black tiles.

Green is used. Books were liable to catch fire black was supposed to be the colour of water and a black coloured roof would mean ever ready water to put out fires. They then put the structure a fifth of the size of buildings in the forbidden city through simulated earthquakes. Build an earthquake resistant wooden building strong enough to endure several tumultuous centuries but without using nails or glue.

The bracket using to bearing the weight of the roof is also a vital and typical part in ancient chinese architecture. The roof of the forbidden city is full of glazed tiles. In the forbidden city building there are more than 10 different types of roofs. The main hall is mainly yellow.

Construction on the forbidden city began in 1406 when zhu di son of the hongwu emperor became the yongle emperor and moved the capital of china to beijing. The roof of a big hall in the forbidden city is estimated to weigh 2 000 tons all that weight resting on the dougong brackets connecting it to the columns below. The roof form of chinese architecture is rich and colorful. Watch the full documentary on all 4.

Take the three halls as an example the roofs are different. While most of the buildings in the forbidden city are made from wood and have a similar style its architecture is nevertheless rich in subtle variations and symbolism. Forbidden city serves as the home of 24 emperors of ming dynasty 1368 1644 and qing dynasty 1636 1912 over 5 centuries. A nailless chinese construction method.

The forbidden city s unique architecture chapter 2 the dougong.