Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/695

 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE. 637 authority was productive of architectural works tending to the glorification of such monarchs. China, on the other hand, has been termed the country of the middle classes—" Literati," small proprietors and merchants — whose buildings indicate special regard to utility and whose temples express iperely the desire to accommodate the present needs rather than to show to future generations those feelings of eternal sublimity that mark the styles of Egypt and Greece. Japan. — Tea drinking is held to have had its influence on the industrial arts, due in part to its spread in the fifteenth century and the formation of tea clubs, thereby producing a demand for domestic utensils and leading to a special treatment of such buildings and their gardens. Government decrees as to size and arrangement of buildings exercised influence. Up to the revolution of 1868 the country was governed by the Shogun or chief vassal of the Mikado, at which period Western parliamentary ideas were introduced. vi. Historical. China. — The early history of China is wrapped in the mists of antiquity. The Chow Dynasty. — Che-Hwang-te, first universal Emperor (B.C. 246-210), built the "Great Wall," b.c. 214, and constructed roads, canals. The Eastern Han Dynasty (a.d. 23-220).— During the reign of Ming Te, Buddhism was introduced from India. The Western Tsin Dynasty (a.d. 2^5-590).— During the reign of the Emperor Sze-Ma-Yen, the Emperor Theodosius sent ambassadors to China (a.d. 284). The Tang Dynasty "(a.d. 618-907).— Tai-tsung (a.d. 618-649) purchased the alliance of the Turks as the Emperor Justinian had done in a.d. 558, and regained Eastern Persia up to the Caspian Sea. Ambassadors from Persia and Rome came to China in A.D. 645. The Emperor Woo-Tsung (a.d. 841-847) abolished Temples and Monasteries. The Emperor E-Tsung (a.d. 860-874) revived Buddhism. During the tenth century the Chmese Emperor invaded Chalda^a, penetrating to the Mediterranean, and maintained a protectorate in Mesopotamia for more than sixty years. It is possible that Chalda^an temples were the prototypes of many Chinese structures and even of pagodas in receding stages. From this expedition some date the art of enamelled brickwork as employed in China. The Mongul or Yuen Dynasty (a.d. 1259-1368).— Under the Emperor Kublai (a.d. 1259-1294) China reached her greatest extent, and with the exception of Hindustan, Arabia, and Western