Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/696

 638 COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE. Asia, all the Mongul princes as far as the Dnieper were tributary. The Emperor undertook public works and patronized literature. It was during his reign (a.d. 1260) that the Persian workmen introduced the art of making blue and white porcelain. The Ming Dynasty (a.d. 1368-1644). — Nankin, the capital, afterwards changed to Pekin. Japan invaded Corea in 1592. The Manchu Tartar Dynasty (a.d. 1644 to the present day). — The shaved head and pigtail are emblems of Tartar sovereignty. At the beginning of the seventeenth century the German Jesuits influenced the studies of the first Emperors. Kang-he (a.d. 1661- 1721) added Thibet to the Empire and published the Dictionary of the Chinese language. Keen lung (a.d. 1735-1795) invaded Burmah, Cochin- China, and Nepaul, and crushed the Mahometan rebellion. He received Lord Macartney as first ambassador of George III. In 1840 war was declared by England against China ; this marks the period of the influence of European intervention. In 1873 the foreign ministers obtained the right of audience with the Emperor. Japan. — The Emperor Zinmu, b.c. 660, was a contemporary of Nebuchadnezzar. From that time onward the government of the country was undertaken by the Mikado, or spiritual Emperor, the Shogun, or temporal Emperor, being Commander-in-Chief. Till A.D. 1543 Japanese history is purely local, but in that year the Portuguese landed and commenced trading, and in 1549 S. Francis Xavier introduced Christianity. In 1638 Christianity was interdicted and isolation from foreign countries was effected. In 1854, however, after an isolation of over 200 years, treaties of commerce were made with foreign nations. This period marks the commencement of the influence of European art on Japan. In 1868 the present Mikado, the 122nd of his line, suppressed the Shogun and reigned as supreme constitutional Emperor. 2. ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER. China. — The architecture is a faithful index of the civilization of the country, which seems to have been stationary from the earliest times. Throughout its course, the architecture appears to have been subject to little progress, and it has exerted but little influence on other styles. Bright coloring forms an important part, applied permanently in the shape of glazed tiles or majolica work. The architecture of China and Japan is pre-eminently one of wood — cedar, pine, chesnut or bamboo — which is framed up to receive the sliding screens which run in grooves (No. 281). The Pagodas, or towers, in receding stories, with gaily- colored curved roofs to which bells were attached, and adorned