Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/703

 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE. 645 the Ming Dynasty (a.d. 1368-1644), to the North of Pekin, are entered through triumphal gateways of white marble and an avenue, a mile in length, of large monolithic figures, thirty-two in number, and 12 feet in height, representing camels, horses, priests, elephants, lions, and griffins. Each of the thirteen tombs consists of an earthen mound, half-a-mile in circumference, and supported by a retaining wall 20 feet high, and seem founded on such monuments as the Sanchi tope in India. Family tombs are frequently of horseshoe form in plan, cut into the hillside, with mythical animals guarding the entrance. Houses are chiefly of wooden or glazed porcelain construction, formed to a large extent of moveable partitions which slide in framework. There is generally only one floor. The roofs are of steep pitch, with boldly projecting eaves, and have highly ornamented ridges of colored and glazed tiles with the ends turned up, or are finished with grotesque animals or fantastic ornaments. The framing is eff'ected in bamboo and other woods, and is frequently painted red, green, or blue. The houses owe much of their character to their environment, being placed in gardens arranged to suggest some natural landscape, with fountains, artificial rocks, woodland scenery, lakes, flower beds, hanging plants, bridges spanning watercourses and stepping stones, which are seen in the models at the Indian Museum at South Kensington. Town houses of any importance are made up of a collection of isolated pavilions surrounded by small gardens. Three principal divisions occur, viz., (a) The vestibule or porter's lodge, giving on to the street ; (b) the audience chamber and family rooms ; and (r) the kitchen and servants' rooms (No. 281 a). In Japan the employment of wooden houses and the consequent fear of fire has had much influence in producing the detached character which some of the larger examples possess. In the plan of a middle-class dwelling (No. 281 j, h), the general arrange- ment is shown. In such an example the walls are constructed of slight vertical posts and horizontal beams covered with weather- boarding. The portion giving on to the verandah has sliding shutters between the posts. The internal partitions are formed of paper slides, 6 feet high, with plastered or wooden frieze over. Tea Houses (No. 281 k) are characteristic institutions, generally of wood construction, inclosed by thin shutters readily removed during the summer. They usually have verandahs and are set in specially designed gardens. Engineering Works. — Canals and bridges have been extensively carried out. The Great Wall (b.c. 214) is 1,400 miles long, 20 to 30 feet high, and 25 feet thick. It is formed with a battered face and carried over mountain heights, down