Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/707

 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE. 649 walls, being erected previously, and supported on wooden posts (No. 281). The angles are usually turned up sharply and orna- mented with fantastic dragon ornaments (Nos. 281 f and 283 h, j, k). Such a form shelters the house from the direct rays of the sun while admitting daylight, and throws the rain-water clear of the walls. The ridges have elaborate ornamental cresting (No. 283 r, s). The roofs are mainly covered with enamelled and colored tiles of S shape (pan-tiles), placed in beds of mortar, which is also used to form cover-joints as a protection from the action of driving winds. The method of forming the trusses supporting the tile work is by a system of rigid rectangles (not triangles as in Europe), formed of bamboos held together by wooden tenons. The weight of the roof acts vertically, no oblique thrust coming on the walls (No. 283 c). The roof is the principal ornament of the building which it shelters, and contrasts very strongly with the Greek, Roman, and Renaissance styles, in which there is often an evident endeavour to hide the roof. It is considered a sign of dignity to possess several roofs one over the other, which serve to protect the interior of the house from the extremes of heat and cold. Some derive the hollow curved form of roof from a " tent " origin ; others, with greater reason, think the form resulted from the use of bamboos, which bend when weight is put upon them. The connection between the roof and the pillars which sustain it is often effected by brackets, which give support and strength. The soffits are usually divided into square or octagonal coffers by means of raised ribs with brass socketingsat their intersection. Japan. — The gable ends (No. 281 g) often have cusped barge- boards with carved pendants. A curious form of roof is pro- duced by terminating the upper portion of the main roof in a gable vertically above the end wall, but continuing the lower portion round the ends in a hipped form, thus presenting a roof which is half hip and half gable (No. 281 g). The covering is usually of flat and roll tiles placed alternately, the ridge and hip crestings consisting of several layers of tiles in mortar crowned with large moulded tile capping (No. 283 m, n, r, s). E. Columns. China. — The lightness, strength, and convenience of the bamboo caused it to be used in preference to squared timbers, its nature not allowing it to be squared. It consists of a hard outer casing of great strength and an interior of pith which is of no construc- tive value. Such a wood was of importance in influencing a system of construction (Nos. 281 a and 283 a, b, c, d) quite different from the framed European truss. The slender columns often consist of plain circular posts with