Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/506

Rh ARCHITECTURE [CHINESE. these being filled in with pot rnetal glass, brilliantly coloured. The ceilings, when not domed, were flat, show ing the timbers, which, in the finest examples, were richly painted and gilt, the wood being first canvased over, and then covered with a fine thin stucco to receive the decoration. The pavements were of marble mosaic, in some cases lighted up in colour by enamelled earthenware tesserae. The walls were often lined with still more elaborate mosaic, the out lines being in some cases marked out with mother-of- pearl. Add to this that the pulpits, doors, and other Fid. 51. Pendentive, from the Court of the Lions, Alhambra. woodwork were of the most exquisite workmanship, and the bronze hinges, &c., often chased in a manner scarcely to be paralleled in any other style, and we have a com bination of outlines and details which could scarcely be surpassed in design or execution in buildings of a size comparatively so small. Admirable descrip tions of Saracenic architecture in Spain have been given by the late Mr Owen Jones and M. Coste ; of that in Egypt, also by M. Coste, and in India by Mr Fergus- son. Of the houses in Egypt the best descriptions, pro bably, are those given in The Modern Egyptians, by Mr Lane, who has illustrated his work by numerous de tails of the carved wood and other work in which the Arabs excelled. Of the houses in Algiers, a peculiar class, an account is given by Professor Lewis in the Transactions of the 11. Institute of British Architects, 18G8-9. It remains only to say that the present successors of the Saracens seem now to have lost nearly all claim to individuality in art, and to be unable even to copy or imitate the illuminated MSS., the mosaics, the carv ing in wood or in ivory, which lend so great a charm to the old work. What is now done is merely a copy, and a bad copy, of the work of their European neigh bours. CHINESE ARCHITECTURE. The buildings of the Chinese are very inferior in character to those of India ; in fact, Mr Fergusson goes so far as to say, &quot; China possesses scarcely anything worthy of the name of architecture.&quot; Sir W. Chambers has described one of the Buddhist temples, that at Ho-nang, which is not unlike those of India in arrangement. There is an extensive court, with avenues of trees, leading to a Fid. 52. Temple of Confucius, Shanghai, China. flight of steps and portico of four columns. In a second vestibule behind this are four colossal figures bearing various emblems. Beyond this is a very large second court, entirely surrounded by colonnades and small sleeping cells for the priests or bonzes ; in other words, a huge cloister, much like the Indian viharas. In the same ranges are four pavilions filled with idols, and large rooms for refectories, behind which are the kitchen, courts, &c. At the extreme corners of the grand court are four other pavilions, the dwellings of the higher order of priests. At equal distances behind each other, down the centre of the court, are three larger pavilions, called tings, entered on each side by a flight of steps, and a fourth engaged in the cloister itself, and having a front portico and one flight of steps only. The first three are square, two stories in height, the lowest surrounded by fourteen columns, each face or front showing six. They have rude caps, composed of eight brackets, projecting various ways. Sir William Chambers says there are four species of tings, three used for temples and the fourth for gardens ; some having a gallery and fretted railing round the first floor on the outside, the upper story being set back. The roofs all have the peculiar hollow dip, which leads one to suppose their prototype was the tent, the sag of the cloth of which would suggest the form. They are frequently surmounted with a sort of cresting and finial, and each angle is turned up sharply, and ornamented with a dragon. Sometimes the columns have a frieze perforated in the form of frets; sometimes the same is also under the eaves of the upper roof. Examples are also given of smaller octagonal tings, intended to cover the large vessels in which the Chinese burn gilt paper to their idols. Mr Simpson has given an interesting account of the temple of Heaven at Peking. It lies in an open space of about one mile square, surrounded by a triple enclosure. In this space were kept the animals destined for sacrifice. The temple proper consisted of several detached structures, the most sacred being to the south, and consisting of a