User:Generalissima/History of Chinese architecture

Early history

Model of houses at the Yangshao Jiangzhai site

Diorama of the Yangshao Banpo site, showing smaller houses and the "great house"

Permanent settlements emerged in China during the late Neolithic, attested from the 7th millennium BCE. These were frequently surrounded by earthworks such as moats or earthen walls. The 6th millennium BCE Dadiwan site in eastern Gansu contains the foundations of hundreds of semi-subterranean residential structures. The 5th millennium Banpo and Jiangzhai sites, associated with the Yangshao culture, contain large numbers of houses of varying sizes, including a central "great house" (dafangzi), likely a religious or palace structure. By the late Neolithic, circular and rectangular city plans, surrounded by moats or earthen walls, become prevalent. Chengtoushan is enclosed by an earthen wall over 20 m (66 ft) thick. Pingliangtai, the earliest known example of a square city plan, was divided along a central avenue and featured ceramic drainage pipes. Neolithic timber remains from the Zhejiang province site of Hemudu were notched for use in post and lintel construction. Large walled settlements settlements were commonplace among the 3rd millennium BC Longshan culture. Stone walls enclose the Shimao site, around 4 km² (1.5 sq mi) in area, and flanked by earthen towers, gates, and projecting mamian fortifications.

References

Bibliography

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