Rugged Tours Blog

As the modernisation spreading around China like some kind of virus, more and more traditional architectures are vanishing on a daily basis. It is not just about losing a few old houses but generations of culture and history.

Chinese traditional architectures are almost as vary as the dialects in China. Besides dwelling houses, there are different kind of buildings and architectures for different purposes. Building a new house or any other kinds of architecture is usually treated as a very important event in China. The location, layout, decoration and even the starting date are usually closely monitored and related to the practise of Feng Shui.

Here I will talk about a few traditional architectures (except dwellings, which have too many variations across the country and should be written in a separate blog) that is usually to be seen in rural China. So next time, when you are out and about in China on a bike ride in the countryside or on a long train journey crossing through China, you will be able to spot them.

Temples (寺庙)

small temple outside a village in South China

Yeah, I know everybody knows what a temple looks like. However, I am not talking about these grand temples that you can even find in centre of the busiest city in China. I am talking about small village temples that were built by local villagers outside villages. They are usually a tiny little shelter that only be able to fit one (occasionally you will find one large statue with two smaller ones inside as well) certain Taoist god or Buddha statue within. The most common statue inside those temples are Buddha, the god of earth or the Dragon King, who is supposedly controlled the weather.

Ancestral Temples (祠堂)

According to the Book of Rites, only royal families, dukes, princes and senior officials are allowed to build ancestral temples; for common people, they can only worship their ancestors with a little name badge and some incense sticks in their own house. The rule were broke in the Ming dynasty, anyone as long as they can afford to can build ancestral temples. In villages, where people usual have the same ancestor, there usually is one big ancestral temple. Besides being the place for ritual and worshipping the ancestors, ancestral temple also used as the meeting place for discussing important matters within the village, a gathering place during festivals and sometimes also served as private school.

Tower / Pagoda (塔)

Towers were originally Buddhism architectures. When Buddhism came into China, more and more towers were built. They are used to store Buddhist relics and Buddha statues. In the early year, towers were built in the centre of a grand temple to be worshipped. Later on, as more grand temple halls were built, the temple halls took the centre position in a temple and the tower or pagodas are usually built on the side. Besides in temples, towers can also be found near rural villages in China. Most of these towers were usually built purely for a Feng Shui balancing purpose or sometimes as a memorial tower for celebrities in the history.

Wen Chang Pavilion (文昌阁)

Wen Chang pavilions are usually can be found in south China rural village fields or the village entrances. They are also known as Wen Feng Pagoda. These pavilions and pagodas are mainly built to create a better Feng Shui environment for the village, also as a good fortune bringer for all students in the village to have good imperial exam result and become an important official.

Pailou /Paifang/ Torii (牌楼/牌坊)

Pai lou are usually built at the entrance or centre of a village or town as a memorial architecture for someone or something happened in the history. It is a gate shaped building structure with layers of roof on top and pillars as the stands and usually built of wood and stones. The size of Pai Lou is decided by the number of gates, pillars and roofs. The most common ones have four pillars and three gates, while the ones with six pillars and five gates or more are pretty ones. The most famous Pailous are in Anhui region with outstanding design and size.

Opera Arena (戏台)

Opera arenas usually can be found in gardens, village or town centres or busy street. It is a tall building with three walls and an open front, and usually stands out from the rest of the buildings around it. It has turn-up eaves on its roof and brilliant paintings on its pillars on the sides. So many different types of Chinese traditional operas were born in those arenas.

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