Sui Architecture

The architecture of the Sui Dynasty is a transitional period in which traditional Chinese architecture tends to mature. Although the Sui Dynasty was short (only 38 years), due to the large-scale construction and construction of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, the construction technology made rapid progress. The northern and southern dynasties that were split for a long time due to the unification of the Sui Dynasty.




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The exchange of architectural technology between the north and the south was unprecedentedly prosperous, which laid a good foundation for the subsequent prosperity of the Tang Dynasty(Baker, 1991).

The two capitals of the Sui Dynasty, Chang'an and Luoyang, were fully planned and large in scale, absorbing the advanced architectural technology of the south and combining the rough elements of the north(Xiong, 2006).

Sui Dynasty architecture has the following characteristics:

1. Rigorous Planning

The palaces of the Sui Dynasty consisted of the Miyagi, the Imperial City and the Guocheng. The Miyagi was built first, then the Imperial City, and finally the Guocheng (Kiang, 2022).
The planning of Daxing City draws on the experience of Caowei Yecheng (the former site is in the east of Linzhang Ye Town, Hebei Province today) and Luoyang City of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Under the principle of squareness and symmetry, the palace city and the imperial city are placed in the whole area along the north-south central axis. The main position of the city, Guocheng is surrounded by the east, west and south sides of the palace city and the imperial city.

  2.  Grand Scale

The scale of Daxing City far exceeds that of other capital cities in the same period. The area of Daxing City is 1.4 times that of Beijing City in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and 2.4 times that of Chang'an City in Han Dynasty. Because it is so large that the population has not filled the entire city for many years after its completion. It is rare in the world, and it can be called "the first city in the world".


Luoyang City does not emphasize the north-south central axis and completely symmetrical layout like Daxing City. Its palace city and imperial city were built in the northwest, but the overall planning strives to be square and neat, which is still similar to Daxing City.

3. Advances in Construction Technology

Traditional Chinese buildings are mainly made of wood (Fu, 2021). The two buildings of the Simen Pagoda and Zhaozhou Bridge left over from the Sui Dynasty are both stone structures. After 1,500 years, they have stood still, showing the superb architectural skills and materials used at that time.

4. Single Building Form

Roof: It is basically a gable top, with only a small amount of veranda roofs and no hard gable tops. The gables at both ends of Xieshan Peak in the Sui Dynasty were basically sealing walls(Fu, 2021). The overhang of the roof is large, the ridge line is slightly concave, and the corners of the roof are slightly warped. It has changed from the straight and dignified roof of the Northern Dynasty to the beautiful curve of the roof in the Tang Dynasty.

The body of the house: It is still a civil-engineering mixed structure. The side walls are generally solid walls of raw soil, and the front is often a basically open wooden structure. A structure with a large bottom and a small top begins to appear. The body of the house is trapezoidal, and the columns are not parallel to each other. , The columns on both sides are inclined to the middle, which is more conducive to stabilizing the structure of the house, and it is not easy to collapse under force, which increases the stability of the building.

References:

[1] Baker, J. (1991). The art of the Sui Dynasty caves at Dunhuang. University of Kansas.
[2] Xiong, V. C. (2006). Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty: his life, times, and legacy. SUNY Press.
[3]Kiang, H. C. (2022). Critical Changes in Urban Paradigm from Sui-Tang to Song. Routledge Handbook of Chinese Architecture: Social Production of Buildings and Spaces in History.
[4] Fu, X. (2021). The Architecture in Ancient China. The Origins of Sciences in China: History of Science and Technology in China Volume 1, 281-325.









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