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Asian Architecture
By the 13th century, the South Asian subcontinent was populated by diverse ethnic and religious groups and the land was divided into multiple kingdoms. Hindus, those adhering to Brahmanical beliefs, were dominant, but Jains also flourished. Followers of Buddhism, once strong in the east and west, died out. While Muslims had been present in South Asia since the 8th century, late in the 12th century Muslim Afghans of Turkish origins established themselves as political authorities in north India. In north India there was no real unified political authority until the establishment of Mughal power (1526–1858), while the Vijayanagara Empire (actually ruled by three different houses) unified a good portion on south India from the 14th through the late 16th century. The first half of the 17th century was a period of stability in most of north India, but in the second half of the 17th century tranquility was marred by incessant warfare, much of which was transacted in the southernmost region of the Mughal Empire, below the Narmada River. From the 17th century on, an increasing European presence was felt in the subcontinent, adding yet more players for control of India’s rich resources. Art and architecture were produced by all these groups, some for religious and some for political reasons, but often for both. Unlike earlier periods, from which only religious art and architecture have survived, commencing about the 14th century, palaces, estates, gardens, fortifications, bridges, hamams, and housing have survived, among others. While sculpture is found more often in a Hindu or Jain context, examples produced by Muslim courts do exist.
From the Neolithic era Longshan Culture and Bronze Age era Erlitou culture, the earliest rammed earth fortifications exist, with evidence of timber architecture. The subterranean ruins of the palace at Yinxu dates back to the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC–1046 BC). In historic China, architectural emphasis was laid upon the horizontal axis, in particular the construction of a heavy platform and a large roof that floats over this base, with the vertical walls not as well emphasized. This contrasts Western architecture, which tends to grow in height and depth. Chinese architecture stresses the visual impact of the width of the buildings. The deviation from this standard is the tower architecture of the Chinese tradition, which began as a native tradition[citation needed] and was eventually influenced by the Buddhist building for housing religious sutras — the stupa — which came from India. Ancient Chinese tomb model representations of multiple story residential towers and watchtowers date to the Han Dynasty (202 BC–220 AD). However, the earliest extant Buddhist Chinese pagoda is the Songyue Pagoda, a 40 m (131 ft) tall circular-based brick tower built in Henan province in the year 523 AD. From the 6th century onwards, stone-based structures become more common, while the earliest are from stone and brick arches found in Han Dynasty tombs. The Zhaozhou Bridge built from 595 to 605 AD is China's oldest extant stone bridge, as well as the world's oldest fully stone open-spandrel segmental arch bridge.
The vocational trade of architect, craftsman, and engineer was not as highly respected in premodern Chinese society as the scholar-bureaucrats who were drafted into the government by the civil service examination system. Much of the knowledge about early Chinese architecture was passed on from one tradesman to his son or associative apprentice. However, there were several early treatises on architecture in China, with encyclopedic information on architecture dating back to the Han Dynasty. The height of the classical Chinese architectural tradition in writing and illustration can be found in theYingzao Fashi, a building manual written by 1100 and published by Lie Jie (1065–1110) in 1103. In it there are numerous and meticulous illustrations and diagrams showing the assembly of halls and building components, as well as classifying structure types and building components.
There were certain architectural features that were reserved solely for buildings built for the Emperor of China. One example is the use of yellow roof tiles; yellow having been the Imperial color, yellow roof tiles still adorn most of the buildings within the Forbidden City. The Temple of Heaven, however, uses blue roof tiles to symbolize the sky. The roofs are almost invariably supported by brackets, a feature shared only with the largest of religious buildings. The wooden columns of the buildings, as well as the surface of the walls, tend to be red in colour.