|
Páilóu
A ''paifang'', also known as a ''pailou'', is a traditional style of Chinese architectural arch or gateway structure. Evolved from the Indian subcontinent's ''torana'' through the introduction of Buddhism to China, it has developed many styles and has been introduced to other East Asian countries, such as Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Etymology The word ''paifang'' () was originally a collective term for the top two levels of administrative division and subdivisions of ancient Chinese cities. The largest division within a city in ancient China was a ''fang'' (), equivalent to a current day ward. Each ''fang'' was enclosed by walls or fences, and the gates of these enclosures were shut and guarded every night. Each ''fang'' was further divided into several ''pai'' (), which is equivalent to a current day (unincorporated) community. Each ''pai'', in turn, contained an area including several hutongs (alleyways). This system of urban administrative division and subdivision reached an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liberty Square (Taipei)
Liberty Square (also Freedom Square) is a public plaza covering over 240,000 square meters in the Zhongzheng District of Taipei, Taiwan. It has served as the city's public gathering place of choice since its completion in the late 1970s. The name of the square recalls the important historical role it played in Taiwan's transition from one-party rule to modern democracy in the 1990s. Overview Liberty Square serves as a major site for public gatherings in Taipei and is home to three major landmarks as well as civic parks. At the east end of Liberty Square stands the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. The square is flanked by the National Concert Hall on the north and the National Theater on the south. A park surrounds the plaza and a wall surrounds the site. The square sits within sight of the Presidential Office Building. Liberty Square regularly serves as the site of mass gatherings in Taiwan. It is the scene for red-carpet ceremonies when Taiwan's president g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giant Swing
The Giant Swing ( th, เสาชิงช้า, , ) is a religious structure in Sao Chingcha Subdistrict, Phra Nakhon District, Bangkok, Thailand. Located in front of Wat Suthat, it was formerly used in an old Brahmin ceremony, and is one of Bangkok's tourist attractions. History The Giant Swing was constructed in 1784 in front of the Devasathan shrine by King Rama I. During the reign of Rama II the swing ceremony was discontinued as the swing had become structurally damaged by lightning. In 1920 it was renovated and moved to its current location in order to make space for a gas plant. The ceremony was again performed until 1935, when it was discontinued after several fatal accidents. The last renovations were done in 1959, and after 45 years of exposure to the elements the wooden pillars were showing signs of serious damage. A major reconstruction began in April 2005. Six teak tree trunks were used. The two used for the main structure of the swing are over 3.5 m in cir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panama–Pacific International Exposition
The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely seen in the city as an opportunity to showcase its recovery from the 1906 earthquake. The fair was constructed on a site along the northern shore, between the Presidio and Fort Mason, now known as the Marina District. Exhibits and themes Among the exhibits at the Exposition was the '' C. P. Huntington'', the first steam locomotive purchased by Southern Pacific Railroad; the locomotive is now on static display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. A telephone line was also established to New York City so people across the continent could hear the Pacific Ocean. The Liberty Bell traveled by train on a nationwide tour from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to attend the exposition. The 1915 American Grand Prize and Vanderbilt C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinatown, Liverpool
Chinatown is an area of Liverpool that is an ethnic enclave home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe. Located in the south of the city centre, Chinatown has many Chinese businesses, such as Chinese restaurants and supermarkets, and facilities for the Chinese community. The area is also notable for its Chinese-style architecture; with the paifang on Nelson Street being the largest, multiple-span arch of its kind outside China. History Establishment The first presence of Chinese people in Liverpool dates back to 1834 when the first vessel direct from China arrived in Liverpool's docks to trade such goods as silk and cotton wool. Many Chinese immigrants first arrived in Liverpool in the late 1860s as a result of Alfred Holt and Company employing large numbers of Chinese seamen while establishing the Blue Funnel Shipping Line. The commercial shipping line created strong trade links between the cities of Shanghai, Hong Kong and Liverpool; mainly importing silk, cotton and tea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinatown (Washington, D
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia. The development of most Chinatowns typically resulted from mass migration to an area without any or with very few Chinese residents. Binondo in Manila, established in 1594, is recognized as the world's oldest Chinatown. Notable early examples outside Asia include San Francisco's Chinatown, San Francisco, Chinatown in the United States and Melbourne's Chinatown, Melbourne, Chinatown in Australia, which were founded in the mid-19th century during the California Gold Rush, California and Victorian gold rush, Victoria gold rushes, respectively. A more modern example, in Montville, Connecticut, was caused by the displacement of Chinese workers in the Chinatown, Manhattan, Manhattan Chinatown following the September 11th attacks in 2001. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friendship Archway
''Friendship Archway'' is a paifang installed at Chinatown, Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of the largest ceremonial arches outside of China. History Planning for an archway began in 1984, to be jointly funded by Washington DC's newly-announced sister city, Beijing. However, the largely anti-communist population of Chinatown, where the archway was to be located, disagreed with the involvement of mainland China and protested. Local architect Alfred H. Liu designed the ''Friendship Archway'' in 1985 after city officials rejected plans for twelve smaller arches to be placed throughout Chinatown, each decorated with one of the Chinese zodiac animals. Liu had previously designed Wah Luck House, a low-income residential high-rise, in 1982 to meet a HUD deadline; that building was designed in three days and constructed in seven weeks. He was also chairman of the Chinatown Development Corporation, and had emigrated from Taiwan to the United States as a teenager. On November ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia. The development of most Chinatowns typically resulted from mass migration to an area without any or with very few Chinese residents. Binondo in Manila, established in 1594, is recognized as the world's oldest Chinatown. Notable early examples outside Asia include San Francisco's Chinatown, San Francisco, Chinatown in the United States and Melbourne's Chinatown, Melbourne, Chinatown in Australia, which were founded in the mid-19th century during the California Gold Rush, California and Victorian gold rush, Victoria gold rushes, respectively. A more modern example, in Montville, Connecticut, was caused by the displacement of Chinese workers in the Chinatown, Manhattan, Manhattan Chinatown following the September 11th attacks in 2001. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, the most of any country in the world, tied with Russia. Covering an area of approximately , it is the world's third largest country by total land area. The country consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and financial center is Shanghai. Modern Chinese trace their origins to a cradle of civilization in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. The semi-legendary Xia dynasty in the 21st century BCE and the well-attested Shang and Zhou dynasties developed a bureaucratic political system to serve hereditary monarchies, or dyna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stonemason
Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, monuments, artifacts, fortifications, roads, bridges, and entire cities were built of stone. Famous works of stonemasonry include the Egyptian pyramids, the Taj Mahal, Cusco's Incan Wall, Easter Island's statues, Angkor Wat, Borobudur, Tihuanaco, Tenochtitlan, Persepolis, the Parthenon, Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China, and Chartres Cathedral. Definition Masonry is the craft of shaping rough pieces of rock into accurate geometrical shapes, at times simple, but some of considerable complexity, and then arranging the resulting stones, often together with mortar, to form structures. *Quarrymen split sheets of rock, and extract the resulting blocks of stone from the ground. *Sawyers cut these rough blocks into cuboids, to required siz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Calligraphy
Chinese calligraphy is the writing of Chinese characters as an art form, combining purely visual art and interpretation of the literary meaning. This type of expression has been widely practiced in China and has been generally held in high esteem across East Asia. Calligraphy is considered one of the four most-sought skills and hobbies of ancient Chinese literati, along with playing stringed musical instruments, the board game "Go", and painting. There are some general standardizations of the various styles of calligraphy in this tradition. Chinese calligraphy and ink and wash painting are closely related: they are accomplished using similar tools and techniques, and have a long history of shared artistry. Distinguishing features of Chinese painting and calligraphy include an emphasis on motion charged with dynamic life. According to Stanley-Baker, "Calligraphy is sheer life experienced through energy in motion that is registered as traces on silk or paper, with time and rhyt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaking ethnic group who unified other Jurchen tribes to form a new "Manchu" ethnic identity. The dynasty was officially proclaimed in 1636 in Manchuria (modern-day Northeast China and Outer Manchuria). It seized control of Beijing in 1644, then later expanded its rule over the whole of China proper and Taiwan, and finally expanded into Inner Asia. The dynasty lasted until 1912 when it was overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution. In orthodox Chinese historiography, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The multiethnic Qing dynasty lasted for almost three centuries and assembled the territorial base for modern China. It was the largest imperial dynasty in the history of China and in 1790 the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yingzao Fashi
The ''Yingzao Fashi'' () is a technical treatise on architecture and craftsmanship written by the Chinese author Li Jie (李誡; 1065–1110), the Directorate of Buildings and Construction during the mid Song Dynasty of China. He revised many older treatises on architecture from 1097 to 1100. By 1100, he had completed his own architectural work, which he presented to Emperor Zhezong of Song. The emperor's successor, Emperor Huizong of Song, had the book published in 1103 to provide architectural standards for builders, architects, literate craftsmen, and the engineering agencies of the central government. Li Jie was then made the Director of Palace Buildings. Thereafter, Li helped oversee the construction of administrative offices, palace apartments, gates and gate-towers, the ancestral temple of the Song Dynasty, along with numerous Buddhist temples. In 1145, a second edition of Li's book was published by Wang Huan. Between 1222-1233, a third printing was published. This e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.JPG "Click for more on -> Giant Swing")
