Architecture of medieval China

I am looking for images of at least three monumental buildings, and five types of houses of the period.
Anyone got any ideas?

Also: is the game "Emperor: Rise of the middle kingdom" set in medieval times? Since it has a large number of buildings that i could model.

Kyriakos said:

I am looking for images of at least three monumental buildings...

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The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Gate of Heavenly Peace and the Temple of Heaven are probably the most iconic buildings, and represent three pretty major monumental typologies, the ceremonial hall, the ceremonial gate and the Taoist temple.

Thank you Traitorfish These will be good for the monuments.

I now have to find some regular houses too.

Traitorfish said:

The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Gate of Heavenly Peace and the Temple of Heaven are probably the most iconic buildings, and represent three pretty major monumental typologies, the ceremonial hall, the ceremonial gate and the Taoist temple.

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I'm not really sure I would classify them as medieval though.

I assume Kyriakos is looking for something 500-1500 AD?

You really need to clear up what you mean by "medieval". It's like asking for "Tang dynasty architecture from Europe"

However, some ideas. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda was built and re-built during your era.

The Liuhe Pagoda has a straightforward design that might be easy for you to model.

I'm not sure there's much everyday Song/Yuan/Ming architecture left; wooden buildings burn too easily. But Beijing's Siheyuan would definitely fit your mould: Mongol-influenced courtyard homes in north China; that Wikipedia page has lots of useful images.

For a different type of architecture, you could think about the old town of Lijiang, which has traditional architecture from the Naxi ethnic group (who are part of the Chinese civilization for computer game purposes). Do this frontage and a roofshot give you enough to work with?

Yoda Power said:

I'm not really sure I would classify them as medieval though.

I assume Kyriakos is looking for something 500-1500 AD?

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All three were constructed during the 15th century, in the Ming period, which is within the bounds of what I assumed Kyriakos meant by "medieval China". The Hall of Supreme Harmony did undergo some re constructive work after fire damage in the next two centuries, but was restored in a visual style very similar to the original.

Middle Kingdom's architecture doesn't really change throughout the game so I don't think it would be such a good guide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Suzhoupic1.jpg

These are some houses from Suzhou but I don't know when they date from.

What is the purpose of the monumental buildings?

They are just general centerpieces, they do not have to be of a specific kind, like in this Japanese set where there exists a pagoda, a temple and a castle:

Kyriakos said:

Also: is the game "Emperor: Rise of the middle kingdom" set in medieval times? Since it has a large number of buildings that i could model.

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Yes. It takes place from c. 2500 BC up until the Mongolian invasion.

I love that game.

EDIT: For a centerpiece, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda might be good. The Tang Dynasty was medieval China's golden age, and that was the most prominent building in Chang'an, its capital. Plus it looks really cool. I like it a lot. For a temple, you might use this, the Dai Miao. And for a castle, maybe the palace in Chang'an?

Been some while, but i just finished making the small town. It is supposed to be of the Song dynasty:

And now they are almost complete