History of Chinese Architecture

This course explores China's varied architectural history. It is offered by Tsinghua University through edX, an online education platform.

The course discusses construction and aesthetics of Chinese imperial palaces, religious structures, pagodas, tombs and gardens. It describes the foundations of Chinese architecture, such as wood framed buildings. Besides this, it explains how cultural heritage is preserved through the building of structures such as the world's tallest timber pagoda. Two seminal textbooks on the Song and Qing dynasties are included in the course in electronic form.

Some of the course contents are:

• History and context of ancient buildings in Chinese cities such as Chang'an, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Dadu
• Impact and significance of royal gardens and private gardens of the Ming and Qing dynasties
• Traditional vernacular architecture in China 
• Ethnic Architectures in China