Voice of Architecture
Ancient Chinese
architecture "speaks" in two kinds of voices. One is the voice made by parts
of the structures, and the other is more rhetoric than actual sound.
The voice made by parts of the structures is not commonly seen among Chinese
architectures. Actually, the most frequently used part that is able to make any
"noise" is windbells, which has Buddhist undertones. Usually, the bells hanging
on religious pagodas can be heard as far as five kilometers away, representing
devout belief in Buddhism
with beautiful sounds.
The most famous voice-emitting building is the Temple
of Heaven. Whispers on the Altar
of Heaven (Yuanqiu, an imposing circular structure 5 meters high, consisting of
three superposed terraces of white marble) will echo from all around. When the
emperor would offer sacrifices to the heaven, those echoes were considered to be
instructions from the god.
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