Kuai Xiang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kuai Xiang (Chinese: 蒯祥; pinyin: Kuǎi Xiáng; 1398–1481) was a Chinese architect and engineer widely known as designer of the Forbidden City and originator of the Xiangshan Carpenters. He was born in Xukou (Xiangshan), Wu County, Suzhou during the Ming Dynasty. When the Yongle Emperor decided to transfer the capital from Nanjing to Beijing in 1407, Kuai Xiang was ordered to design and construct the Forbidden City for him.

Kuai Xiang was in his early thirties when the Emperor commissioned him to design the Forbidden City. Kuai used the Imperial Palace in Nanjing as a model. He included features of palaces built during the Tang and Song Dynasties into his design. He also drew from Confucian, Daoist, and traditional astronomical systems. This took Kuai several years, and the first palace and walls of the City were completed only after 13 years.^[1]

References

Cao Xun, Kuai Xiang, Encyclopedia of China

↑ "Forbidden City - History". Retrieved 4 February 2014.

Persondata
Name	Xiang, Kuai
Alternative names
Short description	Chinese architect and engineer
Date of birth	1398
Place of birth	Xukou, Wu County, Suzhou, China
Date of death	1481
Place of death

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.