The Confucius Institute held a lecture on Chinese architecture with the main focus on traditional Chinese architecture. This reflects China’s transition from  old architecture to modern designs and construction techniques. China is known for breaking the mold and has created many unique buildings in recent years.

The lecture was split up into multiple sections: Architecture and Confucianism, Traditional Chinese structures and Taoism, and Religious elements in traditional Chinese architecture.

The Architecture and Confucianism section was an introduction to the lecture. The Forbidden City was discussed in depth during this section. The Forbidden City is located in Beijing, China and has been around for 500 years. It was constructed with a centrally located  building high enough to look over the city. The central location, which included the emperor, was for the rich and those who are close to the emperor.

Traditional Chinese structures and Taoism was the shortest section of the lecture. It briefly went over how it was the turn from personal importance to more of an environmental focus.

Religious values in traditional Chinese architecture was the longest section of the lecture. Students got to learn about the Terracotta Army, along with the rules regarding dragons in Traditional Chinese architecture. The rules for using dragons were surprisingly strict. You could only have up to nine different dragons on a building, and that they once symbolized power and could only be used by the emperor.  Dragons in Chinese culture vary from how we depict dragons. Contemporary Western dragons are large creatures with wings and four legs that breath fire and bring nothing but destruction and despair in their path. In comparison, Chinese dragons more closely resemble snakes with wings and legs. They do breathe fire as well, but dragons were not feared.

The Terracotta Army is a mausoleum for the first Qin Emperor. So far, archaeologists have uncovered 8,000 statues of soldiers meant to protect the Emperor in the afterlife

On Thursday, Nov.16 the Confucius Institute will be holding a Chinese cooking night, with a five dollar entry fee, for all students.