History of Indian and Eastern ArchitectureFergusson, James
History
History of Indian and Eastern Architecture
Fergusson, James
Architecture -- India; Architecture, Asian
381. Temple at Macao 694
382. Porcelain Tower, Nankin 695
383. Pagoda in Summer Palace, Pekin 696
384. Tung Chow Pagoda 697
385. Chinese Grave 699
386. Chinese Tomb 699
387. Group of Tombs near Pekin 700
388. Pailoo near Canton 701
389. Pailoo at Amoy 702
390. Diagram of Chinese Construction 703
391. Pavilion in the Summer Palace, Pekin 705
392. Pavilion in the Summer Palace, Pekin 706
393. View in the Winter Palace, Pekin 707
394. Archway in the Nankau Pass 709
NOTE.--Those woodcuts in the above list marked with an asterisk are
borrowed from ‘L’Inde des Rajahs,’ published by Hachette et Cie,
Paris, translated and republished in this country by Messrs.
Chapman and Hall.
HISTORY
OF
INDIAN ARCHITECTURE.
INTRODUCTION.
It is in vain, perhaps, to expect that the Literature or the Arts of any
other people can be so interesting to even the best educated Europeans
as those of their own country. Until it is forced on their attention,
few are aware how much education does to concentrate attention within a
very narrow field of observation. We become familiar in the nursery with
the names of the heroes of Greek and Roman history. In every school
their history and their arts are taught, memorials of their greatness
meet us at every turn through life, and their thoughts and aspirations
become, as it were, part of ourselves. So, too, with the Middle Ages:
their religion is our religion; their architecture our architecture, and
their history fades so insensibly into our own, that we can draw no line
of demarcation that would separate us from them. How different is the
state of feeling, when from this familiar home we turn to such a country
as India. Its geography is hardly taught in schools, and seldom mastered
perfectly; its history is a puzzle; its literature a mythic dream; its
arts a quaint perplexity. But, above all, the names of its heroes and
great men are so unfamiliar and so unpronounceable, that, except a few
of those who go to India, scarcely any ever become so acquainted with
them, that they call up any memories which are either pleasing or worth
dwelling upon.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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