n in both style and how it was built.
             In contrast with western architecture, building materials and patterns for ground plans for traditional Chinese architecture have changed little since the earliest times in Chinese history. For example, the Chinese have used mainly wood to build their homes and palaces, whereas the western world has used a variety of different building materials in their own development. But some things in both cultures survive like for the Chinese, the custom of placing all major buildings on a platform in order to keep the buildings from getting damp, and for the Europeans; the use of thatch for roofs has survived for thousands of years.
             Many Chinese historians agree that there were three high points in Chinese architecture, the first being during the Qin and Han dynasties (221BC- AD220). This time period saw the construction of the palaces of the great emperors Qinshi Huangdi, Xian Yanggong and A Fanggong. The development of the basic roof forms (hipped, gabled, and pyramidal) also occurred during this era. Some distinguishing characteristics were that the roof ridges were mainly straight and had roof ornaments on the ridges, that the columns were either round, square or eight-sided, and that the building were built on podiums and some of those podiums were engraved. These were the strong characteristics of a building constructed during the Qin and Han dynasties.
             The next high point in Chinese architecture was during the Sui and Song dynasties (AD 561-1279) and this era in Chinese history accompanied the flourish of Buddhism in China. During these years, the use of a pagoda or burial building was popularized and through the influence of Buddhism, the main themes of the buildings constructed focused on the harmony of the materials and the proportional relationship of building elements. Thus the art of feng shui was born. Also in AD1100, a noted government official Li Jie wrote one of the first known bo...