AncientChinesearchitectureisnotonlyasourceofreferenceformodernChinesedesign,butitsculturalheritagehasalsohadaninternationalinflu—enceandattractedglobalattention.AppreciatingancientChinesearchitec-turecanbelikenedtoopeningupanenormoushistorybook.ThelegendsofremoteantiquityspeakofthegreatmilitaryachievementsoftheQinemperor,thenoblespiritoftheTangDynasty,thepalaceintriguesoftheMingDynasty,nottomentionthewisdomandintelligenceofthemillionsofordinarylaborersthatareneglectedbythehistorybooks;alloftheirimagesarevividlyre-cordedtherein.