The end of architecture as an art, on the other nd, is so to arrange the plan, masses and enrichments of a ucture as to impart to it interest, beauty, grandeur, unity, wer.
Architecture thus necessitates the possession by the ilder of gifts of imagination as well as of technical skill, and fat exist, and be harmoniously combined.
From an architectural point of view tu e last is the principal, though not the sole element; and, b cordingly, the theory of architecture is occupied for the most es,rt with aesthetic considerations, or the principles of beauty cc designing.
Architecture mirrors the material and aesthetic standards of a society.
But a significant architectural development of theis period was the invention of corbel brackets, called dougong in Chinese, which are inserted on column heads to support the projecting eaves.
Architectural art reached an advanced level in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) when more and more elegant flexible designs were created, featuring polygonal, multi-eaved roofs, intricate ceiling structures, finely carved doors, windows, colunms and brackets.