Architectural acoustics in China-past and present

Early development of acoustics in China can be traced back to the prehistoric era and acoustical theories in written form first appeared in Chinese literature of the 6th century B.C..In the very early days,many acoustical phenomena such as resonance and reverbrance had been recogned and reported in the literature.Though there was no special monograph dealing with architectural acoustics in ancient China,some acoustical considerations still can be found in the ancient architecture.Modern acoustical analyses of those facinating phenomena existing in some ancient architecture reveal the features which remained as mysteries in the long history of China.Modern architectural acoustics sprouted in this country in the late 1930's;however,it began to develop rapidly in late 1950's due to great demands of New China's reconstruction.A general review of the progress is presented in this paper.