Chinese pavilion

Many Chinese parks and gardens feature pavilions to provide shade and a place to rest.

Pavilions are known to have been built as early as the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BCE), although no examples of that period remain today.

During the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties wealthy officials and scholars incorporated pavilions into their personal gardens.

Brush-and-ink landscape scrolls of the Song dynasty (960–1279) show the isolated pavilions of scholar hermits in mountainous regions.

Under the impetus of scholarly tastes for the simplicity of a rustic life, while previously pavilions were constructed from stone, other materials such as bamboo, grass and wood came into use.