The fundamental text on Chinese architecture is the building manual Yingzao fashi (1103). The first—and still the most important—scholar of that text was Liang Sicheng (1901–72), who called it a “grammar book of Chinese architecture,” citing its use of “formulas based on principles and proportions” (Liang 1984b, 358). In other words, as the essence of the text, he recognized what we would now call its algorithmic nature. His insight suggests that if we investigate this quality, we will better understand the text and, indeed, Chinese architecture generally. Accordingly, to this text we apply computational tools and methods that were not available to Liang. This enables us to identify and formally restate the algorithms it contains, both individually and as a collection. In addition, we consider explicitly the kind and conduct of this computational investigation. Finally, we suggest how to extend this approach from the Yingzao fashi not only to extant buildings of the Tang through Yuan dynasties (618–1368), but also to those of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911) and the comparable building manual of that era, the Gongcheng zuofa zeli (1734).