Abstract
Research material is commonly supported by paintings. However, if paintings are viewed as the representation and re-composition of architecture, we can focus on the pattern of the selection, referencing, and re-composition of the form elements. This study applies semiotic theories to architectural studies of the Dunhuang frescoes. It extracts and analyzes the symbols (form elements) in the architectural images of the Northern Dynasties. It also interprets the underlying rules of the selection, adoption, and re-composition of the symbols by component analysis. The presence of commonly adopted components, as well as the semiotic structural system under which the components with distinctive characters can be continuously broken down, endow the seemingly simple Northern Dynasties architectural images with both unity and variation. Keywords: Northern Dynasties; architectural images; form elements; symbols; component analysis 1. Introduction style, and development of famous Jiehua buildings in 1) Traditional Chinese buildings are made of wood, different periods . Wang Qijun covered the historical which perishes over time. Thus, through image development of Chinese ancient architecture in the interpretation ancient traditional Chinese architecture work "Architecture and Environment in Chinese 2) and cities have become an important research topic Ancient Painting" . in the history of architecture. The construction of (2) Studies of the painting "Along the River during the Mogao Grottoes began in the Northern Liang the Qingming Festival," on the scrolls from the Song Dynasty and continued for over 1,000 years. The most Dynasty, are closely related to architectural studies numerous cultural relics, the Dunhuang frescoes, also such as Qiao Xunxiang's "The Basic Studies on Song took the longest time to complete, and rank among the Dynasty Building Construction Techniques" (2005) most valued artistic works in the world. The various and Liu Diyu's "See How the Northern Dynasty Capital styles of building images illustrated in the frescoes City was Structured in Detail Along the River During visually reflect the architecture and cities of the time. the Qingming Festival" (2010). Japanese scholars have produced works such as "Travel and Study in Asia" 2. Literature Study special edition – "Along the River during the Qingming 2.1 Literature Study on Architectural Images Festival" (1999). Nakano Miyoko and Komura The architectural images discussed in this paper Masahiko have researched the architectural images of 3) feature buildings as their subjects and sceneries in the the Song Dynasties from different perspectives . Other background. The three styles of architectural images studies have interpreted the historical background, are Jiehua, scroll, and fresco. image content, and civic landscape of the Qing (1) Jiehua is a style of Chinese painting named Dynasty, exemplified in Wang Hongjun's "The Studies 4) after the jie ruler, a tool for inscribing straight lines on the Painting 'Kangxi's Travel in the South'" (2010). on a painting. Jiehua was a suitable painting style Studies have also elucidated economic development for buildings. Fu Xinian's "Paintings of Chinese in the commercial cities in the Qing Dynasty by Ancient Architecture" (1998) analyzed the origin, interpreting depicted cities and buildings, such as Ma Xinmin's "'The Painting of A Prosperous Era' and The Commercial Cites in the Early Qing Dynasty" (1990). *Contact Author: Zhi Qiu, Lecturer, (3) Early research on the Dunhuang Frescos was Department of Architecture and Engineering, conducted by the French Sinologist Paul Pelliot, Zhejiang University, who published a detailed archeological record of No. 866, Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou City, China the Dunhaung Grottoes 1924). The Japanese scholar Tel: +86-186-5718-2859 Matsumoto Eiichi published the iconological work E-mail: qiuzhi0710@yahoo.co.jp "Studies on the Dunhuang Frescos – The Chapter 5) ( Received October 12, 2012 ; accepted November 11, 2013 ) of Images" (1937) . The Dunhuang Cultural Relics Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering/January 2014/8 1 Research Institute completed "The Comprehensive instance, in the Dock Wall Fresco based on the Sumati Records of the Dunhuang Grottoes" in the 1980s. This stories on the west wall of grotto #257, the dock wall work records the content of the Dunhuang Grottoes, was intentionally painted low to reveal the scene providing a foundation for later comprehensive and behind. A suggestive high-ceilinged antechamber is 6) more specific research . visible behind the dock wall, and the main figures were The "Chinese Grottoes: Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes" painted artificially large relative to the antechamber. (Vol. 1–5), published since 1982, is a compendium Behind the hall, a female lies asleep on the first floor of of research findings on the art history of Dunhuang a building, suggesting that the building is the inhabited frescoes by Chinese and Japanese scholars. These section of the residence. A lotus bud was depicted scholars have thoroughly investigated the artistic and behind the building, suggesting a garden (Fig.1.). The aesthetic features of the Dunhuang frescoes painted in antechamber, back chambers, and yard were the main 7) different eras . components of the traditional Chinese residence, and Xiao Mo's "Studies on the Dunhuang Architecture" fresco painters preserved their spatial relationships (1989) is among the most famous studies of the with suggestive expression. From this observation, the Dunhuang frescos. He conducted textual research authors conclude that the architectural images of the on the origin, style, and development of structures, Northern Dynasties accentuated the spatial features and compared and interpreted the buildings depicted while sacrificing the realistic depiction of the scales 8) in progressive eras . The "Dunhuang Grottoes: and details of the buildings. Architecture" (2003) by Sun Ruxian and Sun Yihua included in the "The Complete Record of Dunhuang Grottoes" provides a thorough interpretation of the architectural images in the Dunhuang frescoes and describes textual research on the authenticity and 9) reliability of the images . 2.2 Research Objectives The existing studies focus on the interpretation and textual research of buildings from a certain era by comparing the architectural images in recorded documents, relics, and other images from the same era. These studies use building images in the paintings as historical material for restoration. However, this approach relies on the details of the illustrated 10) Fig.1. The Dock Wall Fresco in Grotto #257 buildings being accurately recorded. Therefore, in studies of relics, architectural paintings are usually 3.2 Paintings used as supporting materials. Intentional differences in painting may affect the Nevertheless, the Dunhuang architectural images detail and realism expressed in frescoes. For example, are not an entirely realistic portrayal. In addition, to accommodate both greater and more complete the authenticity of the images is difficult to verify scenes and building details within a limited space, by their content alone. Therefore, this paper regards the Dunhuang frescoes are characterized by reduced the architectural images as the representation and re- horizontal scales. The façades of buildings are depicted composition of symbols through the semiological with very few rooms to render the buildings as towers. approach, which are integrated and quantified in novel Chinese architectural paintings were different from ways to interpret the characteristics, meaning, and Western landscape paintings that relied on focus painting techniques of Northern Dynasties architectural perspective. In the former, subjects were usually re- images. composed after careful observation to create a new scene, instead of being restricted to a fixed viewpoint. 3. Dunhuang Frescoes' Architectural Representation The painter inserts his architectural perspective into an and Symbol Re-composition architectural painting, and viewers can then extract the 3.1 Characteristics of Suggestive Expression imagery of buildings from the painting. Architectural Restricted by themes such as the idealized Buddhist paintings can also be interpreted as the imagery of World, the Mogao architectural images were usually space, a means of transferring imageries or messages romantic and symbolic, but they were rather primitive between painter and viewer. Such message transfer and lacked realistic expression. The architectural implies that the thoughts of architects, painters, and images of the Northern Dynasties were generally viewers are embodied in the paintings. Therefore, rather sketchy at this time. Because architecture was although judged by the extent of their realism and not the main subject of the frescoes, building scales accuracy, paintings are not an exact reflection of were frequently ignored to emphasize the subject. For reality, but rather a subjective interpretation of it. 2 JAABE vol.13 no.1 January 2014 Jie Wang 3.3 Re-composition of Architectural Images walls while the outer ends were overhung. Meantime, As shown in Fig.1., the elements in Dunhuang the bottom arches and pillars were painted beneath the architectural images were intentionally re-composed physical dougong brackets, forming a complete set of by painters, based on religious needs. Therefore these architectural components. architectural images reflect the fresco painters' or owners' understanding of real architecture. In general, they reflect the prominent traits of contemporary architecture. Thus, beneath the seemingly simple architectural images was an attempt to depict the Buddhist World in contemporary architectural language. Based on this theory, the analysis of architectural images becomes a probe into the selection, adoption, and re-composition patterns in the pictorial language. 3.4 Hypothesis Based on the above discussion, it could be considered that paintings do not necessarily correspond to reality, they are fluid human creations, the result of extracting necessary forms from imagery, borrowing some elements, and intentional re-composition. The reality itself is merely an imagery of painting. 10) Fig.2. Physical Inserted-Arches in Grotto #251 Therefore, a hypothesis can be put forward that the building images in the paintings may be used as 4.2.2 Continuous Image supporting materials for restoration; but cannot be Portraits of female entertainers from the Heavenly considered as a direct reflection of reality. Also, we Palace featured frequently in the integrated frescos could consider paintings formed by selected, borrowed, of Northern Dynasties grottos. Architectural images and re-composed imagery as messages transferred were painted in the background of each portrait. Fig.3. from the earliest era to today. A painting reflects 1) the shows the Heavenly Female Entertainer Fresco in intentions of the painter or owner of the painting; 2) grotto #435, where arches and houses alternate in the the societal mores of the time; 3) the significance of background. The arches were decorated with chapiters modern society. (which house the wall belts) and by continuous patterns of terrace railing walls underneath. These continuous 4. Architectural Images in the Dunhuang Frescoes images separated the portraits from each other and of the Northern Dynasties decorated the frescos, adding to their aesthetic appeal. 4.1 Era Division of Northern Dynasties Grottoes The Northern Dynasties grottos were built during the initial period of the Mogao grottos. Opinions differ with regard to defining the Northern Dynasties grottos. Based on "The Comprehensive Records of the Dunhuang Grottos," this paper identifies the Northern Dynasties grottos as the group of 38 grottos constructed from the later period of the Sixteen Kingdoms to the Northern Zhou Dynasty (ca. 400-580 AD), which encompasses the Northern and West Wei Dynasties. The shapes and structures of these grottos, as well as their architectural representation, largely influenced the grottos built later. 4.2 Forms of the Northern Dynasties Architectural Images 4.2.1 Physical Image The authors refer to structures formed by both 10) Fig.3. Heavenly Female Entertainer Fresco in Grotto #435 physical objects and images as physical images. The wooden dougong physical inserted-arches in grotto #251 are shown in Fig.2. Four wooden dougong 4.2.3 Independent Image brackets were affixed to the ridge purlins of the gable The numerous frescos depicting Buddhist Sutras or slope of the outer grotto, as well as on the joints of stories also featured images of buildings of various the eave purlins and the grotto walls. The inner ends forms, either individually or in groups. In some of the physical bucket arches were inserted into the façades, the building was relatively open and less JAABE vol.13 no.1 January 2014 Jie Wang 3 detailed, in order to reveal the Buddhist deities and Generally, the hip and saddle roofs were more figures inside, while other buildings were depicted as difficult to construct than the gable roof forms, so they complete and independent. Buddhist temples, civilian were regarded as of higher status. Roof forms of higher residences, gates and their towers, courtyards, and city status are expected to be depicted in frescos, since walls were frequently painted as independent images in these structures glorified the Buddhist World and the the grottos. These images depicted the colorful world figures therein were dominated by Buddhist deities. of the Northern Dynasties architecture, and effectively Architectural scholars are undecided on when illustrated, decorated, and separated the frescos based the saddle roof started appearing in abundance. Its on Buddhist stories. frequent appearance in the Northern Dynasties frescos implies that it had become widely adopted at that time. 5. Inte r pre tati on of the F or m El e me nts of The authors identified two techniques for painting the Architectural Images fresco saddle roofs. Commonly, lines connecting the 5.1 Statistical Methods building body were painted with no distinct division. The authors now proceed from analyzing the In the other technique, a double-decker saddle roof individual elements of architectural images to was formed by two parallel lines added to the body. probing the language of image composition, which Numerous examples of the latter form are observed in involves researching and compiling the statistics of the Northern Zhou Dynasty grotto #296. To exemplify, all available Northern Dynasties architectural images. the building façade of Fig.5. shows two parallel lines After carefully analyzing each of the 318 Northern separating the upper hip roof from the lower saddle Dynasties grottoes recorded in "The Comprehensive roof, indicating a drop. This finding provides primary Records of the Dunhuang Grottoes," and excluding evidence for the theory that the saddle roof was a 11) those that were later re-painted or heavily smeared combination of hip and gable roofs . by smoke, the authors found 158 architectural images suitable as research subjects. The images were labeled in chronological order of the grottoes and arranged in the order up-down-left-right. For example, the palace shown in Fig.4., displaying the façade located in grotto #285 is numbered 18. 11) Fig.4. Palace in Grotto #285 11) Fig.5. Double-Decker Saddle Roof in Grotto #296 The authors divided traditional Chinese buildings into the upper section (roof), middle section (body), 5.2.2 Structural Attachments and lower section (base), in accordance with the Structural attachments appear in the architectural Chinese architectural technical guidance "The Wood images fairly infrequently, and were of two forms Book." This paper further divides these three parts for only: the "eave rafter" and the "corbel bracket." The quantitative and qualitative analysis. eave rafters extended beneath the cornice. In Chinese 5.2 Division and Statistics of Roof Form Elements traditional building structure, the corbel bracket 5.2.1 The Roof Forms (dougong) was a unit in which the bucket-shaped Roofs came in three forms: hip, saddle, and gable. blocks and the arm-shaped ledgers overlapped on the Among the 158 images, 51% of the building images (50 chapiters. The statistical analysis revealed few cases of cases) featured the hip roof, 33% (50 cases) the saddle painted rafters [22 pieces (13%)] or corbel brackets [17 roof, and 6% (9 cases) the gable roof. pieces (11%)]. 4 JAABE vol.13 no.1 January 2014 Jie Wang The corbel bracket was a prominent status symbol doors, and windows were constructed between the in Chinese traditional architecture. However, in columns according to requirements; these constitute architectural images depicting the supreme Buddhist the essential elements in all of the architectural images. World, it appears very rarely. Possibly these structures The walls were depicted as consistently white and presented story backgrounds, simultaneously lacking brickwork joints, indicating that most buildings accommodating images of the Buddhist statues of that time were composed of earth. The columns or figures. For example, in the 141 independent of the first and second floors usually appeared rather architectural images, apart from the 7 images blocked tall and thin, a possible manifestation of the tendency from view, 112 buildings (79%) featured interior to reduce the horizontal scale to emphasize building Buddhist images. Since most of the subjects seen on height, as discussed earlier. In the meantime, long, thin the frescos were Bodhisattvas or Buddhist statues, the pillars could optimally reveal the building interior. structural attachments of the roof may have received Structural attachments such as wall belts, architraves, less attention. gate beams, doors, and windows also appeared in the 5.2.3 The Roof Tile Ornaments images. The roof ornaments were constructed by piling The central part of the wall, where two architraves bricks onto the body and the ends of the ridge, in an are depicted between short small pillars, is called a wall effort to cover, emphasize, and beautify the ridgeline belt (Fig.4.). These structures served both a decorative that was subject to leaking. Four forms of roof and a practical purpose; they increased the strength of 12) ornaments are recognized: "pheasant-tail-shaped," the primitive earth-structured building body . "slanting ridge," "perpendicular ridge," and "perked The structural relationship between the beam and ornament." the architrave ensured that the beam was always The "pheasant tail shape" was a high-status roof constructed on top of the architrave. Because most of ornament that conjoined both sides of the main ridge. the beams beneath the overhanging eaves were blocked Its shape was based on the contour of the sea fish tail, from view by the latter, the authors identify parallel with involute pointy ends. lines underneath the overhanging eaves architraves. In the authors' study, the "pheasant tail" was present Parallel lines were also painted beneath doorframes in all but one of the building images. The exception when the first floor overhanging eaves were missing. could have resulted from limited space, since the image This structure is called a "gate beam." in question featured in an architectural image of rather The statistics revealed eleven wall belts (7%), small scale in grotto #285. The "pheasant tail" was twelve architraves (13%), six gate beams (4%), and the highest-status decorative element, consistent with two doors (1%) in the architectural images. Several the fact that since the frescos illustrated the Buddhist characteristics of Northern Dynasty architecture World, they were required to adopt buildings of higher appeared in these form elements, though at a rather status. small scale. For example, among the six structures Roof tile ornaments were mainly of the forms featuring gate beams, two were watchtowers, three "slanting ridge" [71 (45%)] and "perpendicular ridge" were gatehouses, and one was a city gate. This implies [50 (32%)]. The frequent appearance of these forms is that the painters' intentionally emphasized the gates by attributable to the dominant hip and saddle roofs in the painting door beams. Meanwhile, doors were usually frescos, which required the above roof ornaments to omitted to reveal the Buddha statues and figures within support their structure. open spaces. Doors were depicted in only three images; Eight frescos featured "cornices perked" roof in both gatehouse images (appearing in grottos #285 ornaments, all of which appeared in the nine images and #295), the doors on the first floor were highlighted with gable roofs. The buildings of the Northern Han in black, while the city gate painted in grotto #249 Dynasty, on the other hand, featured only straight and featured two doors oriented ajar. All three doors were flat cornices, from which the authors infer that the depicted as square topped gates. Door beams were abundant appearance of perked cornices succeeded the constructed with "beam on floor" and the doorframes Northern Dynasties. Moreover, the perked cornices were vertical bars built into the wall. painted in the frescos indicated no lifting of structure, 5.3.2 Decorative Elements indicating that their sole intention was to decorate the Despite the apparent simplicity of the Northern gable roofs. Dynasties architectural images, several of the images 5.3 Division and Analysis of the Building Body portrayed decorative elements such as sun-shading Form Elements boards, curtains, and draperies. The authors identified 5.3.1 Structural Attachments only four instances of sun-shading and one of curtains, Chinese traditional buildings were usually while draperies were observed in 23 cases (17%). constructed on a base. Following erection of the The rare appearance of the sun-shading boards and wooden columns on the four sides, the beams and the curtains is reasonable. Such shading devices were the architraves, which bore the weight of the roof, typical in civilian residences but rare in the Buddhist were placed above and between the chapiters. Walls, temples depicted in the frescos, with their focus on JAABE vol.13 no.1 January 2014 Jie Wang 5 the internal Buddhist figures. It is also reasonable that 5.5 Summary of the Form Element Statistics draperies appeared more often as the background of In the above sections, the authors presented the the seated Buddha. statistical results of the various form elements. If we 5.4 Division and Statistical Analysis of the Form divide the number of elements of a specific form by Elements of the Pedestal the total number of analyzed form elements, we obtain The pedestals investigated in this study constituted the frequency of appearance of each form element. The railings, staircases, square platforms, and the Xumizuo. results are listed in Table 1. Pedestals located at the lowest parts of buildings were likely to be blocked from view by the objects 6. Interpretation of Symbols in Architectural Images in front. Among the architectural images, 113 were 6.1 The Communicative Function of Architecture suitable for pedestal analysis. The authors identified Architectural symbolism has played a significant 9 railings (8%), 17 staircases (15%), 107 square role in ancient Chinese society. Building forms usually platforms (95%), and only 2 Xumizuo. indicated the function and social status of the building. As mentioned above, 95% of the pedestals were That is, the wealth and social status of the owners or square platforms. Most of their façades were adorned dwellers were symbolized in building forms. with interconnecting horizontal rectangles filled with Semiotics assumes that buildings are not mere copper green and blue, apparently denoting bricks. structures, but play a communicative role. Therefore, The square platforms were connected to the ground by buildings are both physical forms and symbols with staircases or slopes, and by apron bricks at the base. abundant communicative functions. Architectural The rare incidence of Xumizuo pedestals contradicts images can be regarded as re-compositions of the the prevalence of Xumizuo in traditional Chinese symbols and forms conveying a specific intention. towers seen today. Along with Buddhism, this style was To analyze architectural images from a semiotic introduced to China after the Northern and Southern perspective is to analyze the structure and rules Dynasties. It was applied to Buddha pedestals only underlying the selection, adoption, and re-composition during earlier times, becoming gradually incorporated of the symbols. into pagodas. It became widely adopted in various 6.2 Symbol Extraction Methods 13) architectural forms since the Tang Dynasty . Whether observing actual buildings or architectural The two basic railing styles present in the images are images, we usually focus on meaningful symbols the try square and the mullion. The former is commonly rather than the whole item. In the frescos, form seen from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the elements such as Buddhist temples, pagodas, and Tang and Song Dynasties. Combinations of try squares watchtowers appeared in abundance, yet through and mullions are also seen, reflecting the flexibility of nuances between individuals, they acquired a varied the railing styles. and integrated architectural expression. In general, the appearance frequency of a form element, and also Table 1. Quantitative Statistics of the Form Elements its importance, determines the personality of the form No. of Frequency of Division of the form element cases Occurrence element. Ubiquitous form elements with distinctive Hip Roof 76 51% characteristics were usually recognized by the majority. Saddle Roof 50 33% Therefore, this paper has proposed extraction methods Form Gable and Hip 9 6% for identifying commonly adopted and frequently Roof appearing form elements as well as those with Eave Rafters 22 13% Structural distinctive symbolic characteristics. Attachment Dougong 17 11% Pheasant Tale As shown in the above analysis of the form elements, 157 99% Shaped the authors attempted to divide the form elements into Slanting Ridge 71 45% Roof Tile sub-items of semiology, by which the characteristics Perpendicular Ornament 50 32% of the form elements could be regarded as alternative Ridge forms of sub-items. For example, element roof is a sub- Perked Ridge 8 5% Wall Belt 20 13% item of the roof. To enable a hierarchical, multiple- Architrave 11 7% form description of building characteristics, this sub- Structural Gate beam 6 4% item was further divided into three further sub-items; Attachment Door 2 1% hip roof, saddle roof, and gable roof. Form elements Window 51 32% that were not further divisible, such as gable roof, Sun-Shading 4 3% are regarded as symbols. Thus, the hierarchical status Board Decorative and traits of the building can be expressed in terms of Curtains 1 1% Element symbols. Draperies 23 15% 6.3 Collection of the Identified Symbols Railing 9 8% The sub-sub-items of form elements listed in Table Staircase 17 15% 1. were analyzed for frequent appearance or distinctive Square Platform 107 95% traits, yielding the collection of symbols shown in Fig.6. Xumizuo 2 2% 6 JAABE vol.13 no.1 January 2014 Jie Wang Pedestal Building Body Form Form Roof Form Elements Elements Elements Table 2. Results of Component Analysis Table 2. Results of Component Analysis Auxiliary Distinctive Common 60% 80% 0% 20% 40% Roof Hip Roof Saddle Roof Gable and Hip Roof Eave Rafters Dougong Pheasant Tale Shaped Slanting Ridge Perpendicular Ridge Perked Ridge Wall Belt Architrave Gate Beam Door Wall Window Sun-Shading Board Curtains Draperies Railings Fig.6. Collection of Symbols Shown in the Northern Dynasties Staircases Pedestal Square Platforms 7. Component Analysis of the Symbols Xumizuo 7.1 Methodologies Component analysis theory is based on the generative the symbols, are provided in Table 2. grammar of language. The authors adopt the component 7.3 Common Components and General Features of analysis module proposed by the American structural the Buildings linguist Eugene A. Nida, which analyses morphology From Table 2. we observe that the "pheasant-tail- and semantics. According to this module, components shaped roof tile ornament" and the "square platform" that carry semantic function are the components of are common building components. As the common meaning. To decide the meaning of the language components occur in 80% or more of the images form, the elements for comparison are also required. and denote similarity, these two symbols can be said Common meaningful components are generated by to represent the general features of the architectural 14) comparison with other asymmetric systems . Three images. Thus, we can conclude that the "pheasant-tail- component categories are recognized: a) the common shaped roof tile ornament," "square platform," and component, the central one that is shared by all "pedestal" formed the general features of the Northern lexemes in a given semantic domain or lexical field; Dynasties architecture, while the auxiliary components, b) the distinctive component that distinguishes the namely "hip roofs," "saddle roofs," "slanting ridges," meaning of a lexeme from others in the same domain; "perpendicular ridges," and "windows," supplemented c) the auxiliary component that describes and assists a the general features. language in its semantic functions. Collectively, the shared features and the auxiliary 7.2 Component Analysis of the Symbols forms ensured the integrity of a range of architectural The collection of symbols was formed through images. By capturing these frequently shared the displays of common and distinctive features of symbols, painters could accurately present the general buildings depicted in architectural images. Component characteristics of the Northern Dynasties architecture. analysis effectively determines the significance On the other hand, the general characteristics depicted of symbols that are either common or distinctive. in the frescos of buildings evoke a sense of integration. Therefore, a component analysis approach seems 7.4 Distinctive Components and Diversity of the eminently suited to the purpose of this study. By Buildings dividing symbols into common components, the From Table 2., the authors identify fourteen distinctive and auxiliary components can be identified distinctive-component symbols. These symbols were from the distribution (appearance frequency) of the present in very few architectural images, implying symbols. The common components are those that occur that they represented the distinctive features of the ubiquitously (in 80% or more of the images), and show buildings. Some of these distinctive components, the similarity among the buildings. The distinctive although symbols, can be further sub-divided into components appear relatively rarely (in 20% or fewer different types. For example, the wall belt can be of the images); these features distinguish among the subdivided into single layered, double layered, in buildings. The auxiliary components are not directly combination with the dougong bracket, and probably linked to similar and distinctive display, but serve to others. However, the wall belt appeared in a specific enrich the building images. The results of component period, being seen in abundance only in the early analysis, derived from the frequency of appearance of Northern Dynasties, and disappearing thereafter. JAABE vol.13 no.1 January 2014 Jie Wang 7 The distinctive symbol dougong is also further emphasizing that symbols functioning as common divisible. For example, the dougong brackets appearing components formed the general features of the in houses or on palace walls were simple gable arches Northern Dynasties architecture, perceived by painters constructed between both layers of the architraves, as common traits. However, most of the symbols formed by straight lines, and with their lower ends functioned as distinctive components, and many neither extended nor upturned. Meanwhile, the dougong symbols could be further subdivided into numerous brackets on the bodies of watchtowers were depicted variants. Distinctive symbols, with their transient in abundance. Aside from the gable arch, variations structural characteristics, are responsible for the such as the yidousansheng (one cap block with three constantly varying and dissolving symbol structural cross mortises) and the yidouersheng (one cap block system that underlies the seemingly sketchy Northern with two cross mortises) were seen. Combinations Dynasties architecture. These symbols enrich the of these structures are highly flexible; for example, architectural images with unity and variation. yidousansheng brackets were observed to alternate The period between the Northern Dynasties and the with gable arches, and yidouersheng brackets were Mid-Tang Dynasty spanned over 500 years, but left sometimes supported by king posts and gable arches. very few architectural relics and archeological data From the component analysis of the distinctive for research. Therefore, since the Dunhuang Frescoes components, the authors could see that the distinctive reflect the architectural style of that period, their study symbols carry numerous varieties within themselves can fill the research gaps introduced by the lack of as well developed subtle changes with time. The physical evidence. Therefore, even if the depicted existence of the distinctive symbols with the ability buildings were not an accurate portrayal of reality, they of being broken down continuously made it possible constitute a useful complementary tool in architectural for the seemingly sketchy Northern Dynasties studies. The possibilities of painting research are architectural images to have an ever-changing symbol multifaceted. Thus, painting research is an important structural system. The inner symbol structure produces direction in architectural study, such as to identify the architectural images full of diversity. building elements and the architecture by the subjects of the grotto or other paintings. 8. Conclusion Despite the apparent coarseness and primitive References 1) Xinian, F. (1998) Paintings of Chinese Ancient Architecture. features of Northern Dynasties architectural images, Beijing: Cultural Relic. they provided a medium through which painters 2) Qijun, W. (2006) Architecture and Environment in Chinese ancient could relay ideas based on their understanding of painting. Beijing: China Architecture & Building Press. contemporary architecture. The authors consider that 3) Masahiko, K. (1999) Urban Architecture in "Along the River painters intentionally depicted the Buddhist World During the Qingming Festival". Travel and Study in Asia" special edition – "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". Japan: based on real architectural symbols. 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(1976) Architecture from Dunhuang Mogao Northern Dynasties architecture is underpinned by a constantly Dynasties frescos, Vol. 2. varying and dissolving symbol structural system 12) Ruxian, S. (2007) Protection and Architecture of the Dunhuang that enables both unity and variation. This system Carves. Gansu: Gansu Republic Press. 13) Sicheng, L. (1972) Brief Introduction of Pedestal, Section 1 of indirectly reflects the highly adaptable traits of Chinese Architecture Design Reference Atlas. Beijing: China Architecture architecture. & Building Press. By conducting component analysis of the symbols, 14) Nida Eugene A. (2001) Language and Culture: Contexts in the authors quantified the distribution of the symbols Translating. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education and interpreted the meaning of each category, Press. 8 JAABE vol.13 no.1 January 2014 Jie Wang
Journal
Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering
– Taylor & Francis
Published: Jan 1, 2014
Keywords: Northern Dynasties; architectural images; form elements; symbols; component analysis
