What are the animal heads on ancient Chinese gates? What is the history

You asked this thing is called the head of the store, the following is a detailed introduction: animal face ring - the head of the store door installed on the pull handle, easy to open and close the door. Outside the metal door can be filled with this use, and is a kind of decoration. Knocking ring has a sound, is a pair of door rings cast on the knocker. The main practical value of the door ring, but also often with a decorative base, that is, pave the head - contains the meaning of the traditional door decorations to drive away evil spirits. The Han Book - Emperor Lian Di Ji "" filial piety yuan temple door copper tortoise snake paved head sound ", Tang Dynasty Yan Shigu note:" door of the paved head, so that the ring is also." The head of the store is mostly made of copper, there are also iron. A nursery rhyme from the time of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, talking about the copper-colored green paved head: "Wooden door Canglang root, swallow fly, pecking the imperial grandson ......" The song alludes to the favor of the Empress Zhao Feiyan. As and downfall, write "Han Shu" Ban Gu said: "'Wooden door Cang Luang root', said the palace door copper ancient, said will be honored also." With the copper pavement head on the wooden door of the palace, it was implicitly stated that Zhao Feiyan would be made queen. Yan Shigu explained: "Copper color green, so it is called Canglang. The head of the pavement holds a ring, so it is called the root." The three characters "Canglang Root" have both shape and color, especially the excellent use of the word "root". These three three words were passed down to later generations as a synonym for the head of the store. Ancient pavement head modeling, Han Na Yuan Temple Temple door installed for the shape of the tortoise and snake, which is one of the four elephants - northern Xuanwu. The image of the southern Vermilion Bird was also embedded in the door, published in recent years, "Selected Patterns of the Han Dynasty", contains the Vermilion Bird, double phoenix, sheep head paved head. Tiger, lion, chi dragons and other beasts head-shaped pavement, beasts angry eyes, teeth ring, will be the majestic weather on the door. Early pave the physical object, there are qin Xianyang palace site out on the bronze casting, modeling for the tiger head deformation, eyes open, casting pattern is smooth, has been a fine product. The head of the store to the majesty of all the visual. In the form of this door decoration, contains a rich cultural content. It is when the door to ward off evil things, such as the Qing dynasty "word put" said: "portal paved head, with steel for the beast face imperial ring on the door, so the ominous, but also guard the meaning of defense." Pave the head of the beast, about the evolution of the shape of the screw. Its right of invention, the ancients recorded in the construction industry, the ancestor of Lu Ban name. This seems to be a practice that follows the customary practice and is not difficult to understand. Gao Cheng of the Northern Song Dynasty, "Things Chronicle" lists two statements: "Houhan Book - rituals," said: Shi Portal, replaced by the Shang for the decoration. Merchants water Germany, to the first of the snail discreetly closed, so that as the snail also. The hundred books " said: Gong输般见水蠡，謂之曰："开你头，见你形。" Li create a head, like a foot painting, Li then hidden closed its door, the end can not be opened. Because of the effect, set up in the portal, want to make the closure when so solid and dense. The two say different. "Common text" said: door decoration, called the store head also." Merchant water virtue" and choose the snail decorating the portal, is for the Shang Dynasty people pull the five elements as a banner. Lu Ban painted Li, the story of the creation of the head of the store, late in the Shang, and to the Zhou, an era later, but more a few popular interest. Li, that is, snail. Although the two say different, but the same way, not only are taken from the law of the snail lion, and are valued snail's honor its closed, hidden, dense, focus is also the same. Yuan dynasty people's works, and out of the "household eight pepper map" description. Wang Shifu's "The Story of the Western Wing" sings the words "selling wine" at the end of the play: "The door welcomes a team of horses and cars, the household lists eight pepper maps, married a four virtues and three from the prime minister's daughter, wishing for enough in life, relying on all relatives." The words "team of horses" and "eight peppercorns" are used to describe a person of honor. Bai Renfu's "On the Horse on the Wall": "You have been appointed as a third-ranking official, and you have a list of eight pepper charts." Same usage. It is worth mentioning that the Yuan Dynasty Li Swell's "Record of Daily Hearings", a wide range of materials about the head of the store, did not mention the pepper figure. What is pepper figure? Ming Lu Rong "Beans Garden Miscellany" said "the ancient artifacts anomalies", cited fourteen, such as "enclosure in the shape of a tortoise, sex is good to carry weight, so the use of monument", "chi dragons in the shape of a beast, the sex of a good lookout, so stand on the corner of the house "," Charter in the shape of a beast like the Wei, sex is good to prisoners, so stand in the prison door "," the beast kisses in the shape of a lion, the sex of the good to eat the Yin evil, so stand on the door ring ", and so on. Which said pepper figure: pepper figure its shape like a snail, sex good closed mouth, so standing on the door, today called "drum" is not. ...... words and songs have "door to welcome team of horses, households listed eight pepper figure" sentence, eight pepper figure, people can not know, now look at the name of the pepper figure, there are also out. The story about the origin of the head of the store, said it is like a snail like a calabash and good closed; Lu Rong said the pepper figure, is with these characteristics." Pepper figure its shape like snail", things are not finished here. Yang Shen of the Ming Dynasty, "the art of forests and mountains" will be the legend of the nine sons of the dragon into the book, pepper figure by "shape like a snail lion" and become a dragon son. Yang Shen wrote: the nine sons of the dragon does not become a dragon, each good, enclosure, owls and so on. Pepper figure, its shape is like a snail, sex is good to close, so stand on the door. Lyrics "door welcome team of horses and cars, households listed eight pepper figure", people can not know. Now look at the name of the pepper figure, there is also out, see "Silent State Miscellany". Also, according to the "corpse" cloud, the law snail clam and closed door. After the Han Book - ceremonial Zhi ", Yin to the king of the water Germany, so the screw with the portal. Pepper figure like a screw shape, believe it. There is no dragon in the world, the myth of the dragon created by people. Created the dragon, and the creation of dragon myths of the branches, so there is a "carp jump", there is a "nine sons". Nine sons of the dragon, the two said coexist: Pugong, jailed cattle, Jairus, mocking the wind, mythical beast, Ba Xi, quodid, enclosure, Chi kiss for a list, the other group is the Charter, Taotie, cricket 蜴, (insect barbarians) (insect full), chi dragon, golden geibi, Pepper, (insect knife) more, ao-yu. The latter series includes Pepper Figure. Pepper Figure is also depicted with an animal head street ring. As one of the nine sons of the dragon, its "shape like a snail lion, the nature of the closed, so standing on the door", from the Shang and Zhou people imitated the snail, to Pepper Figure "shape like a snail lion", the form remains unchanged, the change is only the source. Snail for the aquatic, attributed to the dragon family should be said to be a logical thing. Became the son of the dragon, called it pepper figure. Contained in the form of content, is like old wine, cellar a few years, that is, the so-called "sex good closed" - to snail closed, to emphasize the door closed. The head of the beast is a formidable figure, the image of the unity of vigilance and demonstration, which reveals the initial aroma of the brewery. People can taste this way, it seems to add the appearance of the outside world, in fact, only to hide in the "conch shell" into a unified, "guard" prudent closure only. Closed and hidden, - store head will be a spirit of vermilion and black lacquer door display a few dry years, it reveals belong to the essence of the Chinese door culture things. Incidentally, the dragon born nine sons is an ancient legend, its prototype when and "after the Han Book - South Barbarians Southwest Barbarians biography" contained in the story related: mourning dungeon barbarians, its first woman named Sha Yi, living in the prison mountain. Taste fishing in the water, touch the Shen wood if there is a sense, because of pregnant enclosure, October, the birth of ten men. After the Shen wood into a dragon, out of the water. Sha Yi suddenly heard the dragon said: "If I have a child, where is it now?" Nine children see the dragon scared away, the only kid can not go, back the dragon and sit, the dragon licked. His mother bird language, said back for nine, said sitting for Long, because the name of the son said nine Long. And then grew up, the brothers to nine Lung can be licked for the father and crafty, so *** push for the king. The dragon was born ten sons, one of which was named "Jiu Long". This legend, as early as in the "Customs" and "Huayang Guo Zhi". Mourning yi that is today's Yunnan Province, Mount Mourning region of the Yi ethnic group. The legend of "Ten Sons" and "Nine Dragons" was later passed down to mean that the dragon gave birth to nine sons. An article by Wang Lizhu in Chinese Taoism, No. 2, 1995, states that this is also supported by the folk beliefs of the Yi in the Mourning Mountains. As for the Doumu star god worshipped by Taoism, the Taoist book Beidou Benshi Jing says: "In the past, in the Dragon Han, there was a country with three names, Zhou Yu, and a royal consort named Mrs. Ziguang. She gave birth to nine colors of lotus and transformed into nine sons. Her two eldest sons were transformed into the Great Emperor and the Violet Emperor, and her seven youngest sons were the Seven Stars. Holy Mother Ziguang Ren Ren honors the Queen of the Northern Dipper Nine True Sacred Virtues." Mourning mountain area Yi folk, will mourn the JiuLong legend and DouMuJiuZi legend together, the DouMu evolved into their own ZuGuangShen, that the son of ten people of ShaYi, is born of nine children of the DouMu. After the Han Book" in the dragon gave birth to ten sons, how to become the legend of the dragon's son, Yi folk beliefs is the note. Still talking about the head of the store. Pave the exquisite shape of the first, the Ming and Qing dynasty palace gate decorated with can be said to represent. The head of the pavement, was oblong, under the head of the beast, divided into two layers. The upper layer is shaped like a ring, decorated with flying dragons playing beads pattern, called "Yang Yue millennium 铞", only with decorative effect, but no door ring function. Below this layer, there are flying dragons decorated with patterns to set off the "Yangyue thousand years". The head of the store on the vermilion palace door, with the gold door nails against each other, showing the imperial style of the royal building. The head of the store is also known as the gold store, gold Lu. Sima Xiangru's "Long Gate Fugue" in the Han Dynasty: "Squeeze the jade door to shake the gold store, sound miso enclosure to and like a bell sound." Describing the situation of knocking on the door ring, the visual effect of jade households and gold stores, and the auditory effect of metal collision, picture plus sound. Tang Dynasty poet Xue Feng "Palace Lyrics", "locks and golden beasts ring cold", written in a static store head. Similar to the animal-faced pave head, is the door money. Door cymbals like cymbals, the perimeter is usually taken round, hexagonal, octagonal, the central bulge such as a sphere, with a knob on the head circle. Ordinary residential door on this door cymbal, simple style, but no lack of decorative beauty, some with auspicious symbols, such as the outer edge of the circle with the Ruyi pattern, or skeletonized bat graphics.