Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional festivals - What do the three diamond patterns in ancient buildings mean?

What do the three diamond patterns in ancient buildings mean?

The pattern of three diamonds stacked together in ancient buildings represents the meaning of bats.

In ancient buildings, the design intention of bats often shows the meaning of "happiness". For example, there are five bats on the gate, which means "five blessings", and the ripples at the bottom of the bat mean entering the East China Sea, which means "being lucky as the East China Sea". The pattern of three diamonds is a simplification of the bat pattern. The two diamonds on both sides are the bat's spread wings, and the bat's body is in the middle.

Bats in ancient buildings have auspicious and happy meanings, meaning that people are expected to live a happy life.

Because the word "bat" of the bat is homophonic with the blessing of happiness and blessing, in the traditional architecture of China, the bat pattern is regarded as a symbol of blessing and has become a classic pattern in traditional culture. The arrival of bats also means blessing.

The patterns of bats are quite diverse, including upside-down bats, two-headed bats, four bats holding Fu Lushou and five bats. In traditional decoration, bats are combined with the word "longevity", which is called "five bats hold longevity". Generally speaking, Five Blessingg is: long life for one day, wealth for two days, health for three days, moral cultivation for four days, and final exam for five days. There is also a combination of bats and moire patterns, called "Hongfu Qitian".

Bats are not birds or mice, but flying mammals belonging to Chiroptera in zoology. In China's traditional decorative arts, the image of bats is regarded as a symbol of happiness. Custom uses the homonym of "bat" and "blessing" to combine the arrival of bats into the meaning of "entering happiness", hoping that happiness will fall from the sky like bats. With this set of auspicious patterns.