The Development of Tile Dang in Ancient China

A tatang is a shelter covering the front of a building's gable-end tiles in ancient Chinese architecture.

It is an architectural accessory used to decorate and protect the eaves of buildings during the Eastern Han and Western Han periods.

Tile engraved with words, patterns, but also with the gods of the four directions of the "Vermilion Bird", "Xuanwu", "Qinglong", "White Tiger" as a pattern, is the first time in the world that a tile is engraved. "to do the pattern, is the most front of the eaves of a piece of tile for the tiles, tile surface with a pattern hanging round block.

Wadang's pattern is beautifully designed, the font running in the clouds and flowing, very rich in change, there are cloud head pattern, geometric pattern, Taotie pattern, text pattern, animal pattern and so on, for the exquisite art, belongs to China's unique cultural and artistic heritage.

Junyouhui Wang Aijun anthology "Wadang" chapter interpretation: Wadang, Song, Li Hao Wen Chang'an Tuji called the head of the tile.

Covering the traditional Chinese palace building roof tiles are all tilted columns, in the two columns of tilted tiles between the semi-circular "tube tile".

Qin and Han tube tile length of more than two feet, both ends have shoots, until the eaves of one of the ends of the tile is a square circle down to protect the rafters, diameter in five, six inches or seven, eight inches ranging, because it is the bottom of all the tiles and pectinately in the eave end, the tile value, so there is when the name.

As for the Yangwa its extension column to the end of the eaves, tile head down into a semi-circular, commonly known as half-tile when.

Tile when the shape of the circumference of the edge of the protruding, as if the copper mirror, on which into the record of the palace, the temple, the mausoleum stables, the name of the barn, or with the auspicious words, or write the picture of the image of the official and private up and down the general use of the time began in the Zhou and Qin, and the end of the Six Dynasties.

Its decorative pattern, the era of earlier, the Warring States Wadang more Taotie pattern, figures, birds and animals, etc.; after the Han Dynasty, there is a sun like pattern, moon like pattern, ape pattern, Hongyan pattern, Canglong pattern, white tiger pattern, Vermilion Bird pattern, the four gods pattern, cloud pattern, grass and leaves pattern.

Character tile began in the Qin Dynasty, there are twelve words, four, five words to one or two words, mostly in seal script, with the trend of stuttering curved, the character shape is different, or also presented square whole.

The work of the book for the scholar, the poor for the artisan, the relics of the famous such as Qin's Witian descending spirit, Yan Yuan Mannian, forever by the Jiafu, etc.; Han's Ganquan on the forest, Changling West God, the Wei word Wadang, and so on.

In ancient times, the refining of Wado firm and fine, the future generations of good people every will be ground for the inkstone cloud.

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Zhou Dynasty

People invented the tile in the Zhou Dynasty.

Tiles were already used in buildings on the Zhou Yuan (now Shaanxi Fufeng) in the mid to late Western Zhou Dynasty.

During the Warring States period, the growing development of urban construction gave rise to the development of brick and tile pottery.

The initial tiles were semi-circular, called half-rule tiles, and the tiles of the Qin Dynasty were developed from semi-circular to fully circular.

And the Han Dynasty, it is popular to use round tiles.

The production of wadang in the Han Dynasty was more prosperous than in the Warring States period.

Most of the famous palace buildings, most of the pottery kilns for firing tiles, for specialized design and production.

Tile designs of a variety of subjects, basically to the main auspicious patterns, there are animals, scrolling clouds and text patterns and so on several kinds of Chinese tiles, the earliest origin in the Western Zhou period (11th century BC ~ 771 BC).

Around the late Spring and Autumn period (770 BC ~ 476 BC) formed a more complete model, and became an important component of some large buildings.

Most of the early tiles were semi-circular, and the main pattern was the animal face pattern, which gradually developed into other patterns such as the scrolling cloud pattern.

At that time, the vassal states burned and used a variety of different patterns.

Qin Shi Huang (221 BC ~ 210 BC reign) after the unification of the six countries, Wadang in the pattern form and content of the subject matter, etc., have undergone great changes, more colorful.

The Qin Dynasty was mainly prevalent in a variety of animal designs.

Qin and Han

The Qin and Han Dynasties, calligraphy is quite common in buildings.

Wadang is a sagging part of the eaves of the building tiles, used to cover the rafters in order to avoid wind and rain erosion.

During the Warring States period, especially during the Qin and Han Dynasties, the tiles were decorated with patterns or text, reflecting the socio-economic development of China's architectural art while also bringing social and cultural prosperity.

Shaanxi is the former capital of the Qin and Han Dynasties, after the liberation of the Qin and Han Dynasty palace sites unearthed in the Qin and Han Dynasty, the number of bricks and tiles crowned the country.

From Baoji to Tongguan, from the north to the south of Shaanxi, including the Qin capital Yongcheng, Xianyang, Lintong, the mausoleum of the first Emperor Qin, the Western Han Dynasty, the capital of the warehouse, the Han Chang'an City, the Han long mausoleum, the Ganquan Palace, and other sites, there are Qin and Han Dynasty tiles have been unearthed.

Qin and Han Dynasty tatangs are round or semi-circular, divided into two types of text tiles and pattern tiles.

The surface diameter is generally between 15 -18 centimeters, and the largest tile found so far is 48 centimeters high and 60 centimeters wide.

Patterned tiles have animal patterns, plant patterns, geometric shapes, etc., most of the production in the Warring States to the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty, such as symbolizing the east, west, south and north of the four directions of the green dragon, white tiger, Zhuquan, Xuanwu's "four spirit tile".

The Han Dynasty is dominated by text tiles.

Text Wadang is the development of pattern Wadang, the emergence of text Wadang and the evolution of Chinese characters are inevitably linked.

The word wadang is divided into two categories: name labeling and auspicious words.

The labeling category is the name of the building written on the tiles, that is, the name of the palace, government offices, mausoleums.

Such as "on the forest," "herbs when the Palace," "Zongzheng Palace when the" "Yuyang Qianqiu" "eight winds Shoucun" "Pingle Palace A" "Changling West when" "Changling East when" "Jingshi Cangdang" "Qiyuan Gongdang" and so on.

Auspicious language class wadang is to express people praying for auspicious wishes, such as "prolonged life" "Changle wuji" "long life wuji" "" and Hua Yi", "a thousand years", "eternal blessings", "the beginning of Jia Qi descending", "eternal longevity ", "six animals rest", "long live the world" and so on.

In addition, with the meaning of commemoration, such as "Han and the world"; expressed nostalgia, such as "long without forgetting".

Used in private homes and ancestral halls, mausoleum buildings, such as "Ma's Hall," "Li" tile, "Jin" tile, "Tsuka" tile. The word "mound" tiles, "Yin's home when", "Ju Yang mound when", "mound on the big when" and so on.

Text Wadang four words more, there are more words, single word or two words.

Such as "Wei" word Wadang, "Le" word Wadang, "Palace" word Wadang, "then" word Wadang, "Shang" word Wadang; "Ganlin" Wadang, "Huangshan" Wadang, "Yannian" Wadang, "Huacang" Wadang. "Huacang" wadang, "Shanglin" wadang, "Dukong" wadang, "Zuoyi" wadang, "Right General" wadang. "Right General" Wadang and so on.

Multi-character wadang, such as "with the people of the world, heaven and earth Xiangfang Yongan Zhongzheng" "Changle Weiyang Yanyan Yongshouchang" "Thousand Autumn and Ten Thousand Years of Changle Weiyangchang" "Thousands of years and the earth without pole" "Vitality of the sky descends the spirit of Yan Yuan ten thousand years the world peace" and so on.

The Qin and Han dynasties, especially the text tiles, is a very important historical data, the study of the history of architecture, the evolution of the history of the text has a high academic value.

From the point of view of calligraphy, it shows that the Chinese characters, in addition to the function of ideograms, in more than 2,000 years ago, that is, the significance of artistic appreciation, so it has been used to beautify people's living environment.

The styling characteristics of the Qin and Han Wadang: the layout of the chapter is dignified and beautiful, the operation position is appropriate, and has prominent ideological connotations, is the form of a high degree of unity with the content of the perfect combination of works of art; the character structure of the body with the UNIC without losing the ancient meaning of the integration of the ancient and the present is the inheritance of the tradition of the development of the perfect combination of innovation; the calligraphic strokes are vivid, varied, rigid and flexible, elegant, enriching the Chinese calligraphy of the artistic language. It is a perfect combination of inheritance of tradition and development of innovation.

Shan Yu Tiantian Wadang

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty (206 BC ~ 220 AD) is the heyday of the development of Wadang craft.

This period of fine workmanship, the emergence of a new decorated with seal script tiles, these text tiles are mostly small seal script, the arrangement of the organization of the harmony and proportionality, the layout of the elaborate, showing the Han Dynasty simple and thick art style.

Most of the words are auspicious words of blessing, and their artistic appreciation is comparable to that of exquisite seals.

Six Dynasties

Wadang, the decoration of the eaves of the roof tiles of ancient Chinese buildings, is engraved with a variety of patterns on the front, and some engraved with auspicious words.

Initially, the tiles were semi-circular, called half-tiles, and then in the Qin and Han dynasties, square tiles began to appear, and have continued to this day.

As a unique component of the ancient Chinese architectural system, the long history of tiles reflects the distinctive spirit of the times, aesthetic taste and certain cultural characteristics, and is a strong cultural heritage of the times and regional characteristics.

The ancient capital of Nanjing was the political, economic and cultural center of the Six Dynasties period. With the in-depth development of Nanjing's urban archaeology, many underground Six Dynasties buildings have been discovered, and a large number of *** Six Dynasties tiles have been unearthed one after another, which provide valuable physical information for the comprehensive study of the Six Dynasties culture.

Selected from the most unearthed animal-face pattern, lotus pattern, cloud pattern tiles are introduced as follows:

Beast-face pattern tiles when the diameter of 13 centimeters, the side of the wheel width of 0.9 centimeters, 0.9 centimeters high.

The face of the beast decorated with a wide top and narrow bottom, for the tiger face, long teardrop-shaped eyes oblique, hanging gall-shaped high nose, the upper part of the nose straight to the forehead and on both sides of the three lines sticking out, as a tree branch.

The mouth is wide open, with 2 contour lines outside the mouth and 2 long whiskers above and below the mouth.

The head has a small ear on the left and right sides, and the sides of the face and the underside of the mouth are decorated with lines of stiff, straight whiskers.

There is a hole drilled between the snout and forehead with a diameter of 0.8 centimeters.

The animal-faced wadang is 13.7 centimeters in diameter, 1.1 centimeters wide at the rim and 1.1 centimeters high.

When the face of the beast decorated with the upper wide and lower narrow, for the tiger face shape, teardrop-shaped eyes slightly curved diagonal, the eyes have a double line border, the eyebrow as a reclining silkworm.

The nose is small and convex, and the forehead is decorated with a three-forked dendritic pattern.

The mouth is wide open, with the corners of the mouth upturned, revealing the upper and lower rows of incisors and fangs, the tongue is spat out, and there is a contour line outside of the mouth, with a double line connecting the lower nose to the upper lip.

A small ear on each side of the top of the head, the face of the beast is decorated with whiskers around the face, the upper part of the nose is drilled with a hole, the diameter of the hole is 1 cm.

The diameter of the animal-faced wadang is 14.4 centimeters, the width of the side wheel is 1.2 centimeters, and the height is 1 centimeter.

The upper part of the animal face is slightly wider than the lower part, and the outline of the animal face is more free, with the lines not closed at the top and bottom.

The oval eyes are slightly raised.

The nose is approximately triangular in shape, with a line running from the base of the nose to the forehead, and an oval shape outlined by lines on both sides of the nose and between the eyes, with a small circle inside the circle.

Rectangular mouth with upper and lower rows of fine teeth showing.

The sides of the face and under the jaw are decorated with a few whiskers.

A hole is drilled in the upper part of the nose, 0.9 centimeters in diameter.

The animal-faced wadang is 13.8 centimeters in diameter, 0.8 centimeters in width and 0.8 centimeters in height on the side wheels.

Simplified outline lines of the animal face.

The teardrop-shaped eyes are oblique, with thin curved eyebrows, a high nose, and a triangular projection on each side of the lower part of the nose.

An inverted trapezoidal mouth revealing upper and lower rows of teeth and fangs on both sides, with a spatulate tongue.

The sides of the mouth are decorated with long whiskers.

The forehead is decorated with five vertical blade-like lines of grass with an oval pattern on each side of the lines.

The upper part of the nose is drilled with a hole of 0.8 centimeters in diameter.

The beast-face motif wadang is 14 centimeters in diameter, 1.3 centimeters wide on the side wheel, and 1.5 centimeters high.

Simplified outline lines of the animal face.

The teardrop shaped eyes are oblique, high nose, large mouth inverted trapezoidal shape, the mouth reveals two rows of fine teeth at the top and bottom.

The sides of the nose, the lower part of the mouth and the sides of the face are decorated with whiskers.

A hole is drilled in the upper part of the nose, with a diameter of 0.5 centimeters.

Lotus pattern wadang? Diameter 11.7 centimeters, side wheel width 1 centimeter, height 0.8 centimeters.

The face is decorated with a 9-petal lotus flower, with a three-pointed lotus bud at the end of the separating line between the petals, and a raised lotus chamber in the center, decorated with 7 lotus seeds.

There is a convex string pattern around the face.

A hole is drilled in the center of the rosette, with a diameter of 0.6 cm.

The lotus pattern tiles? The face is slightly deformed and elliptical in shape, with a diameter of 13 centimeters, a width of 0.9 centimeters on the side wheels and a height of 1.1 centimeters.

The face is decorated with a 16-petal lotus flower, with a separating line between the petals, an arrow-shaped protrusion at the top of the line, and a short line connecting the arrows, so that the face is separated into 16 fan-shaped compartments, with a lotus petal in each compartment.

The central rosette is large and raised, decorated with 19 lotus seeds arranged in 2 circles.

The center of the rosette is pierced with a hole, 0.55 cm in diameter.

Lotus pattern tiles? Diameter 12 cm, side wheel width 1.2 cm, height 1 cm.

The face is decorated with a 16-petal lotus flower, with a separating line between the petals, an arrow-shaped protrusion at the top of the line, and a short line connecting the arrows, so that the face is separated into 16 fan-shaped compartments, with a lotus petal in each compartment.

The central rosette is large and raised, decorated with seven lotus seeds, with a hole drilled in the side beyond the rosette, 0.9 centimeters in diameter.

Lotus pattern tiles are decorated with 12 lotus petals on the face, there is a separation line between the lotus petals, the top of the line is raised in the shape of an arrow, and the arrows are connected by a short line, so that the face is separated into 12 fan-like compartments, and there is a lotus petal in each compartment.

The central rosette is raised and decorated with nine lotus seeds, and the center of the rosette is pierced with a hole, 0.8 cm in diameter.

Lotus pattern tiles? Remnants, no side wheel.

Diameter about 14.4 cm.

The face is decorated with an 8-petal lotus flower, but only 3 petals remain.

The petal shape is wide and fat, with inverted curved triangular lines between the petals.

The central rosette is large, decorated with 10 lotus seeds, the rosette is on a plane with the face, and there is a convex string pattern around the rosette.

A hole is drilled in the center of the rosette, which has been damaged, but part of the wall of the hole is still preserved.

The diameter of the cloud pattern tile is 13.8 centimeters, the width of the side wheel is 0.8-1 centimeters, and the height is 0.9 centimeters.

In the center of the face is a *** ding pattern, and beyond the ding pattern, three parallel lines separate four symmetrical fans, each decorated with a simplified mushroom-shaped cloud pattern.

A band of serrated lines runs between the clouds and the rim.

In the center *** dingzhi side drilled a hole, hole diameter 0.9 cm, hole wall smooth, but the hole outside the periphery of the partial damage.

The cloud pattern tiles are generally found in the lower part of the Six Dynasties stratum, and should be the relics of the early Six Dynasties period from the Eastern Wu to the Western Jin Dynasty, with some remnants of the cloud pattern tiles from the Eastern Han Dynasty in the modeling and decoration.

Nanjing unearthed in the Six Dynasties cloud pattern wadang shape is basically similar, not much change, generally for the high side of the wheel, when the face of the center of a *** ding, decorated with a week of convex string pattern, the outside of a raised group of four three parallel straight lines are divided into four districts, each district is decorated with a cloud pattern.

The edge of the face is decorated with a band of small raised triangles or short straight radiating lines.

Beast-face pattern Wadang generally unearthed in the Six Dynasties in the middle and late stratum, equivalent to the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Southern Dynasties period, its shape is also characterized by a high side wheel, when the face is significantly lower than the side wheel, more raised lines outlined in the animal face pattern, the face of the beast is more varied, some have a broader and narrower face contour lines, some do not have the contour lines; the eyes are generally for the slanting teardrop shape, the eye has a double or single line border, there is no border; the nose is short and convex, the nose is short and convex, and there is no line border; the nose is short and convex, and there is no line border. Border; nose short and raised, located in the middle of the two eyebrows, mouth open, showing fangs, look quite vicious; face around the short straight radial lines indicating hair.

In the middle and late Six Dynasties, with the southern modeling style, with the meaning of the traditional Chinese thought of the animal-face pattern tile has occupied an important position, and the lotus pattern tile with a clear pattern of the times with the creation of a school with a distinctive pattern of the era of the tile, and when the shape and the animal-face modeling with a new style of the times.

The animal face pattern tatang? For the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the early and middle period, Wadang beast modeling pattern rigorous and regular, composition line hard and straight; beast pattern Wadang Eastern Jin Dynasty, the middle and late; beast pattern Wadang for the Southern Dynasties Wadang both retained the basic style of the early beast modeling, at the same time, some changes have occurred, such as the upper wide and lower narrow outline of the beast has appeared to be free of loose, no longer closed above and below the contour line, beast around the symbolic whiskers and hair lines from the hard and straight to become soft.

Lotus pattern wadang is the six dynasties in the wadang the largest number of modeling decorative characteristics of the richest, the most extensive distribution of a type of its general characteristics for the high side of the wheel, when the face of the center of the lotus, decorated with varying numbers of lotus petals, but in the details of the decorations on the more varied, for example, the central lotus occupies an area of large and small, the number of decorative lotus 5, 7, 10 varies, which is seven! The most common; lotus petal form some thin, some wide fat, some tip upward, the number of lotus petals 8, 9, 10, 16 petals, to 8 petals as much; in the lotus petals between the separating line and the decoration of the outer edge of the lotus petal pattern and other details are not the same.

The Lotus Pattern Wadang? for the early Liu Song period of the Southern Dynasty; Lotus Pattern Tile Dang for the middle and late Southern Dynasty (approximately equivalent to the Qi, Liang and Chen periods); Lotus Pattern Tile Dang? is the only kind of wadang without side wheels, special modeling, its lotus petals fat, between the tips of the petals decorated with inverted arc edge triangle pattern, with the characteristics of the era is relatively late, for the Southern Dynasties before and after the Liang Dynasty.

Although the lotus pattern as early as in the Qin Dynasty had been used as a decorative pattern of the wadang, but the number is not large, did not form the mainstream, which in the Six Dynasties period of rapid popularity and long history is undoubtedly the influence of Buddhism in China at that time has a significant relationship with a wide range of influences.

In Buddhist art, the lotus flower represents the "Pure Land", signifying good fortune and symbolizing the "purity of nature".

As early as before the introduction of Buddhism to China, the lotus flower that is cherished in India, after the introduction, but also with the spread of Buddhist culture, widely popular.

According to the Indian epic Mahabharata, at the beginning of heaven and earth, Vishnu's umbilicus gave birth to a lotus flower, in which sits Brahma, who created everything, and thus the lotus flower is a symbol of the complete fulfillment of Buddhist practice.

Therefore, from the early Sixth Dynasty onwards, the lotus flower was gradually integrated into people's daily lives with the spread of Buddhist thought and the process of the Chineseization of Buddhism.

In the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties, Buddhism flourished as never before, and all the people, from the emperor down, were followers of Buddhism.

Under the strong advocacy of Emperor Wu of Liang, Buddhism became the "state religion" and got greater development.

The lotus flower is a revered Buddhist relic, so the lotus flower tiles began to prevail in the country, and the lotus pattern appeared in all aspects of people's lives at that time, from small to daily utensils, to the Buddha's Hall offerings, the lotus flower decoration can be seen everywhere.

The most valuable or Nanjing unearthed human face tiles, the kind of tiles unearthed in other areas less, cut only appeared in the Eastern Wu and Eastern Jin dynasties, the late somehow disappeared, because the kind of tiles are scarce, quite precious.