China News Service, Beijing, February 8 (Reporter Xu Jing) There is an "auspicious dragon" entrenched at the southern end of Beijing's central axis. Standing in the worship hall of Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum and looking up, in the middle of the roof, the core of the caisson is a coiled dragon mirror carved from golden nanmu.
On the eve of the Spring Festival, this coiled dragon "flyed" onto cotton paper with the help of hand letterpress printing, becoming a cultural and creative product that the audience can take home, adding joy to the upcoming Year of the Dragon.
A cultural and creative product developed based on the Panlong caisson. Photo courtesy of Xiannongtan Cultural and Creative Space
There are countless dragon images as decorations in ancient Chinese buildings. The reporter recently walked into the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum (referred to as the "Ancient Architecture Museum") located in Xiannongtan Temple to explore the unique dragon elements in the museum and listen to the story of the "encounter" between Chinese dragons and ancient buildings hundreds of years ago.
Xiannong Altar was built in the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1420). It is the highest-level, largest-scale, and best-preserved ancient sacrificial farm site in China. The Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum located here is a thematic museum that collects, studies and displays the history, skills and agricultural culture of ancient Chinese architecture. Here is a relatively complete display of the development process of ancient Chinese architecture, and there are also many "dragons" hidden in history.
Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum. Photo by Xu Jing
"When it comes to dragons in ancient buildings, we have to mention this caisson." Guo Shuang, associate researcher at the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum, said that caissons are an internal decoration in ancient Chinese buildings and are often found directly above the thrones of Buddha statues and emperors. Reflect the noble status of the building. The caisson in the worship hall of the ancient building hall originated from the Pilu Hall of Longfu Temple in Beijing. It was built in the third year of Jingtai in the Ming Dynasty (1452). The coiled dragon on the well core has a majestic image and a strong body. The whole dragon is in a downward swooping posture. The body is vivid and has typical Ming Dynasty characteristics.
Panlong caisson is now located in the Xiannongtan Worship Hall. Photo by Xu Jing
The Chinese people have a long-standing love for dragon patterns. Guo Shuang gave an example. The highest-level color paintings among the official architectural paintings of the Qing Dynasty - the golden dragon and seal paintings - mainly feature dragons in various postures. Common ones include "two dragons playing with pearls" and so on. In addition, colorful paintings such as dragons, phoenixes and seals, golden phoenixes and seals, dragon grass and seals, etc. are all commonly seen in royal buildings. Therefore, the dragon was considered a royal decoration for a period of time.
As an important place for emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties to worship the God of Agriculture, the Temple of Agriculture was often visited by “dragons”. "There are dragons on the roofs of all the existing halls in the ancient building museum." Guo Shuang said that the dragons are usually the first of the ridge beasts on these roofs, which entrust the good wishes of the ancients.
"One dragon, two phoenixes and three lions, a seahorse, a celestial horse, six fish, a suan, a Ni, a Xie Zhi, and nine bullfights. The last one looks like a monkey." On the roof of an ancient Chinese building, the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City has the largest number of animal objects, a total of ten Only. There are seven on the roof of Taisui Hall in Xiannongtan. Among them, in addition to "one dragon", there is another one who is a close relative of the dragon.
Suanni is a mythical beast in ancient Chinese mythology and one of the "Nine Sons of the Dragon". This kind of mythical beast looks like a lion, prefers silence, prefers to sit, and likes fireworks, so it is often used to decorate the feet of incense burners. The ten mythical beasts on the roof not only reflect the supremacy of imperial power, but also place the ancients' yearning for perfection on the building, allowing the wishes of more than 600 years ago to be conveyed to today's people through the mythical beasts.
Walking out of the palace, in the "one-third of an acre" of Xiannongtan, there is an exclusive Xiannongtan logo related to a dragon. On the viewing platform where the emperor watched the work of the princes and ministers after finishing the plowing, a pattern called "dragon entwined with grass" was carved on the glazed base at the bottom. The dragon here is also vividly called the "dragon in a grass skirt" .
The "dragon entwined grass" pattern carved on the glazed base of the viewing platform of Xiannongtan. Photo by Xu Jing
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the dragon was the exclusive totem of the royal family, and the grass wrapped around the dragon's body was a decoration that could only be used in places where the God of Agriculture was worshiped. In Beijing, the only place where the royal family worshiped the God of Agriculture was the Xiannong Altar. Therefore, Xiannongtan has become the only place in Beijing where you can see the "dragon entwined grass" decoration.
With the changes of the times and social development, the symbolic meaning represented by the dragon continues to evolve. In modern society, dragons are endowed with beautiful meanings such as progress, pioneering, innovation, auspiciousness, and unity. Guo Shuang introduced that during the Spring Festival, the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum will be open as normal. Volunteers will provide free explanations every day in the exhibition hall where the Panlong caisson is located. At the same time, the Beijing Regional Museum Cultural and Creative Market will also open. This year, the renovated Shencang courtyard will meet the audience. People can watch farming and "use" farm tools in the exhibition hall, and experience the beauty of ancient agriculture in all seasons.
With the help of these exhibitions and public activities, the "dragons" in the ancient architecture museum are telling more people about the traditional culture and craftsman wisdom contained in ancient Chinese architecture, as well as the long-standing farming civilization of Xiannongtan. (over)