Caisson (Asian architecture)

File:应县净土寺2020 (3).jpg caisson at Jingtu Temple of Shanxi.]]

File:GrandHotelTaipeiUme.jpg, Taipei]]

File:Qing-An-Gong, Caisson ceiling of the Worship Shrine, Shanhua District, Tainan City (Taiwan).jpg, Taiwan.]]

The caisson is a general name for a coffer.Oxford English Dictionary, (1989) Oxford University Press, caisson In the case of Chinese architecture, however, the caisson is characterised by highly developed conventions as to its structure and placement.{{cite web

|date=August 2006

|url=http://www.jianshe99.com/html/2006/8/li82951229583860025214.html

|title=礼制对中国古建筑的影响 (Influence of Rites on Ancient Chinese Architecture)

|publisher=Construction Engineering Education Net

|language=zh

|accessdate=2007-10-30

}}

The caisson is a sunken panel placed in the centre of the ceiling. It is raised above the level of the ceiling through the use of the dougong (斗栱) structure, which, through interlocking structural members, as beams were not used, creates successive levels of diminishing size. Beams may also be used to create a hexagonal or octagonal caisson surrounded by a square border. These beams, and the dougong members, are usually visible, richly carved and often painted with deities.{{cite web

|url=http://library.taiwanschoolnet.org/cyberfair2001/C0116100083/en_artzau.htm

|title= Zaojing ceiling

|publisher=taiwanschoolnet.org

|accessdate=2007-09-03

}}

The centre of the caisson is decorated with a large bas-relief carving or painting. Common themes include "two dragons chasing the pearl". Caissons in the throne rooms of the Forbidden City feature a large, writhing dragon, from whose mouth issue a chandelier-like structure called the Yellow Emperor Mirror, a series of metal balls which are said to be able to show reflections of evil spirits.{{cite book |last=Yu |first= Zhuoyun |title=Palaces of the Forbidden City |year=1984|publisher=Viking |location=New York |isbn=0-670-53721-7 }}, pp 253ff

Caissons were originally used to support skylights. Therefore, they are a relatively recent structure in Chinese architectural history.

File:Beihai wlt2.jpg.]]

The caisson has been found in tombs of the Han dynasty dating the use of this architectural feature back at least 2,000 years.{{cite web

|url = http://www.chinainfoonline.com/ChineseArchitecture/Caisson_Ceiling.htm

|title = Caisson ceiling

|publisher = chinainfoonline.com

|accessdate = 2007-09-13

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080724170830/http://www.chinainfoonline.com/ChineseArchitecture/Caisson_Ceiling.htm#

|archive-date = 2008-07-24

|url-status = dead

}} Besides subterranean structure, the oldest existent caisson in an above-ground structure is the one located above the {{convert|16|m|ft|adj=mid|-tall}} statue of Guanyin in the Guanyin Pavilion of Dule Monastery, Jixian, Hebei province, built in 984 during the Liao dynasty.Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. "Liao: An Architectural Tradition in the Making," Artibus Asiae (Volume 54, Number 1/2, 1994): 5–39. Page 11. Without the use of interior columns, this ceiling is held up by a hidden second-floor four-sided frame with a hexagonal ceiling frame on the third floor.

In traditional Chinese architecture, every facet of a building was decorated using various materials and techniques. Simple ceiling ornamentations in ordinary buildings were made of wooden strips and covered with paper. More decorative was the lattice ceiling, constructed of woven wooden strips or sorghum stems fastened to the beams. The most decorative and the most complex ceiling was the caisson.

Sanqing Hall (Hall of the Three Purities) is a Yuan period structure with "three" zaojing in its ceiling. A zaojing is a wooden dome over an imperial throne or statue in Chinese architecture.{{cite book

| first= Francis D.K.

| last= Ching

| year= 2007

| title= A Global History of Architecture

| publisher= John Wiley and Sons

| location= New York

| pages= [https://archive.org/details/globalhistoryofa0000chin/page/787 787]

| isbn= 978-0-471-26892-5

| display-authors= etal

| url= https://archive.org/details/globalhistoryofa0000chin/page/787

}}

As the caisson became increasingly standard in formal architecture in ancient China, similar structures also appeared in Buddhist grottos, such as in Dunhuang.

Caissons were highly decorative and only included in important or highly decorated buildings. They had no specific cultural significance, since in structure they were equal to cupolas and domes constructed around the world. However the rich ornamentation often conveyed cultural significance in the themes chosen and in display within the caissons.

• Chinese architecture
• Forbidden City

{{reflist}}

{{wiktionary|caisson}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050218110521/http://baoguosi.com.cn/eng/type.asp?typeid=67 Baoguo Temple - Dougong and caisson structures]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061220112950/http://fotoe.com/sub_show.php?Id=17629&GId=Sub A collection of caisson images at Fotoe.com]

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Category:Architecture in China

Category:Chinese architectural history

Category:Ceilings

Category:Traditional Chinese architecture