Paifang

The word paifang ({{lang-zh|c=牌坊|p=páifāng}}) was originally a collective term for the top two levels of administrative division and subdivisions of ancient Chinese cities. The largest division within a city in ancient China was a fang ({{lang-zh|c=坊|hp=fāng|labels=no}}), equivalent to a current day ward.{{Cite book

| isbn = 9780691191973

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TSx6DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT729

| page = 729

| title = Chinese Architecture: A History

| first = Nancy Shatzman

| last = Steinhardt

| publisher = Princeton University Press

| year = 2019

}} Each fang was enclosed by walls or fences, and the gates of these enclosures were shut and guarded every night. Each fang was further divided into several pai ({{lang-zh|c=牌|hp=pái|l=placard|labels=no}}), which is equivalent to a current day (unincorporated) community. Each pai, in turn, contained an area including several hutongs (alleyways).

This system of urban administrative division and subdivision reached an elaborate level during the Tang dynasty, and continued in the following dynasties. For example, during the Ming dynasty, Beijing was divided into a total of 36 fangs. Originally, the word paifang referred to the gate of a fang and the marker for an entrance of a building complex or a town; but by the Song dynasty, a paifang had evolved into a purely decorative monument.

During the Tang dynasty, it was called a wutoumen ({{lang-zh|t=烏頭門|p=wūtóumén|l=black top gate|labels=no}}), because the top of the two posts were painted black. A wutoumen was reserved for officials of rank 6 or higher.

The construction of wutomen was standardized in the Yingzao Fashi of the mid Song dynasty.{{cite book |author=Li Jie |author-link=Li Jie (Song dynasty) |script-title=zh:營造法式 |title=Yingzao Fashi |volume=6: Minor Woodwork I |section=The Construction of Wutoumen}} It consisted of two posts and a horizontal beam forming a frame and two doors. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was called a pailou or paifang, and evolved into a more elaborate structure with more posts and gates, with a superstructural gable on top; the highest rank was a five gate-six post-eleven gable pailou.

It has been theorized that the paifang gate architecture was influenced by Buddhist torana temple gates.{{cite book |author=Albert Henry Longhurst|author-link=Albert Henry Longhurst |title=The Story of the Stūpa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gs1sFlMGy2AC&pg=PA17 |year=1936 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-81-206-0160-4 |page=17 }}Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China, Vol 4 part 3, p137-138 Paifang have traditional Chinese architectural characteristics such as multi-tiered roofs, various supporting posts, and archway-shapes of traditional gates and towers.{{cite book|title=China's old dwellings|author=Ronald G. Knapp|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=2000|page=85|isbn=0-8248-2214-5}}{{cite book|title=Frommer's China|author1=Simon Foster |author2=Jen Lin-Liu |author3=Sharon Owyang |author4=Sherisse Pham |author5=Beth Reiber |author6=Lee Wing-sze |publisher=Frommers|year=2010|page=435|isbn=978-0-470-52658-3}}

Paifang come in a number of forms. One form involves placing wooden pillars onto stone bases, which are bound together with wooden beams. This type of paifang is always beautifully decorated, with the pillars usually painted in red, the beams decorated with intricate designs and Chinese calligraphy, and the roof covered with coloured tiles, complete with mythical beasts—just like a Chinese palace. Another form of paifang is in the form of true archways made of stone or bricks; the walls may be painted, or decorated with coloured tiles; the top of the archways is decorated like their wooden counterparts. Yet another form of paifang, built mainly on religious and burial grounds, consists of plain white stone pillars and beams, with neither roof tiles nor any coloured decoration, but feature elaborate carvings created by master masons. Another form is in the Han dynasty style, and is two matching towers, such as in Beihai.

Outside of China, the paifang has long been the symbol of Chinatowns. The largest outside of China is in the United States: Friendship Archway at {{convert|47|ft|7|in|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} tall and {{convert|75|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} wide, completed in 1986 at H and 7th in Washington D.C.'s Chinatown.{{cite web |title=Friendship Archway, (sculpture). |url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!325492~!0#focus |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Research Information System |access-date=18 February 2011}} In Europe, the largest paifang spans Nelson Street in Liverpool, completed in 2000 and standing {{convert|13.5|m|abbr=on}} tall.{{cite web |title=Liverpool's Chinese arch ten years standing |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/liverpool/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8522000/8522792.stm |date=19 February 2010 |publisher=BBC |access-date=18 February 2011}} The first paifang in the United States was raised in 1915 as a temporary installation for the Chinese pavilion of the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco,{{cite magazine |url=https://www.academia.edu/4298726 |title=The Political Economy of Chinatown Gates |author=Allen-Kim, Erica |date=Spring 2013 |issue=15 |magazine=Pidgin |publisher=Princeton University School of Architecture |access-date=29 April 2020}} and the oldest still standing was erected in 1938 for Los Angeles, Chinatown West Gate on Hill Street;{{cite report |url=https://www.laconservancy.org/sites/default/files/files/documents/LAC_Chinatown_Final_0.pdf |title=Exploring Chinatown: Past and Present |publisher=Los Angeles Conservancy |access-date=29 April 2020}} it was listed as a city Historic-Cultural Monument (#825) along with its counterpart, Chinatown East Gate (1939, #826) in November 2005.{{cite report |url=https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/24f6fce7-f73d-4bca-87bc-c77ed3fc5d4f/Historical%20Cultural%20Monuments%20List.pdf |title=Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) List |publisher=Department of City Planning, City of Los Angeles |date=April 21, 2020 |access-date=29 April 2020}} The paifang at the entrance to Ottawa's Chinatown was decorated by Chinese artists using Chinese materials and techniques.{{cite web |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/news/archive/2010/10/ottawa-chinatown-celebrates-completion-new-gateway.html |title=Ottawa's Chinatown Celebrates Completion of New Gateway |date=October 7, 2010 |website= |publisher=Government of Canada |access-date=May 21, 2022 |quote=Construction of the arch included a team of technicians from China, as well as a group of artists who used traditional Chinese painting techniques to enhance the many ornate elements of the design. Glazed golden tiles, donated by China, adorn the nine roofs of the structure.}}

In the past, "Chastity Paifang" were given to widows who remained unmarried till death, praising what was seen as loyalty to their deceased husbands.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

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File:Hengsheng Stone Arch, 2015-01-02 09.JPG|Hesheng stone paifang, first built in the Song dynasty, from Zhejiang, Ningbo, China. One of the oldest preserved stone paifangs in China.

File:Miaogouhou stone arch 1.jpg|Miaogouhou stone paifang, first built in the Song dynasty, from Zhejiang, Ningbo, China. Located close to Hesheng stone paifang, and is also one of the oldest preserved paifangs in China.

File:Ornamental Gateway (Pailou) from Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) across a Street Lined with Small Shops. Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province, China, 1875 WDL2092.png|Ornamental gateway (pailou) from the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) across a street lined with small shops. Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province, China (1875).

File:Dongsi Pailou 1920.jpg|Dongsi, an intersection in Beijing, had four paifangs in the 1920s.

File:An arch pailou in honor of Ma Anliang.jpg|A paifang photographed in Gansu Province (1933).

File:Qian Ren Bao De Paifang in Wuxi Huishan ancient town.jpg|Paifang built in the late Ming dynasty, in Wuxi Huishan Ancient Town.

File:東林書院牌坊.jpg|Paifang of Dongling Academy.

File:少林寺天下第一名刹牌坊 - panoramio.jpg|Paifang of the Shaolin Monastery.

File:WHU-pailou0.JPG|Paifang of Wuhan University (1920).

File:Kong Lin - Tomb of Lady Yu - P1060280.JPG|Paifang at the Cemetery of Confucius, tomb of Lady Yu, wife of Kong Xianpei (72nd generation) in Qufu, China.

File:Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness 20050810 night.jpg|Paifang in the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Square (now Liberty Square) in Taipei, Taiwan. Looking east.

File:Taipei Liberty Square Main Gate at Night.jpg|Paifang at Liberty Square, in Taipei, Taiwan. Looking west.

File:63818-Beijing-Summer-Palace (28097577524).jpg|Decorated paifang at the Summer Palace in Beijing.

File:National Palace Museum Front View.jpg|Paifang at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan.

File:2017-10-29 Paifang of the Wanhe Temple.jpg|Paifang of the Wanhe Temple in Taichung, Taiwan.

File:鼓山代天宮 Gushan Daitian Temple - panoramio (1).jpg|Paifang at Daitian Temple, Gushan District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

File:Color glaze gateway Puotuo Zongcheng.jpg|Colour glaze gateway at Putuo Zongcheng Temple, Chengde.

File:Xidi1024x1360.jpg|Paifang in Xidi.

File:钱王祠五牌坊.jpg|Paifangs at the West Lake, Hangzhou, China.

File:2008-12-11 千岛湖牌坊 - panoramio - situ001.jpg|Pailou at the entrance to Qiandao Lake Scenic Area.

File:Yonghe Gong Lama Temple.jpg|Paifangs at the entrance to Yonghe Temple, Beijing, China.

File:中华武馆.JPG|Pailou at the China Martial Arts Hall, Jinshitan, Dalian, China.

File:Paifang chinese gate.jpg|Paifang at the entrance to Chinatown in Boston, Massachusetts.

File:Chinatown, DC gate.jpg|Friendship Archway in the Chinatown of Washington, D.C.

File:Dunedin Chinese Gates.JPG|Pailou at Dunedin Chinese Garden, New Zealand.

• Chinatown gate
• Shanmen, gate of Chinese Buddhist temple
• Hongsalmun, in Korean architecture with both religious and other usage
• Iljumun, portal in Korean Buddhist temple architecture
• Tam quan, a Vietnamese Buddhist style of traditional gateway
• Trụ biểu, in Vietnamese temple architecture
• Torana, a Hindu-Buddhist ceremonial arched gateway
• Torii, in Japanese Shinto shrine architecture

{{reflist}}

• {{commons category-inline|Paifang}}

Category:Types of gates

Category:Architecture in China

Category:Building types

Category:Buildings and structures by type

Category:Urban studies and planning terminology