Caisson (Asian architecture)

The Caisson (zh-cpl|c=藻井|p=zǎojǐng|l=algae well), also referred to as a caisson ceiling, or "spider web ceiling", in East Asian architecture is an architectural feature typically found in the ceiling of temples and palaces, usually at the centre and directly above the main throne, seat, or religious figure.cite web
year=2006
month=4
url=http://www.bjww.gov.cn/2006/4-12/10949-2.shtml
title=浅谈法海寺曼陀罗的深刻内涵 (Deep meaning of the Mandala in the Fahai Temple in Brief)
publisher=Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage
language=Chinese
accessdate=2007-10-30 ] The caisson is generally a sunken panel set into the otherwise largely flatFact|date=November 2007 ceiling. It is often layered and richly decorated. Common shapes include square, octagon, hexagon, circle, and a combination of these.cite web
year=
month=
url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/features/architecture/zaojing.htm
title=Caisson ceiling (Zaojing)
publisher=peopledaily.com
accessdate=2007-09-03 ]

Name

The "caisson" is a general name for any sunken panel placed in the ceiling. [Oxford English Dictionary, (1989) Oxford University Press, "caisson"] In the case of East Asian architecture, however, the caisson is characterised by highly developed conventions as to its structure and placement. [cite web
year=2006
month=8
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=Chinese
accessdate=2007-10-30 ]

These are the following:

tructure

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 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, and richly carved and often painted with deities.cite web
year=
month=
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 | authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Palaces of the Forbidden City |year=1984|publisher=Viking |location=New York |id=ISBN 0-670-53721-7 , pp 253ff]

Caissons were originally used to support skylights. Therefore they are a relatively recent structure in the Chinese architectural history. However, they became increasingly intricate and formalised, and were in later periods a standard item of interior decoration in formal buildings.Fact|date=February 2008

Use in other structures

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
year=
month=
url=http://www.chinainfoonline.com/ChineseArchitecture/Caisson_Ceiling.htm
title=Caisson ceiling
publisher=chinainfoonline.com
accessdate=2007-09-13 ] Besides subterranean structure, the oldest existent caisson in an above-ground structure is the one located above the 16 m (52.5 ft) tall statue of Guanyin in the Guanyin Pavilion of Dule Monastery, Jixian, Hebei province, built in the year 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. Because of the intricacy of its ornamentation, the caisson was reserved for the ceilings of the most important Chinese buildings such as imperial palaces and Buddhist temple altars.Fact|date=March 2008

The Baoguo Monastery in Yuyao in Zhejiang has three "zaojing" (or coffers) in the ceiling, making it unique among surviving examples of Song architecture.Fact|date=February 2008 Sanquing Hall (Hall of the Three Purities) is the only Yuan period structure with "three" zaojing in its ceiling. Fact|date=January 2008 A "zaojing" is a wooden dome over an imperial throne or statue in Chinese architecture.cite book
first=Francis D.K.
last= Ching et al
year= 2007
title= A Global History of Architecture
edition=
publisher=John Wiley and Sons
location=New York
pages= p. 787
id= ISBN 0-471-82451-3]

As the caisson became increasingly standard in formal architecture in ancient China, similar structures also appeared in Buddhist grottos, such as in Dunhuang. These sunken panels in the ceiling of grottos would be carved to imitate the "dougong"-based structure in wooden buildings.Fact|date=January 2008

Cultural significance

Caissons where highly decorative and used only for the most richly decorated structures. They had no specific cultural significance, since in structure they are equal to cupolas and domes constructed around the world. However the rich oramentation often conveyed cultural significance in the themes chosen.

Notes

ee also

* Chinese architecture
* Forbidden City
* Coffer

External links

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