Wall ridge
—— ——refers to the shielding of the front end of the barrel tile covering the eaves of ancient Chinese buildings.
Drip
—— ——can protect the cleanliness of the wall. One end has a drooping edge, the bottom tile is at the eaves, and the lower end has a drooping round pointed tile, which is placed on the eaves when building a roof.
Wall-end & dripping water
Since ancient times, it has been like husband and wife, like brothers, like sisters, like yin and yang.
Wall-end also has a brother named dripping water.
Each era has its own unique historical characteristics.
But even in different dynasties, the pictures and texts on the tiles also convey the good wishes for peace and prosperity.
What is more outstanding about the tiles beyond practicality is that they have evolved into a work of art that highlights the years of history.
The evolution of tiles
The Warring States period
The tiles in the Warring States period were semicircular, called semi-circular tiles. With the prosperity of social economy and the advancement of production technology, the shape and subject matter of tiles have made a qualitative leap, and also created distinct regional characteristics.
素代. Qin dynasty
Qin Shi Huang unified China and summoned craftsmen from various countries to build palaces and halls in Xianyang. As a result, there was a period of great integration of styles from all over the country. During this period, the fresh and realistic style of the Qin Dynasty was formed in the entire tile art. The tiles of the Qin Dynasty developed from semicircular to circular.
Han dynasty
Round tiles were the main popular ones. The decorations of tiles in the Han Dynasty can be divided into several types, such as rolling cloud patterns, animal patterns, four gods patterns, and text. The tiles of ordinary people's homes are generally undecorated, while the tiles of powerful families have exquisite carvings and text. The Han Dynasty was a heyday of Chinese feudal society, and the decoration of tiles also changed greatly. The patterns of tiles completed the transformation from concrete to abstract, from realistic to freehand.
At the same time, with the development of social economy, tiles were no longer only used in royal buildings, but also began to be used in the folk.
宋代.song dynasty
After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, tiles were widely used in residential buildings. Tiles of various shapes competed for splendor on the eaves. There appeared tiles in square, rectangular, triangular, heart-shaped, Ruyi-shaped and other shapes.
Metal tiles were also used on some buildings after the Song and Yuan Dynasties. There are three types of metal tiles: cast iron, brass and gold. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, dragon-patterned tiles were mostly used. At this time, there were even exquisite glazed tiles, which were very rich in color, mainly cyan, green, blue, yellow and other colors, and were generally used in high-end buildings.
The reappearance of animal face patterns during the Liao and Jin Dynasties was also the last glorious period of ancient Chinese tile art. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, tiles with text became extremely rare and gradually faded out of the historical stage.
Ming and Qing Dynasties. Ming and Qing Dynasties
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, tiles were called "hooks", which was the low point of tile development. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, tiles were made of glazed tiles for the royal family, and the main pattern was cloud dragon pattern.
During this period, the development of brick carvings in ordinary houses diluted the dominant position of tiles as decoration, and tiles had no place to develop. As a result, the development of tiles stagnated.
The unique guardian of the eaves of the Chinese
For a long time, tiles have quietly guarded a place on the blue brick and white wall. They are a distant outline under the sunset, and also a shelter for us when the storm is coming.
They stay quietly on the eaves, feeling the bright moon and breeze, the flowers blooming and falling, the warmth and coldness of the world, without the former glory and splendor, the current tiles are still the most beautiful mark of China, and are the indelible memory in the hearts of every Chinese...
Nowadays, there are many cultural and creative products about tiles in many museums-tiles have become the carrier of spreading the traditional culture of the Chinese nation~
Have you ever noticed these exquisite patterns?
Next time you see an ancient building, remember to pay attention to Guanzhai~
(Reprinted from "Fuguang Zhixing")
