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Caisson (Asian architecture)
Encyclopedia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
n architecture is an architectural feature typically found in the ceiling of temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
s and palace
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...
s, usually at the centre and directly above the main throne, seat, or religious figure.
The caisson is generally a sunken panel set into the otherwise largely flat ceiling. It is often layered and richly decorated. Common shapes include square, octagon, hexagon, circle, and a combination of these.
Name
Coffer
A coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault...
. In the case of East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
n architecture, however, the caisson is characterised by highly developed conventions as to its structure and placement.
These are the following:
Structure
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 dougongDougong
Dougong is a unique structural element of interlocking wooden brackets, one of the most important elements in traditional Chinese architecture....
(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.
The centre of the caisson is decorated with a large bas-relief carving or painting. Common themes include "two dragon
Chinese dragon
Chinese dragons are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology and folklore, with mythic counterparts among Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Bhutanese, Western and Turkic dragons. In Chinese art, dragons are typically portrayed as long, scaled, serpentine creatures with four legs...
s chasing the pearl
Pearl
A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...
". Caissons in the throne
Throne
A throne is the official chair or seat upon which a monarch is seated on state or ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the monarchy or the Crown itself, an instance of metonymy, and is also used in many expressions such as "the power behind the...
rooms of the Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
feature a large, writhing dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
, from whose mouth issue a chandelier-like structure called the Yellow Emperor
Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor or Huangdi1 is a legendary Chinese sovereign and culture hero, included among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he reigned from 2697–2597 or 2696–2598 BC...
Mirror, a series of metal balls which are said to be able to show reflections of evil spirits.
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.
Use in other structures
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
dating the use of this architectural feature back at least 2,000 years. 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
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
province, built in the year 984 during the Liao Dynasty
Liao Dynasty
The Liao Dynasty , also known as the Khitan Empire was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper between 9071125...
. 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
Latticework
Latticework is a framework consisting of a criss-crossed pattern of strips of building material, typically wood or metal. The design is created by crossing the strips to form a network...
ceiling, constructed of woven wooden strips or sorghum
Sorghum
Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...
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
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
and Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
temple altars.
The Baoguo Monastery in Yuyao
Yuyao
Yuyao is a city in Zhejiang province, China, capital of Yuyao County, Ningbo. Administratively Yuyao is under the direct jurisdiction of Ningbo....
in Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
has three zaojing (or coffer
Coffer
A coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault...
s) in the ceiling, making it unique among surviving examples of Song architecture
Architecture of the Song Dynasty
The architecture of the Song Dynasty was noted for its towering Buddhist pagodas, enormous stone and wooden bridges, lavish tombs, and palaces. Although literary works on architecture existed beforehand, architectural writing blossomed during the Song Dynasty, maturing into a more professional...
. Sanquing Hall (Hall of the Three Purities) is the only Yuan
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
period structure with "three" zaojing in its ceiling.
A zaojing is a wooden dome over an imperial throne or statue in Chinese architecture.
As the caisson became increasingly standard in formal architecture in ancient China, similar structures also appeared in Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
grottos, such as in Dunhuang
Dunhuang
Dunhuang is a city in northwestern Gansu province, Western China. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. It was also known at times as Shāzhōu , or 'City of Sands', a name still used today...
. These sunken panels in the ceiling of grottos would be carved to imitate the dougong-based structure in wooden buildings.
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 cupolaCupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
s and dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
s constructed around the world. However the rich oramentation often conveyed cultural significance in the themes chosen.