The Beauty of Yuanshan
The Beauty of Yuanshan ~~ Flying rafters and supporting brackets
Name: Flying rafters and supporting bracketsName origin:**The flying rafters on roof edges and wooden brackets supporting crossbeams are an embodiment of historical Chinese culture. A set of sacred monsters squat on the protruding rafters, while Shachihokos—curving beast-shaped ornaments made of tiles— rest on the main ridge and the vertical ridge of the roof below. The powerfully constructed wooden brackets are presented as such splendid, refined architectural pieces of art that many are in awe of their beauty.** |
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The rafters extrude slightly upwards as if it is going to fly, the brackets, being round or rectangular shaped longitudinal rod, protrude from the crossbeams between pillars for supporting weight of the rafters, therefore called “Flying rafters and supporting brackets”.
Introduction:
The rafters extrude slightly upwards as if it is going to fly, and called “flying rafters”, on the flying rafters, there are several, 10 at most, squatting sacred beasts, starting from the most front end called fairy, then sequentially, dragon, heaven horse, sea horse, suanni (a kind of lion), pushing fish, xie zhi (a unicorn beast), and fighting bull, however, there are only 6 beasts for Grand hotel, there are slight changes in various areas without following formal system. The brackets, being round or rectangular shaped longitudinal rod, protrude from the crossbeams between pillars for supporting weight of the rafters.
The followings are the name and function of squatting sacred beasts:
| Beast name | Sequence | literary reference |
|---|---|---|
| Fairy sitting on a Chicken | Disposed on the most front position |
the allusion came from literature of Dong Zhou dynasty, king Chimin, it was said that king Chimin was defeated by a famous general of Yan country named Yueyi, on the run and trying to hide himself, at last climbed to the ridge of the roof of a big house, and found no way to go, suddenly a phoenix appeared, and king Chimin rode the phoenix and escaped. Disposed at the first position, meaning there will be way out when at danger. |
| Dragon | 1 |
The legendary most superior among sacred beasts. |
| Phoenix | 2 |
The legendary king of all birds. |
| Lion | 3 |
The king of beasts, also a guardian of Buddhism. |
| Heaven horse | 4 |
The horse that runs thousand miles a day. |
| Sea house | 5 |
The sacred beast in the ocean. |
| Suanni (a kind of lion) | 6 |
A beast specific at eating tigers and leopards, also one of the legendary son of Dragon. |
| Pushing fish | 7 |
A hybrid sacred animal of fish and beast. |
| Xie zhi (a unicorn beast) | 8 |
An upright and brave sacred beast, knowing right from wrong. |
| Fighting bull | 9 |
A guardian sacred beast, that capable of swallowing clouds and spurting fogs. |
| Xing shi | 10 |
A son of lightening god, holding a protecting pestle, specifically allowed in Taihe hall. And disposed at the tenth position, therefore named xing shi (in Chinese means number 10). |
The meaning to the hotel:
The two ends of flying rafters have effect of feeling to fly, and looked as if the building become bigger, also representing “Standing on the ground receiving from the heaven, to combine the heaven, ground and people”. The design of flying rafters is beneficial to drainage, heat dissipation, natural lighting as well as lightning protection. The supporting brackets are used for supporting the weight of the roof, helpful on distributing the pressure evenly for extending the life of the building, also as decorations, for the building to appear more beautiful.
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