The architectural sculpture that is based on the nine dragons also includes nine-dragon screen. There are three excellent representatives of nine-dragon screens. The first is in Beihai Park; the second in Ningshou Palace (Palace of Peace and Longevity) of the Palace Museum and the third is in Datong, Shanxi Province. The nine-dragon screen is actually a screen wall engraving with the patterns of nine dragons. The screen wall is usually located in front of or inside the gate of a house to shelter it from view of the courtyard. Therefore, pedestrians cannot look into the courtyard and guests can tidy up clothes and hats in front of the screen wall and then visit the host. Screen walls in ancient China were arranged by grade. According to the ritual system of the Western Zhou, only palaces, accommodations of lords and temples can use screen walls. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, common people also set screen walls in their courtyards, the quadrangles in Beijing are a model.
The nine-dragon screen in Beihai Park was built during the 21st year of Qianlong. The whole wall is 26m long, 7m high and nearly 1.5m thick. It is composed of 424 glazed tiles that emboss the screen. There are nine huge dragons on each side of the screen, with big or small dragons in different postures decorating the two ends and the eaves, making a surprising total of 635 dragons.
The nine-dragon screen in the Ningshou Palace was built in 1771 during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. Its pattern is similar to that of the Beihai Park, but the details are quite different.
The nine-dragon screen in Datong was built in 1392 for the thirteenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. It has been well preserved and remains intact to this day. It is nearly 43m long, 8m high and 2m thick. It is the largest of these works. The pedestal of a statue of Buddha of the screen wall is engraved with patterns of lions, tigers, elephants, kylins and horses. The top is a mill-framed structure. The most eyecatching part is the pool in front of the screen wall, from which the nine dragons can reverberate. When the winds float and drift the water surface, it looks as if the nine dragons are playing in the water, showing a vivid and artful design.
Lions
The lion has been the guardian of palaces and tombs since the Han Dynasty. It was designed into an image that is like and unlike that of an actual lion during the later Qing period. In ancient China, the lion has always been considered as a precious and auspicious animal. After Buddhism was introduced into China, it was endowed with godhood.
Images of lions in the palaces of the Ming and Qing are stone carvings or bronze statues with square pedestals of a statue of Buddha. Most lion statues squat at two sides of the gate. The gate is guarded on either side by a huge statue of female and male lion. The male lion steps on the siukiu while the female lion plays with a young lion.
Lion statues in the Palace Museum mainly include two types. One are the stone lions in front of Tian’anmen and the bronze lions in front of the Taihe (the Gate of Supreme Peace) Gate. They are powerful and martial, with the mighty character of the palaces. The second type is embodied in the gilt bronze lions in front of Qianqingmen (the Gate of Celestial Purity). By size, they are not as strong as the first type but they are more exquisite and complicated. These lions are exquisitely wrought and are similar in decoration to the kylin or other auspicious animals. In fact, the differences are based on the designers’ consideration of the different functions of the palaces and outer courts. Tian’anmen and Taihe Gate are the places where emperors hold ceremonies and make important decisions, these places show the awesome dignity of the palaces and royalty, so the lion statues have a strong sense of dignity. Qianqingmen and Ningshoumen are the places where royals live, so they don’t need the style full of dignity and stress, but are exquisite, kind and gorgeous.
The lion images were not thought to belong to the royals. Small stone lions could be used to protect houses or regular people. For instance, in the rural areas of northern Shaanxi Province, local people placed stone lions on the edge of a kang to exorcise evil spirits and protect children.
Folk architectural sculpture
Besides the architectural sculptures of palaces, there are also many folk architectural sculptures with diverse themes and excellent skill. Common architectural sculptures are brick sculptures and woodcarving. Some sculptures are affected by images of birds, flowers and figures showing scenes of birds and flowers and stories.
Folk sculptures form different regional styles. The woodcarving in Chaozhou of Guangdong Province and the woodcarving in Dongyang of Zhejiang Province are most famous. Chaozhou woodcarving adopted multiple carving skills, such as full relief, high relief sculpture, openwork carving and others. It reveals different expressions of society with delicate artistic effects.
The excellent brick sculptures are centered at public buildings, such as memorial temples, Guandi Temple and the Temple of Town God. Most of these works are distributed in the southern region, especially in Guangdong, Anhui and Shanghai, etc.
China’s antique architectural sculptures underwent prominent and subtle changes over time. Each dynasty developed its own unique style. The gorgeous color of buildings gradually faded over time. However, we can still recall the prosperity and loneliness of those days from the surviving works.