jiǎ’áng 假昂

https://architecturasinica.org/keyword/k000166

Terms

  • jia'ang (Pinyin without tones)
  • 假昂 (Traditional Chinese)
  • 假昂 (Simplified Chinese)
  • jiǎ’áng (Pinyin)
  • chia-ang (Wade-Giles)
  • simulated ang (lit.) (English)1
  • pseudo-cantilever (English)2
  • false ang (English)3

Note (full)

    Literally meaning “pretend” or “simulated” ang, jia’ang refers to a bracket arm that appears to be a xia’ang visually, but does not function as a xia’ang structurally. Architectural historians have used jia’ang as a term in traditional Chinese architecture since the 1930s (Liang 1933,26). Usually it refers to a huagong in an eaves bracket set (wai yan dougong 外簷斗栱) with a shape of ang mouth (ang zui 嘴) on the outside. In most cases, there is a carved huatouzi 華頭子 underneath the jia'ang.4

    Based on extant timber frame structures, such as the Sage Mother Hall (mid 11th century) in Jinci, we know that jia’ang were already being used in the Northern Song dynasty. It can be traced back even further, to the Southern Tang through a wooden building model discovered in a coffin in Baoying 寶應, Jiangsu (Zhou 2020, Li 1965). Jia’ang became popular in architecture after the Southern Song and became a standard form in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The ang mentioned in architectural literature from the Qing dynasty are all jia’ang (Liang 1981, 21-22).5

    Some scholars extend the meaning of jia’ang to elements such as cha’ang 插昂 mentioned in the Yingzao fashi (Wang and Niu 1992, Cheng 1997, Li 2000, which is a small timber in the shape of an ang mouth, but which does not function as a lever arm. This view is not universally accepted (Su 1994, Feng 1995). Recently, a more generally accepted opinion is that cha’ang was a transitional form, which was used before jia’ang became standard (Wen 2013, Yu 2017).6

    “假昂”為1930年代以後建築史學家所使用(梁 1933, 26),通常用於指外簷鬥栱中外挑斫成嘴形的華栱,大部分案例中嘴下還帶有刻出的華頭子。本質上”假昂“作為一種現象,是指在形態上通過尖(嘴)的形式追求視覺上的下昂意向,但在構件整體形式與所起作用上已不具備下昂基本特點的構件。4

    假昂在現存木構建築實例中出現於北宋晉祠聖母殿,11世紀中期),但在墓葬中最早可見出土于寶應的南唐木屋(周 2020,黎 1965);南宋以後假昂在木構建築中逐漸普遍。此類做法在建築中成為標準做法,清代營造文獻中的“”均指此類構件 (梁 1981,21-22)。5

    部分學者將“假昂”延伸為具有(尖)的形態,但不符合的杠杆原理的構件,如《營造法式》中的插昂(王 和 牛 1992,程 1997,李 2007),但這一觀點有爭議(宿 1994,冯 1995)。近來較為普遍的看法是:插昂是假昂定型前的過渡形態(温 2013,喻 2017)。6

Works Cited

Any information without attribution has been created following the Syriaca.org editorial guidelines.

  • 1 KROLL. 2015. A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese, 193.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
  • 2 ZUO. 2019. Timber-Framed Architecture of the Lower Yangzi, 175.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
  • 3 GUO. 2002. A Visual Dictionary of Chinese Architecture, 45.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
  • 4 梁. 1933. 正定調查紀略, 26.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
  • 5 周. 2020. 样式与造作:宋金时期华北地区木构建筑假昂探析Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; 黎. 1965. 江苏宝应县经河出土南唐木屋Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; 梁. 1981. 清式營造則例, 21-22.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
  • 6 王. 1992. 河南焦作昭惠王行宫大殿调查Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; 程. 1997. 广州光孝寺大雄宝殿大木结构研究Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; 李. 2007. 霍州大堂与霍州州署的布局Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; 宿. 1994. 甘肃连城鲁土司衙和妙因、显教两寺调查记Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; 冯. 1995. 中国古代木构建筑的考古学断代Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; 温. 2013. 结合中日遗构探讨昂装饰性的演变Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; 喻. 2017. 论耍头拟昂现象与六铺作的缺失——以晋东南地区为例Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record

Broad Match: bracketing

How to Cite This Entry

ZHUGE Jing 諸葛净 et al., “ 假昂 jiǎ’áng” in Architectura Sinica last modified November 21, 2021, https://architecturasinica.org/keyword/k000166.

Bibliography:

ZHUGE Jing 諸葛净 et al., “ 假昂 jiǎ’áng.” In Architectura Sinica, edited by Tracy Miller. Entry published March 16, 2021. https://architecturasinica.org/keyword/k000166.

About this Entry

Entry Title: 假昂 jiǎ’áng

Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:

  • Tracy Miller, editor, Architectura Sinica
  • ZHUGE Jing 諸葛净, associate editor, Architectural Terminology
  • ZHUGE Jing 諸葛净 and CAO Yiming 曹一鳴, entry contributors, “ 假昂 jiǎ’áng

Additional Credit:

  • Website coordination by Yuh-Fen Benda
  • Preliminary research CMW 2021
  • Data entry, adding citation and gloss 2021 by ZOU Yuyang 鄒宇洋
  • Data entry, adding links 2021 by ZHANG Xuliang 張序亮
  • Peer review by ATTCAT 2021
  • English proofreading by Aurelia Campbell Tracy Miller
  • Chinese proofreading by ZHUGE Jing 諸葛净 ZUO Lala 左拉拉

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