páilóu 牌樓

Note

The pailou functions to mark specific locations, divide space, and commemorate virtuous individuals and actions. The ‘lou’ in pailou can refer to a roof or eaves (Guo 2002, 61), however, in Ming dynasty literature, the term pailou was widely used and was often used interchangeably with the term paifang. For example, in the Jiajing dezhou zhi 嘉靖德州志, pailou are recorded under the chapter on paifang, indicating that pailou and paifang refer to the same objects (Zheng and He 1522-1566, 1.13a). The term paifang was often used to emphasize why the structure was erected, while the term pailou was used to emphasize the location. These structures were so symbolic in their appearance that they became the markers of specific places. Junctions composed of multiple paifang structures at road intersections were often found in cities, such as the “Four Pailou” and “Three Pailou” in Nanjing. 4

牌樓作为建築物，具有標識區域、劃分空間、旌表德行等作用。“牌樓”一詞在明代文獻中大量使用，常与“牌坊”混用，例如在《嘉靖德州志》中，在牌坊條下記載了牌樓（鄭和何 1522-1566, 1.13a）。但两者在建筑形式上没有区别。4

當强調該建築物爲何而立時，常用“牌坊”；當强調地點時，常用“牌樓”，該類建築物在形象上所具有的標志性使其成爲了一個場所或地點的標記。在城市中也常见多个牌坊在道路交叉口组成的节点，例如南京的四牌樓、三牌樓等等。根據在古籍數據庫中的檢索，“牌樓”一词在明清文献中的使用頻率呈現較爲明顯的上升趨勢，在清代文献中“牌樓”使用頻率高于“牌坊”。