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The column foundation is a kind of Chinese architectural components, commonly known as the plate, or the column foundation stone.
It is the cushion cornerstone to bear the pressure of the house column.
All houses with wooden frame structure can be described as columns, which are indispensable.
The ancient Chinese people added a stone pier on the column base to keep the landing house column from moisture and decay, which isolated the column base from the floor and played an absolute moisture-proof role; At the same time, the bearing pressure of column foundation is strengthened.
Therefore, great attention is paid to the use of foundation stones.
The name originates from the foundation stone of the bearing column; Foundation under column.
Mozi’s book records: “the mountain clouds evaporate and the column base moistens.”.
According to the third volume of the Song Dynasty’s construction method, “the column foundation has six names: one is the foundation, two is the Yi, three is the Xi, four is the Yi, five is the Yi, and six is the Shi anchorage.”.
In this province, they are called “Zhuzi beads”, “stone beads”, “Zhuzhu beads” and so on.
The earliest columns should be directly planted underground, but in order to prevent the movement and sinking of the columns, a large stone was placed at the foot of the column to make the bearing weight of the column body evenly distributed over a large area.
Later, it was found that the wooden columns buried underground were prone to moisture and decay, so the stones were lifted to the ground to avoid corrosion or damage to the column foundation.
The part bearing pressure under the column is called “foundation”, and there is often a “cushion” between the foundation and the column to isolate the moisture infiltrated into the column by capillary phenomenon, and can be replaced at any time in case of damage.
But what we generally call “column foundation” includes the above two.
The historical evolution of the column foundation has roughly experienced three development stages: first, pave pebbles under the column without exposure; 2、 Let the foundation stone rise to the ground to become the appearance image part of the whole column, but there is no decoration; 3、 The column base shall be installed on the foundation stone, and the surrounding of the foundation stone shall be carefully carved for decoration.
Pebbles were mostly used as column foundations in the pre-Qin period.
In the Qin Dynasty, there were 1.4-meter-long stone pillar foundations.
In the Han Dynasty, the column foundations were similar to the basin covering type and the reverse bucket type, but the style was very simple.
In the Six Dynasties, the Buddhist Dachang art added new impetus.
The basin covering style has become common, and there are column bases in the style of figures, lions, animals and lotus petals.
From the column foundation of Sima Jinlong’s tomb in the eighth year of Taihe in the Northern Wei Dynasty unearthed in Datong, the stone carving technology had reached a high level at that time.
Its carving technique changed the rough style of the Qin and Han Dynasties, showing exquisite, exquisite and fresh.
In the Tang Dynasty, the covered basin type column foundation carved with lotus petals was the most popular.
There were specific regulations on the shape of the column foundation in the Song Dynasty.
The “construction method” wrote: “for the system of building the column foundation, the diameter of the square double column is two feet, that is, the square of the foundation is four feet.
If the square is less than one foot and four inches, each square foot is eight inches thick.
If the square is more than three feet, the thickness is reduced by half; if the square is more than four feet, the rate is three feet thick.” About the carving of the plinth, The Song Dynasty’s “construction method” also explains: “There are eleven kinds of patterns: one is sea stone cotton; the other is Baoxiang flower; the third is peony flower; the fourth is huicao; the fifth is Fang Wen; the sixth is water wave; the seventh is Baoshan; the eighth is Baojie; the ninth is paving lotus; the tenth is covering lotus; the eleventh is Baozhuang lotus.
Or between the patterns, there are dragons, phoenixes, lions, animals and Huasheng, which are distributed and used as appropriate.”.
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the shape and carving of the column foundation were more abundant, and the manufacturing technology had reached a very high level.
But more red tape and stylization, less momentum and spirit.
The motif of the carving pattern is dragon, Phoenix, cloud and water, or a hundred lions and flying cranes, Buddhist eight treasures combined with religious decorative patterns (Dharma wheel, conch, white cover, lotus, dish length, treasure bottle, treasure umbrella and goldfish); folk eight treasures (jewels, ancient coins, jade chimes, rhinoceros horn, coral, Ganoderma lucidum, silver ingots and Fang Sheng); Taoist eight treasures (fish drum, jade flute, sword, gourd, medicine basket, purple board, banana, Lotus), flowers, birds, insects, etc.
there are hundreds of other kinds, such as piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, Kirin sending children, lion rolling Hydrangea, Monkey King borrowing banana fan, etc.
in terms of carving techniques, he is good at combining high relief, shallow relief, transparent carving and round carving, and comparing the decoration with realism, so as to combine the decorative role with the value of independent appreciation Unity fully embodies the superb skills of the craftsmen at that time, and also shows the sentiment and desire of the house owner.
After the Six Dynasties, influenced by Buddhist art, Chinese architecture and Buddhist art began to integrate.
For example, on the column foundation unearthed from Sima Jinlong tomb in Shanxi, there are withered potted lotus, Panlong, human and other complex patterns.
Therefore, since the spread of Buddhism in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the decorative art of Buddhism has had a significant impact on the development of the later column foundation.
The decoration of lotus petals is widely used in column foundations.
The ancient lotus petal column foundation was mostly a basin covered lotus, and its lotus petals were more realistic and varied.
This ancient form of covered lotus, which is similar to the Buddhist “lotus seat”, is the so-called “treasure lotus” in the Song Dynasty.
It can be seen at the column base of the Mountain Gate of Longshan Temple in Lugang.
The lotus petal shaped column base, which is common in temples in Taiwan, has a different shape from the ancient system, and has a waist and a base.
The lotus petals are withered at the protruding belly at the upper end.
The lotus petals close the upper and lower lip edges with a circular arc, showing a long oval shape symmetrical from top to bottom.
According to the murals and stone carvings, the column foundations of the Tang Dynasty are still mainly in the form of covered pots and lotus flowers, but the lotus petals are slightly fatter and shorter than those in the early Six Dynasties.
In the Song Dynasty, the decoration of columns and column bases was meticulous.
Buddhist decoration not only integrated with local architecture, but also created a mature style.
In the Song Dynasty’s architectural style, the decoration of the column base contains: Sea pomegranate flower, peony flower, Baoxiang flower, floor lotus, upside down lotus, Cymbidium grass, dragon wind pattern, lion beast and metaplasia.
Most of these decorations are influenced by Buddhist art.
The style of column foundation in the Song Dynasty changed more, and the carving was more slender, but the lotus petal covered basin style was still the main popular style.
Since the general Chinese architecture once tended to be complex, changeable and gorgeous, this atmosphere was immediately noticed and opposed by the government.
Therefore, there was a regulation of “non palace temples, do not cut out the column foundation” in the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, the development of column foundation cutting began to focus on the Palace and temple.
As for the Yuan Dynasty, because of its national character, the column foundation liked to use simple plain covered pots without withering decoration.
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was slightly decorated in a simplified and simple form on the basis of the Yuan Dynasty, but Tu Eucalyptus advocated simplicity.
In terms of the shape of the column base, cylindrical, round drum, and “variant” round drum with wide top and narrow bottom and protruding shoulders are all popular styles in the early Qing Dynasty.
The cylindrical surface is usually not decorated.
The round drum shape and “variant” round drum shape are ancient and elegant.
In addition, official buildings mostly use stone foundations as thin as mirrors, which is called “Ancient Mirror style”.
However, the general folk, especially in the south, are significantly different.
On the one hand, in terms of geographical environment, due to rainy and humid, a higher drum foundation is often used; On the other hand, in the cultural background, it advocates gorgeous withering decoration, so the column foundation changes more Moreover, it is located in a remote area, beyond the reach of government decrees, so its development is relatively free.
The temple buildings in southern Taiwan belong to the southern system of Fujian and Guangdong.
In addition, they are integrated with Taoist ideas, folk beliefs and various decorative themes reflecting local customs and the background of the times.
Under the influence of national personality, they have concrete realistic patterns and abstract figure Eucalyptus costumes.
Behind these decorative themes, there are rich symbolic meanings.
One of the functions of column foundation is to distribute the concentrated load on the column body over a large area on the ground; Second, the stone column foundation can not only be moisture-proof, but also be higher than the ground to avoid column base corrosion or damage.
Because the column base is very close to people’s sight, it often becomes a good place for artists to display their skills.
Therefore, there are a variety of shapes and carvings that change with the changes of dynasties, and it has become a major category of stone carving art in China.
Although the column foundation is produced due to functional requirements, when it develops and matures, it also gradually forms the end of the column, making the monotonous and straight column body produce visual changes and decorative functions..
