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Among the stamps of “cultural relics during the Cultural Revolution” issued in 1973, there is a “stone carving column foundation”, which is the column foundation of the Northern Wei Dynasty unearthed from Sima Jinlong tomb of Langya king in shijiazhai village, Datong City, Shanxi Province in 1966.
Shanxi national treasure: stone carvings on the base of stone carvings, a collection of three creative methods: carving, carving and plastic.
This stone carving column base is an artifact of the eighth year of Taihe in the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 484).
It was unearthed in Sima Jinlong tomb, shijiazhai village, Datong City in 1966 and is now displayed in the “national melting pot” Hall of the museum.
The whole utensil is made of fine sandstone, with a height of 16.5cm.
The upper part is a drum shaped compound basin, the top is carved with lotus, surrounded by coiled dragons and mountains; The lower part is a square base, with honeysuckle (honeysuckle) patterns, cloud patterns and Jile dance boys carved on all sides.
At the four corners of the base, there is a Jiyue boy.
They are all three-dimensional sculptures.
Some are playing drums and some are dancing.
They are vivid and exquisitely carved.
They are first-class cultural relics in China.
The overall shape is realistic, the technique is round and delicate, and the pattern is smooth and free, indicating that China’s carving technology has entered a mature stage in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
[origin of the name of the column base] the stone bearing the column; the foundation under the column.
Mozi records, “the mountain clouds evaporate, and the column base moistens”.
According to the third volume of the Song Dynasty’s construction method, “the column base has six names: one is the foundation, the second is the Yi, the third is the Xi, the fourth is the Yi, the fifth is the Yi, and the sixth is the Yi, which is now called the shiding”.
In this province, it is called “zhuzizhu”, “Shizhu” and “Zhuzhu” Wait.
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 pillar foundation stone of the main hall – the largest pillar foundation stone among ancient temples in China [the shape of the pillar foundation] can be roughly divided into the following five types.
Covered basin type: the overall shape is like a basin buckled upside down on the ground, with a large lower mouth and a small upper mouth.
According to whether there is carving decoration on it, it can be divided into plain surface and carved decoration.
Covered bucket type: like a “bucket” buckled upside down on the ground 。 Dougong is an important component in ancient roof architecture, which is combined with Dougong to form Dougong.
There is a special type of column foundation in the bucket covering type.
On the basis of the bucket covering type, the column foundation is carved into a “table” with four legs, and plants and animals are carved between each leg and two legs of the table.
Drum type: the whole column base is shaped like a big drum, and the drum body is covered with carvings.
Pedestal type: a more common type of column foundation, which is mostly Xumi seat.
There are braces at the top and bottom of the seat, and the middle part is a shrunk waist.
The overall shape is dignified.
Compound: a combination of the above four forms.
The column foundation of this shape is widely used.
[pillar base decoration] after the Six Dynasties, under the influence of Buddhist art, Chinese architecture and Buddhist art began to integrate.
For example, on the pillar base unearthed from Sima Jinlong tomb in Shanxi, there have been withered complex patterns such as covered lotus, Panlong and human.
Therefore, since the Eastern Han Dynasty Buddhism spread to the East, the Buddhist decorative art has had a significant impact on the development of the pillar base in the future.
The decoration of lotus petals has been widely used It is widely used in column foundation.
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.
The overall shape is similar to pumpkin, so it is also called “pumpkin shaped column foundation” or “melon petal shaped column foundation”.
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.
In addition, in the third volume of the French style of building, the form, proportion and decorative techniques of the column foundation are described in more detail: for the system of building the column foundation, the diameter of the square double column is less than one foot and four inches, each foot is eight inches thick, and for more than three feet, the thickness is reduced by half; If the square is more than four feet, the rate shall be three feet thick.
If you make a basin, one foot per side, one inch high, one inch high, and one minute thick lips; If the lotus is covered on the back, the height is doubled.
If the plain and covered pots are used to reduce the horizon, press the ground to hide the flower, pick the ground to protrude, or reduce the horizon and press the ground to hide the lotus petals, it is called the treasure lotus flower..
