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The Caisson (Chinese: 藻井; pinyin: zǎojǐng; lit. 'algae well'), also referred to as a ceiling caisson, caisson ceiling, or zaojing, is a a distinctive feature of classical Chinese architecture, most likely unique to it.

This unique archiectural feature is typically found in the ceiling of temples and palaces, usually at the centre and directly above the main throne, seat, or religious figure. The caisson is generally a sunken panel set into the otherwise largely flat ceiling. It is often layered and richly decoracted. Common shapes include square, octagon, hexagon, circle, and a combination of these.

Name

The caisson is a general name for any sunken panel placed in the ceiling. For other meanings, see Caisson. In the case of East Asian architecture, however, the caisson is characterised by highly developed conventions as to its structure and placement.

In ancient Chinese architecture , each sunken panel of the zaojing was shaped as a well, with the central panel at the top painted with patterns of water plants. Hence the word zaojing is a combination of zǎo (aquatic plants) and jǐng (well)

Structure

The caisson is a sunken panel placed in the centre of the ceiling. It is raised above the level of the ceiling, through the use the dougong (斗栱) a structural member, built without fasteners such as nails nor adhesives such as glue. The dougong was used in older buildings (up to 700 CE in palatial tombs and alters), to support the structure of a building through interlocking structural members precisely fitted to hold the building together. Dougong was not used in the Forbidden City in a structural sense as by that time Chinese architecture, influenced by outside sources, had evolved more complex structural methods. The structure of a caisson creates successive levels of diminishing size. Beams are used to create a hexagonal or octagonal border around the cupola-like caisson. These beams, and the structural or merely ornamental dougong members are richly carved and often painted. The zaojing resembles an intricately carved or painted dome, coffer or cupola such as Longshan Temple built in 1738.

The centre of the caisson is decorated with a large bas-relief carving or painting. Common themes include "two dragons chasing the pearl. Caissons in the throne rooms of the Forbidden City feature a large, writhing dragon, from whose mouth issue a chandelier-like structure called the Xuanyuan Mirror, a series of metal balls which are said to be able to show reflections of evil spirits. This type of zoajing is completely different in nature from the ancient Chinese architectural zoajing which were related to water and the fear of fire.

Caissons were originally used to support skylights. However, they became increasingly intricate and formalised, and were in later periods a standard item of interior decoration in formal buildings.

Use in traditional Chinese architecture

The Baoguo Monastery in Yuyao in Zhejiang has three zaojing in the ceiling, making it unique among surviving examples of Song architecture. Zaojing are frequently found in Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) tombs.

Similar structures are said to have appeared in Buddhist grottos, such as in Dunhuang. Grottoes are rock-cut architecture, cave grottoes carved out of living stone and do not have zaojing structures. Many of these grottoes, mostly found along the Silk Route and built as late as 700 CE, have bas relief panels in the walls and ceilings, and might have rock carved ornamentation to imitate dougong, based on the structure in wooden buildings. This is unrelated to zaojing.

More recent structures

In more recent structures, the zaojing was employed independent of more ancient Chinese building traditions such as the traditional dougong, although decorative elements resembling the structural dougong were added. The most decorative and the most complex ceilings in Chinese architecture of much later periods, such as the caisson ceilings in the Forbidden City, built some 1000 years later. Because of the intricacy of its ornamentation, the caisson was reserved for the ceilings of the most important Chinese buildings such as imperial palaces and Buddhist temple altars in the Forbidden City. Sanquing Hall (Hall of the Three Purities) is the only Yuan period (1213 - 1368) structure with three zaojing in its ceilings.

Cultural significance

As well as being decorative, caissons are associated with the element of Water (being an "algae well" or zaojing), and thus is believed to help prevent fire, an important concern in the predominantly wooden buildings of classical Chinese architecture. Also, as mentioned above, some caissons were not associated with the element of water but rather were related to warding off evil spirits.

Notes

1. "Caisson Ceiling". chinainfoonline.com. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
2. ^ "Caisson ceiling (Zaojing)". peopledaily.com. Retrieved 2007-09-03. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
3. Oxford English Dictionary, (1989) Oxford University Press, caisson
4. Steinhardt, Nancy W. (2002). Chinese Architecture (English Ed. ed.). Yale University Press. pp. p. 8. ISBN 0-300-09559-7. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |pages= has extra text (help)
5. "Zaojing ceiling". taiwanschoolnet.org. Retrieved 2007-09-03. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
6. Yu, Zhuoyun (1984). Palaces of the Forbidden City. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-53721-7. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help), pp 253ff

See also

• Chinese architecture
• Forbidden City

External links

• Baoguo Temple - Dougong and caisson structures
• A collection of caisson images at Fotoe.com
• Handbook of Building Construction: Data for Architects, Designing and ...

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