Dougongs play a very important role in ancient Chinese architecture, mainly in four aspects:?
1. Play a load-bearing role
Dougongs are used to connect the eaves of the house. With load-bearing columns and beams, the weight of the entire roof is naturally transferred to the columns through the brackets at different positions. The brackets bear the load from the beam frame and transmit it to the main frame, and then to the eaves through the column foundation. It can support the overhanging eaves and make the eaves protrude farther to protect the wall and platform base. It can also support ceiling beams indoors to form an indoor ceiling. In multi-story buildings with flat seats, brackets are also supporting components for flat seats. Therefore, brackets are an important structural component in ancient Chinese architecture.
2. Play an anti-seismic role
The brackets form a crisscross paving layer between the beams and columns, just like adding a spring layer between the beams and columns, which can Effectively resist earthquake forces. Therefore, many of my country's outstanding ancient buildings, including multi-story pavilions and towering towers, have survived many strong earthquakes and still stand tall.
3. Play a decorative role
The main colors of the shadowed parts under the eaves are mostly "cold", such as blue and green, with slight gold edging on the patterns; columns, doors and The main color of the walls is red, which perfectly matches the cold-color paintings on the brackets under the eaves. At the same time, it contrasts with the white platform and also creates a break for the red walls and yellow tiles.
The structure of the brackets is criss-crossed, with various forms, types, bright colors and regular rhythm, making the brackets an important decorative component in ancient Chinese architecture.
4. A sign of architectural grade
In Chinese feudal society, only important buildings, such as palaces, mausoleums, gardens, altars, temples, and temples, used brackets. . At the same time, the shape of the brackets has also become a symbol of architectural grade. Therefore, Dougong is the patent of royal architecture and cannot be used in residential buildings. However, temples or ancestral hall buildings can use one side, that is, three-step Dougong. Royal buildings like the Forbidden City generally use seven-step or even nine-step Dougong.