yìxínggǒng 翼形栱

Note

Yixinggong 翼形栱, which cannot be found in Chinese literature until 1930s, is a term coined by Liang Sicheng that combines yixing 翼形 (literally, wing-shaped (Hanyu dacidian, online; Kroll 2015, 551)1

and gong 栱 to refer to the wing-shaped brackets in Tang, Liao, and Song architecture. In terms of shape, yixinggong 翼形栱 is based on actual examples which were referred to as yixinggong 翼形栱 by Liang Sicheng. In terms of function, the two ends of yixinggong 翼形栱 do not support a bearing block and would therefore be considered more decorative than structural. With the publication of Liang Sicheng's investigation reports on Song, Liao, and Jin architecture in the Journal of the Society for the Study of Chinese Architecture (Zhongguo Yingzao xueshe huikan 中國營造學社彙刊) between 1932 and 1935, the term yixinggong 翼形栱 was used repeatedly and it gradually became a term with a much clearer definition which was adopted by other scholars. It is important to note that the consensus reached by later architectural historians about the meaning of yixinggong differs from Liang Sicheng's use of the term. The discrepancy mainly lies in different understandings of what is meant by “wing-shaped” (yixing). Prior to 1979, the term yixinggong 翼形栱 (“wing-shaped bracket arm”) was applied to all irregularly-shaped brackets. Now some scholars also use yixinggong 異形栱 (“irregularly shaped bracket arm”) instead; see yixinggong 異形栱.5

“翼形栱”字面意義為形狀如翅膀的栱。“翼形栱”一詞源於現代學者的研究。當前學者一般認為“翼形栱”可歸納為以下方面：時間上，“翼形栱”是一種出現于唐、宋、遼、金建築上的鬥栱構件；形狀上，“翼形栱”的形狀以梁思成使用“翼形栱”指稱的實例為參考，但並不存在明確的限定；作用上，“翼形栱”兩端不承枓。 “翼形栱”一詞不見於古代文獻，系梁思成在1930年代研究唐、宋、遼代建築時為描述狀如飛翼的栱而將“翼形”與“栱”複合而成的詞語（梁 1932，40）。 隨著梁思成對晉冀地區宋、遼、金建築的調查報告相繼於1932~1935年在《中國營造學社彙刊》上發表（梁 1932-1935）， “翼形栱”在其中被不斷提及，並逐漸成為了一個含義較為明確的術語而為其他學者所接受，但與梁思成對“翼形栱”一詞的使用並非毫無出入，其差異主要源自對“何為翼形”這一問題的不同認識。5

至1979年，其詞義已泛化為專指栱身與弓形栱不同且兩端不承枓的栱。現在也有學者寫作“異形栱”（張 1979，71-106; 陸 2008，182-194）； 參見異形栱。6

Related concepts

yìxínggǒng 異形栱

Broad Match: bracketing