• DOI:10.1017/arh.2020.1
Corpus ID: 229716130

Pillars of Heaven: The Symbolic Function of Column and Bracket Sets in the Han Dynasty

@article{Xie2020PillarsOH,
  title={Pillars of Heaven: The Symbolic Function of Column and Bracket Sets in the Han Dynasty},
  author={Jing Xie},
  journal={Architectural History},
  year={2020},
  volume={63},
  pages={1 - 36}
}

• Jing Xie
• Published 2020
• Architectural History

ABSTRACT Wooden columns surmounted by bracket sets are a key element of the great buildings of Imperial China and have received a tremendous amount of attention from scholars and architectural professionals. This article revisits the question of their symbolic function during the Han dynasty (206 bce–ce 220). In addition to their structural role, column and bracket sets fulfilled important social and cultural needs related to the representation of celestial and spiritual qualities. Understood… Expand