Imperial Roof Charms
Chinese imperial roof decorations or "crouching beasts" were statuettes placed along the ridge line of official buildings of the Chinese empire.
These are often made of glazed ceramic and form an outward marching procession. Here we see the imperial yellow glaze reserved for the emperor.
At the tail of the procession will be an imperial dragon, representing the authority of the state.
At the head of the procession will be a man riding a Phoenix, one legend suggests that this represents a minion of the emperor who grew greedy for power and was hanged from the roof gable for treason. Another version of this figurine is an immortal riding a fenghuang-bird or qilin. Yet another intrepretation is that this is a person serving the emperor, being watched by the following beasts.
In between will be mythical beasts, usually an odd number of them. The mythical beasts are set to pounce upon the man and devour him should he stray from performing his duties with faithfulness and rectitude.
The maximum number of beasts is nine, including evil-dispelling bull, courageous goat-bull, wind- and storm-summoning fish, mythical lion, auspicious seahorse, heavenly horse, lion, and chiwen (a son of dragon).
Prints and Downloads are available on my 👉 H O M E P A G E
Imperial Roof Charms
Chinese imperial roof decorations or "crouching beasts" were statuettes placed along the ridge line of official buildings of the Chinese empire.
These are often made of glazed ceramic and form an outward marching procession. Here we see the imperial yellow glaze reserved for the emperor.
At the tail of the procession will be an imperial dragon, representing the authority of the state.
At the head of the procession will be a man riding a Phoenix, one legend suggests that this represents a minion of the emperor who grew greedy for power and was hanged from the roof gable for treason. Another version of this figurine is an immortal riding a fenghuang-bird or qilin. Yet another intrepretation is that this is a person serving the emperor, being watched by the following beasts.
In between will be mythical beasts, usually an odd number of them. The mythical beasts are set to pounce upon the man and devour him should he stray from performing his duties with faithfulness and rectitude.
The maximum number of beasts is nine, including evil-dispelling bull, courageous goat-bull, wind- and storm-summoning fish, mythical lion, auspicious seahorse, heavenly horse, lion, and chiwen (a son of dragon).
Prints and Downloads are available on my 👉 H O M E P A G E