yìxínggǒng (wing shaped)
- Scope 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) 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.
- Date of creation: 18-Nov-2024
Accepted term: 18-Nov-2024 
