yìxínggǒng (irregularly shaped)
- Scope note
- Yixinggong 異形栱 literally means “irregularly-shaped bracket arm,” and are different from regular arch-shaped bracket arms (gong 栱), the ends of which support small bearing blocks (dou 斗), as defined in the Yingzao fashi. Homophonous with “wing-shaped bracket arms” (yixinggong 翼形栱), the use of irregular (異 yi) instead of wing (翼 yi) was first seen in 1955 and became more widespread after 1978, but usage was not consistent in all sources. The two forms of “yi” were sometimes used interchangeably, but “irregular” 異 was also used to as a means to differentiate a variety of irregularly shaped gong (rhomboidal, cloud, etc.) in buildings constructed after the Yuan dynasty from those bracket arms with an actual wing-like shape. Generally speaking, today scholars use this term to refer to all irregularly-shaped bracket arms, wing-shaped or otherwise, where the two ends do not support any block (dou 枓)(張 1979；南京工學院建築系 1987；郭 2003). Yixinggong 異形栱 literally means “irregularly-shaped bracket arm,” and are different from regular arch-shaped bracket arms (gong 栱), the ends of which support small bearing blocks (dou 斗), as defined in the Yingzao fashi. Homophonous with “wing-shaped bracket arms” (yixinggong 翼形栱), the use of irregular (異 yi) instead of wing (翼 yi) was first seen in 1955 and became more widespread after 1978, but usage was not consistent in all sources. The two forms of “yi” were sometimes used interchangeably, but “irregular” 異 was also used to as a means to differentiate a variety of irregularly shaped gong (rhomboidal, cloud, etc.) in buildings constructed after the Yuan dynasty from those bracket arms with an actual wing-like shape. Generally speaking, today scholars use this term to refer to all irregularly-shaped bracket arms, wing-shaped or otherwise, where the two ends do not support any block (dou 枓)(張 1979；南京工學院建築系 1987；郭 2003). Yixinggong 異形栱 literally means “irregularly-shaped bracket arm,” and are different from regular arch-shaped bracket arms (gong 栱), the ends of which support small bearing blocks (dou 斗), as defined in the Yingzao fashi. Homophonous with “wing-shaped bracket arms” (yixinggong 翼形栱), the use of irregular (異 yi) instead of wing (翼 yi) was first seen in 1955 and became more widespread after 1978, but usage was not consistent in all sources. The two forms of “yi” were sometimes used interchangeably, but “irregular” 異 was also used to as a means to differentiate a variety of irregularly shaped gong (rhomboidal, cloud, etc.) in buildings constructed after the Yuan dynasty from those bracket arms with an actual wing-like shape. Generally speaking, today scholars use this term to refer to all irregularly-shaped bracket arms, wing-shaped or otherwise, where the two ends do not support any block (dou 枓)(張 1979；南京工學院建築系 1987；郭 2003).
- Date of creation: 22-Apr-2024
Accepted term: 22-Apr-2024 
