The term angxing shuatou refers to any shuatou made into the shape of an "ang," which is usually an oblique or angled element. The term originated from Liang Sicheng's descriptions of buildings and has been widely adopted by scholars as the mainstream name for describing this type of shuatou (Liang 1955, 105-28). The earliest image of an angxing shuatou appears in the wall paintings of the High Tang (ca. 8th century) Cave 172 at Dunhuang (Yu 2017; Xiao 2003, 232). During the Song dynasty, the angxing shuatou was already widespread in northern China, but not in the south. The term does not appear in the 1103 CE Yingzao fashi (Zhang 2015).
