Most of China's ancient buildings are "overall spaces" that are synthesized by environmental landscapes, structural bodies, additional decorations and ancillary furnishings. The convergence of different mediums ultimately shapes the meaning and value of historic places and evokes empathy.
Yongle Palace was originally located in Yongle Town, Ruicheng, Shanxi, so it was called "Yongle Palace". On April 22nd, the salon "Residence of the Gods, Images, Architecture and Space of Yongle Palace" was held at the Wu Culture Museum in Suzhou, and Li Luke, a special researcher and doctoral supervisor of the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, talked about the architectural process and spatial imagery of Yongle Palace with the design of Yongle Palace architecture, murals and interior spaces. The Paper hereby organizes and publishes some of the contents of the lecture.
Images of architecture with images of architecture
The Zhou Li Chunguan Zongbo stipulates that the main work of the "priesthood" is "the dwelling place of the gods of Judah" (this sentence is quoted in the (Song) "Construction of the French Style" Volume 2 General Interpretation and Painting Section. ), "Judas" is imitation, drawing, "dwelling of ghosts and gods" according to the Tang people's annotations, is "the seat of the gods and people of the ghosts and the earth" ((Tang) Zheng Kangcheng. Zhou Li's Annotations[M]. Volume 27. Chunguan Zongbo Priesthood), which can also be more broadly understood as "the place where ghosts and spirits stay or reside".
(Late Warring States Period) Lou Que shaped square pillar excavated from Yanxiadu, YiXian County, Hebei Province, with an openwork terrace on the upper floor, and four people sitting on the platform, picture source (Chinese Bronze Complete Collection [M] Vol. 9 Figure 139)
The picture above is a louque-shaped square pillar of the late Warring States period excavated from Yanxiadu in Yixian County, Hebei Province. The "sitting flat" in the architectural images of the Warring States period has clearly expressed the visual characteristics of being prominent, transparent, the characters sitting on it, and the covering of the upper house, which is a vivid illustration of the "dwelling of ghosts and gods". Even if the faces of the ghost figures in the image are blurred, they will be endowed with mysterious and majestic spiritual power because of the "sitting flat" and other visual elements. This series of characters and scenes constitutes the original historical elements of many ancient architectural sites that we see today.
On this basis, we propose a concept of pictorial architecture, or architectural images that are often spoken of, but in fact, pictorial architecture is also a type of ancient architecture. We can say that "architectural images" refer to relics that are mainly two-dimensional drawings or three-dimensional carvings, reproducing or expressing architectural images, but not having the space and function of architecture, such as paintings and utensils. The term "image" does not seem to me to be limited to two-dimensional images, but also includes three-dimensional objects. Specifically, "architectural image" refers to all kinds of two-dimensional or three-dimensional objects that are formally "reproduced" or "imitated" in form through painting, sculpture, architectural decoration and other means, but the structure and function have been separated from the characteristics of the original architectural elements. It can be said that the "architectural image" no longer has the original structural characteristics and use functions of architectural elements, but has become a symbolic medium.
Schematic diagram of the spatial effect of the wall of "Building French Style" and the small bucket eight-algae well installed in the building interior, image source (Li Luke. The Residence of the Gods: Sitting Flat (Balcony) in Chinese Architecture, Literature and Images[J].World Architecture, 2020(10):24-29+137.)
The picture above is a schematic of me using some architectural elements to spell out an image of architectural space. This picture is a song and Liao period architectural hall, the restoration of the hall comes from the Datong Huayan Temple Bhagavad Gita Hall, is Mr. Liang Sicheng's survey map of that year. In the interior of this hall there is a wall burial. What is a wall burial? It's actually a kind of bookcase for the collection of scriptures, but this bookcase is very special, it will be made into the shape of an architecture. This building was shrunk down and placed in the normal building space. Since it is reduced, it can add another building level to the top, called the Heavenly Palace Pavilion. If worshippers walk into this architectural space, the first thing they see is a very large building, and when they go inside, they will see a very small building, which may have idols and scriptures, and then they will see these images of gods and Buddhas that are slightly larger than real people, and the heads of these images of gods and Buddhas will have this kind of algae well or ceiling to set off the atmosphere of the space. When the worshipper looks up, he will see a pavilion in the air that has been carved. He would imagine the Elysium where the gods and Buddhas lived, with wonderful and magnificent pavilion buildings, in which the gods and Buddhas each had a place to live. This completes a spatial process from official ceremony to imagination.
The internal layout of the Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace
Specific to the case of Yongle Palace in Shanxi. For example, the internal layout of the Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace, the picture above shows the combination of the plane of Yongle Palace and the internal ground, showing the architect as a complex of visual art and per capita environment. The algae wells and murals of Yongle Palace are not only part of the architectural space, but also have a fascinating imaginative space inside. It can be seen that there are at least four main elements in this space: the first element is the structural problem of the building, that is, the large wooden structure that we are familiar with, including bucket arches, beams, columns, etc.; the second part is the interactive space, and the people who come to worship are also a part of the space; the third part is the indoor miniature building, that is, the algae well located above the heads of the gods, Buddhas, statues and worshippers. There are beams, columns, and arches in the well, but these structures are reduced to between one-third and one-fifth of the normal structure; the fourth part is the protagonist of the so-called indoor space. The protagonist is actually a deity in the indoor space, including both the sculptural deities and the deities in the frescoes. Unfortunately, the main deities in the Yongle Palace Hall were already missing. Together, these parts form a kind of, in modern parlance, an interactive spatial experience. This is a highly synthetic object. It's a spatial experience that combines architecture, murals, and interior decoration.
The creation and spatial imagery of Yongle Palace
Yongle Palace was originally located in Yongle Town, Ruicheng, Shanxi, so it was called "Yongle Palace". Its founding history can be traced back to the end of the Tang Dynasty, originally one of the five ancestors of the Quanzhen sect of Taoism - the former residence of Lü Dongbin, where later generations built the Lü Zhenren Ancestral Hall (Chunyang Ancestral Hall), "enjoying the worship in the old age"; on the occasion of the Song Dynasty, with the expansion of the influence of Taoism, the Lü Gong Ancestral Hall was added and expanded, "taking the temple as the view"; since the reign of Genghis Khan, through the operation of Qiu Chuji, Yin Zhiping, Li Zhichang and others, the development of Quanzhen Taoism was valued by the Mongol rulers and gradually reached its peak.
Interior view of Chongyang Temple: Photo comparison from 1958 and 2019, image source (Zha Qun, ed., Yongle Palace Relocation Project Archives Preliminary Compilation[M]. Beijing:Cultural Relics Press, 2020.:Figures 3-132, 3-133)
Regarding the construction history of Yongle Palace, since the 1960s, there have been scholars such as Su Bai, Jing Anning, and Zhao Wei, but due to the discovery of new historical materials in recent years, we can more clearly understand the historical stage of Yongle Palace construction and the historical factors behind it. If according to the views of Daoist historians such as Qing Xitai, the development of Quanzhen Taoism in the north during the JinYuan period is divided into four periods: "founding", "peaking", "trough", and "Guisheng", then the existing Yuan Dynasty remains of Yongle Palace are just an important witness to the "peak" and "Guisheng" periods.
Around 1244, as one of the signs of the prosperity of Quanzhen Sect, more than 7800 volumes of "Xuandu Daozang" were engraved and completed by Song Defang, and it was in the winter of 1244 that the Lü Gong Ancestral Hall, which was under renovation at the behest of Song Defang, was burned by "wildfire"; in 1245, Li Zhichang, who was then the Quanzhen Sect leader, played the "Zhigong Temple" for the "Hedong Yongle Pure Yang Ancestral Hall", and together with the retired former leader Yin Zhiping, he selected Pan Dechong to be the head of the North and South Roads of Hedong to preside over the reconstruction of the Chunyang Palace. In 1250, the Xuandu Daozang sutra was entrusted to the collection of the Yongle Palace, which was under construction.
This event is also recorded in the 12th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1275) engraving "Daozang Zun Experience Generation Outline": "Phi Yunzi Song Zhenren collected more than 7,800 Tibetan scriptures, and zizi was hidden in the Dongzuting of Yongle Town, Pingyang", which shows that Yongle Palace has been called "Dongzuting" when collecting sutra plates, and has a lofty status in the Quanzhen Sect.
The newly cleaned No. 6 document in the warehouse of the Yongle Palace Mural Research Institute
The newly cleaned No. 6 document in the warehouse of the Yongle Palace Mural Painting Research Institute is likely to be the second half of the "Duren Jing" of the first part of the Xuandu Daozang, and the ink book at the end of the scripture is "the case of the twenty-fifth day of the □□□□□ month is □□ in the badger". Records from the archiving of the Yongle Palace relocation project show that this scroll was found in 1959 in the West Partridge of the Chongyang Temple, and may have been contained in a poplar scroll. Obviously, this sutra was buried in the snout as a sacred relic of special significance before the completion of the Chongyang Hall. This practice can also reflect the special connection between the Xuandu Daozang and the construction project of Yongle Palace.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Quanzhen Sect experienced a second boom, and its political role has degenerated from "a strategist who governs the country and protects the people" to a "bureaucrat who sets up a fast to pray for blessings". Yu Ji, an official active in this period, wrote an article describing the situation in which the Taoist palace view at that time flourished in the name of the Son of Heaven's birthday.
Chongyang Temple West Partridge Kiss New and Old Photo Comparison
At this time, the Yongle Palace, which has been given the name "Great Chunyang Wanshou Palace", is naturally also among the "Palace Building View" of "Blessing and Longevity for the Son of Heaven", and the main project of its Wuji Gate, as well as the murals and interior decorations of the main hall, were completed in this "Guisheng" period after decades of stagnation, of which inscription information can be proved: In 1294, the Wuji Gate was built, and the Yuan Dynasty official Shang Ting wrote a plaque; in 1320, the then Gongzai Guo Zhijin and other "Keguo reconstruction, both abundant and luxurious", It is possible that the reconstruction of the main body of the Gongguan building was completed; in 1325, the murals of the Sanqing Hall were completed; in 1339, the ceiling of the Pure Yang Hall was completed; in 1358, the murals of the Pure Yang Hall were completed.
What should be noted here is that the historical data we use is actually very limited. Although many important projects during the construction of Yongle Palace were erected, there are few inscriptions in these inscriptions that directly explain the space and design ideas. We can put the vision into a larger scope of construction, and sort out the relevant Taoist literature and the description of spatial imagery. In this way, it can also be verified with the existing physical objects of the hall of Yongle Palace.
Wuji gate plaque new and old photo comparison
Such a grand Taoist temple as Yongle Palace was not the original construction concept of Quanzhen Dao. During the establishment of the Quanzhen Sect, the Qing cultivation introspection was the main way of cultivation, and did not advocate the great construction of the palace, Wang Chongyang advocated that "the thatched grass hut must be covered... Gou or the carved Liang Junyu, who is not the work of the sergeant, is the work of the Daoist people in the high hall of the main hall"; Ma Yu more specifically stipulates that "there are only three rooms in the nunnery, and no more than three daoist companions"; when he was in charge of the teachings at the qiu place, with the support of Jin Shizong, in the "official nunnery" of Jin Zhongdu, he made the statues of Chunyang, Chongyang, and Danyang of the Quanzhen Sect's ancestors, "painted offerings, not refined"; after meeting with Genghis Khan, he also judged the situation, and based on the social situation that "after the big soldiers, the people were destroyed, there was no room and no food", and the "Liguandu people" were clearly regarded as "Liguandu people" as "Liguandu people" as "" The First Step of Practice". Pan Dechong, the presiding officer of the Yongle Palace, further developed the "Elephant Religion", advocating the expansion of the spread of religion with specific images and grand scale.
In the "Tablet of Pan Gong Shinto", there is an important exposition on the creation of ideas: "As for the four guests, those who pass under the palace, Zhou Ye looks around, seeing his solemnity and grandeur, and his respect is born." Fu withdraws the ancestral hall and becomes a court, his reverence is gone, xi is ten thousand, but in the true nature of pure yang, what is the gain or loss? But the way to forgiveness is far away for those who walk, and the perception of people is different. This elephant religion should not be abolished in the hereafter. The eyes and ears of the world are seen and heard, and the heart of the blasphemy is absolutely impossible. Strict on the outside, so on the inside, like the reason why the worshipper, the reason why the Tao is respected. In other words, the master's grand prosperity, a new sublime structure, is not a disciple to boast of its magnificence! ”
The idea of this passage is to say: First, emphasize the importance of "perception" for dissemination: the gorgeous and magnificent palace building is not closer to the "authenticity" of the spiritual teachings of the ancestors, but can strengthen the "perception" through the figurative form of "elephant teaching", so as to greatly enhance the spread of religion and achieve the purpose of "going far"; then, "Yan Wai Zuo Nei": no longer use the traditional humble "ancestral hall", but replace it with "palace", in form and scale to pursue "strict and magnificent", "towering the eyes and ears of the world", The pursuit of the ultimate experience of sight and hearing, in order to arouse the viewer's "heart of respect" and put an end to the "heart of blasphemy"; finally, "reverence for the tao": through the means of "reverence" to achieve the purpose of "respecting the Tao", so that the "Tao" to obtain the status of reverence. It should be added that this passage is actually a description of Pan Dechong's disciple Liu Ruoshui after the completion of the construction of the Jiufeng Mountain Pure Yang Shanggong, yongle Palace as the "Eastern Ancestral Court", and Pan Gong personally supervised the construction, its planned scale should be larger than the Pure Yang Shanggong.
Drawings of the Chongyang Hall surveyed and mapped by Tsinghua University in 1956
When the Yongle Palace was built, Pan Dechong had already died. We don't know whether the effect created by The Yongle Palace is the same as what he first thought, but we can see some of the impressions of future generations from some Ming and Qing historical materials. For example, the late Ming Dynasty's "Records of the Restoration of the Tablets of the Gods in Yongle Palace" describes: "The scale is hong, the wings are broad, the scenery is beautiful, and the gold is brilliant." There are 360 statues of the gods painted on the wall, more than 400 tablets, and more than dozens of offerings. The ming gods are brilliant, brilliantly displayed, and the zen years are raised, and the nie becomes a grand ceremony. We can see that this passage emphasizes the number of idols of the gods, as well as the pomp and circumstance of the tablets and offerings at that time. In the early Qing Dynasty, the "Monument to the Restoration of the Wanshou Palace in the Great Qing Dynasty" more comprehensively described the impression of the rebuilt Yongle Palace. The main body of the building and the color decoration are magnificent and vibrant: "The building is rugged and the curtains are deep. The cornices are cloudy, and the head of the mantis reflects the color of the red sun. Dragon Dance. Purple and dusty, Dan-level stacked green. The portraits in the hall are majestic and realistic, and it is as if they are in a fairyland: "The golden face is rising, the image is like a hanging arch; the jade face Is Mu mu, and huan Pei Shan is far away." Baoding incense floats, looking at the holy realm. Qiongjie is brightly illuminated, and it is like swimming in the cave sky, the pengying of the sea, and the blessed land of the world. ”
Let's take a look at what kind of space the Sanqing Hall is in the imagination of the parties. It is an ancient tradition for the Taoist palace to set up the Sanqing Hall. Written in the early Tang Dynasty, the "Three Caves feng dao ke precept camp beginning" clearly states that the form of the Taoist temple should imitate the heavenly immortal world and become the embodiment of the immortal world in people's minds: "The upper realm of Fu Sanqing, and the ten continents and five mountains, the famous mountains or cave heavens, and in space, there are saints who rule, or the qi is the pavilion hall, or the gathering of clouds into the Tai Xie palace, or the gate of the stars and the sun and the moon, or the residence in the smoke and clouds, or the naturalization, or the divine force, or the accumulation of camp cultivation, or the establishment of a moment, or Penglai, abbot, Yuanjiao, Yingzhou, Pingpu, Langfeng , Kunlun, Xuanpu, or Yulou XII, Jin Que 3,000, 10,000,000, uncountable, all Heavenly Dignity Taishang Incarnation, Holy True Immortals, All Of them, listed in the scriptures, not to be recorded in detail. It will make people look back to heaven, and the wise and foolish will be foreign, so that The Dharma will go up to heaven and put the spiritual view on it, which is a blessed land, that is, a fairy dwelling. The "Three Caves Of the Three Caves of the Taoist Discipline Camp" will also enshrine the highest deity hall collectively called the "Heavenly Dignity Hall", and its shape can be "four notes", that is, the roof of the temple, and the scale can be as small as three rooms or as large as thirteen rooms. The architectural form can be extremely simple, or it can use expensive materials, ornate carvings and murals: "Where all the houses are built, there are always six phases: one is a famous wood spirit material, two are produced by time, three are gold and jade carvings, four are floating stones, five are Danqing pictures, and six are Maozi earth steps." ”
Since the Tang Dynasty, the setting of the "Three Qing Hall" is extremely common in the Taoist temple, and the "Emperor to the Dao Taiqing Jade Book" compiled by Zhu Quan (King Ning) in the early Ming Dynasty made detailed provisions on the image settings and image configuration of the Three Qing Halls and the Jade Emperor Hall: "On both sides of the Three Qing Halls, when the Nine Emperors of the Nine Emperors are molded. On both sides of the Jade Emperor Hall, when the Thirty-two Heavenly Emperors were molded. On the wall of the second temple, when painted with the statue of the Ten Thousand Saints Pilgrimage. It can be seen that the image level of the Three Qings, the Nine Emperors, and the Ten Thousand Saints Chaoyuan has become the stereotype of the Three Qing Halls in the early Ming Dynasty.
It can be seen that both the Pure Yang Hall and the Chongyang Hall actually belong to the Ancestor Memorial Hall of the Quanzhen Sect. The portraits of Pure Yang Ancestors and Chongyang Ancestors are based on real historical figures, usually against the background of various real spatial environments, depicting the life parallel traces and "manifestations" of saints.
Pure Yang Hall "Zhong Lu Talks About the DaoTu"
In the story of the ancestors of the True Path, the mural itself becomes a medium of "manifestation". The fortieth edition of the Pure Yang Emperor's Deification of Miaotongji records that Lü Dongbin once painted his own image in the North Pond of the Sanqing Temple. The eyebrows are trimmed, the appearance is strange, and it is not heirloom. There are seven stars of the Big Dipper on it, and they are sent to each other, and they stand on the ground. He also drew a huge charm next to it, which had the effect of curing the believers. This is in the form of a portrait, listing himself among the gods, and through the way of drawing symbols, providing the favor of "healing", so as to win the admiration of the people.
In the story of the pure Yang ancestors, there are also plots that use the murals to show the saints to help people, for example, the third volume of "Lü Zuzhi" has the story of "Zhao Zhou Medical Cripple", which tells that Liu Mou, a poor man in Zhao Prefecture, was sick for twenty years, and he had to bring a lady to help him, and after recovering from illness, he met again on the left wall of the third room of the east corridor of the East Corridor of the East Wing of the City", Liu Mou went to this place as promised, only to see that "the wall has a cave guest statue with a scoop", which can be seen that it is the pure Yang ancestor mural that shows the saint to save people. So that's some of the real functions of the ancestor portrait.
Yongle Palace architecture, decorative integrity and imagery
Let's talk about how Yongle Palace embodies the idea of construction in architectural layout, architectural structure, architectural decoration and murals.
(Left) A surveyed and mapped floor plan of the Yongle Palace before the relocation, (center) the proportion of the Sui, Tang, Luoyang Palace and (right) the Ming and Qing Forbidden City
The picture above shows the analysis of the general plan scale before the relocation of Yongle Palace: the courtyard size is planned with a 5-zhang grid; the front hall (Sanqing Hall) is located in the geometric center of the main hall and the Wujimen courtyard, and the middle hall (Pure Yang Hall) is located in the geometric center of the area behind the front hall. This pattern means that the front yard is relatively open, and the back yard is more compact, which is different from the living space of ordinary people. Looking at the palaces of the past dynasties, you will see that both the palaces of the Sui and Tang dynasties and the palaces of the Ming and Qing dynasties have such characteristics, that is, the front hall is arranged in the geometric center of the main scope of the palace. This in turn shows that the spatial geometric relationship between the several halls of the Yongle Palace is configured with reference to the layout of the ancient palace.
Ceiling view plane of The Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace (Tsinghua University 2018 Surveying and Mapping)
Yongle Palace Pure Yang Hall Ceiling Upward View Plane (Tsinghua University 2019 Surveying and Mapping)
Later, we will look at the relationship between the architectural structure, the architectural moi and the frescoes. The picture above is a more detailed survey of the Sanqing Hall and the Pure Yang Hall of Yongle Palace between 2018 and 2019, and the ceiling view is drawn.
We can see some connections between the large wooden structure of the temple and the ceiling. Taking the Sanqing Hall as an example, a relatively wide space was formed in front of and on its sides. Its overall space is actually divided into two layers, inside and outside, and there is a circle of bucket arches called outer grooves, which encloses the internal space of the entire hall. In the interior space of the hall, there is another circle of bucket arches, enclosing and creating a more private space. The Sanqing Hall has a very different situation from other buildings, that is, its outer and inner troughs have algae wells. Its inner groove algae well is for the gods and Buddhas, so who is the outer groove algae well for? Obviously, it was for people who came to worship the Buddha. Why do people who come to worship Buddha statues get such a revered status? Because Yongle Palace has a very special status, that is, to pray for the blessing and prolongation of life for the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. So you will see that in the Sanqing Hall of yongle Palace, the complexity, magnificence, and scale of the moi in front of you even exceed the inner groove algae well. This is the special point of the Yongle Palace Sanqing Hall.
Shanxi Ruicheng Yongle Palace Pure Yang Hall
We made a scientific record of the colors and ornaments of Yongle Palace, systematically collected the chromaticity data of the murals and paintings of Yongle Palace, and conducted some statistical analysis of these chromaticity data. At the same time, through a large number of photo shooting and collation, the color painting patterns on the surface of the wooden structure of Yongle Palace were further identified, and the color patterns of these color paintings were also carefully sorted out and color restored, and some three-dimensional components were also color restored.
Ornamental investigation
Restore cartography versus multi-scenario comparison
Some other spatial elements about the interior of The Yongle Palace, such as the painted surface of the building's wooden structure. We found that there are four different types of painted paintings on the surface of the wooden structure in the Sanqing Temple. These four types have a difference between simple and cumbersome, and the closer to the middle of the front slot, the more complex it is (but its left and right are slightly asymmetrical). The same situation is also true in the Pure Yang Hall. That is, the more complex the part, the more it is used on the building components that are larger in scale and at the same time more centered in the center.
Panoramic image of the Sanqing Temple
As shown in the panoramic image, if you walk into the interior of the Sanqing Hall, you will feel a relatively large outer groove that is more than 6 meters wide. On the mural, the line of sight of each deity is not exactly the same, but there is an overall direction that draws you forward, until you reach the back groove of the building, and you will also see the Heavenly Lord of Salvation. From this, we can very briefly see how the buildings and images of Yongle Palace express the overall spatial intention.
The city in the mural
Finally, let's talk about the architectural image of Yongle Palace. The murals in the Pure Yang Hall and Chongyang Hall of Yongle Palace are mainly based on the stories of the two ancestors, but also add a large number of architectural images. The practice of painting a large number of architectural figures in murals has begun to rise in the Sui and Tang dynasties. In the Song Dynasty, Chinese painting formed a specialty for the depiction of buildings (called "house wood", "palace room", "boundary painting", etc.) and developed to a peak, and the Yuan Dynasty was a continuation of this peak. The painting techniques of this period have reached a very high level for the expression of the "objective image" of architecture, which can be used as a representative of the characteristics of architectural images. In short, for some works, it is indeed possible to deduce from the image the forming practices and even the proportional dimensions of the buildings of the time.
The architectural images in the murals of Yongle Palace have a high degree of realism, and the images depict a large number of details that are consistent with the physical practice in terms of group pattern, single body shape and details, including cities and pools, including stupas, including residential courtyards, gardens, gardens, pavilions, dojos, etc.
《Ruiying Yongle》
"Ruiying Yongle" (partial)
Take the first painting on the east wall of the Pure Yang Hall, "Ruiying Yongle", for example, which tells the scene of Lü Dongbin's birth, and its time and place are in the residence of the Lü family in Yongle County in the late Tang Dynasty. Therefore, this painting shows the residence of a large family at that time, and there is an inscription in the upper right corner. The overall layout of this painting: two courtyards, the central axis is a single-bay entrance house, a three-bay hall (or a second door), a main hall, and a courtyard wall around it. There is a four-corner pointed square pavilion on the west side of the front yard, and there are boxes on both sides of the backyard. There are flowers and trees in the courtyard, and trees, clouds, and rocks outside the courtyard, which are separated from other scenes.
"Huang Liang Dream"
In addition, another mural, "Huang Liang Mengjue", tells the story of Lü Dongbin who went to Chang'an to take the exam when he was 21 years old and met his teacher Han Zhongli. It can be seen from this that the form and grade of the houses in the paintings are significantly lower than the noble houses in "Ruiying Yongle", and the colors of the buildings are not more modified. In these stories, you can see that some very appropriate architectural forms have become the sets for the characters in the story. These architectural forms not only hint at the identity of the characters, but also provide a very appropriate stage for the activities of the characters, so that the viewer can get an immersive feeling through these details.
At this point, from the overall courtyard layout of Yongle Palace to its architectural structure, to the painted paintings and murals in it, we can roughly understand how these different parts collectively express the idea of construction.