Tao t'eh mask, Guang (libation) vessel

Bi Disk of Jade, circle of heaven?

Zhou

A

Tomb of the First Emperor of Qin

A    (Qin)

Tomb of Dai (Mawangdui, China)

A    (Han)

Wu family Shrine (archer Yi?)

A      (Han)

Tower model with brackets

A    (Han)

Shakyamuni Buddha (Ghandhara influence)

A      (Period of Disunity)

Admonitions to the Court Ladies

A     (Period of Disunity)

Nymph of the Luo River, 4th C

A     (Period of Disunity)

(Vairocana) Buddha, Longmen Caves, Luoyang

B     (Tang)

Paradise of Amitabha,  Dunhuang caves

B        (Tang)

Dunhuang carving (Guardian kings)

B     (Tang)

Foguang Si Temple, Mount Wutai

B     (Tang)

         Dougong (simplified Chinese: 斗拱; traditional Chinese: 斗拱; pinyin: dǒugǒng) is a unique structural element of interlocking wooden brackets, one of the most important elements in traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian and Singaporean architecture.

The use of dougong first appeared in buildings of the late centuries BC and evolved into a structural network that joined pillars and columns to the frame of the roof. Dougong was widely used in the ancient Chinese during the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC) and developed into a complex set of interlocking parts by its peak in the Tang and Song periods. The pieces are fit together by joinery alone without glue or fasteners, due to the precision and quality of the carpentry.

           After the Song Dynasty, brackets and bracket sets became more ornamental than structural when used in palatial structures and important religious buildings, no longer the traditional dougong.

Yan Liben, Emperor Xuan and attendants, Confucian ideal

B        (Tang)

Sancai glazed earthenware figures

B      (Tang)

Fan Kuan,  Travellers among Mountains and Streams

B      (Northern Song)

Emperor Huizong,  Court Ladies preparing Silk

B    (Northern Song)

Cizhou stoneware

B       (Northern Song)

Pagoda (Foguang Si, Yingxian)

B     (Northern Song)

Ma Yuan,  Drinking in the Moonlight

B    (Southern Song)

Liang Kai,  Sixth Chan Patriarch Chopping Bamboo

B    (Southern Song)

Wu Zhen,  Stalks of Bamboo by a Rock

C      (Yuan)

White porcelain vessel with cobalt blue underglaze

C      (Yuan)

Forbidden City

C        (Ming)

Noon Gate (5 portals)

C     (Ming)

Suzhou gardens

C    (Ming)

Lacquer ware  (boiled sap of the Asiatic sumac tree)

C       (Ming)

Guiseppe Castiglione,  Jesuit missionary

C     (Qing)

Crown,  5th - 6th century CE

D    (Three Kingdom Era)

Shakyamuni Buddha,  Sokkuram cave

D      (Unified Silla Kingdom)

Celadon Stoneware

D      (Koryo)