From curled grass to acanthus: How do these rich patterns connect Chinese and foreign civilizations?

Western scroll grass decoration is acanthus pattern. Acanthus is a Mediterranean plant with broad leaves, thorns on the edges, and some curled ends, symbolizing wisdom, art and eternity. The acanthus pattern uses vines as a link, leaves as the main body, and stamens as embellishments. It has continuity and rhythm, giving people a sense of dynamic and unrestrained vitality. The "Ten Books on Architecture" written around the 1st century BC believes that the use of acanthus pattern for architectural decoration originated from the creative inspiration of the ancient Greek sculptor Callimachus. In fact, most scholars believe that the acanthus pattern originated from the lotus pattern in ancient Egypt, and the leaf decoration part of the latter developed into the acanthus pattern in ancient Greece. Influenced by the Hellenization of Central Asia and the eastward spread of Buddhism, the acanthus pattern crossed the Eurasian continent and was introduced to my country around the 5th century AD, and was used in ancient Chinese architecture in the form of semi-palm leaf pattern or scroll pattern.

The Forbidden City, which served as the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, was influenced by Western architectural culture. Its Western-style buildings and some Qing Dynasty buildings’ decorative patterns include Western scroll patterns.

Lingzhao Pavilion is one of the only two Western-style buildings in the Forbidden City. It is located in the East Six Palaces of the Forbidden City. Its predecessor was the Yanxi Palace, which was built in the Ming Dynasty. The Yanxi Palace suffered from fires and was rebuilt several times in history. After the fire in the fifth year of Emperor Xianfeng (1855), the site was in ruins. In 1909, the Qing government decided to build a fire-resistant building here and named it Lingzhao Pavilion. Due to the empty treasury of the Qing government, the project started in 1909 and was not completed until the Qing government was overthrown, and it remains in an unfinished state to this day. Lingzhao Pavilion uses steel and stone as the core materials, and its shape originated from the hands of German designers, so it has a certain European style. One of the style characteristics of its decoration includes both Western scroll patterns and the canopy columns in front of the Mingjian (the room in the middle) as a typical example.

The shape of the column is similar to the style of the ancient Greek Doric column. The main features are: the capital and the base are like a truncated cone with several grooves, and there are acanthus patterns around the column body. The height of the column is about 5.5 times the diameter of the column base. The acanthus patterns are evenly distributed in 4 groups on the column body. The bottom of each group is the petiole, and the top is the stamen. In between are more than ten acanthus leaves connected vertically end to end. For each acanthus leaf, the middle vein extends downward and is in line with the bottom petiole. All the veins are clear and beautiful. For different acanthus leaves, the leaves in the middle area stand upright, and the leaves on the two sides are either concave and extend upward, or convex and curl downward. The overall shape is lifelike and full of artistic beauty.

Baoyun Building, located inside Xihua Gate, is another Western-style building in the Forbidden City. Its architectural decoration also uses Western scroll patterns. Baoyun Building was built in 1915 on the site of the former Xian'an Palace in the Qing Dynasty. It is a two-story brick and wood structure building with a typical Western architectural style: white columns and balconies, red exterior walls with line hanging panels, and green straight-line sloping roofs. Baoyun Building was a cultural relic warehouse during the Republic of China period. It is now a place for the exhibition of the history of the Palace Museum and external reception. The outdoor stair railings of the Baoyun Building's annex are decorated with acanthus patterns between the upper and lower horizontal bars. The overall pattern is characterized by branches extending in an S shape, with acanthus leaves of varying sizes extending from the end. The vortex patterns of each leaf are obvious, and the veins are very clear. Although there are not many leaves, the branches are continuous, with a slender, beautiful, light and elegant vitality. Its decoration is like a vine, and the acanthus leaves seem to grow on it, and the veins also change with the vortex patterns. The overall pattern is a combination of complexity and simplicity, with flexible changes.

In addition to the above-mentioned Western-style buildings, some palace buildings in the Qing Dynasty also used Western scroll patterns in their decorations. For example, Shufangzhai, located on the west side of the Imperial Garden of the Forbidden City. Shufangzhai was once the residence of the princes. After Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty ascended the throne, he transformed it into a place for banquets and performances, and the decoration inside the building has also undergone changes in history. The existing building has an I-shaped plane, consisting of the front hall, I-shaped corridor, and back hall. Among them, the floor-to-ceiling partition decoration on the west side of the front hall was installed during the Guangxu period, and its decoration includes Western scroll patterns.

The partition is made of nanmu wood, and the bottom layer is decorated with fish scales, which are evenly distributed and hollowed out, which is not only conducive to indoor lighting, but also can produce a good visual effect. Above the fish scales, there are thick twined branches. For each area, the peony flower in the middle is mostly used as the axis of symmetry, and the patterns are evenly distributed on both sides of the peony flower. Peony is a traditional auspicious flower in my country. Its leaves are originally centered on the pistil, stretching upward and blooming around, but here they are replaced by acanthus patterns with large leaves and curled up on the top. Similarly, the twined branches that set off the atmosphere are also wrapped with continuous leaves, and some leaves are stretched and rolled up, and these rolled up leaves are typical acanthus leaves. The overall decoration of the partition is exaggerated, unrestrained, and dynamic, and the acanthus pattern plays a good role in contrast. It is not difficult to find that the acanthus pattern was introduced into my country from the West, and was used in palace architecture in the Qing Dynasty, and gradually merged with China's traditional auspicious patterns, but its "Western curling grass" decorative characteristics were preserved.