What is the function of algae wells in ancient buildings?

The upward protruding part of the ceiling center of an ancient building is called caisson. Caisson plays a decorative role in ancient buildings and has important functions. Generally speaking, the main Buddha statue of a large Buddhist temple should be made of algae wells, so that the Buddha statue is more solemn. The ancients paid great attention to the production of algae wells. Generally, wood is made into square, round and octagonal wooden structures, which protrude upwards at different levels. At the edge of each floor, a bucket arch is made, which is made into a real wooden structure and is extremely fine. The bucket arch supports the beam Fang, and then supports the vault. The lotus column in the middle is a dragon and a pearl, with extremely rich patterns. The famous algae wells are: Xuguang Pavilion of Pule Temple in Chengde, Hebei Province.

Make a circular caisson, protruding 3 meters upward. The first lap was beautiful; The second circle is built to the bucket arch; On the third lap, make a flat chess with a width of about 1 m, and divide the squares; The fourth and fifth laps are bucket arches, just like the second lap; The sixth circle is the top of the algae well, making two dragons playing with pearls, and the dragons are panlong. Several algae wells are about 10 meter in diameter, all of which are gold-plated algae wells, which are very luxurious.

Wanfuge in Yonghe Palace in Beijing made a large square caisson on the head of Maitreya in the pavilion. Convex upward into three folds: the first fold is the Buddha statue of Yang Lian, and the upper part is supported by a bucket arch; The second fold is flat chess; The third fold is supported by the bucket arch; The top is octagonal pattern. The statue of Maitreya entered the algae well from the chest, and the light in the pavilion was dim, deliberately creating a mysterious atmosphere, making Maitreya more solemn and showing its great power.

The caisson in Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace in Ruicheng, Shanxi Province is a big square caisson, which protrudes upwards into three layers: the first layer is a bucket arch, each bucket arch makes four jumps and turns around the bucket arch; The second octagon is greeted by a bucket arch at each corner, and each flower jumps five times; Thirdly, make a circle, divide it into 10 inclined beam, make a bucket arch at the bottom of 10 inclined beam, hand it over to the top of the algae well, and then carve two dragons to play with beads.

There are 9 algae wells in the main hall of Jingtu Temple in Yingxian County, Shanxi Province. Nine algae wells are made into nine styles, five are hexagonal, one is square, and the big one in the middle is square, which is combined with octagon. The first floor supports the Tiangong Pavilion with a bucket arch layer, that is, in a large square caisson, each surface protrudes upward into the Tiangong Pavilion.