Imperial Roof Decoration

Chinese imperial roof decoration or roof-figures (檐獸 Pinyin: yan2 shou4) was only allowed on official buildings of the empire. Chinese roofs are typically of the hip roof type, with small gables. Variant versions are still widespread in Chinese temples and has spread to the rest of East Asia and parts of Southeast Asia.

Along the unions between the roof panels, near the corner, a row of small figures is placed. These are often made of glazed ceramic and form an outward marching procession. Here we see the imperial yellow glaze reserved for the emperor.

At the tail of the procession will be an imperial dragon, representing the authority of the state.

At the head of the procession will be a man riding a chicken, one legend suggests that this represents a minon of the emperor who grew greedy for power and was hanged from the roof gable for treason. Another version of this figurine is an immortal riding a fenghuang-bird or qilin.

In between will be mythical beasts, always an odd number of them. The mythical beasts are set to pounce upon the man and devour him should he stray from performing his duties with faithfulness and rectitude.

In the illustration above there is only one beast, The number of beasts indicates the importance of the duties performed within the building or within the courtyard protected by a gate. The maximum number of beasts is nine, including evil-dispelling bull, courageous goat-bull (獬豸), wind and storm-summoning fish (狎魚), mythical lion (狻猊), auspicious seahorse, heavenly horse, lion, and chiwen (鴟吻, a son of dragon). The maximum number is seen in the lower image, taken at the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Note the addition of a immortal guardian (行什, xingshe) in front of the dragon holding to a sword like a cane.

These examples are found within the Imperial Palace Museum of the Forbidden City, Beijing, China.

With the fall of the empire (in 1911 C.E.) such decorations are now seen on commercial structures and tourist boats.