A Study of Song Dynasty Polychrome Statue-Making Techniques and Materials in the Sage Mother Hall of the Jinci Temple, Shanxi, China
The polychrome statues of the Sage Mother Hall at the Jinci Temple in Taiyuan city are recognized as one of the three masterpieces of the Jinci Temple. They are also regarded as an outstanding representative of ancient Chinese temple statues. These statues possess great historical, artistic, scienti...
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MDPI AG
2022-07-01
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| author | Jizhang Li Jianrui Zha Xiaoxuan Pan Tao Zhao Jinfang Li Hong Guo |
| author_facet | Jizhang Li Jianrui Zha Xiaoxuan Pan Tao Zhao Jinfang Li Hong Guo |
| author_sort | Jizhang Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The polychrome statues of the Sage Mother Hall at the Jinci Temple in Taiyuan city are recognized as one of the three masterpieces of the Jinci Temple. They are also regarded as an outstanding representative of ancient Chinese temple statues. These statues possess great historical, artistic, scientific, cultural and social values, and they are an important physical material for the study of ancient Chinese history, culture, religion, politics and economy, as well as science and technology. The internal structure, plaster layer samples and surface pigments of the polychrome statues of the Sage Mother Hall were analyzed by optical microscope (OM) scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM–EDS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy (Raman), X-radiography and other analytical methods in order to gain an understanding of the production process and pigment composition of the polychrome statues of the Sage Mother Hall. According to the findings, the following steps were taken during the production of the polychrome statues that decorate the Sage Mother Hall at Jinci Temple: building a wooden skeleton, fixing the skeleton with rivets or twine, shaping the clay form with coarse clay, shaping the appearance with fine clay, refining the molded appearance, and white substrate layer painting. The majority of the pigments are inorganic mineral pigments: the red pigments include cinnabar and minium; the blue pigments include ultramarine; the green pigments include lavendulan; the yellow pigments include yellow ochre; the black pigments include carbon black; and the white pigments and substrate layers include white lead and lead sulfate. Some of the pigment layers can be seen in multiple layers, which indicates that over the history of the painted statues of the Sage Mother Hall, they have been subject to a series of repainting, with the more recent repainting time perhaps having taken place during the late Qing Dynasty and the following time period. |
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| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:02:23Z |
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| series | Crystals |
| spelling | doaj.art-18f286a16318447fbd0543d684f4fef42023-11-30T23:01:44ZengMDPI AGCrystals2073-43522022-07-01127100310.3390/cryst12071003A Study of Song Dynasty Polychrome Statue-Making Techniques and Materials in the Sage Mother Hall of the Jinci Temple, Shanxi, ChinaJizhang Li0Jianrui Zha1Xiaoxuan Pan2Tao Zhao3Jinfang Li4Hong Guo5Institute for Cultural Heritage and History of Science & Technology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, ChinaInstitute for Cultural Heritage and History of Science & Technology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, ChinaChinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, Beijing 100029, ChinaTaiyuan Institute of Cultural Heritage Protection, Taiyuan 030025, ChinaTaiyuan Institute of Cultural Heritage Protection, Taiyuan 030025, ChinaInstitute for Cultural Heritage and History of Science & Technology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, ChinaThe polychrome statues of the Sage Mother Hall at the Jinci Temple in Taiyuan city are recognized as one of the three masterpieces of the Jinci Temple. They are also regarded as an outstanding representative of ancient Chinese temple statues. These statues possess great historical, artistic, scientific, cultural and social values, and they are an important physical material for the study of ancient Chinese history, culture, religion, politics and economy, as well as science and technology. The internal structure, plaster layer samples and surface pigments of the polychrome statues of the Sage Mother Hall were analyzed by optical microscope (OM) scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM–EDS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy (Raman), X-radiography and other analytical methods in order to gain an understanding of the production process and pigment composition of the polychrome statues of the Sage Mother Hall. According to the findings, the following steps were taken during the production of the polychrome statues that decorate the Sage Mother Hall at Jinci Temple: building a wooden skeleton, fixing the skeleton with rivets or twine, shaping the clay form with coarse clay, shaping the appearance with fine clay, refining the molded appearance, and white substrate layer painting. The majority of the pigments are inorganic mineral pigments: the red pigments include cinnabar and minium; the blue pigments include ultramarine; the green pigments include lavendulan; the yellow pigments include yellow ochre; the black pigments include carbon black; and the white pigments and substrate layers include white lead and lead sulfate. Some of the pigment layers can be seen in multiple layers, which indicates that over the history of the painted statues of the Sage Mother Hall, they have been subject to a series of repainting, with the more recent repainting time perhaps having taken place during the late Qing Dynasty and the following time period.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/12/7/1003Jinci TempleSong dynastypolychrome statuesproduction techniques |
| spellingShingle | Jizhang Li Jianrui Zha Xiaoxuan Pan Tao Zhao Jinfang Li Hong Guo A Study of Song Dynasty Polychrome Statue-Making Techniques and Materials in the Sage Mother Hall of the Jinci Temple, Shanxi, China Crystals Jinci Temple Song dynasty polychrome statues production techniques |
| title | A Study of Song Dynasty Polychrome Statue-Making Techniques and Materials in the Sage Mother Hall of the Jinci Temple, Shanxi, China |
| title_full | A Study of Song Dynasty Polychrome Statue-Making Techniques and Materials in the Sage Mother Hall of the Jinci Temple, Shanxi, China |
| title_fullStr | A Study of Song Dynasty Polychrome Statue-Making Techniques and Materials in the Sage Mother Hall of the Jinci Temple, Shanxi, China |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Study of Song Dynasty Polychrome Statue-Making Techniques and Materials in the Sage Mother Hall of the Jinci Temple, Shanxi, China |
| title_short | A Study of Song Dynasty Polychrome Statue-Making Techniques and Materials in the Sage Mother Hall of the Jinci Temple, Shanxi, China |
| title_sort | study of song dynasty polychrome statue making techniques and materials in the sage mother hall of the jinci temple shanxi china |
| topic | Jinci Temple Song dynasty polychrome statues production techniques |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/12/7/1003 |
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