carved animals on gable ends, a photo from Hong Kong, South

Photographer's Note

Introduced in the 18th century, cantilevered brackets allowed the curving eaves of Chinese buildings/temples to extend well beyond the main pillars and acquire an increasingly decorative value.

These curving eaves were then supplemented by lines of carved animals and figures on the gable ends of the roof.

In Chinese temples, these decorative animal carvings are used to symbolize good luck and longevity - and are more popular with Taoists than with Buddhists.

Taoist halls also have distinctive raised octagonal cupolas sporting the black-and-white yin-yang symbol.

Taoism has its own holy trinity, the Three Immortals, who each ride different animals and represent the three levels of the Taoist afterlife. Other figures include the Yellow Emperor, a further Eight Immortals and historical people who were canonized.

Tech: Cropped, resized and sharpened. The colours are natural.

CVTJan, jrj, summer89, nwoehnl, jhm, avigur_11, scalerman, sunny, Rockyboy, kajenn, Jeppe, pamastro, Clochette, Edwin has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

clodreno (0) 2004-03-18 4:06

Nice detail of this temple. It looks beautiful. Your note is also very interesting as I don't really know a lot about it. Your composition is nice here.. The foreground being the main attraction.

CVTJan (1244) 2004-03-18 5:00

Dear Andrew, and again I regret modern architecture... :( Those ornaments really make it. It is not only the animals, I also like the way they "end" the roof here (3 row pattern), one of them decorated like a seal. Attractive. Thanks for sharing. Yours, Jan

jrj (34843) 2004-03-18 5:22

This one I really like. Excellent capture of the fine figures along the roof. Great job Andrew...

summer89 (5422) 2004-03-18 5:48

Great detail photo, Andrew. I like the details and colors. The angle its great.

Well done

Midnight_sun (1941) 2004-03-18 5:51

Interesting looking temple and great details on the statues; they really are quite bizzare. I like how we can see what the back of these statues look like by looking at the identical BG figures. Very well composed.

nwoehnl (122) 2004-03-18 7:24

I think the shooting angle you found here is quite unique, Andrew. It presents the supremely interesting (and if I may say, even a bit funny) animal carvings in the most favorable way, and from different distances. The detail and depth in your shot is very good without any impression of being oversharpened at all, and there is fine contrast and colors. As always, your note is an invaluable addition to understand the cultural and historical context.

jhm (211738) 2004-03-18 8:00

Again great detail photo Andrew. I like the details and colours. Your composition is nice here. Good note too. Thanks!

avigur_11 (22553) 2004-03-18 9:12

A beautiful composition, Andrew. I tried one like this in the Forbidden City (beijing), but unfortunately it was too bad. Could work nice as silhouettet, too, but I like the very detailed animals.

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-03-18 11:31

Very nice picture, maybe a little crop on the left would of been a bit better, just by getting rid of the half sculpture.

I like the clarity in this picture, I would of liked to see the end of the left side of the roof too

Good eye!!!!

scalerman (26900) 2004-03-18 12:25

Great macro. I suppose the colors are real, but i would have bumped up the saturation just a hair. Never seen a chicken-rider before.

sunny (3069) 2004-03-18 15:15

I find the two groups of carved animals very amuzing and splendid! The light on them is just perfect and the textures, colours and details are magnificent! Very well seen and captured!

Georges (11185) 2004-03-18 15:17

Une image qui accroche bien l'oeil avec toutes ces petites sculptures pleine de dйtails.
La qualitй et la presentation est interessante.
Bravo Andrew

Rockyboy (20598) 2004-03-18 18:00

Very nice angle to take this picture and also wondeful colors. Those statue are really nice and your note is a good contunuation of your previous picture with the lion. Well done, Anderew.

kajenn (2462) 2004-03-18 20:05

This is very beautiful, Andrew, and interesting. My first guess, based on your previous picture, was that this is a Taoist temple. It's very good captured, with all the animals and figures well visible at the near - and then repeated at the far - curving eaves.
I like all the details so wondefully clear and the lower figurines contrasting the dark background. Your cut of the upper eaves is very clever - it takes guts to do that - as you allow us to see the end of the lower.
Definitely a world class photo!

Jeppe (18654) 2004-03-19 3:23

Interesting capture - never seen this before - very-good angle you found for this shot - lots of fine details and a great perspective.
Thanks for the note explaining the background - very well done Andrew.

One thing - I'm not sure this figures carved - it seams to me they are made of clay being burned - but never mind - good work anyway.

pamastro (7296) 2004-03-19 13:09

Very nice colors in this great detail. The colors are very nice. I wouldn't be surprise to see this used in a text about this structure. It really captures a lot of details. I especially like that we see the sculptures coming at us in the foreground and in the background the sculptures on that side going away. So we get both sides. The curve of the eaves really gives a nice soft flow for the eyes to move along. It's a very good crop. Nicely done.

Clochette (8076) 2004-03-19 17:29

Great, great details Andrew ! Each of them is a wonder ! Excellent sharpness and angle, this part of the roof is beautiful and well enlighted. In my opinion, one of your best shots, congratulations.

Edwin (188) 2004-03-21 3:25

Excellent detail. Great composition, pleasant colours, interesting subject, attractive repetitive elements, great angle, great work Andrew!

kaychambers (1198) 2004-07-14 23:37

Bugger! I have one similar to this - means I have to post one different!

Very well done Andrew...I love the colouration of these rooves, and the method by which you present them here serves them a great justice. Great notation too.

Good job!

Regards,

Vic, Singapore. 15th July 2004

ps you've posted some top stuff here....right now I'm off to Mt Kinabalu for the weekend....will scrutanise your offerings more closely from work on Monday :-)

oochappan (4880) 2004-09-23 21:26

Walking through your gallery this photo retained my attention for it's subject of old Chinese culture and the detail in a good composition but mostly for the very nice clear colors you got here. Fine shot.