píng'àn 平闇

Note

Ping’an is a type of ceiling in traditional Chinese architecture. The term ping’an was mainly used in the Song dynasty and can be found in Yingzao fashi《營造法式》(1103) and Siling lu 《思陵錄》(Zhou 1187, 173.15b). The Chinese character 平 (ping) means flat, while the character 闇 (an) means dark (Zhang 1985, 1495), which may be related to a lack of pictorial decoration. According to YZFS, the connection between the ping’an and the structural frame is the same as that of the pingqi 平棊 in that it does not provide roof support and the backing boards (beiban 背板) of the ceiling are supported by pingqifang 平棊枋 (Li 2009, 5.4a). The backing boards are joined together to form the whole ceiling, and squared rafters (fangchuan 方椽) are placed under the backing boards to cover the seams between them (Li 2009, 19.2a). In contrast to pingqi, ping’an are not decorated with patterns, rather the ceiling is painted with red lacquer (Li 2009, 14.8b). Although YZFS does not mention the use of a grid in ping’an, the two examples of ping’an identified by Liang Sicheng, in Guanyin Pavilion of Dulesi and the Great East Hall of Foguangsi, use grids, and those grids are smaller than the grids in surviving pingqi. Analysis of the Great East Hall of Foguangsi indicates that the ping’an was installed at the same time as the structural elements.4

平闇是中國古代建築的一種頂棚做法。

「平闇」一詞主要用於宋代。該詞主要出現於《營造法式》當中，在《思陵錄》中也有提及（周 1187, 173.15b）。根據《法式》，平闇與大木結構的關系與平棊一致：即不屬於承重結構，其背板由平棊枋支撐（李 2009, 5.4a）。平闇的背板由長條木板拼成，其下有方椽遮擋板縫（李 2009, 19.2a）。儘管《營造法式》中並未明確描述平闇背板下的支撐為方格狀，但根據梁思成認為使用了平闇的兩個案例：獨樂寺觀音閣與佛光寺東大殿，平闇與平棊一樣採用方格，且方格尺寸小於現有的平棊案例。對佛光寺東大殿的結構構造分析表明，平闇（以及平棊）在施工時很可能需與大木結構構件一起安裝，而非如後世的天花，在結構體系完成後再安裝。

與平棊不同的是，平闇並無花紋（李 2009, 8.1a），僅在背板和椽上以朱漆刷飾（李 2009, 14.8b）。從字義上看，「平」指平坦，「闇」通「暗」，不明亮的意思 (張 1985, 1495)。可能與其沒有彩畫，視覺效果上較為灰暗相關。 4

Related concepts

天花 tiānhuā

平棊 píngqí

Broad Match: ceilings and ceiling components