A Study On The Culture Of Temple Roofs Decoration In Southern Fujian, Eastern Guangdong And Taiwan

Temples in Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan represent their local popular culture and arethe home for believers to sustain their faith. The contents and styles of the decoration on theirroofs fully reflect the features of the times and localities of the popular cultures in theseregions. By means of analytical research on those decorative icons, the recognition of thesignificance and the rules behind those aesthetic phenomena is the great contribution of theaesthetic research to the materialization of the architecture theories and to the substantialexploration of the architecture history. This study uses comprehensive and solid research toanalyze temple roofs decoration in the regions of southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong andTaiwan. Through the understanding of local social environment and regional culture, thisstudy extracts from the decorative icons on temple roofs their in-depth meanings anddiscovers their symbolic role in the culture. This study also uncovers the vague aesthetic logicrelationship and aesthetic theoretical system, both of which have long been hidden behind thetemple roofs decoration in the above three regions.Through exploration in relevant literatureas well as analysis of investigation results, it becomes clear that the similarity of the templearchitectural layouts and styles among the three regions is due to their similar naturalenvironment and the similar cultural background. Deeply influenced by the feudal culture andthe Chinese Confucian doctrines, temple decorations in all the three regions imitate thedelicacy and subtlety of their natural environment, using bright colors and showing aconnection with the sea. They also demonstrate the sense of harmony and order as well as therespect to gods and to people. Differences among the three areas in terms of volume, patterns,materials and techniques are due to their regional differences in climate, societies, productsand their development in economics and technology. Consequently, Taiwan’s roof decorationsare more diverse and rich in their styles, volume, patterns and materials than that of thetemples in Fujian and Guangdong. Via multi-faceted analysis in these décor, this study elicitsthe common features shared by the three regions. These features include the intangiblecommonality deriving from the same cultural inheritance, the similar aesthetic stylesdeveloping in the vicinity and the shared architecturally aesthetic culture guided by itscontemporary aesthetic value. It was with the‘respectful’ and‘fearful’ attitude and the compliance with the theories of the Five Elements and Feng Shui that people in these regionscould overcome their deep-rooted fear, furthermore, materializing their sea-oriented culturalproperty as well as holding up a strong sense of social identity. Meanwhile, this people highlypraised the honor earned from achieving advances and beautifulness, thus, developing aconvergent aesthetic value which not only retained the traditional characteristics but alsoaccepted the new.As temple roof decorations display the traditional spirit and the humanvalue for pursuing, this important cultural asset ought to be given proper attention. By thein-depth study in aesthetically cultural research, the architectural, cultural, and socialdifferences of the three regions are made clearer. Moreover, this study serves as a means tomore understanding of the current situation and the plight of their regional cultures. Also, thisstudy suggests an effective way to the exploration of the potential regional culture and to theestablishment of an in-depth interaction among one another.