Research Of Art Symbol Animal-head Applique On Doors In Traditional Architecture Decoration

The animal head applique is one of the traditional Chinesearchitectural elements which has long history. It originated from fears ofnatures of ancient Chinese people, and derived its shape from the abstractimagination of its metaphor.We report our work where we first summarize our research on relatedhistoric data. The research shown the animal head applique was tending tobe closer to real life in their concept and simpler in their shape. The variousdecorative textile in the animal head applique is gorgeuosly beautiful. Inperspective of semiotic, we have a deep analysis of its shape, including itsouter contour, title ring etc. The contour usually has the shape of circle,square and others;title ring can also be categorized as plain style ring,symbolic ring and textile decorated rings.Also, we studied the constructionof lines and surfaces to reveal its decoration style. And the serious animalpatterns, plainful plant patterns and various polynomial patterns in thevisual elements. Those outer shapes reflect its aesthetic characteristics:abstract, exaggeration, symmetry and balance. The outer shape reflects theunderlying metaphor of this art symbol: shoumian motif witchstraightening relations ascend to heaven primitive religion, feudal ritualblessing strict grading and evil desires attached ornaments.The animal headapplique originate from nature and expressed people s pursuit for goodlucks made it a important symbol in ancient China. To sum up, animal headapplique is luck, both in its shape and underlying metaphor. It has asignificant impact on modern visual expression.