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The application of gold leaf in architecture

Views : 285
Author : Stanley
Update time : 2023-04-24 13:52:44
Gold paste is an ancient craft, in China has a history of thousands of years, the original gold paste process mostly served in the royal palace royal tombs. It was first used in the royal palaces and temples, or in the temples of Buddhas, to show their richness and grandeur or dignity, and was widely used.
As the saying goes, "People depend on clothes, but Buddhism needs gold. The "preciousness" of gold foil, which does not fade for a hundred years, and people's respect for gold have increased the dignity and mystery of Buddha statues. In the ancient temples of famous temples, the "relics" of the ancient gold leaf artists who installed gold for Buddha statues are still vaguely visible.

Sichuan Aba

In 2019, gold foil was also used in the construction of the Great Altar City of Zangwa Temple in Langtang County, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Gold foil is only available for construction from May to October every year under such special circumstances in Tibetan areas. At that time, the roof of Zangwa Temple used copper materials for tiles, and gold foil was affixed to these copper tiles, and the whole roof was golden and imposing after completion.


Kinkakuji Temple, Japan
Kinkaku-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, is famous for the gold leaf that covers both the inside and outside of the building. This gleaming gold temple, which is renovated every five years and uses a large amount of gold leaf each time, is not only a national treasure of Japan, but is also listed as a World Heritage Site.


Great Golden Pagoda of Myanmar
Myanmar's Great Golden Pagoda is also shining with gold leaf. The Burmese people call the Great Golden Pagoda "Shwe Dae Kwang Pagoda", "Shwe" means "gold" in Burmese and "Dae Kwang" is the ancient name of Yangon. This is the ancient name of Yangon, because this pagoda is built on the sacred hill on the shore of Inya Lake in the north of Yangon city, no matter where one stands in the city, one can see the golden top of the pagoda.


China's ancient architecture of gold technology was first seen in the Dunhuang Grottoes, the grottoes contain the Northern Wei period murals, which is decorated with gold, very gorgeous. To the Tang and Song dynasties, there is a pile of clay or pile of powder paste gold method, the method for the future of large palaces, temples play an extremely important role in the construction. To the Ming and Qing dynasties, the application of gold in architectural decoration is more mature, after the gold decorated buildings also look more gorgeous, solemn and majestic.
In 2002, when the Forbidden City's major renovation project began, Nanjing Jinling Gold Foil became the only source of gold foil for the renovation of the ancient buildings of the Forbidden City, and Jinling Gold Foil was used for the renovation of the Noon Gate, Taihe Gate, Shenmu Gate, Shoukang Palace and Cining Palace of the Forbidden City.
Jinling gold leaf is widely used not only in large temples and buildings in China, but also in other parts of the world, such as the Imperial Palace in Thailand, the pagoda in Osaka, Versailles in France, and St. Petersburg in Russia.

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