南通古建筑里的古罗马式立柱

Ancient Rome style columns inside an ancient building in Nantong

南通天宁寺的大殿内有六根高大的瓜楞柱,又称瓣柱或蒜瓣柱。宋代在东南沿海地区的一些建筑上出现了瓜楞柱;此柱被记入钦定的《营造法式》。其柱式实是古罗马时代的束柱。宋朝大力发展海外贸易,束式立柱随着经商、出使、传教等人员的往来及文化商品的交流而进入了东方的中国。经笔者调查而知,目前还遗留了束柱实物的近二十处建筑全都在中国东南的海边,全都建于宋代。宁波保国寺大殿和南通天宁寺大殿保留了全国仅有的两处木质瓜楞柱。《营造法式》还记载了其他中国已经援用的从域外传入的建筑形制,如须弥座、木作胡梯、拂箖、莲华铺地等十多种。南通古称胡逗洲,是进入长江往扬州等地的胡船停靠以晒货、觇察、祈神及候风待讯之处。

In the main hall of Tianning Temple in Nantong,there are six tall Melon columns,also called Garlic columns.Before the Song Dynasty,Columns like that or its approximator appeared in China very rarely.In the Song Dynasty,some"melon shaped columns"appeared rapidly in buildings over the southeastern coastal area and they were recorded into the"Architecture Models".Those columns were actually the cluster columns in the ancient Rome era.The Song government vigorously set up the Bureaus for Foreign Shipping to develop overseas trade.With the exchange of business,expeditions,missionaries and other personnel,and the exchange of cultural commodities,the cluster namely the beam column entered eastern China.According to this author’s investigation,twenty buildings or so with the beam column have been left along the seaside of Southeast China and all built in the Song times.The main halls of Baoguo temple in Ningbo and Tianning Temple in Nantong have been two buildings only sustained by the wooden melon columns in this country.Each column with twelve garlic cloves in Tianning Temple is more beautiful than each column with eight garlic cloves in Baoguo temple.The"Architecture Models"also recorded more than 10 kinds of the architectural forms that have been invoked in China,such as the pedestal with mount meru,the foreign wooden ladder,Fulin,the lotus ground and so on.The meaning of Fulin in ancient China referred to the Europe including the empire of Rome.Tongzhou,formerly known as Hudouzhou meaning the Island Lodged by Foreigners.Hudouzhou always was the best place for the foreign boats to bask cargo,inquire about,replenish fresh food and water,pray for God and wait for wind.It is not surprising that the ancient buildings in this land contained Roman columns.