earticle

영어

The cat roof tile decorations commonly found in East Asian architecture play the role of Talisman. The purpose of talisman was to protect the house. Especially in Japan, it can be found on the wall, gate, and the dragon ridge of the main body with two eyes wide open or one hand raised or closed. However, considering the differences in the shape and location of the decorations, it could be claim that the decoration occurred in the country's own way regardless of the neighboring countries. The cat tile decoration has something in common in Japan and Korea which is that both represent a cat, however, the shape of the cat does not exist in Korea, but the name ‘Myoduwa’ just remains. Furthermore, the decorations used in both countries are different in that they are limited in location. The cat decoration found in China which could find in Fujian and Guangdong, ‘Fengshiye’, actually represents a lion, not a cat, and its location also exists in a different position from the decorations shown in Japan. This difference proves that Okinawa's decoration, ‘Shisa’, where closer to China's cultural sphere than Japan's, has many similarities with Chinese tile decorations. The reason why cats are on the roof like this is that regardless of the surrounding countries, they can appear in accordance with local circumstances. Such an example can be said to be the cat decoration on the roof in Japan. These architecture decorations are surprisingly widespread all over the world. In the future, if comparative studies are conducted with careful investigation, the characteristics of the cat roof tiles in East Asia will become clearer.