A pair of turquoise and aubergine glazed pottery chiwen roof fragmentsMing dynasty
55.5cm high (2).注脚Chiwen, said to be one of the dragon's nine sons, has a dragon head and fish tail. It is often installed as a pair on both ends of the main ridge on the roof, facing each other as if to swallow the ridge. In some Buddhist sutras chiwen is said to attend to the God of Rain, hence incorporating it in architecture borrows its fortuitous meaning of avoiding fire. In practical term, ironically, it is used to prevent leaking as it sits at the joint of the main and the the diagonal ridges.

明 松石綠及紫釉鴟吻脊獸

鴟吻，傳是龍生九子之一，龍頭魚身，因喜四處眺望而被置於殿脊，成對向內張口若吞正脊，故又稱「吞脊獸」。鴟吻在佛經中是雨神座下，能滅火，安脊頭取其喻意消災滅火。而在房屋結構上，鴟吻位於正脊兩端和垂脊交匯點，卻是防水薄弱環節，因此實際作用乃是加固防滲。