ANCIENT CHINESE SOLDIERS ON DOOR PANELS IN THE REIGN OF KING RAMA III

Abstract

In the reign of King Rama III, painting ancient Chinese soldiers on the door panels of ordination and assembly halls was very popular. The author tried to specify the prototype of these figures. From an iconographical comparative study, It is found that the two pairs of "Men Shen" or Chinese door gods most likely are models for artisans in Siam. The first one is Qin Shu Bao and Yu chi Jing De while the second is Shen Tu and Yu Lel. In the Qing Dynasty, these two paris of Chinese door gods share the same characteristics