huábiǎo en

Meaning, literally, illustrious marker or memorial (Kroll 2015, 167, 23), huabiao originated as wooden or stone pillars whose function was to show directions or display information. Later, huabiao also helped emphasize the central axis or the central portion of an architectural complex.According to earlier texts quoted by the Tang commentator Sima Zhen (司馬貞, 679-732) in his Shiji suoyin 史記索隱, a huabiao (or a pair of huabiao) was a type of signpost or guidepost with a crosspiece joined through the upper part of the pillar. He quoted Cui Bao 崔豹 (ca. 381-450) who suggested that because of similarities in pronunciation in the Chen and Chu regions, huabiao 華表 may have also been written "huanbiao 桓表" or "hebiao 和表" (Sima 1959, 10.423-424; Cui 1936). Huabiao-like structures can be seen in visual material, especially in Song and Yuan paintings, such as Zhang Zeduan's "Jinmingchi zhengbiao tu 金明池爭標圖" and Wang Zhengpeng's "Longchi jingdu tujuan 龍池競渡圖卷," where a characteristic feature was a crosspiece joined through the upper part of the pillar. After the Song dynasty, we also begin to see crouching animal sculptures on the top of huabiao.