kagami tenjō 鏡天井

Also kagamiita tenjō 鏡板天井. Lit. mirror ceiling. A flat ceiling made of smoothly planed boards shiraki 白木, constructed over most main halls *moya 母屋 built in the Zen style *zenshūyō 禅宗様. Frequently, in the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, a black and white dragon amid billowing clouds unryū 雲龍, was painted on the smooth boards. During the Momoyama and Edo periods, color was added to such paintings and the earlier simplicity was lost. In the upper story of the enlightenment gates *sanmon 三門, in Zen temples as well as in main halls, heavenly beings tennin 天人, and composite figures with human faces and bodies of birds *karyōbinga 迦陵頻伽, noted for their beautiful voices, musical instruments, and floral patterns, were magnificently rendered on kagami tenjō.