unkimon 雲気文

1　Chinese: yunqiwen.
An ancient Chinese decorative design formed from C and S shapes. It is found on Chinese bronzes, mirrors, stone reliefs gazōseki 画像石, lacquer-ware, and textiles from the Warring States period.

2　An ancient Chinese cloud design of curling figures, thought to represent the concept of spritual essence (Ch: chi, Jp: ki 気) in the atmosphere. It first appeared in the Warring States period of China when it was used on bronze vessels, mirrors, stone wall carvings, lacquer and textiles. In the Han period, it became a connected flowing cloud design ryū'unmon 流雲文, and in the Six Dynasties period it was combined with the arabesque design *karakusamon 唐草文 imported from western Asia. In the Tang dynasty a variation know as hōun 宝雲 was used in Buddhist paintings. See *unmon 雲文.