East Asian hip-and-gable roof

In Eastern Asian architecture, the hip-and-gable roof comprise a hip roof that slopes down on all four sides and integrates a gable on two opposing sides. It is usually constructed with two large sloping roof sections in the front and back respectively, while the two sides each are usually constructed with a smaller roof section.

It is known as xiēshān (歇山) in Chinese,irimoya (入母屋) in Japanese, and paljakjibung (팔작지붕) in Korean.

The style is of Chinese origin. It arrived from China in Japan in the 6th century.

In Japan, it was originally used in the main and lecture halls of a Buddhist temple compound, but started to be used also for the honden at shrines later, during the Japanese Middle Ages. Its gable is usually right above the moya, or core, while the hip covers the hisashi, a veranda-like aisle surrounding the core on one or more sides. It is still in wide use in Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in Japan, but also in palaces, castles, and folk dwellings. In the last case, it is often called moya-zukuri (母屋造).