In ancient China, especially during the Ming and Qing dynasties, official residences and houses of wealthy families were basically courtyards:
Siheyuan, generally in the shape of a mouth, mainly consists of the main house, east and west wing rooms, Enclosed by the back room, the ear room, and the back room, the large courtyard also has a decent courtyard, a screen wall with stone carvings, a hand-painted verandah, and a hanging flower door. The orientation is north to south.
The main room is the highest-status room in the courtyard. Its height, depth, area, etc. are larger than other houses. The number of rooms is generally an odd number, three, five, seven, etc., and the middle one is dedicated to the ancestors. According to the custom of honoring the elder, the younger, the younger and the left, the head of the family also lives in the main house. The person with the longest seniority lives to the east of the main house, such as the old man and the old lady of an official family, and the master and his wife live to the west. This is why the first wife is called the principal wife, and the concubines live on both sides, so the concubines are also called side wives.
The wing rooms are also divided into east and west wing rooms. The older children live on the east side, and the younger children live on the west side. The size of the wing room is much smaller than the main room.
The penthouses are set to 2 or 4 rooms according to the courtyard style. Both the main room and the side rooms can have penthouses. Judging from the subordinate relationship, the emperor's position in the ear room is not high, and it is usually lived by the grandchildren.
The back room is usually occupied by female family members or maids. It is opposite to the inverted room and is relatively hidden.
The reverse side house is the southernmost house in the courtyard. Because it is opposite to the main house and faces south and north, it is called the reverse side house. It has the lowest status. It is usually occupied by servants and is close to the toilet.
The above is just a general small courtyard with one entrance. If the house is relatively large, such as a large courtyard with four or five entrances, and the family population is small, the young master, young lady, etc. can have their own courtyard. of.
The residential layout of nobles in various ancient dynasties
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the residences of scholar-bureaucrats were divided into three rooms. The door in the middle was the office space; the left and right rooms were private schools, where tutoring took place. ; Inside the door is the courtyard, above it is the hall, which is the place for living, receiving guests, and etiquette. The left and right sides of the hall are chambers, and the house behind the hall is for sleeping.
The aristocratic residences in the Han Dynasty not only had doors, private schools, halls, rooms, etc., but also garages, stables, kitchens, warehouses and servants' quarters. The architectural forms are mostly wooden structures and stilts, with gabled roofs. Various forms of windows, such as square, circular, and rectangular, appear with various window lattice. Sanheyuan and Siheyuan composed of walls have appeared.
During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the residential courtyards of northern aristocrats were mostly symmetrical, with verandah-style gates and courtyards surrounded by corridors on the inside of the walls. In a house, there were several groups of corridors surrounding it, and there were several The halls are used for different purposes.
During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, the residential layout of nobles became more free and lively, with asymmetrical courtyards appearing. The front doors were replaced by verandah-style gates, and corridors with mullioned windows were often used to form courtyards.
Urban residences in the Song Dynasty were mostly in a quadruple layout, with verandahs instead of cloisters, and the front door was separated by a screen wall. This form increased the living area and was very practical.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, residences could be roughly divided into regular layout and free-style layout. Regular layout is the mainstream of traditional residential styles, usually three-heyuan or four-heyuan. The Qing government also imposed strict regulations on the format, scale, and grade of residences.
There are two main rooms with strict internal and external rules, and orderly ordering of superiors and inferiors, which promotes the transformation of regular residences into closed and introverted courtyards. The buildings have central axes, are uniformly symmetrical, and have clear priorities, reflecting the feudal social family. concept of life.