Beijing Siheyuan
Siheyuan is a traditional residential form in Beijing. It first took shape in the Liao Dynasty. It was gradually improved through the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and eventually became the most distinctive feature of Beijing. form of residence. The so-called Sihe, "four" refers to the east, west, south and north sides, and "he" means that the houses on the four sides are surrounded together to form a "kou" shape. After hundreds of years of construction, Beijing's courtyard houses have formed the capital's unique Beijing style from their floor plan to internal structure and detailed decoration.
Beijing’s regular courtyard houses generally face south along an east-west alley. The basic shape is the north room (main room), south room (inverted room) and east and west wing rooms, which are surrounded by four separate buildings. Use high walls to form a quadrangle and open a door. The gate is located at the "Xun" position in the southeast corner of the house. The total number of rooms is generally 3 in the north room, 2 in the front and 5 in the west, 3 in the east and west rooms, and 17 in the south room including the main door and hanging flower door, not including the main door. If each room is 11-12 square meters, the total area is about 200 square meters. In the middle of the courtyard is the courtyard, which is spacious and planted with trees and flowers and tanks for raising goldfish. It is the center of the courtyard's layout and is also a place for people to walk through, get light, ventilate, enjoy the cool, rest and do housework.
Although courtyards have certain regulations, their sizes vary. They can be roughly divided into three types: large courtyards, medium courtyards and small courtyards:
Small courtyards are generally There are three rooms in the north room, one light and two dark, or two light and one dark, two east and west wing rooms, and three south rooms. Lay the bricks to the top and raise the ridge to build a tile-roofed house. It can accommodate three generations of a family. The ancestors live in the main room, the younger generation lives in the side room, and the south room is used as a study or living room. The courtyard is paved with brick corridors, connecting the doors of various houses, and there are steps in front of each house. There are two doors, decorated with black paint and oil. There are a pair of brass door cymbals on the door, and there are couplets on the two doors.
The middle courtyard is more spacious than the small courtyard. It usually has 5 rooms in the north, 3 in the front and 2 in the west, and 3 in the east and west. There is a corridor in front of the room to protect it from wind and rain. In addition, the courtyard walls are divided into the front courtyard (outer courtyard) and the backyard (inner courtyard), and the courtyard walls are connected by moon gates. The front yard has a shallow depth, with one or two rooms used as the gatehouse, and the back yard is used as the living room. The architecture is exquisite, with square bricks on the floor and bluestone steps.
A large courtyard house is customarily called a "big house gate". The layout of the house can be 5 south and 5 north, 7 south and 7 north, and there are even 9 or 11 main rooms. It is usually a duplex courtyard, that is, composed of multiple rooms. Two courtyards are connected vertically. There are many courtyards, including front courtyard, backyard, east courtyard, west courtyard, main courtyard, side courtyard, cross courtyard, study courtyard, enclosed courtyard, horse hall, first entrance, second entrance, third entrance...and so on. There are hand-operated corridors connecting various parts of the courtyard, covering a large area. If the land available for building is small or the financial capacity cannot bear it, the quadrangle courtyard can be converted into a triple courtyard without building the south room.
Medium-sized and small courtyards are generally the residences of ordinary residents, while large courtyards are used by mansions and government offices.
Beijing Siheyuan is a brick-wood structure building. The purlins, columns, beams (trusses), sills, rafters, doors, windows, partitions, etc. are all made of wood. The wooden house frames are surrounded by bricks. Build walls. The beams, columns, doors, windows and cornices and rafters all need to be painted. Although it is not as magnificent as the palace garden, it is still colorful. It is customary to build walls with ground bricks and broken bricks. It is said that "Beijing has three treasures...the walls built with rotten bricks will not fall down." Most of the roof tiles are made of blue tiles, with the front and back interlocking, and dripping water installed in front of the eaves, or no tiles are laid, and the whole roof is plastered with green ash, which is called "grey shed".
The main door of a courtyard house generally occupies an area of ??one room, and its components are quite complex. The building names include gate tower, door opening, gate (door leaf), door frame, waist railing, rest board, walking horse board, Door pillows, sills, door sills, door hairpins, large edges, wipers, straps, door core panels, door cymbals, plugs, animal faces, door nails, door couplets, etc. The main door of a courtyard house is composed of these parts. The gate is usually painted black, and couplets with red and black characters can be added. After entering the gate, there are hanging flower gate, moon gate and so on. The hanging flower door is the most gorgeous decorative door in the courtyard. It is called "hanging flower" because the outer eaves of the door are made of archways. Its function is to separate the inner and outer courtyards. Outside the door are the living room, concierge, carriage house and other "outside houses". Inside the door are The main living room is the bedroom "inner house". If there is no hanging flower door, the moon door can be used to separate the inner and outer houses.
The hanging flower door is very beautifully painted, the cornice and rafter heads are painted blue-green, the wood is painted red, the round rafter heads are painted blue, white and black like a halo of orbs, and the square rafter heads are painted with gold swastikas or rhombuses on a blue background. flower pattern. There are brocade patterns, flowers, Kunhui, Bogu, etc. in the center of the front eaves. The hanging lotus capitals on both sides are even more colorfully painted according to the carved patterns. The carving patterns of the courtyard are mainly various auspicious patterns, such as "good fortune and longevity" composed of bat and longevity, a Kun vase with roses meaning "peace in all seasons", "descendants for generations", "three friends of winter", "Yutang Wealth and Honor", "Fu Lu, Shou Xi" and so on show the old Beijing people's yearning for a better life.
The windows and sill walls are embedded in the large frame between the upper sill (no lower sill) and the left and right pillars. The upper sash can be supported, but the lower sash is generally fixed. In winter, Korean paper or cellophane is often used to paste windows, which makes them bright when viewed from the inside and dark when viewed from the outside. This not only prevents the cold air from invading, but also keeps indoor light sufficient. In summer, the windows are covered with gauze or cold cloth. This is the window gauze woven from wood in the counties south of Beijing. It looks like cloth but is not cloth. It can provide ventilation and relieve indoor heat. There is a piece of paper on the outside of the cold cloth, which is rolled up during the day and put down at night, so it is also called "roll-up window". Some people use windows that can be lifted up and down.
Beijing has more wind and sand in winter and spring, so residential buildings often use door curtains. In general, people hang cotton door curtains with plywood in winter, plywood door curtains in spring and autumn, and bamboo door curtains with plywood in summer. Poor families can use straw curtains or broken felt curtains. The door curtain can be hoisted. The purpose of installing plywood on the upper, middle and lower parts is to increase the weight and prevent it from being lifted by the wind. Later, door curtains were replaced by air doors, but bamboo curtains were still used in summer, which were cool, translucent and practical.
The ceilings of courtyard houses are made of sorghum poles and papered on the outside. Ceiling pasting in Beijing is a technique. In a courtyard house, everything from the ceiling to the walls, curtains, and windows is papered with white paper, which is called "Four Whites to the Bottom." Ordinary families would do it once every few years, while wealthy families would do it "four times a year."
Beijing is very cold in winter. Residents in courtyard houses all sleep on heated kangs. In front of the kangs, there is a coal stove sunk into the ground, and a fire is lit in the stove. The earthen kang is empty, and when fire enters the hole, the kang bed will be heated. People who sleep on the hot kang will have a warm sleep. The coal used for burning the kang is mostly produced in Xishan, Beijing. It can be divided into raw coal and minced coal. The minced coal is shaken with loess and briquettes are used for burning the kang or cooking.
Stoves are commonly used for indoor heating. Stoves can be divided into three types based on their texture: clay, iron, and copper. The clay stove is made of potwood wood produced in Beijing. It has strong heat permeability and is light and easy to move. It is often used in wealthy homes. There are several stoves available. Most people usually use the fire in front of the Kang Kun to cook and cook, without burning a separate stove. As the saying goes, "the pot is connected to the stove", it is difficult to separate it for daily life. The stove can seal the fire, so it is often kept burning for years to prepare for emergencies. If it goes out, use dry firewood or charcoal to light it. Housewives get up every morning and lift the stove outside the house (to prevent gas poisoning) to light a fire, which becomes a scene in Beijing.
The discharge of domestic water in courtyards usually takes the form of seepage pits, commonly known as "seepage wells" and "seepage ditches". There are generally no toilets in courtyards. Most toilets are located in alleys, called "official latrines".
Beijing courtyard houses pay attention to greening, and trees and flowers are planted in the courtyard. The flowers and trees are sparse, elegant and pleasant. The flowers that old Beijing loved to grow included lilacs, crabapples, elm-leaf plums, mountain peach blossoms, etc. The trees were mostly jujube and locust trees. In addition to planting, flowers and plants can also be grown in pots and water. The most common potted flowers and trees are pomegranate trees, oleanders, golden osmanthus, silver osmanthus, rhododendrons, gardenias, etc. Planting pomegranates is a sign of "plentiful seeds". As for the grass jasmine, impatiens, morning glories and lentil flowers in the flowerbed in front of the steps, they are even more homely beauty of the courtyard. There is a saying in the Qing Dynasty that describes life in a courtyard: "ceiling, fish tank, pomegranate tree, master, young lady, fat girl", which can be said to be a typical portrayal of life in a courtyard.