From the history of Nanxincang, we can see that Nanxincang was the product of the transportation of southern grain to the north during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, an important representative building that Beijing benefited from southern grain, and a witness to the adjustment of China's ancient means of subsistence. At the same time, it is the end of the North-South Grand Canal, which is of great value to the study of canal history in China. In addition, Nanxincang is a special type of building among the existing ancient buildings in China. Its ingenious layout, structure and form, as well as a set of operation methods and management systems, represent the superb wisdom of the working people in ancient China, and are valuable physical materials for studying the ancient storage system and warehouse building. In addition to Nanxincang, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, Beijing, an ancient city with a capital history of 850 years, not only shows Beijing's profound cultural heritage, but also continues the architectural remains of Beijing's historical context, belonging to hutongs and quadrangles.
It is no exaggeration for some people to call the ancient capital culture "Hutong Culture" and "Siheyuan Culture". In the past, Beijing was composed of millions of quadrangles, large and small, back to back, face to face, side by side and orderly. In order to get in and out conveniently, there should be a passage between each row of courtyards, that is, hutong. . The word Hutong was written in the Yuan Dynasty, and it was officially standardized as Hutong after the Ming Dynasty.
The hutongs in Beijing in the Yuan Dynasty were widely spaced, and most of them were basically three yards away from the big quadrangle in the Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, when future generations build courtyards in the middle open space, they must rely on small alleys as access roads, thus producing a large number of unnamed small alleys in many famous big hutongs. So there is a saying: "The famous hutong is 3.6 thousand, and the unnamed hutong is the best." How many hutongs are there in Beijing? According to documents, there were thousands of them in Ming Dynasty, including more than 900 in inner cities and more than 300 in outer cities. There were more than 800 articles in 1.800 in Qing dynasty and more than 900 articles in 1.900 in Republic of China. At the beginning of the founding of New China, there were more than 2,550 statistics. Later, some old names were merged and some were renamed; Since the reform and opening up, with the development of economy and urban construction, some buildings have been demolished and rebuilt. So far, there are more than 4,000 street names in Beijing.
In Beijing, large and small hutongs crisscross and weave into a colorful capital. The hutong is deep, and there are countless warm homes in the depths of the hutong. This is the fundamental reason why Beijingers have special feelings for hutongs. The homonyms in Beijing streets are like an encyclopedia, which not only reflects the historical evolution, but also shows the social customs.
The names of Beijing Hutong are all-encompassing and varied, but they all have their own characteristics. The names of hutongs and streets are mostly determined by government offices, temples, warehouses, workshops, bridges, rivers, market trade, commodity vessels, people's surnames, scenery and people's feelings, and many of them are still in use today. Hutongs named after the official organs of yamen, such as Lumicang, Xijin Temple, Xishiku, xiang yuan Hutong, Fu Xue Hutong, Gong Yuan Hutong, and Military Horse Hutong. Hutongs named after the titles of royalty, such as Yongkang Hou Hutong, Wuding Hou Hutong, Sanbao Laodie Hutong (the former residence of Sanbao eunuch Zheng He is now Sanbu Old Hutong) and Wuliang Daren Hutong. Hutong named after fair trade, such as: fresh fish mouth, Rome, Gangwa, sheep, pigs, rice, coal, jewelry and so on. Hutong named after temples, such as Zhengjue Temple Hutong, Kannonji Hutong and Fang Ju Temple Hutong; Hutong named after handicraft workers and ordinary residents, such as: casserole Liu Hutong (now Dashaguo Hutong), Wangzhima Hutong (now Wangzhima Hutong), Qianmazhang Hutong (now Shuanma Hutong) and so on. There are also hutongs named after special signs, such as Tangzi Hutong, Shihu Hutong and Tieshi Hutong. In addition, there are hutongs named after local characteristics or shapes, such as Niujiao Hutong, Shoudan Hutong, Erduoyan Hutong, luoquan Hutong and Chair Hutong.
Another feature of Beijing Hutong is that the hutongs in the inner city are basically east-west, straight and regular, and the hutongs in the east of the outer city are mostly southeast and irregular.
Beijing quadrangles, as the main architectural form that old Beijingers have lived in for generations, are well-known at home and abroad and all over the world. It is famous because it has a long history. Since Beijing was formally established as the capital in Yuan Dynasty, quadrangles and palaces, office buildings, blocks and hutongs in Beijing have appeared at the same time. Xiong's Analysis at the end of Yuan Dynasty recorded: "The street system is called longitude line in the north and south, and latitude line in the east and west. The street is 24 steps wide, there are 384 fire lanes and 29 streets. " The so-called "street corner" here is what we call hutong today, and between hutong and hutong is the land where people build houses. At that time, Kublai Khan "wrote to the residents of the old city that the capital was too old, and those with high (rich) positions (serving in the imperial court) came first, but eight acres of land were customized for one point", which was distributed to Jia Jianfang, an official who moved to Beijing, and the large-scale formation of traditional quadrangles in Beijing began. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, quadrangles in Beijing have experienced many vicissitudes, but this basic living form has been formed and constantly improved, which is more suitable for living requirements and forms the quadrangle form we see today.
Secondly, Beijing Siheyuan is famous for its unique composition, which is typical and representative in traditional residential buildings in China. Most of the residential buildings in China are inner courtyard houses, while the residential courtyards in the south are very small, and the surrounding houses are connected as a whole, which is called "a seal". This kind of residence is suitable for the climate conditions in the south, and the ventilation and lighting are not ideal. The quadrangles in Beijing are spacious and spacious, and the houses on all sides are independent and connected by cloisters, so life is very convenient. Siheyuan is a closed house with only one street gate leading to the outside. The closed door comes from Chengtiandi, which has strong privacy and is very suitable for exclusive residence. In the yard, the houses on all sides are open to the yard, and the family is happy. Because the yard is spacious, you can plant trees and flowers, feed birds and fish, and pile stones to beautify the environment. Residents not only enjoy comfortable housing, but also share the beautiful world endowed by nature.
Thirdly, Beijing Siheyuan is famous because it is a residential building, but it contains profound cultural connotations and is the carrier of China traditional culture. The construction of quadrangles pays great attention to geomantic omen. From site selection to determining the specific scale of each building, it must be carried out according to the theory of geomantic omen. In addition to the theory of geomantic omen, the decoration, sculpture and painting of quadrangles also reflect folk customs and traditional culture everywhere, showing people's pursuit of happiness, beauty, prosperity and auspiciousness under specific historical conditions. For example, the pattern composed of bats and longevity characters means "longevity", and the pattern with Chinese rose flowers in the vase means "peace in the four seasons". Auspicious words embedded in the door tube and the door head, couplets pasted on eaves columns, and masterpieces of calligraphy and painting hung indoors are all ancient sayings that combine the achievements of sages and philosophers, using ancient and modern famous sentences, or praising the beauty of mountains and rivers, or inscriptions. In old Beijing, besides the Forbidden City, royal gardens, temples, temples and palaces, a large number of buildings are the homes of countless people. An Examination of Old News in the Sun quoted a poem from the Yuan Dynasty: "Clouds open and close three thousands of feet, and there are ten thousand pagodas in the fog." This "one million family" house is now called Beijing Siheyuan.
Why is it called "Siheyuan"? This is because this kind of residential building has four houses: the main room (north room), the inverted seat (south seat), the east wing and the west wing, which are surrounded on all sides, forming a zigzag shape with a central courtyard inside, so this quadrangle-style residential building is called quadrangle.
Siheyuan has a long history in China. According to the analysis of existing cultural relics, quadrangle architecture appeared as early as 2000 years ago. In the process of historical development, China people especially like quadrangles, which are not only used in palaces, temples and government offices, but also widely used in local houses. However, as long as you mention quadrangles, you will naturally think of Beijing quadrangles. Because, among all kinds of quadrangles, Beijing quadrangles can best represent its main characteristics.
First of all, the central courtyard of Beijing Siheyuan is basically square in plan, but some houses in other areas are not. For example, the courtyards of quadrangles in Shanxi and Shaanxi are vertical rectangles long from north to south and narrow from east to west, while quadrangles in Sichuan and other places are mostly horizontal rectangles long from east to west and narrow from north to south.
Secondly, the houses in the east, west, south and north directions of Beijing Siheyuan are independent, and the east and west wing rooms are not connected with the main building and the inverted building itself. Moreover, the main building, wing room, inverted building and other houses are all on the first floor. There are no buildings, only the veranda at the corner connects these houses. In this way, the Beijing quadrangle has a bird's eye view from the air, just like four small boxes enclosing a yard. In many quadrangles in the south, the surrounding houses are mostly buildings. At the four corners of the courtyard, the houses are connected together, and the houses in the east, west, north and south do not exist independently. Therefore, southerners call quadrangles "patios", which shows that quadrangles in the south of the Yangtze River are very small.
The cultural connotation of Beijing Siheyuan is rich, which fully embodies China's traditional view of living. The quadrangle in Beijing can exist for hundreds of years in history because it has incomparable advantages over other residential buildings. With the gradual acceleration of urban modernization and the emergence of overlapping high-rise buildings, people, especially the old Beijingers who have lived in Beijing for generations, will have a special attachment to quadrangles. Beijing quadrangle is a kind of folk house carefully created by the working people of the ancient Han nationality. It has been with people for hundreds of years, leaving a deep impression on people's hearts and a very rich legacy to history.
To sum up, we have every reason to compare Nanxincang, which is almost the same age as the Forbidden City, with the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Hutong and Siheyuan in Beijing, and make these ancient architectural relics become the city labels and spiritual symbols of historical ancient capitals and cultural Beijing.