Geomantic layout of quadrangles
Traditional quadrangles are mostly surrounded by buildings. The traditional quadrangles are designed symmetrically in the symmetrical spatial position, which is an organic imitation of nature. This kind of imitation can make people feel the pleasure of the senses, cultivate sentiment, and then produce a sense of beauty that is beneficial to physical and mental health. Therefore, the traditional quadrangle adopts the formal structure, with the main courtyard strewn at random, the atrium open and distinct. The main room is high, the wing is low and smaller than the main room. This formula is followed from the court to the people.
In traditional quadrangles, the room with geomantic omen is the elder, while the main hall of the main courtyard is not only higher than the wing, but also has one or two more steps. In addition to living and meeting guests, the landlord usually uses it upstairs for Buddhist temples and books collection. The wing of the upper house is arranged by east brothers and west brothers, and the lower house is also arranged by the same model for the next generation. The south building is an embroidered building or boudoir, the lower floor is occupied by maids, and the upper floor is occupied by maids. Its residence is obviously indented backwards in both the front hall and the hall, which is also intended to reflect the ethical concept that "women bow their heads and retreat, and cannot get ahead".
Among them, girls 13 years old entered the cabinet and could only go downstairs when they got married. Xiulou is mostly connected with the restaurant, which is convenient for eating. No matter the main room or the wing, there are no steps in front of the door to show its low status and the superiority of its owner. The side courtyard where servants, bodyguards, cooks and others live is a row of low rooms built close to the wall of the main courtyard. The bolt leading to the main courtyard is installed on one side of the main courtyard. The owner can walk around at any time and visit the servants' residence, while the servants are not allowed to enter and leave the main courtyard at will. The concept of inferiority and hierarchy are all based on geomantic omen. This is also a summary of traditional quadrangles.
For example, the house of Shanxi merchants looks like a castle facing the street on three sides, surrounded by a closed brick wall more than three feet high, with a parapet and a probe. The gate sits west to east, with a top floor, and the middle gate is a cave entrance. There is a stone walkway on both sides of the gate, with parapets on both sides of the wall, and the farthest ancestral hall is a temple-like structure. All the branches in the yard are in a "complete house" layout. The house in the yard is called "house-all", and the local folk proverb has long said that "there is no east, no old wife, no east, no husband, only the north room, and there are kings and no ministers".
Although several courtyards are symmetrical to each other, their gates have to be moved to the wrong side. In geomantic omen, the right match means mouth to mouth, which will lead to the disharmony between father and son, brothers, sisters-in-law and aunts. Its courtyards are arranged in strict accordance with the Grand Patrol Year Method, also known as the Nine Planets Flying Palace Method, which is one of the commonly used geomantic principles in the geomantic omen of Yangzhai and the theoretical basis of the traditional quadrangle geomantic omen.