Contains profound cultural connotations
Although it is a residential building, it contains profound cultural connotations and is the carrier of traditional Chinese culture. The construction of a courtyard house is very particular about Feng Shui. From site selection and positioning to determining the specific scale of each building, all must be carried out according to Feng Shui theory. The courtyard houses in Beijing are famous all over the world. In old Beijing, in addition to the Forbidden City, royal gardens, temples, temples, and government offices, a large number of buildings were countless people's residences. A poem from the Yuan Dynasty is quoted in "Research on Old News from the Rixia": "The clouds are opening and closing three thousand feet, and the fog is darkening the towers of millions of homes." The residences of these "millions of homes" are what is now known as the courtyard house in Beijing.
The structure of Beijing Siheyuan
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 an "mouth" The structure of glyphs. 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 formal courtyard houses are generally located in an east-west alley facing north and south. The basic shape is the north room (main room), south room (inverted room) and east and west wing rooms, which are separated on four sides. 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 a Beijing courtyard is a courtyard. The courtyard is spacious. Flowers and stones are planted in the courtyard. Begonia trees are usually planted, pomegranate bonsais are arranged, and goldfish are raised in large tanks, which symbolizes good luck. It is an ideal outdoor living space, just like a large open-air living room. Heaven and earth bring people closer to each other and are most loved by people. Siheyuan is a closed residence with only one street door to the outside. When the door is closed, it can be seen from the sky and the earth. It has strong privacy and is very suitable for exclusive living. In the courtyard, all the houses on all sides open their doors to the courtyard, and the family is harmonious and happy inside. Because the courtyard is spacious, you can plant trees and flowers, feed birds and fish, and stack rocks to create landscaping. Residents not only enjoy comfortable housing, but also share a beautiful world given by nature.
Beijing Siheyuan is a brick-wood structure Beijing Siheyuan
The building, the purlins, columns, beams (trusses), sills, rafters, doors, windows, partitions, etc. are all made of wood. The building frame is surrounded by brick 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".