The so-called four in one, "four" means east, west, south and north, and "combination" means that all houses are surrounded together to form a "mouth" shape. After hundreds of years of construction, Beijing quadrangles have formed a unique Beijing style from plane layout to internal structure and detail decoration.
Regular quadrangles in Beijing generally face south according to the east-west hutongs. The basic shape is the north room (main room), the south room (inverted room) and the east and west rooms, which are separated on all sides and surrounded by high walls to form a four-in-one and open a door. The gate is located in the southeast corner of the house. Generally, there are 3 rooms in the north room, 5 rooms in the front room, 3 rooms in the east room, 3 rooms in the west room and 4 rooms in the south room, including door openings and hanging doors *** 17. If each room 1 1- 12 square meters, the total area is about 200 square meters. There is a yard in the middle of the yard, which is very spacious. There are flowers and trees in the courtyard and goldfish in the fish tank. It is the center of the courtyard layout, and it is also the place where people walk, light, ventilate, enjoy the cool, rest and do housework.
Although quadrangles have certain regulations, they vary in size and can be roughly divided into three types: large quadrangles, medium quadrangles and small quadrangles:
Small quadrangles are generally three rooms in the north, one bright and two dark or two bright and one dark, two rooms in the east and west wing and three rooms in the south wing. Bricklaying to the top, roof tile house. Can live in a family of three generations, the ancestors live in the main room, the younger generation lives in the wing, and the south room is used as a study or living room. The yard is paved with a brick tunnel, which connects all the doors, and there are steps in front of each door. There are two doors, decorated with black paint and oil, with a pair of brass cymbals and couplets on the doors.
The quadrangle in the middle is more spacious than the small quadrangle. Generally, there are 5 rooms in the north house, 3 rooms in the front house and 2 rooms in the east and west house. There is a corridor in front of the house to avoid the wind and rain. In addition, the courtyard walls are divided into front yard (outer yard) and backyard (inner yard), and the courtyard walls are connected by the moon gate. The front yard is deep and humble, one or two houses are doormen, and the backyard is residential. Exquisite architecture, brick floor and bluestone steps.
Large quadrangles are customarily called "big houses". Houses can be located in five south and five north, seven south and seven north, and even there are nine main rooms or 1 1, which are generally compound quadrangles, that is, they are formed by deep connection of multiple quadrangles. There are many courtyards, including front yard, backyard, east yard, west yard, main yard, side yard, cross yard, study yard, enclosed house yard, horse number, first entrance, second entrance, third entrance and so on. There is a handwritten veranda in the yard connecting various places, covering a huge area. If the floors available for building are narrow, or the economic bearing capacity is unbearable, the quadrangle can be changed into a three-story quadrangle instead of the south building.
Small and medium-sized quadrangles are generally the houses of ordinary residents, and the big four-in-one is a mansion and official residence.
The quadrangles in Beijing are made of brick and wood, purlins, columns, beams (rafters), sills, rafters, doors and windows, partitions, etc. are all made of wood, and the walls around the wooden shelves are made of brick. Beams, doors, windows and rafters should be painted with colored pictures. Although they are not as brilliant as the palace gardens, they are also colorful. Walls are used to building walls with floor bricks and broken bricks. As the saying goes, "there are three treasures in Beijing ... rotten bricks can't build walls." Most of the roof tiles are blue tiles, which are interlocking. Before the eaves are dripped, or the tiles are not laid, all the roofs are painted with blue ash, which is called "grey shed".
The quadrangular gate generally occupies the area of a room, and the parts are quite complicated. Only the names are gatehouse, doorway, gate (door leaf), door frame, waist seal, plug, walking board, door pillow, sill, threshold, door pin, big edge, plastering, threading, door core plate and door cymbal.
The gate is generally black oil, and red oil and black couplets can be added. Into the gate, there are hanging flower doors, moon doors and so on. Hanging flower door is the most gorgeous decorative door in quadrangles. It is called "hanging flowers" because the eaves of the door are arched to separate the inner and outer courtyards. Outside the door is the living room, concierge, garage and other "outhouses", and inside the door is the bedroom "inner room" where the master lives.
If there is no hanging door, you can use the moon door to separate the inner and outer rooms. The hanging door is beautifully painted, the eaves and rafters are painted blue-green, the rosewood is oily red, the round rafters are painted blue-white-black, and the square rafters are painted gold or diamond on the blue background. The center of the front eaves is decorated with brocade, flowers and Bo Gu. The lotus stigma hanging upside down on both sides is painted in colors according to the carved pattern.
The carved patterns of quadrangles are mainly auspicious patterns, such as "longevity and happiness" composed of bats and longevity figures, "peace in the four seasons" implied by vases with Chinese roses, and "generation after generation", "three friends in cold years", "jade pond is rich" and "happy life", which show the longing of old Beijingers for a better life.
Windows and sill walls are embedded in the large frame between the upper sill (without lower sill) and the left and right columns. The upper window frame can be supported, while the lower window frame is usually fixed. In winter, Korean paper or cellophane is often used to stick windows, which are bright inside and dark outside, which can not only prevent the invasion of cold air, but also keep sufficient indoor light. Stick a window screen or cold cloth on the window in summer. This is a window screen made of wood in various counties in southern Beijing. It looks like cloth instead of cloth, which can provide ventilation and relieve indoor heat. Add a piece of paper outside the cold cloth, roll it up during the day and put it down at night, so it is also called "rolling window". Some people use a window with an upper branch and a lower branch.
There are many sandstorms in Beijing in winter and spring, and door curtains are often used in residential buildings. Generally speaking, people hang a cotton curtain with plywood in winter, a sandwich curtain with plywood in spring and autumn, and a bamboo curtain with plywood in summer. Poor families can use grass curtains or broken felt curtains. The door curtain can be hung, and the purpose of installing plywood on the upper, middle and lower parts is to increase the weight and not be lifted by the wind. Later, the door curtain was replaced by an air door, but bamboo curtain was still used in summer, which was cool, bright and practical.
The ceilings of quadrangles are all made of sorghum stalks and covered with paper. Beijing ceiling pasting is a technology. In the quadrangle, the ceiling, walls, curtains and windows are all covered with white paper, which is called "Four Whites in the End". Ordinary people go there once every few years, while rich people go there four times a year.
It is very cold in winter in Beijing. The residents in the quadrangle all sleep on the kang. There is a coal stove buried underground in front of the kang, and a fire is built in the stove. When the kang is empty and the fire enters the kang hole, the kang bed will heat up and people will feel warm when sleeping on the hot kang. Most of the coal used to burn kang is produced in Xishan, Beijing. There is a difference between raw coal and pulverized coal. Coal powder and loess are shaken with coal balls to burn kang or cook.
Indoor heating uses stoves, which can be divided into mud, iron and copper according to texture. The mud stove is made of Guo Kuimu made in Beijing, which has strong heat penetration and is light and easy to move. Rich people always have several stoves. Generally, people use the fire in front of the kang to cook instead of starting a new stove. The so-called "pot and platform are connected to the stove", so it is difficult to separate life from daily life. The stove can be used in bank up, so it is always kept in case of emergency. If it goes out, burn it with dry wood and charcoal. Housewives will take the stove outside the house every morning to make a fire (to prevent gas poisoning), which will become a scene in Beijing.
The discharge of domestic water in quadrangles is mostly in the form of seepage pits, commonly known as "seepage wells" and "seepage ditches". There are generally no toilets in quadrangles, and toilets are mostly located in hutongs, which are called "official houses".
Beijing quadrangles pay attention to greening, and there are flowers and trees in the courtyard, which is really elegant and pleasant. The favorite flowers in old Beijing are lilac, begonia, elm leaf plum, peach blossom and so on, and the trees are mostly jujube and locust trees. In addition to planting flowers and plants, you can also plant plants and water them.
The most common potted flowers and trees are pomegranate, oleander, Jingui, Yin Gui, Rhododendron and Gardenia. Planting pomegranate is a sign of "many children". As for the grass jasmine, impatiens, morning glory and flat bean curd in the garden before the hospital, it is the daily beauty of the courtyard.
There is a saying in Qing Dynasty that describes the life in quadrangles: "ceiling, fish tank, pomegranate tree, grandfather, fat dog, fat girl", which can be said to be a typical portrayal of quadrangle life.
Siheyuan is generally a family living in one yard, but there are also cases where many families share one yard, mostly poor families, which are called "mixed living". The warmth of the buildings makes many old Beijingers unforgettable.