1. Internal layout of ancient buildings in southern Fujian:
"Light Hall and Dark Room" is the layout feature of ancient buildings in southern Fujian. The middle hall is spacious and bright, which is a place to worship ancestors, gods and receive visitors. The back wall of the hall is divided by a large wooden door that can be opened and folded, and it is usually closed and separated from the back porch. The back porch can be arranged as a small study, and in case of important guests, it can also be extended to the back porch for private talks. When something happens, you can open the big wooden door and merge the hall and the back porch into one to increase the activity space. On both sides of the hall are east and west big rooms, which are the main rooms. The door of the big room is hung with a curtain, and the light is taken by a small window on the roof, so the room is dark. There is a purlin step in front of the big house, which is a place to wash and dress. There is a back room behind the big room, which is the bedroom of the male and female servants or the storage room for storing personal belongings and boxes. This "one bright and two dark" three-bay structure is the most basic unit of ancient buildings in southern Fujian. Five bays, that is, three bays or so, and then one is extended. On the basis of the layout of "one bright and two dark", the ancient building is a courtyard building which is derived from the combination of several single buildings and external space.
2. Rooms of ancient buildings in southern Fujian:
According to the size of the rooms, people generally call this kind of courtyard building three rooms and five rooms, which can be divided into five types according to the depth: one entrance, two entrances, three entrances, four entrances and five entrances. Among them, the binary large room is a small three-bay room or a small five-bay room, and the three-bay room or more is called a large three-bay room or a large five-bay room. And "one advance" is commonly known as "one fall", such as "three advances" as "three falls". In the name of a single building, taking Sanliu as an example, it is usually called "falling" in the first place, "falling" in the second place, and "falling" in the third place.
3. Tantou of an ancient building in southern Fujian:
There are two wings on both sides in front of the main house, commonly known as Tantou. "Tantou" is always open to the sky well, so that the big room can not only be ventilated, but also avoid the forced sunlight, which has the function of shading and enjoying the cool, and is also a place for guests and followers to rest. The front fall and the back fall are connected by two "heads", which makes it very convenient for them to communicate with each other.
4. Embankment of ancient buildings in southern Fujian:
Before the first fall, that is, in front of the house, the outdoor square left is called "Embankment". Arrange only small potted flowers in the embankment, leaving a large space as a place for visitors to park their cars and sedan chairs; Or decorate it as a garden, planting flowers and trees, and rockery ponds.
5. Courtyard and protection of ancient buildings in southern Fujian:
There is a "deep well" (patio) in front of each hall to ensure that the hall is spacious, bright, ventilated and daylighting.
outside the wing, the longitudinal long houses added on both sides or one side are called "guardrails". In the case of a single protective cover, a lane is often left on the other side, which is not only used as another passage for the front and rear landings to enter and exit, but also to make the main house free from the influence of neighbors' activities. The guard can also add some auxiliary rooms, which can be used as a kitchen, a place for placing sundry tools, a guest house, a servant's room, or a study.
The exterior walls of Minnan dwellings are roughly composed of three parts:
1. Legging (including cornerstones). The legging of Minnan dwellings is mostly decorated with white stones and bluestones, and most of the patterns and images are tiger feet, unicorns, magpies, horses stepping on auspicious clouds, lions playing with balls, and auspicious words.
2. Wall body (including gables, waist lines and windows). The wall body is the most distinctive, and the gables are also made of clay sculpture with bas-relief in a symmetrical shape, with red bricks, white stones and bluestone shadow carvings at the waist line. There are many kinds of windows, such as brick windows, stone windows, porcelain windows and wooden windows. Brick window and porcelain window are characterized by forming an integral pattern independently. The window columns of stone windows often appear in the form of round carvings, with animal flowers carved. If they are carved windows, they are common opera figures.
3. The eaves are generally in the form of relief, painted with clay sculptures, with many landscape figures and story lines.
Unique overall aesthetic feeling and varied masonry wall
1. The most prominent feature of the structure and decoration of Minnan residential wall is that the wall and stone are mixed, that is, "bricks are thrown into the stone", which is the mixing of two different materials, which causes a decorative aesthetic feeling, that is, the surface of the stone and the surface of the brick have a texture contrast, and the stone is used as a surface and a point, while the brick seam is used as a line, between which points, lines and lines are generated.
2. White granite and red fair-faced brick have a harmonious and contrasting effect in color formation. The contrast lies in lightness, but harmony lies in that its white stone is not pure white, but white with a little gray. As a "face", white gray can play a buffering role, expressing harmony in contrast and conflict in harmony. The solution of this contradiction is also one of the characteristics of masonry walls; When it comes to color, red bricks and white stones form the visual effect of red and white walls, and this concavity and convexity is based on the light and forms a subtle rhythm, and the whole house stands out in the shade. We believe that bluestone, red brick and some decorative border patterns can form an interactive relationship with the surrounding environment under the sunlight, which is loud and harmonious and has an affinity.
3. Most houses in southern Fujian adopt the form of jointing with bare walls, and there is a contrast between regular brick joints and irregular stones, which is the contrast between "line" and "surface". Of course, this is not absolute. On the wall, some houses in southern Fujian use "regular" red bricks and "regular" stones and mix them according to a certain arrangement.
4. The application of pattern wall greatly enriches the monotonous wall. Such as plum blossom wall brick, swastika brick wall, turtle back brick wall, ancient money brick wall, gourd brick wall and parallel brick wall.
In the gable part, the decorative patterns made of clay plastic materials give a rich visual effect, and some colored porcelain tiles are also used in modern houses. The patterns include fire patterns and moire patterns, and the two sides are symmetrical and suitable, and lanterns and flower baskets are placed in the middle. These decorative patterns generally constitute a desirable gourd shape. Of course, some classical figures and some symbolic objects have appeared in this performance area. Color, blue and white, in order to coordinate with the wall with some purple, red and other similar colors interspersed between them. In the overall design, patterns similar to the gluttony of bronzes are often used, and the central image above should be evolved from the image of exorcism, which is in line with folk customs. Then, all the figures are unified through the fluttering of ribbons. From the perspective of gable decoration, the symbols of cloud, water, fire dragon and phoenix are naturally a traditional argot, which is manifested in flower baskets and lanterns, such as the homonym of adding "Ding". As a folk house, it attaches great importance to the continuous derivation of future generations.
Second, pay attention to the visibility of details and the readability of image stories
When it comes to the wall, we have to talk about some of its detailed features, which are also subordinate to the whole, but the rich details have not affected our sight from the visual whole. In addition to the standard bricks, there are also molded bricks for the exterior wall sealing bricks of Minnan residential buildings. These molded bricks all have replicated patterns, and they are arranged on the whole wall by the law of formal beauty. In modern composition language, it is an application of four-sided continuous patterns. As far as a single brick is concerned, it is suitable for patterns alone. At the same time, a frame line is added around the wall. This frame line itself is a continuous pattern, commonly known as lace. Lace is sometimes made of another material, such as tiles. There is also a waist line decorated with bluestone under the wall window, which is also the place where craftsmen make a fuss. The beauty of details does not only exist in the middle of the wall, for example, on the pilaster, the column body is also built with red bricks and flowers, and there are also some graphic ornamentation.
The method of wall sealing in Minnan residential buildings is very traditional in Minnan. It pays attention to the balance between reality and reality, and pays attention to location management, but it is very modern. For example, it reflects irregularity in the rules, implies logical order, and reflects rhythm through some repetition. There are symmetrical forms and window views in the composition, and some decorative lines make people feel ups and downs by rolling waves and turning, so as to break through the hardness and coldness of Shi Zhuan, dilute the monotonous plane of the wall with stories of characters, and sublimate the rigid external masonry wall into architectural works of art with humanistic colors.
Third, the practicality and aesthetic feeling reflected by the unique design
Practical drainage system and aesthetic roof:
Drainage system of ancient buildings in southern Fujian: There is usually a relatively complete drainage system around and inside the ancient buildings. There is a large drainage pool in the center of the ancient building, and the drainage system of the ancient building is more complete. Around the ancient building, there are generally deep drainage ditches. Once it rains heavily, the problem of waterlogging will not occur if the internal and external * * * cooperate. Moreover, this function makes the ancient building have the real function of being warm in winter and cool in summer, which can be called the miracle of ancient houses in China. Moreover, the roof and tiles of the ancient building also meet the needs of drainage. The following is a detailed explanation with pictures.
Roof ridge of Minnan ancient building: The front ridge of Minnan ancient building is either saddle ridge or dovetail ridge, which are graceful curves with slightly warped ends in the middle depression. The dovetail ridge is more formal, with both ends sticking out high and tilted up, tapering and flying lightly. If it is a five-room house, there are two more swallowtails on the roof, as if two pairs of wings, one big and one small, are flying. In all parts of China, dovetail eaves are rarely used in residential buildings. In order to defend against typhoons, houses are usually built low and calm, but the eaves are high, which brings a sense of flying upward. From the color point of view, the bottom is the foot of white stone wall, and the top is red brick and red tile. The contrast between red and white is bright and moving. The details are exquisitely decorated, colorful and gorgeous.