Siheyuan, a kind of combined building form in civil houses in North China, is a square or rectangular courtyard. A family, living in a closed yard, living a comfortable, leisurely and quiet life, enjoying the joy of family and family, naturally has a relaxed atmosphere.
This quadrangle was left over from the old society before the founding of New China, and it is still in use now. This kind of courtyard, generally used in and out of a courtyard door. At ordinary times, when the gate is closed, it is in a completely closed state. Most of the courtyard gates of quadrangles use wooden doors. One end of the gate made of thick wooden board is placed in the axis from top to bottom, which can be closed and opened, safe and reliable. In the quadrangle, there is the main room, that is, the north room. This is the main room in the courtyard, and the direction of the general quadrangle is also sitting north to south. On the east and west sides, there are east and west wing rooms. The east and west wing rooms are generally symmetrical, and the architectural format is generally the same or similar. There is a south building in the south, corresponding to the north building. The whole quadrangle is mostly built in a symmetrical way according to the traditional "habit" of China. Of course, in the corner formed by the north and south and the east and west rooms, there are also wing rooms. Some of these wing rooms are used to store grain, become grain depots and other warehouses, and some are used as kitchens. There is also a corner, usually the southwest corner is a toilet, while the southeast corner is mostly the gate of the yard. This kind of quadrangle program is more common in the county town of Shanxi and its nearby countryside. There are also courtyards in some places, and the gates are open to the south.
Some families, in order to decorate the courtyard, also build a shadow wall, that is, a brick wall, directly opposite the entrance of the courtyard. On the side facing the gate, flowers, pine and bamboo patterns or large calligraphy characters are generally placed on the front of the screen wall. Write auspicious words such as "Fu", "Lu" and "Shou". There are also some screen walls painted with auspicious patterns, such as "Song He Yan nian", "Magpie Climbing Plums" and "Kirin Sending Children", which create an atmosphere of scholarly calligraphy in the quadrangle. Some farmers also use the words or pictures of "abundant grains", "good luck" and "happiness as the East China Sea". This kind of screen wall is located at the entrance of the gate, some of which are built separately, and some are embedded in the gable of the wing. The screen wall, also known as the screen wall, is square, surrounded by brick carvings, and the square in the middle is calligraphy or painting. The zhaobi is divided into two parts: the base and the wall. Besides adding atmosphere to the courtyard and praying for good luck, the zhaobi also plays an isolation role that makes it difficult for the outside world to peek at the activities in the courtyard.
In the courtyard, there are different kinds of floors, such as slabs, bricks and pebbles. Some of the grounds in the courtyard are all paved, and some of the main passages are paved. No matter how they are paved, there are always some places in the courtyard to plant trees and flowers as an ornament of the courtyard.
With the development of the times, there have been many changes in architecture now. In rural areas, most of them have undergone great evolution on the basis of the original quadrangles. That is, expand the number of rooms in the main room, because the main room-the north room has good lighting. Therefore, when building a house, make full use of the space and ground in the north as much as possible, which makes the courtyard irregular and a square or rectangular courtyard formed in front of the main room with the north room as the main room.
The allocation of residence in quadrangles is very strict, and the principal rooms in the courtyards with superior positions should be given to the older generation of grandfathers and wives.
Only one of the three rooms in the north room opens to the outside, which is called a main room. The two rooms on both sides only open the door to the hall, forming a suite, which becomes a bright and dark pattern. The main hall is a place for family members to live, entertain relatives or offer sacrifices to their ancestors on New Year's Day, with more bedrooms on both sides.
The bedrooms on the east and west sides also have the distinction of honour and inferiority. Under the system of polygamy, the east side is honored, and the main room is occupied, while the west side is humble, and the wing is occupied.
East and west wing-can open the door alone, or communicate with the main room, generally used as a bedroom or study. The east wing and the west wing are occupied by the younger generation. The wing is also bright and dark, with a living room in the middle and bedrooms on both sides.
You can also divide a room on the south side and use it as a kitchen or restaurant. Back cover room-quadrangles of medium-sized or above often have back military rooms or back cover buildings, which are mainly for unmarried women or maids to live in.
Siheyuan is an independent courtyard consisting of the main room (usually the north room), the east and west wing rooms and the south room. There are sometimes east and west wing rooms next to the main room, and there is a veranda to connect the houses on all sides to avoid the wind and rain.
Hutongs in Beijing are generally east-west, mainly to leave people. The courtyard door in the north of the hutong is generally opened in the southeast corner of the yard, and the courtyard door in the south is generally opened in the west corner of the yard. Siheyuan is a typical residential form in Beijing.
Generally, quadrangles have two courtyards, and large ones have three or four courtyards and flower gardens. The two courtyards generally build a partition wall between the east and west wing rooms, and the outer houses are generally inhabited by staff. Luxury hanging-down doors are generally built between the inner and outer houses, and there are shadow walls in the hanging-down doors, which are only opened when there are major events. In the old days, the young lady of a large house could not leave the door, and the second door could not be taken, which means this door, and the servants at home are generally not allowed to enter this door. Street gates are relatively simple, and street gates are generally built on the left side of the yard. The last row of main rooms in large quadrangles is the back cover room.
Old Beijingers pay more attention to it. For example, they can't plant locust trees in front of the courtyard, because a bug, commonly known as chihuo, used to fall from locust trees. They are worried that passers-by will say, "Why are there so many chihuo here?" Because mulberry trees are homophonic with "mourning", they don't plant mulberry trees beside the courtyard. Most people in Beijing love to plant oleanders in the yard.
Siheyuan is a traditional residential form in Beijing. It took shape in the Liao Dynasty, and gradually improved through the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and finally became the most distinctive residential form in Beijing.
The so-called four-in-one, "four" refers to the east, west, south and north, and "combination" means that all the houses are surrounded together to form a "mouth" shape. After hundreds of years of construction, Beijing quadrangles have formed a unique Beijing style from the plane layout to the internal structure and detailed decoration.
Regular quadrangles in Beijing generally face south according to the east-west hutong. The basic shape is the north room (the main room), the south room (the inverted room) and the east and west rooms, which are separated on all sides, and then 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. The total number of rooms is generally 3 rooms in the north room, 5 rooms in the front room, 3 rooms in the east room and 3 rooms in the west room, 4 rooms in the south room excluding the gate, and 17 rooms including the gate hole and the hanging flower door. If each room is 11-12 square meters, the total area is about 200 square meters. There is a courtyard in the middle of the courtyard, which is spacious. Trees and flowers are planted in the courtyard, and goldfish are raised in tanks. It is the center of the layout of the courtyard, and it is also a place for people to walk, light, ventilate, enjoy the cool, rest and do housework.