Seek the material and structure of Beijing quadrangle!

Siheyuan vary greatly in size. But no matter how big or small, it is composed of basic units.

A courtyard, the basic unit of a quadrangle, is fixed by four houses, which are called one entrance to a courtyard, two entrances to two exits, three entrances to three exits, and so on.

There can be as many as seven or nine large quadrangles in Beijing (such as Wang Fu). In addition to the main courtyard in the middle road, there are east and west courtyards on both sides, which can be described as "deep house courtyard".

Because of the influence of sunshine, it is best to have a house facing south all around. So the north room of the courtyard is the main room, followed by the east and west sides, and the south room opposite the north room is called the inverted room. The last row of main rooms in medium-sized or large quadrangles is the back building.

The back building is sometimes built into two floors, which is called post-Gai Lou.

Courtyards with more than two courtyards are generally divided into inner courtyards and outer courtyards, which are connected and communicated by two doors-hanging flower doors or screen doors.

Between the main room and the wing room of a quadrangle, there are generally corridors for manuscripts.

The handwriting gallery is an open attached building, which can be used for people to walk, sit still and enjoy the scenery in the courtyard.

The architectural color of quadrangles mostly adopts the color of the material itself, such as blue bricks and gray tiles, white tiles on jade steps, polished and spliced walls, and exquisite craftsmanship. Although it is made of muddy water, it looks like a good craft. The houses in the east, west, south and north directions of Beijing Siheyuan are independent, and the east and west wing rooms are not connected with the main building and the inverted building itself. Moreover, the main building, wing room, inverted building and other houses are all on the first floor. There are no buildings, only the veranda at the corner connects these houses. The allocation of houses in Beijing quadrangles is very strict, and the principal rooms with superior positions in the courtyard should be occupied by the older generation of grandfathers and their wives.

Only one of the three rooms in the north room is open to the public, which is called the main room. The two rooms on both sides only opened the door of the hall to form a suite, which became a pattern of light and shade. The main hall is the place where family members live, entertain relatives or worship ancestors on New Year's Day, and there are many bedrooms on both sides.

The bedrooms on both sides of the east and west also have the distinction of honour and inferiority. Under the system of polygamy, the east side is distinguished and occupies the first house, while the west side is humble and occupies the wing.

East-west wing-can open the door alone, or communicate with the main room, generally used as a bedroom or study. Both the East Wing and the West Wing are occupied by the younger generation. The wing is also light and dark, with a living room in the middle and bedrooms on both sides.

You can also separate a room on the south side for use as a kitchen or restaurant. Back-built houses-quadrangles of medium or above often have back military houses or back Gai Lou, mainly for unmarried women or maids.