My house faces south. There are houses built on both sides behind the house, forming an alley that goes straight to the back of my house. It’s good when coming from the north.

The History of Beijing Siheyuan Since the Yuan Dynasty when Beijing was formally established as the capital and large-scale planning and construction of the capital was planned, Siheyuan appeared at the same time as Beijing’s palaces, government offices, neighborhoods, lanes and alleys. According to "Analysis of Jin Zhi" written by Xiong Mengxiang in the late Yuan Dynasty: "The system of streets is called longitude from south to north, and latitude from east to west. The main street is twenty-four steps wide, with three hundred and eighty-four fire lanes, two Nineteen Streets. "The so-called "streets" here are what we call hutongs today, and the land between hutongs is for citizens to build residences.

At that time, Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, "ordered the old city residents to prioritize those with high status (rich people) and senior officials (serving in the imperial court) in the capital, and ordered eight acres of land. "One point" was given to the officials who moved to Beijing to build residences. This is where the large-scale formation of traditional courtyard houses in Beijing began.

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, although Beijing’s courtyard houses have gone through vicissitudes of life, this basic living form has been formed and continuously improved to be more suitable for living requirements, forming the courtyard house style we see today.

The courtyard house in Beijing is famous because of its unique composition, which is typical and representative of traditional Chinese residential architecture. Most of the residential buildings in China are inner-courtyard residences. The residential courtyards in the south are very small, and the surrounding houses are connected into one, which is called "a seal". This kind of house is suitable for southern climate conditions, and ventilation and lighting are not ideal.

Beijing’s quadrangle courtyards have spacious and spacious courtyards. The houses on all four sides are independent and connected by corridors, making living very convenient. [Edit this paragraph] 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 a "kou" shape. After hundreds of years of construction, Beijing's courtyard houses have formed a Beijing-style style unique to the capital, from their floor plan to internal structure and detailed decoration.

Beijing’s regular courtyard houses generally face south along an east-west alley. The basic shape is the north room (main room), south room (inverted room) and east and west wing rooms, which are surrounded by four separate buildings. Use high walls to form a quadrangle and open a door. The gate is located at the southeast corner of the house

at the "Xun" position. 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 respectively, 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 the quadrangle is the courtyard, which is spacious.

The courtyard is planted with trees and flowers and has tanks for raising goldfish. It is the center of the quadrangle layout and is also a place for people to walk through, get light, ventilate, enjoy the cool, rest and do housework. Siheyuan is a closed residence with only one street door to the outside. When the door is closed, it has strong privacy and is very suitable for exclusive living. In the courtyard, all the houses on all sides open to the courtyard, and the family can be harmonious and happy inside. Because the courtyard is spacious, you can plant trees and flowers, raise birds and fish, and stack rocks to create landscaping.

Residents not only enjoy comfortable housing, but also share a beautiful world given by nature.

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.

Beijing’s courtyard houses are world-famous. 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 was quoted in the "Research on Old News under Rixia": "The clouds are opening and closing three thousand feet, and the fog is darkening the towers of millions of homes." These "millions of homes" are what we call today. Beijing Siheyuan.

Why is it called "Siheyuan"? Because this kind of folk house has four houses, the main house (north house), the reverse side (south house), the east wing and the west wing, surrounded by four houses, forming a square shape with a central courtyard inside, so this kind of courtyard style house is called Siheyuan.

Siheyuan has a long history in China. According to the analysis of existing cultural relics, buildings in the form of Siheyuan appeared as early as more than 2,000 years ago.

In the process of historical development, the Chinese people particularly loved the architectural form of the courtyard. Not only palaces, temples, and government officials used courtyards, but they were also widely used in residential buildings everywhere. However, whenever people mention courtyard houses, they will naturally think of Beijing courtyard houses. Why is this?

This is the regular form of the Beijing courtyard house, which is very typical. Among all kinds of courtyard houses, the Beijing courtyard house can represent its main characteristics.

First of all, the central courtyard of a Beijing courtyard is basically a square in plan view, while some residential buildings in other areas are not like this. For example, in the courtyard houses in Shanxi and Shaanxi, the courtyards are a vertical rectangle that is long from north to south and narrow from east to west. However, the courtyards of courtyard houses in Sichuan and other places are mostly horizontal rectangles that are long from east to west and narrow from north to south.

Secondly, the houses in the east, west, south and north directions of the Beijing courtyard are independent. The east and west wing rooms are not connected to the main house and the reverse building itself, and the main house and side rooms are not connected to each other. , reverse seats, etc. All the houses are one-story, without buildings. The only thing connecting these houses is the verandah at the corner. In this way, when viewed from the air, Beijing's courtyard houses look like four small boxes enclosing a courtyard.

As for the courtyard houses in many areas in the south, most of the houses on the four sides are buildings, and the houses are connected at the four corners of the courtyard. The houses on the east, west, north and south sides do not exist independently. Therefore, southerners call courtyards "patio". It can be seen that the courtyards in Jiangnan are as small as a "well", which inevitably reminds people of the idioms of "frog at the bottom of the well" and "sitting in a well and looking at the sky".

Beijing’s quadrangle courtyard is a veritable courtyard, spacious and open, with plenty of sunlight and a wide view.

Another point is that Beijing’s courtyard houses are rich in cultural connotation and fully embody the traditional Chinese concept of living.

For example, the Tao Courtyard (Siheyuan in Northeastern Rural Areas) of the Han people in Northeast China meets the first two characteristics of Beijing Siheyuan, but it does not have the characteristic of rich cultural connotation.

For example, the single door of the Northeastern courtyard (traditionally, the Chinese tradition is mostly in the form of double doors), and the "back gate" behind the main room as a storage room, etc. all make people feel that they are from Shandong and other places in the Qing Dynasty. It is a continuation of the habits of the poor brought by immigrants who "ran to Guandong".

It is precisely because of the above characteristics that people often regard Beijing courtyard houses as the typical representative form of Chinese courtyard houses. [Edit this paragraph] The scale of Beijing courtyard courtyards. Although courtyard courtyards have certain regulations, their sizes vary. They vary and can be roughly divided into three types: large quadrangle, middle quadrangle and small quadrangle:

The small quadrangle generally has three rooms in the north, one light and two dark or two light and one dark, with east and west wing rooms each. Two rooms, three rooms in the south room. Lay the bricks to the top and raise the ridge to build a tile-roofed house. It can accommodate a family of three generations, with the grandparents living in the main room, the younger generation living in the wing, and the south room used as a study or living room. The courtyard is paved with brick corridors, connecting the doors of various houses, and there are steps in front of each house. There are two doors, decorated with black paint and oil. There are a pair of brass door cymbals on the door, and there are couplets on the two doors.

The middle courtyard is more spacious than the small courtyard. It usually has 5 rooms in the north, 3 in the front and 2 in the west, and 3 in the east and west. There is a corridor in front of the room to protect it from wind and rain. In addition, the courtyard walls are divided into the front courtyard (outer courtyard) and the backyard (inner courtyard), and the courtyard walls are connected with each other by moon gates. The front yard has a shallow depth, with one or two rooms used as gatehouses, and the back yard is used as a living room. The architecture is exquisite, with square bricks on the floor and bluestone steps.

A large courtyard house is customarily called a "big house gate". The layout of the house can be 5 south and 5 north, 7 south and 7 north, and there may even be 9 or 11 main rooms. It is usually a duplex courtyard, that is, composed of multiple rooms. Two courtyards are connected vertically. There are many courtyards, including front courtyard, backyard, east courtyard, west courtyard, main courtyard, side courtyard, cross courtyard, study courtyard, enclosed courtyard, horse hall, first entrance, second entrance, third entrance... and so on. There are hand-operated corridors connecting various parts of the courtyard, covering a large area. If the land available for building is small or the financial capacity cannot bear it, the quadrangle courtyard can be converted into a triple courtyard without building the south room.

Medium-sized and small courtyards are generally the residences of ordinary residents, while large courtyards are used by mansions and government offices. [Edit this paragraph] Other introductions to Beijing Siheyuan Beijing Siheyuan is a brick-wood structure Beijing Siheyuan building. The purlins, columns, beams (trusses), sills, rafters, doors, windows, partitions, etc. are all made of wood. Wooden houses The shelves are 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".

The main door of a courtyard house generally occupies an area of ??one room, and its components are quite complex. The building names include gate tower, door opening, gate (door leaf), door frame, waist railing, rest board, walking horse board, Door pillows, sills, door sills, door hairpins, large edges, wipers, straps, door core panels, door cymbals, plugs, animal faces, door nails, door couplets, etc. The main door of a courtyard house is composed of these parts. The gate is usually painted black, and couplets with red and black characters can be added. After entering the gate, there are hanging flower gate, moon gate and so on. The hanging flower door is the most gorgeous decorative door in the courtyard. It is called "hanging flower" because the outer eaves of the door are made of archways. Its function is to separate the inner and outer courtyards. Outside the door are the living room, concierge, garage and horse hall and other "outside houses". Inside the door are The main living room is the bedroom "inner house". If there is no hanging flower door, the moon door can be used to separate the inner and outer houses. The hanging flower door is very beautifully painted, the cornice and rafter heads are painted blue-green, the wood is painted red, the round rafter heads are painted blue, white and black like a halo of orbs, and the square rafter heads are painted with gold swastikas or rhombuses on a blue background. flower pattern. There are brocade patterns, flowers, Kunhui, Bogu, etc. in the center of the front eaves. The hanging lotus capitals on both sides are even more colorful according to the carved patterns. The carving patterns of the courtyard are mainly various auspicious patterns, such as "good fortune and longevity" composed of bat and longevity, a Kun vase with roses meaning "peace in all seasons", "descendants for generations", "three friends of winter", "Yutang Wealth and Honor", "Fu Lu, Shou Xi" and so on show the old Beijing people's yearning for a better life.

The windows and sill walls are embedded in the large frame between the upper sill (no lower sill) and the left and right pillars. The upper sash can be supported, but the lower sash is generally fixed. In winter, Korean paper or cellophane is often used to paste windows, which makes them bright when viewed from the inside and dark when viewed from the outside. This not only prevents the cold air from invading, but also keeps indoor light sufficient. In summer, the windows are covered with gauze or cold cloth. This is the window gauze woven from wood in the counties south of Beijing. It looks like cloth but is not cloth. It can provide ventilation and relieve indoor heat. There is a piece of paper on the outside of the cold cloth, which is rolled up during the day and put down at night, so it is also called "roll-up window". Some people use windows that can be lifted up and down.

Beijing has more wind and sand in winter and spring, so residential buildings often use door curtains.

In general, people hang cotton door curtains with plywood in winter, plywood door curtains in spring and autumn, and bamboo door curtains with plywood in summer. Poor families can use straw curtains or broken felt curtains. The door curtain can be hoisted. The purpose of installing plywood on the upper, middle and lower parts is to increase the weight and prevent it from being lifted by the wind. Later, door curtains were replaced by air doors, but bamboo curtains were still used in summer, which were cool, translucent and practical.

The ceilings of courtyard houses are made of sorghum poles and papered on the outside. Ceiling pasting in Beijing is a technique. In a courtyard house, everything from the ceiling to the walls, curtains, and windows is papered with white paper, which is called "Four Whites to the Bottom." Ordinary families would do it once every few years, while wealthy families would do it "four times a year."

Beijing is very cold in winter. Residents in courtyard houses all sleep on heated kangs. In front of the kangs, there is a coal stove sunk into the ground, and a fire is lit in the stove. The earthen kang is empty, and when fire enters the hole, the kang bed will be heated. People who sleep on the hot kang will have a warm sleep. The coal used for burning the kang is mostly produced in Xishan, Beijing. It can be divided into raw coal and minced coal. The minced coal is shaken with loess and briquettes are used for burning the kang or cooking.

Stoves are commonly used for indoor heating. Stoves can be divided into three types based on their texture: clay, iron, and copper. The clay stove is made of potwood wood produced in Beijing. It has strong heat permeability and is light and easy to move. It is often used in wealthy homes. There are several stoves available. Most people usually use the fire in front of the Kang Kun to cook and cook, without burning a separate stove. As the saying goes, "the pot is connected to the stove", it is difficult to separate it for daily life. The stove can seal the fire, so it is often kept burning for years to prepare for emergencies. If it goes out, use dry firewood or charcoal to light it. Housewives get up every morning and lift the stove outside the house (to prevent gas poisoning) to light a fire, which becomes a scene in Beijing.

The discharge of domestic water in courtyards usually takes the form of seepage pits, commonly known as "seepage wells" and "seepage ditches". There are generally no toilets in courtyards. Most toilets are located in alleys, called "official latrines".

Beijing courtyard houses pay attention to greening, and trees and flowers are planted in the courtyard. The flowers and trees are sparse, elegant and pleasant. The flowers that old Beijing loved to grow included lilacs, crabapples, elm-leaf plums, mountain peach blossoms, etc. The trees were mostly jujube and locust trees. In addition to planting, flowers and plants can also be grown in pots and water. The most common potted flowers and trees are pomegranate trees, oleanders, golden osmanthus, silver osmanthus, rhododendrons, gardenias, etc. Planting pomegranates is a sign of "plentiful seeds". As for the grass jasmine, impatiens, morning glories and lentil flowers in the flowerbed in front of the steps, they are even more homely beauty of the courtyard. There is a saying in the Qing Dynasty that describes life in a courtyard: "ceiling, fish tank, pomegranate tree, master, young lady, fat girl", which can be said to be a typical portrayal of life in a courtyard. [Edit this paragraph] The highest price of a courtyard house in Beijing is 400 million. Due to the shortage of courtyard houses and the increasing number of wealthy people who are obsessed with the lifestyle and noble status of courtyard houses, the price of courtyard houses has increased. It is understood that the current price of courtyard houses in Beijing has increased by about five times compared with 2000, with the selling price per square meter reaching 20,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan. A courtyard of more than 300 square meters basically costs tens of millions. Among them, a real estate agency in Beijing has a house sold for 400 million yuan.