Beijing quadrangle

Beijing quadrangles, as the main architectural form that old Beijingers have lived in for generations, are well-known at home and abroad and all over the world.

Beijing quadrangles are famous for their long history.

Since Beijing was formally established as the capital in Yuan Dynasty, quadrangles and palaces, office buildings, blocks and hutongs in Beijing have appeared at the same time. Xiong's Analysis at the end of Yuan Dynasty recorded: "The street system is called longitude line in the north and south, and latitude line in the east and west. The street is 24 steps wide, there are 384 fire lanes and 29 streets. " The so-called "street corner" here is what we call hutong today, and between hutong and hutong is the land where people build houses.

At that time, Kublai Khan "wrote to the residents of the old city that the capital was too old, and those with high (rich) positions (serving in the imperial court) came first, but eight acres of land were customized for one point", which was distributed to Jia Jianfang, an official who moved to Beijing, and the large-scale formation of traditional quadrangles in Beijing began.

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, quadrangles in Beijing have experienced many vicissitudes, but this basic living form has been formed and constantly improved, which is more suitable for living requirements and forms the quadrangle form we see today.

Beijing Siheyuan is famous for its unique composition, and it is typical and representative in traditional residential buildings in China. Most of the residential buildings in China are inner courtyard houses, while the residential courtyards in the south are very small, and the surrounding houses are connected as a whole, which is called "a seal". This kind of residence is suitable for the climate conditions in the south, and the ventilation and lighting are not ideal.

The quadrangles in Beijing are spacious and spacious, and the houses on all sides are independent and connected by cloisters, so life is very convenient.

Siheyuan is a closed house with only one street gate leading to the outside. The closed door comes from Chengtiandi, which has strong privacy and is very suitable for exclusive residence. In the yard, the houses on all sides are open to the yard, and the family is happy. Because the yard is spacious, you can plant trees and flowers, feed birds and fish, and pile stones to beautify the environment. Residents not only enjoy comfortable housing, but also share the beautiful world endowed by nature.

The quadrangle in Beijing is famous because it is a residential building, but it contains profound cultural connotation and is the carrier of China traditional culture.

The construction of quadrangles pays great attention to geomantic omen. From site selection to determining the specific scale of each building, it must be carried out according to the theory of geomantic omen.

Geomantic omen theory is actually an ancient architectural environmentology in China and an important part of China's traditional architectural theory. This geomantic theory has been guiding the architectural activities in ancient China for thousands of years. In addition to the theory of geomantic omen, the decoration, sculpture and painting of quadrangles also reflect folk customs and traditional culture everywhere, showing people's pursuit of happiness, beauty, prosperity and auspiciousness under specific historical conditions. For example, the pattern composed of bats and longevity characters means "longevity", and the pattern with Chinese rose flowers in the vase means "peace in the four seasons". Auspicious words embedded in the door tube and the door head, couplets pasted on eaves columns, and masterpieces of calligraphy and painting hung indoors are all ancient sayings that combine the achievements of sages and philosophers, using ancient and modern famous sentences, or praising the beauty of mountains and rivers, or inscriptions.

In old Beijing, besides the Forbidden City, royal gardens, temples, temples and palaces, a large number of buildings are the homes of countless people.

An Examination of Old News in the Sun quoted a poem from the Yuan Dynasty: "Clouds open and close three thousands of feet, and there are ten thousand pagodas in the fog." This "one million family" house is now called Beijing Siheyuan.

Why is it called "Siheyuan"? Because this kind of house has four rooms: the main room (north room), the inverted seat (south seat), the east wing and the west wing, which are surrounded on all sides to form a zigzag shape with a central courtyard inside, this quadrangle-style house is called quadrangle.

Siheyuan has a long history in China. According to the analysis of existing cultural relics, quadrangle architecture appeared as early as 2000 years ago.

In the process of historical development, China people especially like quadrangles, which are not only used in palaces, temples and government offices, but also widely used in local houses. However, as long as people mention quadrangles, they will naturally think of Beijing quadrangles.

Beijing quadrangles are very regular and typical. Among all kinds of quadrangles, Beijing quadrangle can best represent its main characteristics.

First of all, the central courtyard of Beijing Siheyuan is basically square in plan, but some houses in other areas are not. For example, the courtyards of quadrangles in Shanxi and Shaanxi are vertical rectangles long from north to south and narrow from east to west, while quadrangles in Sichuan and other places are mostly horizontal rectangles long from east to west and narrow from north to south.

Secondly, 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. In this way, the Beijing quadrangle has a bird's eye view from the air, just like four small boxes enclosing a yard.

In many quadrangles in the south, the surrounding houses are mostly buildings. At the four corners of the courtyard, the houses are connected together, and the houses in the east, west, north and south do not exist independently. Therefore, southerners call the courtyard "patio", which shows that the courtyard in the south of the Yangtze River is as small as a well, which inevitably reminds people of the idioms of "frog in the well" and "sitting in the well and watching the sky".

Beijing quadrangle is a veritable quadrangle, spacious and open, with plenty of sunshine and broad vision.

The cultural connotation of Beijing quadrangles is rich, which fully embodies the traditional living concept of China.

For example, the quadrangles of the Han nationality in Northeast China (rural quadrangles in Northeast China) conform to the first two characteristics of Beijing quadrangles, but do not have the characteristics of rich cultural connotations.

For example, the single-door quadrangle in Northeast China (in China, the tradition is mostly in the form of double doors) and the practice of setting an "inverted door" behind the hall as a storage room all make people feel that it is a continuation of the poor habits brought by immigrants who "ran to Kanto" in Shandong and other places in the Qing Dynasty. It is precisely because of the above characteristics that people often regard Beijing Siheyuan as a typical representative form of China Siheyuan dwellings.

The quadrangle in Beijing can exist for hundreds of years in history because it has incomparable advantages over other residential buildings. With the gradual acceleration of urban modernization and the emergence of overlapping high-rise buildings, people, especially the old Beijingers who have grown up in Beijing for several generations, will have a special attachment to quadrangles.

The quadrangle in Beijing is a living form carefully created by the ancient working people. It has been with people for hundreds of years, leaving a deep impression on people's hearts and a very rich legacy to history.