Architectural style of Chaoshan folk houses

Chaoshan folk houses have distinctive features and high aesthetic value. The main feature of Chaoshan folk houses is to combine the traditional architectural culture with the unique traditional arts and crafts in Chaoshan to the maximum extent, such as gold lacquer wood carving, craft stone carving, porcelain mosaic art, metal craft, painting and calligraphy art, etc. The folk houses are magnificent and charming, rich in cultural heritage and luxurious in style, and can rival the palace in architectural sequence and decoration technology. Therefore, since ancient times, there has been a saying that "Chaoshan made a big mistake in the palace" and "Jingshi Wangfu, Chaoshan people".

Chaoyang and other places have even built houses with red beams and golden tiles. Some people describe them as "palaces for the elderly" (temples). This architectural style was originally only available in palaces and temples. It is said that Chaoyang was built by fake uncle Chen Beike. Chaoshan folk houses retain the tradition of aristocratic families living together in Tang and Song Dynasties, and form large-scale buildings such as villages. The local economy is developed, the humanities are prosperous, and the building scale is often magnificent.

The annex building is connected together around the main building, which is a building complex with closed outside and open inside, and lives together. The so-called "lightweight", first, the monomer is small, generally not as big as the houses in the Central Plains and Jiangnan; Second, the visual effect of the appearance is not as majestic as that of the Central Plains, nor as elegant as that of Jiangnan. The color of Chaozhou architecture is gray and turbid, and it is emphasized to strengthen decoration in key parts such as roof, beam frame, wall head and eaves, and these decorative components are often related to the practical functions of building components. The so-called "transparency" means that the whole building pays attention to ventilation, which is not only conducive to the moisture-proof and moth-proof of building materials, but also pays attention to comfortable and cool living activities under the natural climate conditions of Chaozhou.

The interior space of residential buildings pays attention to gas collection, ventilation and shading, and the beams and columns are stacked and pushed forward, and the lines are slim and beautiful. Chaozhou folk houses attach great importance to decoration from the outside to the inside, pursue luxury and elegance, and even do whatever it takes to achieve results. This makes the appearance of Chaoshan residential buildings very magnificent, and the halls are even more magnificent.

The decoration of the roof, the dragon wind on the roof, the porcelain inlaid with immortal animals and the exquisite wood carving technology are all characteristics of Chaoshan folk houses. Chaoshan architecture pays great attention to geomantic omen, for example, the plastic ridge decoration of the gable at the top of the outer side of the house is very particular, and it is often made into five-star gray sculptures of gold, wood, water, fire and earth according to the five elements of its geographical location. Among them, Mars is only used in temples and temples, which has traditional philosophical thinking and is influenced by the theory of Yin and Yang and the customs of the five elements. And the site selection, orientation, pattern and vegetation of the building. They all pay attention to it, such as water in front of the door, proper white patio, proper hall insertion, planting banyan before planting bamboo, etc. Therefore, there are many legends about choosing geomantic omen and architecture, such as the female louse fairy and Yu banxian.

There are many rivers in Chaoshan Plain, and many villages and towns are near the water. Those who don't face the river often open canals to divert water to the front of the village, dig semi-circular ponds to store water, and bend to the main building to collect gas and gather wealth. There is also the advantage of "crossing the pool". Swimming, bathing, washing clothes and raising fish are more practical. Chaoshan area still retains the ancient architectural style of plate building (that is, the plate building with "Fu Shuo between plates").

Generally, the raw materials are a mixture of red clay and crushed stone to build a wall, instead of using bricks that consume good soil in the field and then mixing mud and shell ash to paint the wall. Some of them are rammed earth or woven from wood and grass. In the old days, the poor people by the sea lived in huts called "grass huts", and stone materials were mostly used for door frames, railings, drums, steps, column bases and so on. On the roof and ridge, there is a ceramic coping with flowers, which can not only ventilate but also prevent wind. There are also two (or three) layers of blue tiles, the upper layer eats seven, the lower layer eats three and leaves seven, and then the tile pipe is pressed to insulate the water between the two tiles.