How did the Beijing Siheyuan come into being?

Courtyard house

(si he yuan)

Courtyard house is the collective name for a traditional house with a main house and east and west wings surrounding a central courtyard. . It has the longest history and the widest distribution among Chinese folk houses. It is a typical form of Han folk houses. It has a history of more than three thousand years, and its form began to take shape during the Western Zhou Dynasty.

The courtyard houses in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Beijing and Hebei are the most representative.

In Beijing’s large and small hutongs, there are many courtyard-style residences surrounded by houses on the east, south, west and north sides. This is the courtyard house.

The main door of a courtyard usually opens at the southeast or northwest corner. The north room in the courtyard is the main house. The main house is built on a brick base. It is larger than other houses and is the owner of the courtyard. 's residence. There are east and west wing rooms on both sides of the yard, where the younger generations live. There is a corridor between the main room and the side room for people to walk and rest. The walls of the courtyard and the houses facing the street generally do not open windows to the outside, so the environment in the courtyard is closed and quiet.

Beijing has courtyard houses of various sizes, but regardless of size, they are all composed of courtyards surrounded by houses on four sides. The simplest courtyard houses have only one courtyard, while the more complex ones have two or three courtyards. The deep residences where rich people live usually consist of several courtyard houses juxtaposed. There is also a dividing wall in the middle.

The typical characteristics of a courtyard house are its regular appearance, symmetry along the center line, and extremely flexible usage. When it gets bigger, it becomes the palace or the palace, or when it gets smaller, it becomes the residences of ordinary people, the glorious Forbidden City and the suburbs. Ordinary farmers’ homes are courtyard houses.

The general distribution of the courtyard is the main entrance, the first entrance, the lobby, the second entrance, the study room, the residence, etc. There are wing rooms on both sides, and each room has a corridor and is connected by a door. Understanding the folk houses existing on the earth's surface will surely promote and develop the culture of folk houses.

Beijing courtyard house is an inner courtyard-style residence formed by houses on the east, west, south and north sides. As the main architectural form where old Beijingers have lived for generations, Beijing courtyard houses are famous both at home and abroad and are well known to the world.

First of all, it has a long history. Since the Yuan Dynasty when Beijing was formally established as the capital and the capital was planned and constructed on a large scale, courtyard houses have appeared at the same time as Beijing’s palaces, government offices, neighborhoods, alleys and alleys. According to "Analysis of Jin Zhi" written by Xiong Mengxiang in the late Yuan Dynasty: "The street system of most cities is called longitude from south to north, and latitude from east to west. The main street is twenty-four steps wide and there are 384 long lanes. Twenty-nine alleys lead to it.”

Secondly, the composition of the courtyard has its unique features. Its courtyard is wide and spacious, and the houses on all four sides are independent and connected with each other by verandas, making living very convenient. The enclosed residences make the courtyard highly private, and you can see the heaven and earth when you close the door. In the courtyard, the doors on all four sides open to the courtyard. , the family is in harmony and happy; the spacious courtyard can also plant trees and flowers, feed birds and fish, and stack rocks and scenery, so that the residents can enjoy the beauty of nature.

In addition, although the courtyard is a residential building, it contains profound cultural connotations and is the carrier of traditional Chinese culture. The construction of quadrangle courtyards pays great attention to Feng Shui. Feng Shui theory is actually ancient Chinese architectural environment science and an important part of traditional Chinese architectural theory. The decoration, carvings and paintings of quadrangle courtyards also reflect folk customs and traditional culture, showing people's respect for the courtyard. The pursuit of happiness, beauty, wealth and auspiciousness, such as the pattern composed of bat and longevity, means "good fortune and longevity"; the pattern of rose flowers placed in a vase means "peace in all seasons"; and the pattern embedded in the door hairpin and door head The auspicious words and auspicious words, the couplets attached to the pillars, and the masterpieces of calligraphy and painting hung indoors are a collection of ancient teachings from sages and famous quotes from ancient and modern times. It is elegant and full of rich cultural atmosphere, just like a palace of traditional Chinese culture.

Siheyuan

Siheyuan is a combined architectural form in civil residences in North China. It is a square or rectangular courtyard. Each family lives in a closed courtyard, leading a comfortable, leisurely and quiet life, enjoying family joy and family fun, and naturally has a leisurely and contented atmosphere.

This kind of courtyard house is a legacy from the old society before the founding of New China, and is still in use today. This kind of courtyard usually uses one entrance and exit gate.

Normally, once the courtyard door is closed, it is in a completely closed state. Most of the courtyard gates of courtyard houses are wooden gates. One end of the door made of thick wooden boards is placed on the axis, and it can be opened and closed by rotating left and right, which is safe and reliable. In the courtyard, there is the main room, which is the north room. This is the main room in the courtyard, and generally the direction of a courtyard is from north to south. On the east and west sides are the east and west wing rooms. The east and west wing rooms are generally relatively symmetrical, and the architectural formats are generally the same or similar. There is a south room built on the south side, corresponding to the north room. The entire courtyard is mostly built in symmetry according to traditional Chinese customs. Of course, there are also wing rooms in the corners formed by the north, south, and east and west rooms. Some of these wing rooms are used to store grain and become grain depots and other warehouses. , some are used as kitchens, and there is also a corner, usually the southwest corner is the toilet, and the southeast corner is mostly the gate of the courtyard. This four-in-one courtyard format is more common in Shanxi counties and nearby rural areas. There are also some courtyards where the main door opens in the south direction.

In order to decorate the courtyard, some families also build a screen wall directly opposite the entrance to the courtyard. A brick wall. On the side facing the door, there are usually flowers, pine and bamboo patterns or large calligraphy characters placed prominently on the front of the screen wall. There are also auspicious words such as "Fu", "Lu" and "Shou". Part of the screen wall is painted with auspicious patterns, such as "Songs and Cranes Prolong the Year", "Magpies Climb Plum Blossoms", "Qilin Sends Children", etc., creating a scholarly atmosphere in the courtyard. Some farmers also use "grain". The words or pictures of "Good Luck", "Good Luck", "Blessings Like the East Sea". This kind of screen wall is located at the entrance inside the gate. Some are built separately, and some are set on the gable wall of the wing. The screen wall is also called the screen wall. , the walls are all square, decorated with brick carvings on all sides, and the middle square is for calligraphy or painting. The screen wall is divided into two parts: the base and the wall. In addition to adding atmosphere to the courtyard and praying for good luck, the screen wall also plays a role. The isolation effect makes it difficult for outsiders to peek into the activities inside the courtyard.

Some courtyards have paved floors, some have bricks, and some have cobblestones. Some have completely paved floors. There are also cases where the main passage is paved. No matter how it is paved, there should always be some space left in the courtyard to plant trees and flowers as decorations for the courtyard.

With the development of the times, there are now some architectural features. Many changes. In rural areas, most of them have undergone major changes from the original courtyard houses. This is to expand the number of rooms in the main house, because the main house - the north house has good lighting. Therefore, when building the house, it is necessary to make it as full as possible. Utilizing the space and ground on the north side, the courtyard becomes irregular. A square or rectangular courtyard is formed in front of the main house, which is dominated by the north house.

The distribution of residences in the courtyard is very strict. The main room in the inner house has a superior location and is reserved for the older generation of gentlemen and wives.

Only the middle one of the three rooms in the north opens to the outside, which is called the main room. The two rooms on both sides only open to the main room. Open the door to form a suite, with one light and two darks. The main room is a place where family members live, entertain relatives, or worship ancestors during festivals. There are also bedrooms on both sides.

There are also bedrooms on the east and west sides. In the polygamy system, the east side is the upper house and is occupied by the main room, while the west side is the lower house and is occupied by the side rooms.

The east and west side rooms can have separate doors or can be separated from the main room. The rooms are connected and are generally used as bedrooms or study rooms. The east and west wing rooms are occupied by younger generations. The wing rooms are also light and dark, with the middle room being a living room and the two sides being bedrooms.

You can also divide the room on the south side and use it as a kitchen or dining room. Back-house - medium-sized or larger quadrangles often have back-houses or back-houses, mainly for women or maids who have not left the pavilion.

Siheyuan is an independent courtyard composed of the main house (usually the north house), the east and west wing rooms, and the south house. Shelter from wind and rain.

Hutongs in Beijing generally run east-west and are mainly used for pedestrians. The courtyard door in the north of the alley usually opens in the southeast corner of the courtyard, and the courtyard door in the south usually opens in the west corner of the courtyard. Siheyuan is a typical residential form in Beijing.

Generally, quadrangle courtyards have two courtyards, and large ones have three or four courtyards and flower courtyards. The two courtyards usually have a partition wall built between the east and west wing rooms, and the outer house is usually where the staff live. , a luxurious hanging flower door is usually built between the inner and outer houses. There is a screen wall inside the hanging flower door, which is only opened when there are major events. In the old days, it was said that the young lady of a wealthy family could not go out through the front door, and the second door was not open. This refers to this door, and the male servants at home. Generally, you are not allowed to enter this door. The street gate is relatively simple and is usually built on the left side of the yard. The last row of main rooms in a large courtyard house is the back room.

Old Beijingers are very particular. For example, they cannot plant locust trees in front of their courtyards, because in the past, a kind of insect would fall from the locust trees, which is also known as the hanged ghost. They were worried that passers-by would say, "Why are there so many hanged ghosts here?" Ah." Because mulberry trees have the same pronunciation as "mourning", there are no mulberry trees planted near the courtyard. Most Beijingers like to plant oleander in their yards.

Siheyuan is a traditional residential form in Beijing. It first took shape in the Liao Dynasty. It was gradually improved through the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and eventually became the most distinctive residential form in Beijing.

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 the capital's unique Beijing style 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 "Xun" position in the southeast corner of the house. 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, 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 courtyard is the courtyard, which is spacious and planted with trees and flowers, as well as tanks for raising goldfish. It is the center of the courtyard's layout and is also a place for people to walk through, get light, ventilate, enjoy the cool, rest and do housework.

Although Siheyuan has certain regulations, its size varies. It can be roughly divided into three types: large Siheyuan, middle Siheyuan and small Siheyuan:

1. Small Siheyuan A courtyard usually has three rooms in the north, one light and two dark, or two light and one dark, two east and west wing rooms, and three south rooms. Lay the bricks to the top and raise the ridge to build a tile-roofed house. It can accommodate three generations of a family. The grandparents live in the main room, the younger generation lives in the wing room, and the south room is 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.

2. 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 by the moon gate. The front yard has a shallow depth, with one or two rooms used as the gatehouse, and the back yard is used as the living room. The architecture is exquisite, with square bricks on the floor and bluestone steps.

3. A large courtyard 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 are even 9 or 11 main rooms. It is usually a duplex courtyard, that is It is composed of multiple courtyards 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 and small courtyards are generally the residences of ordinary residents, while large courtyards are residences and government offices.

Beijing Siheyuan is a brick-wood structure building. The purlins, columns, beams (trusses), sills, rafters, doors, windows, partitions, etc. are all made of wood. The wooden 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, with 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 gate of a courtyard house generally occupies an area of ??one room, and its components are quite complex. The names include gate tower, door opening, gate (door leaf), door frame, waist railing, rest board, walking 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 gate 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 "outer houses" such as the living room, concierge, carriage house and horse hall. 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, Bogu, etc. in the center of the front eaves, and the hanging lotus capitals on both sides are colorfully painted according to the carved patterns.

The carving patterns of the courtyard are mainly composed of various auspicious patterns, such as "good fortune and longevity" composed of the characters "bat" and "shou", a vase with roses in it means "peace in all seasons", and "descendants for generations to come", "Three Friends in the Winter", "Yutang Wealth", "Fu Lu, Longevity and Joy", etc., 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 pot-hardwood wood produced in Beijing. It has strong heat permeability and is 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 to cook and cook, without burning a separate stove. The so-called "pot is connected to the stove" and 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.

Domestic water in courtyards is often discharged in 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’s courtyard houses pay attention to greening, and trees and flowers are planted in the courtyards. 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" in the pomegranate. 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, fat dog, fat girl", which can be said to be a typical portrayal of life in a courtyard.

Siheyuan generally houses one household, but there are also cases where multiple households share a courtyard, mostly from poor families, and are called "large courtyards." The warmth of the courtyard is something that many old Beijing residents cannot forget.

The courtyard gate of the courtyard in old Beijing

The courtyard gate is the main entrance to the courtyard. Beijingers are accustomed to calling it "street gate". Today, when everything in the world is changing rapidly, it is difficult to judge the level of the courtyard owner based on these street gates. Wandering in the streets shaded by green trees, the numerous old-style street gates have become silent history, silently bringing you boundless associations and inspirations, just like a century old man telling you his early years in a trembling voice. story.

Among the many courtyard doors in Beijing, they can be roughly divided into two categories, namely house-style doors and wall-mounted doors. The former has a door opening and the door occupies a room; the latter has no door opening and only opens the door on the wall. To elaborate, house-style gates are divided into Wangfu gates, Guangliang gates, Ruyi gates, etc.; wall-mounted gates include small gate towers, car doors, etc.

Let’s talk about the gate of the palace first. In the past, the title of a residence was clearly stipulated in the "Qing Dynasty Huidian": "The residences of princes, county princes, crown princes, Baylor, Beizi, Zhenguogong and Fuguogong are all called mansions." Among them, the prince's residence is called a mansion. , the residence of the prince is called the palace. As for those high-ranking officials who are not descendants of phoenixes and dragons, even though they have titles, or titles such as minister, bachelor, or military minister, their residences cannot be called "mansion", but can only be called "zhai" or "di". In terms of property rights, "mansion" and "wangfu" are both royal properties. Once the title is removed, the palace must be removed accordingly to prepare for future distribution to others. "Mansion" is generally private property.

As for the gates of the prince's palace, there are five in the prince's palace and three in the county and prince's palace. They all face north and south. There is a door cover in front of the door (a house with doors, windows and walls), and the aisle is above the ground. There is a corner door on the east and west side of the mansion gate, both called Asimen, for people to enter and exit. "Jiao Xuan Sui Lu" written by Fang Ruishi of the Qing Dynasty said: "There are two doors on the left and right of the main entrance of the foreign official's office, which are called the East Jiao Gate and the West Jiao Gate. The lower officials' visits are all entered through the Jiao Gate." The setting of the Jiao Gate allows the door to be used on weekdays. Closed, opened depending on the situation, it is designed for etiquette needs. Outside the gate of the mansion, there are facilities such as stone lions, lampposts, horse-tying posts, and Hemu (called Xingma in ancient times). Opposite the mansion gate is the screen wall. If the two Asimens are facing each other from east to west and allow people to pass through, there must be a square courtyard among them. Therefore, there is a pair of stone lions in front of the gate, so it is also called the "Lion Courtyard". For those with this layout, the opposite side of the mansion gate is not a screen wall, but a row of bungalows, which were used to be residences for soldiers or where businessmen were staying.

The number of rooms, decoration, colors, etc. of the palace gate are all built according to the regulations. "The Prince's Mansion is made of green glazed tiles, and each door has three golden nails out of sixty, and the Crown Prince's Mansion has two less than the Prince's." Baylor's Mansion has three front doors and one open door. The roof of the palace gate is made of tube tiles, a large ridge, and a kissing animal. There are immortals and animals on the vertical ridge. Drainage ditches are made on the gables. The gate is painted red and the beams are decorated with colorful paintings.

In Ye Guangqin's novel "Picking Mulberries", he describes the appearance of the gate of a royal palace: "Turn into Jing'er Hutong, and the huge red painted gate burst into view. The gate was closed tightly, and the steps were very long. High, there is a horse-mounted stone. Because no one has walked around for a long time, thin grass has grown in front of the steps, and most of the horse-mounted stone has been buried in the soil. The eight-character brick screen wall opposite the gate has long been dilapidated... This is Pu Sa. The residence of Prince Kedoluo."

In contrast, the description in "A Dream of Red Mansions" is more specific. There is an article in the third chapter: "After walking for another half a day, I suddenly saw two people squatting on the north side of the street. Big stone lion, three animal-headed gates... The main gate is not open, only the east and west gates have people coming in and out. There is a plaque above the main gate, with the words "Edict to Build Ningguo Mansion" written on it... Go west again, not far away. , there are still three gates, and it is the Rongguo Mansion." According to the description of the big stone lion in the article, this gate should be regarded as the layout of the prince's mansion in the Qing Dynasty. But such a palace should have a "lion courtyard" in front of the door, and the lion cannot be placed facing the street. The east and west corner gates should be facing the street. For example, in the Qing Dynasty's Prince Zheng's Mansion, Prince Li's Mansion, Prince Ding's Mansion, etc., the stone lions of the mansions are all in the corner gate.

Someone asked, why is the stone lion in front of the gate of Renmin University on Zhangzizhong Road, the original Prince He's Mansion, facing the street? That's because there was no road here originally, but it was opened later.

After talking about the palace gate, let’s talk about the Guangliang gate.

"Guangliang", as the name suggests, should mean relatively spacious and bright, which is compared to shorter courtyard gates such as the small gatehouse next to it.

The original pronunciation of "Guangliang" is "Guangliang", which means that the roof beams are very wide. In this case, can the courtyard gate still be small? Obviously, only high-ranking officials or warlords and merchants after the Republic of China could build it. In order to be conspicuous, the room at the gate is larger than the houses on both sides. It has its own gable, brick eaves are decorated with carved flowers, the roof is heightened, and the crested wall protrudes. Guangliang is not only reflected in the scale, but also in the decoration: there are several pairs of door hairpins on the top, exquisite stone drum door pillows on the bottom, brick carvings on the walls, and colorful paintings on the wood are all exquisite. There are screen walls, screen doors and steps inside and outside the gate, generally three to five inches higher than the ground. The interior walls on both sides of the door are usually plastered and whitened, with moldings added around them. The most particular ones use bamboo strips or iron rods as the skeleton, and then use cement and sand to create relief patterns. Some have murals painted on them, and others have so-called "hard-core" decorations with polished bricks and seams, which are smooth and smooth.

The roofs of Guangliang gates generally do not have suspended ceilings, but later they were added for neatness. The roof ridge has "Qingshui Ridge" extending obliquely on both sides, and there is also "Yuanbao Ridge". The door of Guangliang Gate stands halfway into the depth of the house, leaving half or more of the usable area outside the door. After the Republic of China, for the sake of public security, some people added an iron fence outside the door. The Guangliang Gate is the same as the Wangfu Gate. There are also horse-mounting stones, horse-tying posts or horse-tying stones outside the door.

The "golden pillars" mentioned in the golden pillar gate are the pillars within the eaves pillars. A golden pillar gate is a gate with a door frame mounted on golden pillars. In terms of scale, Jinzhu Gate is obviously smaller than Guangliang Gate, and the doors are also narrow, with some having only half a bay. Other aspects such as the structure, roof, carvings, etc. of the gate are the same as those of Guangliang Gate. The door opening is only about one step deep, and there are some decorations on the eaves and pillars of the main doorway. Overall, it appears to be lighter than the Guangliang main door.

Compared with the Jinzhu Gate, the biggest feature of the Manzi Gate is that it is pushed farther out than the Jinzhu Gate, almost at the position of the front eaves column. In other aspects, it is similar to Jinzhu Gate and Guangliang Gate. The appearance of the Manzi Gate was because the homeowner's official status was not high, at least he could not build a Guangliang gate, so he simply pushed the front door of the courtyard under the eaves, which was a style favored by officials or residents from the south who came to Beijing. "Manzi" was a disrespectful term used by Beijingers at that time for people from Guangdong, Guangxi and remote areas in the south.

This type of street door was mentioned in the book "Dadu": "Finally, he returned to Chunshu Hutong and pressed the electric bell on his door. The tall trees beside the wall were full of tenderness. The green buds were blowing in the wind. Someone was running inside, and the round milky light on the door turned on. He looked through the gap and opened the door. He stepped into the courtyard and found that there were no guests' cars or horses in front of the doorway, and the lights were not turned on. "

This description shows that parking can be done in the doorway because the door has been pushed outward. , this is exactly the characteristic of the golden pillar gate. And the milky-white round electric light that can shine outside must be above the sliding door. What is described here about parking in the doorway is not a lie. The doorway of the former residence of Peking Opera artist Wang Yaoqing, which is now No. 20 Peiying Hutong, Xuanwu District, was once a place where foreign cars were stored because of its spaciousness. They are the means of transportation for brothers Wang Yaoqing and Wang Fengqing. In old Beijing, the number of Ruyi gates was the largest, because they were used in ordinary residential buildings. Due to the large number, there are many forms of Ruyimen, which can be complex or simple. In a feudal society with strict hierarchies, wealthy and unofficial families were unwilling to build small gates and had to build large gates. Therefore, the scale of Guangliang Gate was built, but the gate was not big. In this way, it looks different without going overboard. In addition, there are large carvings on the lintel, overhangs on the roof, and complete carvings on the gables. The most advanced ones use the patterns of Bogu, Nine Generations Living Together, Lions and Hydrangeas, and prosperity and wealth; the medium ones use patterns of glory, wealth, grass, figures, etc., and they are generally made into the shape of bridges or railings, making them appear graceful and luxurious without being restrained.

The simplest Ruyi Gate only uses tiles to form hollow patterns such as lines and "five-flowered elephant eyes". The door leaf of this kind of door is reduced, and only two door hairpins are used. The stone pillow is a stone pier instead of a stone drum, so it can be opened flexibly.

During the Republic of China, the original royal family and dignitaries began to decline, and the houses they used were sold off one after another. In order to cover it up, the newly wealthy people who bought these houses built walls inside the doorways based on the original Guangliang gates, and sealed the doorways inside the gates. There are many Ruyi gates that have been converted from Guangliang gates.

Such gates often leave traces of the original door grooves on the mountain pillars, or even the original door is not dismantled and a Ruyi door is added under the outer eaves.

The wall-mounted door is also called the wall-walled door. Its characteristic is that it has no door opening and opens along the wall. It only occupies half or most of the width of the room, and the courtyard door is narrow.

The small gatehouse is the most common type of wall-mounted gate. In terms of style, we still pursue the effect of the house. It has two very short gables, a roof with a ridge on the top, two raised ends, and the eaves are decorated with flower and grass tiles. Therefore, although this form of courtyard gate is the lowest level, ordinary families will decorate it as much as possible. Especially the wall-style gatehouse is no different from a house. The style of stringing copper coins made of tiles is even more novel and unique. In "Four Generations Under One Roof", the Qi family lives in this kind of small gatehouse, that is, Huaqiangzi Gatehouse.

Fence gates are also a type of wall-mounted gates, commonly known as water chestnut gates. They are generally used for the gates of large houses. Two wooden pillars support the crossbar, and a rhombus-shaped wooden component is used to protrude outward to support the roof. The door leaf is a straight-frame fence door.

There are several descriptions of this kind of fence gate in the book "Dadu". Here are some representative quotes: "Turn west from Mishi Street and enter the alley. There we are. There are four or five locust trees planted outside the wall, with gaps between the two trees. The outside of the trees is built up like a low wall, with transparent gaps left between the bricks. , the flat dome on the brick wall was plastered with several layers of smooth and hard cement... Before the bell could stop ringing, the door suddenly opened automatically, and the carriage rushed into a narrow mud path inside the door. There were bricks from houses on both sides. The wall... In front of it is an empty mud yard. Except for a few rooms in the northwest corner, this yard is rarely empty. Yuying, Jingshan and Jin Ma all got off the carriage, stepped up the four or five steps, and faced each other. Covered are four green-painted screen doors, with four oblique square red squares painted on them and four plump black words "This paragraph describes the scene from entering the fence gate to entering the courtyard. It's the parking lot and the horse number.

This kind of scene also happened in front of the gate of No. 11 Courtyard in Badaowan. At that time, this place was not just a low gatehouse built with red bricks like it is today. On the contrary, it was a large fence gate with a courtyard wall facing the street. There is half an acre of open space in the courtyard, which is specially used for parking. It can park several mule carts. Diagonally opposite the north side of the empty field is the vermilion formal gate and the door opening. It is said that at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, there were many large houses with fence gates and parking lots, especially the gates on the left and right sides of the empty space outside the palace gate, which also had fence gates. The Old Summer Palace-style gate was influenced by foreign culture in the late Qing Dynasty. The Western-style courtyard gate represented by the Old Summer Palace-style gate also appeared in the streets and alleys of Beijing.

The origin of the Old Summer Palace-style gate originated from the emperor building a Western-style gate in the Old Summer Palace. The emperor's hobby also aroused the interest of princes and nobles, who built Western-style gatehouses in their own gardens. For example, the gatehouse at the east gate of Prince Gong's Mansion Garden is a representative example of the Yuanmingyuan style gatehouse. This kind of door has Chinese and Western floral decorations on the surface of the parapet above the Western-style columns, either Western-style flowers and plants or Chinese-style cultural relics and antiques. It is a combination of Chinese and Western styles, which is very characteristic of the times.

There is a brick arch at No. 15, Mianmian Hutong, Nandong, Jiaodaokou, Dongcheng. It is more than 4 meters high and 2 meters wide. From the top of the diamond wall, it is all brick carvings, with flowers and animals carved on it. There is a railing towards the sky on the top. On the railings, there are three friends of pine, bamboo, plum and winter. There are also Duobao Pavilion carved on both sides of the arch. The interior of the pavilion is carved with patterns such as the Dark Eight Immortals. The brick carvings of the entire arch have a rigorous layout, proper concave and convex, and fine workmanship, which is very rare.

In addition, there are other forms of doors in old Beijing houses. In the past, in the hutongs around Nancheng, some houses had a wooden wall built outside the back gable facing the street and the courtyard gate on one side. A door was opened on the wooden wall, called a board door. In the gap between the wooden board wall and the back gable wall, there are toilets and unsightly items such as buckets and garbage baskets. Most of the residents who live in the Banzimen are wealthy families with single-door courtyards. They close the door when someone comes in and out, which plays a better defensive role.

Some courtyard houses faced the street, so the houses facing the street were converted into paved houses for business, and the yards or homes behind them were used as processing plants. Beijingers call such a house a paved house. The door of this shophouse is often the courtyard door, and there is also a side door or a back door. This is also a special form of courtyard door.