Where was the red lantern taken?

"Raise the Red Lantern" was filmed in Qiao's courtyard.

The Qiao Family Courtyard, also known as "Zaizhongtang", is the residence of Qiao Zhiyong, a nationally famous commercial and financial capitalist in the Qing Dynasty. The Qiao Family Courtyard was the first Shanxi merchant courtyard to be restored and opened. It is also famous at home and abroad for Zhang Yimou's "Raise the Red Lantern".

When you walk into Qiao's house, which has a high courtyard wall, you can see big red lanterns hanging high. At the end of the road hang four particularly eye-catching red lanterns with the words Qiao's courtyard written on them.

Red lanterns seem to be a standard feature of the Qiao Family Courtyard, but in fact, the original Qiao Family Courtyard did not hang red lanterns, and the plot in the movie has nothing to do with the history of the Qiao Family. It's just that Zhang Yimou chose the Qiao Family Courtyard for filming. Many red lanterns were hung during the filming. After the filming of the movie was over, they were not taken down. They have been dressed up like this ever since.

The architectural style of the Qiao Family Courtyard

The Qiao Family Courtyard faces the street on three sides and is not connected to the surrounding residential buildings. The entrance to the Qiao Family Courtyard is an 80-meter-long straight stone-paved corridor, which divides the six courtyards into two rows, north and south. There are slope protection walls on both sides of the corridor. At the west end is the Qiao family ancestral hall, corresponding to the gate. The courtyard has four main buildings and six gate towers, watch towers and gazebos.

There are walkways on the roofs of each courtyard, which are used for patrolling and guarding the courtyard, showing the living style of the large feudal families in northern China. Not only does it have an overall aesthetic, but it also has its own unique architectural features. Even the more than 140 chimneys on the roof are unique.

The whole hospital is filled with pavilions, carved beams and painted buildings, and piles of gold and powder. The outer perimeter is a closed brick wall, more than 10 meters high. The upper floor is a female wall-style crenelation and a watchtower. The gate faces east and west, with a tall attic above and a city gate-like doorway in the middle. Opposite the gate is a brick wall with a picture of a hundred years of life.