If you want to know a city in depth, in addition to eating, living and playing, visiting local museums, there is also - calm down and visit local traditional buildings.
Figure 1: Pan Changyao Garden in Liquan line at the end of the Qing Dynasty (annihilated)
When it comes to the traditional architecture of Guangzhou, many people have heard of the Xiguan House, the Bamboo Tube House, the Arcade Building and so on. Among them, the arcade building should actually be regarded as a characteristic of the times, not only the provincial city can be seen, many places can also see, at best Guangzhou is only the leader and the set of masters, not unique; as for the bamboo tube house, generally known as the bamboo tube house, Taiwan is commonly known as the row house or the sky house, Japan Kansai is called the long house, similar to the Mingzi house, etc., all refer to a narrow open room, large deep house, so the bamboo tube house is not the only one in the yangcheng, but where the land of gold and soil is possible to develop; only the Xiguan house, unique, originated from Guangzhou.
Radiated by Cantonese culture, Foshan and Macao also have Xiguan Houses, and Macao Lujia Houses are even recognized as the most standard Xiguan houses in existence.
Figure 2: Bamboo tube house and arcade, atlas
The design of this kind of building is not only deeply adapted to the climate, environment and culture of Guangzhou, but also highlights the luxurious and low-key, traditional and open character characteristics of Suiren! The green brick and stone feet of the outer wall seem to be very simple at first glance, but in fact, the cost is very expensive; the interior is exquisitely carved, and everywhere pays attention to the Gangchang Lunji, but in fact, it is inclusive and learned from home and abroad, so that no matter where it is, this kind of house is known as an ancient house at a glance, perhaps this is the soul of the building.
——So, what are the characteristics enough to know at a glance that it is a Xiguan House? Where did the Xiguan House come from?
Figure 3: Lu Family House, pictured from the Macao Government website
In addition to an overview of the origin and development of Xiguan House, this article focuses on dissecting its structure and characteristics and understanding its value in history, art, and science.
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Xiguan, the west of the castle pass. The so-called Chengguan refers to the fact that the city wall of Guangzhou still existed before 1920, and the original site of these two gates is the current West Gate and the West Entrance of Zhuangyuanfang.
Figure 4: The approximate location of the Xiguan and the city wall in Guangzhou in the Qing Dynasty, the figure is self-compiled
Ancient Xiguan is an alluvial plain, the ground is low, the river pond is dense, rich in five shows; at that time, the river surface was wide, the scenery was beautiful, the Southern Han Dynasty chose its site to build the palace "Changhua Garden", and the scenic spot "Liwan Fishing Song" was one of the eight scenic spots of Yangcheng in the Ming Dynasty. However, since the Ming Dynasty, the population began to be dense, and the commercial streets gradually developed, especially after a mouth of commerce, there were constantly large families moving here.
Figure 5. Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, Guangzhou hand-painted farming trade map export wallpaper
These large families ranged from the world-famous gentry to the unknown literati and silk merchants. Yalang mainly refers to the thirteen lines of merchants, most of whom are ancestral to Fujian, started with tea, moved to the provincial city, and after several generations, all of them became locals, and the accent even became the most authentic Cantonese. Among these rich merchants, except for a few private gardens that are comparable to the Grand View Garden, most of them invariably choose to build such Xiguan houses with Great Guangzhou characteristics - at its peak, it is said that there were more than 800.
Unfortunately, none of them have survived intact to this day, although there are still more than 10 remaining! The area of the xiguan house that is really worthy of the Xiguan house is at least 500 square meters, located in the modern reconstruction of the Xiguan Folk Customs Hall on Fengyuan Road, with an area of only 278 square meters.
Figure 6: Xiguan Folk Customs Museum, picture selfie
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Why is it said that the real Xiguan house should have at least 500 square meters, because only in this way can it accommodate the flat layout of three rooms and two corridors.
No1, three sides over
The so-called three rooms and two corridors actually refer to the traditional houses commonly used in lingnan ancestral halls or ancestral houses in the Ming and Qing dynasties: two corridors in the front row and three open rooms in the back row. The open room is usually divided into three rooms by rooms or columns under the same roof, the middle is the main hall; the roof of the two sides of the corridor was previously a half-slope tile cover, so it is called a corridor, and later developed into a side corridor, a corridor house and even a box room, a miscellaneous room, etc., no longer stuck to the corridor form; all ancestral halls, one roof for one entry, will generally be connected several times, up to seven in. The three two-gallery rooms look like the northern courtyard from the plane, the difference is that the courtyard is a house surrounding the courtyard, and it is a gallery house separated by a patio, and the patio is obviously not as large as the courtyard.
Figure 7. Three rooms and two corridors and multi-entry basic mode, the figure is self-compiled
In theory, the Xiguan House should have a layout of three rooms and two corridors, after all, this is a tradition! But innovation is also a spirit, coupled with changes in the times, the horizon is broad, a variety of local conditions, both Chinese and foreign Xiguan house came into being, not only the emergence of a studio, two open rooms, five open rooms, seven open rooms are also heard (Guangzhou dialect reading "n sides over", of which three sides are the most common); the two corridor forms are more abundant, in addition to the patio, there are gardens, cold alleys and other designs.
Of course, there are also gardens that are larger than the house, such as the four famous gardens in Guangdong, known as the private garden; the private garden obviously cannot be said to be a big house, but as long as the house in the garden conforms to the Xiguan big house system, this house is naturally called the Xiguan big house.
Figure 8: A corner of the Wujia Garden of Haoguan, Henan
The patio is absolutely indispensable in the Xiguan Mansion! Although it is not as open as the northern courtyard, it is still the main way for ventilation and lighting in the big house. Generally speaking, the Xiguan house is relatively high, and the high hanging depth can reduce the direct sunlight, make the house cool, but also cause vertical temperature difference, the temperature difference forms hot pressure, and the hot pressure drives the circulation and exchange of air, thereby ensuring the ventilation of the internal space.
The cold alley is about 1.2-2 meters wide, and it is the main entrance and exit road for people, women, and incense in the night. The reason why it is cold is also because it is cool due to less direct sunlight and is cool all year round; but the cold alley does not sound good, and the Guangzhou people who pay attention to the good intentions use the name of "Qingyun Lane", which also implies the beauty of the flat step Qingyun; in order to facilitate drainage, Qingyun Lane will also be designed to be high before and after, known as step by step.
Figure 9: Floor plan of a typical Xiguan house, self-compiled
The standard Xiguan house is at least like this: the house is divided into three entrances, each hall (most of which also has a separate entrance hall), the hall is the central axis; behind the entrance hall is the car hall, the front of the car hall usually has four doors, commonly known as the middle door, the guests come to call the middle door wide open; the main hall is also called the hall or the head hall, which is the center of discussion and conversation, sometimes also called the god hall, because the pavilion is usually placed to worship the gods and worship the ancestors of the shrine, the main hall behind the sill window is the head room, which is the living place of the elders; the second hall is also called the dining room, and the back end is the second room, generally called the tail room, and the eldest son lives There are often small patios between halls, but not necessarily open-air, and some small patios will also build rockery fish ponds, or plant bamboo, wood and flowers. The two sides of the central axis are called the book side, named from the study room and the side hall, which is generally called all non-central axis rooms.
This narrow and long design of the big house is more conducive to the wind through the hall, so the Xiguan house often gives people a warm feeling in winter and cool in summer.
Figure 10:General layout of Xiguan House, self-compiled
No2, high eaves
Typical Xiguan house, the first impression should be a high eaves deep house. As mentioned above, the eaves height is reflected by the door of the house above 5 meters - approaching the gate, you will feel that the doorway is unusually tall and the momentum is coming at you; this kind of door often adopts a recessed form, especially subtle and introverted, rather than magnificent and imposing.
Figure 11: Illustration of xiguan house in Guangzhou and Macao, self-compiled
However, the tallest place in the Xiguan House is not the entrance court, but the main hall. The main hall and the head room are the living places of the elders, usually covered with the highest and largest, with a ceremonial system, which is also the ultimate manifestation of filial piety. In addition to being tall, the decoration process of the main hall is also the most exquisite, not only concentrated, but also gorgeous and expensive, such as flower frieze hanging, almost all of which are hollow carvings, extremely handmade; and a variety of sourwood furniture, exquisite and chic, valuable.
Hanging is usually divided into two kinds of flying cover and floor cover, the floor cover as the name suggests is to fall to the ground, and the fly cover is generally only to the top of the person's head.
Figure 12: Xiguan House hanging down, picture selfie
In addition to the grand decoration of the main hall, other places are also appropriately depicted.
Among them, "three sculptures and one sculpture" is the most common portrayal. "Three carvings" generally refers to stone carving, wood carving, brick carving, "plastic" refers to gray sculpture. Gray sculpture, also known as ash sculpture or ash batch, was popular in the Guangfu area during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is a characteristic craft of Lingnan; this sculpture is often used as a skeleton of bamboo pieces, iron nails, copper wire, etc., and then applied to grass tendon ash, paper tendon ash or shell ash and other plastic materials, and then colored; vivid shape, rich themes, many ancestral hall gate towers, eaves, walls and even the roof ridge have this beautiful three-dimensional sculpture.
Some people also say that it is three sculptures and two sculptures, and there is one more commonplace and most traditional ceramic sculpture; the two sculptures of the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall are very famous.
Figure 13: Raw materials and production process of gray sculpture, compilation of figures
Although the interior of the house is so exquisite, but from the outside, the Xiguan house is very ordinary, for example, the roof usually uses the lowest-level hard mountain top, the roof ridge and gables are rarely carved in thick ink; of course, there are also private gardens that use relatively advanced peaks for individual buildings, such as Henan Wu's Garden (which has been obliterated), Panyu Yuyin Mountain House Deep Willow Hall, etc. I don't know if it is because of the existence of cold alleys, the wok ear gables, which are also a characteristic component of Lingnan, are basically missing in the Xiguan House.
If you want to find this kind of wok ear gable now, there may be more such as Lujiang Chengzhong Village, Haizhu Xiaozhou Village and Huangpu Ancient Port.
Figure 14. Mountaintops and gables, compilation of figures
No3, triple door
The triple door is the most unique component of the front of the Xiguan House, known as the "three heads", which are:
Figure 15. Three heads, compilation of figures
Screens, also known as flower doors, foot doors, low-foot ceiling doors, etc., have a total of 4 doors, folded in half, and are about 1.7 meters high. Although the screen is the first barrier of the big house, but it does not play a role in defending and preventing theft, its main function is actually to make a screen, maintain a certain degree of privacy, ensure ventilation and lighting, and at the same time use it to show the elegance of the owner of the house, so there are many carvings, especially at the upper end of the screen, engraved with various wood carvings, extremely exquisite.
Figure 16: Various wood carvings through the flower low foot ceiling fan door, picture compilation
After the flower gate is the wading. However, in Cantonese culture, the word 栊栊, 栊栊 has been derived from the verb as a noun, that is, 栊門 (some people also understand it as an opening and closing). It is usually composed of 13, 15 or 17 round strips of hardwood, with a latch on the middle side and a copper sheet wood track on the bottom threshold; hardwood is generally 5-6 cm thick, up to a dozen centimeters, with an interval of 10-20 cm, which can only accommodate the child's head (so many Xiguan children have been clipped). In addition to the ventilation and lighting of this door, the design of this door is mainly to play an anti-theft role, if there is a small bell, the slight push will be touched, and the trick is impossible to push. It is a unique component of Guangfu architecture and one of the characteristic symbols of Xiguan Dawu.
Figure 17: The basic structure of the trip, figure selfie, compilation
The last one is the real gate, also called the board door, generally about 8 cm thick, mostly composed of Pontianak wood, camphor wood and other hardwoods, strong and strong, durable and wear-resistant, fireproof and soundproof. Especially Pontianak wood, especially resistant to moths and corrosion, before the water people's shacks are basically supported by Pontianak wood, the real Pontianak wood soaked in the water for a hundred years is not rotten, not afraid of oysters, it is - the more soaked the harder! The reason why the Guangzhou dragon boat is buried under the water after it is used up is this truth.
Figure 18.Pontianak plank door, compilation of figures
No4, green brick wall
Green brick walls, commonly known as green brick stone feet, stone feet, wall foundations also. With green bricks to build walls, China has a long history, Han culture circles can be seen everywhere, but like the Xiguan House, there are relatively few, as few as the Forbidden City gold bricks made with 18 crafts. If you walk through Xiguan and look closely at these walls, you will find that the real green bricks are much flatter than ordinary bricks such as red bricks, even smooth, and the brick seams are also very small, known as nail lines; moreover, this wall looks more elegant and pleasing to the eye.
The green brick wall is probably the most advanced masonry wall material after the adobe wall, rammed earth wall and brick wall in ancient times, but unfortunately, the handmade brick is obviously inferior to the mass production of the machine; however, the red brick is not worse than the green brick, and many brick buildings in ancient Rome have not been passed down to this day! The reason why the quality of red bricks is not good now is that the process adopted in the later period of New China is different from that of the West, and the second is that producers cut corners and shoddy.
Figure 19.Green bricks versus ordinary bricks, figure selfie
So, how is it made?
First of all, the soil must be selected, the clay with a particle size smaller than the silt is selected, and the Guangfu area is the most famous produced in Dongguan; then it is dried, crushed, and sieved to obtain a purer soil, also called clay; then the water is stepped on, that is, soaked, stepped on to enhance the density, reduce the bubbles generated when the subsequent kiln is fired; then use the brick mold to shape, make the brick blank, dry it into the kiln shelf; burn to a certain temperature, seal the kiln, and the kiln penetrates, and it is this step that causes the bricks to turn blue, which is different from the red bricks produced by natural cooling. After sintering, the green brick may be deformed, so it must be smoothed out, so it is called water mill green brick.
Such a complex process, green bricks are not expensive.
Figure 20:The green brick is about the production process, and the picture is self-compiled
Why does it turn cyan? There are many explanations, such as emphasizing that it is caused by cooling with water, or that it is thought to be caused by the lack of oxygen in the seal, and even the various principles of life attached to it - what church disciples starve the master to death, etc. In fact, both of these steps are essential! I estimate that it is like this: after burning a large amount of charcoal, the charcoal cannot be completely burned to generate carbon monoxide, carbon monoxide has reducivity, so that the iron oxide in the clay is reduced to iron, which should be the same as the smelting principle of iron; and when water is added to the kiln, water penetrates into it becomes water vapor, and water vapor and iron form triferro oxide through high temperature reaction, and iron tetroxide is the reason why bricks become blue.
Figure 21.Principle of green bricks becoming green, figure self-compiled
When craftsmen build houses, they usually use granite slabs to build door strips first, and then use green bricks to build walls, and some walls will be hollowed out with green bricks, which has the effect of sound insulation and cooling; the rules of wall bricks are not the same, and the general people use the cross masonry method, and the large households may use more than one ding, such as five shun and one ding. The bricks and bricks are usually bonded with clam shell ash mixed with glutinous rice flour, rock sugar, etc., and after the bricks are built, they are protected by wax, and the wall surface can not collapse for a hundred years.
The Great Wall is so great, in fact, it also has the credit of green bricks and glutinous rice.
Figure 22.Brick wall masonry method, figure self-edited
No5, Manchurian window
Manchurian window is one of the characteristic components of Cantonese architecture, according to legend, its window structure was introduced by the Manchus, and many people even quoted that there were 1500 flag people stationed in Guangzhou during the Qianlong Emperor, thus bringing the northern window style, and then combined with western stained glass technology, it finally became a local feature. But if you look carefully, you may find that the window structure of the Manchurian window is actually no different from the traditional branch window, and the branch window has a history of thousands of years in Yangyang China! I think the reason why it was called Manchurian Window was only because the ruling class at that time was Manchu, Manchuria represented China, and Manchuria was called this "national window", so when borrowing Western stained glass, it not only emphasized the heart or the Chinese heart, but also had the meaning of Western for Chinese use; if the ruler was a Mongol, it might also be called a Mongolian window.
Of course, this is only my personal opinion, not necessarily accurate, after all, the Manchurian window so far, is still only a local name, there is no national academic work to explain its employment; in addition, the large area, supportable hanging window, also called the hanging window, that is the Manchu characteristic window.
Figure 23: Branch window and Manchurian window, compilation of figures
According to the location, Manchurian windows are generally divided into: doors and windows, wall windows, sill windows, skylights, blind windows and butterfly windows.
Figure 24. Manchurian window, compilation of figures
Doors and windows are also called hammer windows, the fan is a very traditional Chinese architectural component, it can be used as a window, can also be used as a door, the name is also very much, such as lattice door, lattice door, etc.; the aforementioned middle door, is a kind of fan window. It is generally believed that the Xiguan house is closed to the outside and open to the inside, because the room is often separated by a fan window, and the fan window is usually not equipped with a windward plate, which is often left empty, so that although it is not soundproof, it is more ventilated and transparent.
If the skirt board under the fan window is a continuous wooden plank or brick wall, it is called a sill window.
Figure 25.Structure of the fan window, figure self-compiled
Skylights, as the name suggests, are windows erected on the roof with wooden pulleys that control their movement on wooden tracks through a hanging rope below. In addition to the skylight is an important way of ventilation, heat dissipation, light transmission, but also a metaphor for life events, in ancient times, children married, the marriage room needs privacy, so it is often arranged in a more independent room with a skylight, for the convenience of beautiful things, naturally to bury the skylight, or just halfway through, rain, it is not beautiful.
Figure 26. Overview of the skylight, compilation of figures
Regarding the insights of xiguan house, I will explore here, some places may be wrong or flawed, welcome to correct.
The remaining Xiguan Houses include:
22 Hongchang Street
Bauer is right in the middle of about 42
18 15 FuZheng Street
16 East 4th Lane
Baoxian South 19
8 Fengyuan Street
bibliography:
Chen Youzi: [Decoding Guangzhou] It turns out that the local tycoons in Guangzhou all live here
Guangzhou Liwan released: "Wading through the gate, Manchurian window"... Listen to the Xiguan House tell the memories of Lingnan
Zhi Guangjun: What does the Xiguan House that I have been talking about for so many years look like?
Guangdong wind and material --- water mill green brick house
Xu Yue, Lin Guojing, | Genealogical classification and matrix study of terroir architecture in Cantonese dialect area
Xiao Lei: To the | Symbolic memory elements in the Xiguan area of Guangzhou
Pontianak Wood Iron Chapter Wood The difference between Pontianak wood and iron wood
Gray sculpture: a unique landscape of Lingnan architecture
Green bricks? Red bricks? Green and red bricks? ——Watch the master give you an analysis of how green bricks are made!
Gold bricks, green bricks and red bricks were originally made of the same raw materials
A green brick worthy of the Forbidden City
Why Chinese masters love to split bricks| Elephant Guild
Chronicle of the Camp, Wang Yimiao, Doors and Windows of the Forbidden City