Posted 2017/7/24
In the old downtown area of Beijing, the traditional courtyard houses are quite impressive for the unique charm of the northern Chinese folk residence. The architectural ornaments of the courtyard houses are of distinctive features, with some brick carvings or wood carvings dotted on the prominent places such as the screen walls and the lateral walls of the door. The porch, flowers-hung gate (chuihua gate, the second gate which separates the outer court and the inner court), drum-shaped bearing stone, as well as doors and windows with wooden partition are also the key points for ornamentation. All these carving decorations and colored drawings are the embodiment of folk customs and traditional culture, which reflect common people's pursuit for happiness, goodliness, wealth and auspiciousness. For example, the design with the bat (read fu in Chinese, the same pronunciation with "Fu", meaning happiness) and the Chinese character "Shou"(longevity) together means to have both good fortune (fu) and longevity (Shou); the pattern of a vase with China roses (flowering every month) means being safe and sound for the whole year (every month of the year); and dictions embedded in the upper door, the couplet hung on the columns of a hall as well as the beautiful paintings and calligraphies hung in the room are all permeated with culture flavor. If you observe carefully, you can find other traditional ornaments such as decorative cylinders, door couplets and door Gods in the courtyard houses.
Grey is the dominant color for the bricks, walls, roofs and the grounds, only on the door and window coated some paint of red and green, all of which bring harmony and simple elegance to the courtyard house. The paths in the yard are all paved by the bricks with the four corners of the yard left for planting trees. Green trees and red flowers really make good scenery. Some big courtyard houses even have gardens, kiosks, platforms or pavilions. Flowers, wood, mountain and stone; you name it, they have it.
Courtyard houses are built in accord with the weather and the living customs of the northern Chinese. The reason why they attract more and more attention lies in their culture implication. Through them, we could imagine the lives of the old Beijing citizens, famous or ordinary. Their unique living customs in the courtyard are of great interest for the modern people. The courtyard houses are much more cherished, especially at present days when rows and rows of skyscrapers rise from the ground.
