Courtyard Culture - Siheyuan

The Dwelling compounds or quadrangles (Siheyuan) - the enclosed, one-story courtyard houses that make up old Beijing, feature a typical Chinese folk residential architecture.

A standard siheyuan usually falls into a rectangular compound with one-story houses squarely facing the cardinal points and a courtyard in middle.

A pair of stone lions usually stand in front of the vermilion studded door with a painted lintel on the top. The decorative patterns are flowers and birds. Stepping over a high wooden threshold, you will find a stone screen standing ahead. It is built to avoid direct inspection from outside and also believed to dispel evil spirits. Next comes the outer courtyard, flanked by rooms to the east and west. These serve as kitchens and servants' living quarters. On the northern end of the outer courtyard is the "Main House" which faces southward to get maxium daylight in 3-5 rooms. The up-turned eaves provide a pleasant shade in summer. One room located in the middle of the house is for living or community purposes with a smaller bedroom or studies beside it. Two passages on either side of the Main House, give entry to the inner yard. Rooms on each side were for married children and their families. Greenery planted in the courtyard makes an inner garden.

Some large compounds have two or more courtyards, inhabited by an extended family with several generations. "Four Generations under One Roof", a novel by the contemporary writer Lao She, depicts Beijingers in the 1930s and 1940s living in siheyuan.

Beijing still has about 400,000 residential quadrangles now, mainly distributed over the East, West, Xuanwu and Chongwen districts. The municipal government has earmarked a number of dwelling compounds for protection.

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