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| Traditional Chinese house architecture |
Chinese traditional house architecture
Traditional Chinese house architecture refers to a historical series of architectural styles and design elements commonly used to construct civilian houses during the ancient Chinese imperial era.
Throughout this two-thousand-year period, there have been significant innovations and variations in housing, but the general home design incorporates a series of qualities that make Chinese home architecture distinct from other cultures and regions.
As highlighted by the classical Siheyuan style, these include an emphasis on the extended family unit within a single dwelling, the distinct separation of various household elements, alignment with the cardinal directions and timber construction, all in line with the Confucian hierarchy and Feng Shui
History
The Chinese house design was originally more heterogeneous than it is today. In addition to the orthodox square shape, evidence of spherical dwellings is common at early archaeological sites. Throughout several millennia, architecture was influenced by developments in Chinese thought, narrowing the range of acceptable layouts closer to mature siaheyuan styles.
As Han Chinese culture spread out from the Yellow River Valley, the dwellings in remote areas retained the influence of the original cultural dwellings. For example, Yue houses in southern China were traditionally built on wood piles because of the humid climate.
When Han migrants moved to the region, they initially adapted this style before the standard Han practice of raised earth foundations finally reasserted itself. After the traditional Chinese household form settled down, this basic layout mainly remained the same, especially for commoners' dwellings.
layout similarities
Organization
In the later imperial period, the house structure in China had coalesced into forms that reinforced Neo-Confucian ideals that emphasized the strict separation of social roles and classes. This was especially the case in upper-class homes, which had the resources to delegate certain parts of the house to different genders, ages, and occupations.
Direction structure
Harmony along the north/south axis is ubiquitous among Chinese houses, as dictated by the paradigm of order and harmony with nature. The housing units are built facing south, with each building following the alignment of the larger structure, with perfect symmetry. This results in the classic Siheyuan structure, with identifiable "wings," each facing one of the four cardinal directions.
Extended family units generally assign different house wings to different branches of the family, with older and more respected family members taking a more advantageous position. This often includes buildings at the rear of the complex, which are brighter and more private.
Family ancestral shrines where the resident's ancestors are venerated are located here or in the center of the property. Less important positions facing the east and west of the complex were relegated to the junior branches of the family, while more peripheral locations were relegated to servants and other less important activities.
Very important buildings such as ancestral/ceremonial halls are often characterized by a higher, ornate roof structure, unlike the houses and other buildings within the complex. Because this building is generally located at the back of the house, facing directly to the entrance, this enhances the symmetrical beauty of the harmony of the house.
Construction
Traditional Chinese dwellings were primarily built of wood, especially after the previous dynastic period. Stone and earthen dwellings were relatively uncommon even when such materials were common in the local area.
As the centuries passed, wood became less and less common on the plains of North China with brick and stone being the common construction materials for walls and public buildings. Despite this, the popularity of wood remained extremely high, with various grades of wood used by the upper classes to display their wealth.
This focus on wooden construction has resulted in relatively poor survival rates, with very few houses remaining from before the Ming era, even fewer houses belonging to commoners due to the lower quality of building materials and lack of maintenance. Therefore, more is known about the high-end historical residence.
Regional variations
Due to differences in culture and climate, standard shapes and styles of houses vary from region to region. Homes in southern China often have sloping roof structures due to the increased frequency of rainfall, whereas the arid climate of the north makes flat roofs more practical.
Courtyards are emphasized to maximize sunlight in the north, while courtyards are generally less important in the very sunny south. Also, houses are rarely built with more than one floor in the northern plains, but are quite common in the mountainous south where less building space is available.
Notable exceptions to the ubiquitous use of wood include Yaodong, the traditional houses of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces cut into soft loess stone into mountain slopes, Lingnan architecture, which is generally made of green brick construction, and Tulou, traditional Hakka walled villages in Fujian and Guangdong. most of which were built of bricks and earth.