Since Yuan Dynasty official capital Beijing, capital planning and construction of large-scale cases, it is the Beijing palace courtyard, Government Office, street, alley Square Lane and appeared at the same time. According to the late Yuan Xiong Mengxiang book "Analysis Jin Zhi" contains:. "Street system, from south to north that that of the classics, from east to west that of the weft Street twenty-four steps wide, three hundred eighty-four Huoxiang, two ninth Street through. "here the so-called" street pass "that we called today between the alley, the alley and the alley is a residential land for the construction of subjects. At that time, Kublai Hu Bilie "over the old city residents of the old imperial capital, with high-riches (rich people) and Home job (worked at the court) for the first person, is tailored to the eight acres as a minute", and give the government moved to Beijing Jia residential construction, Beijing traditional courtyard house that is large-scale formation starts.

Beijing courtyard, actually is a kind of courtyard buildings, the so-called courtyard, which is surrounded by a courtyard houses are built, Courtyard houses, center courtyard, which is the courtyard. Beijing courtyard in the alley, the alley east-west direction, the south a big row, to the south of the courtyard; a large row of the north, to the north of the courtyard, one a house, a house has several homes.

Runs through the courtyard to the central axis, facing the South as a main house, two houses direction things to wing south to north door open so called family money back seat, population for a long time, can be built around a combination of two homes connected to north and south. Wealthy people show off, you can build three or four courtyard, is also connected to the front and rear. Planting fruit trees in the courtyard, for viewing. The small courtyard, housing 13, and the larger hospital or a hospital, 25-40, houses are single layer. Wing back wall to walls, around the corner and then build walls, large courtyard surrounded by a wall from the outside, do tall walls, the windows do not open, showing a defensive. The whole family together in the yard, the hospital people are very comfortable to live in, close the door at night, very quiet, suitable for a family reunion centered life.

To day, the courtyard flowers and trees, very beautiful, night flowers, fresh air, enjoy the cool evening family sitting in the courtyard, relax, chat, drink tea, the whole family Halcrow. Family in the yard, no matter what outsiders can not see, which is in line with the Chinese people's habits. Courtyard housing housing allocation between points, the elderly live hokubo (never ending), the middle of a large living room (between the nave), the eldest son live in the east wing, the second son live in the West Wing, servants live in the back room, Miss, daughter live backyard, not each influences. Beijing courtyard design and construction easier, the material used is very simple, not to steel and cement, brick tiles, brick combined, mixed construction, of course, as the main standard with wooden structure, light weight, in case of earthquakes, no matter how much magnitude do not be afraid, indicating courtyard is shockproof. The overall tone gray green building, giving the impression is very simple, life is very comfortable. Courtyard and also in other parts of Beijing courtyard is basically the same, but some small, high and low, almost the same material, style is also very much the same, these courtyard is an important architectural heritage of the Chinese people.

Beijing courtyard with different courtyard of the country have the following points: the Beijing-based areas around the courtyard, with axial symmetrical, open the door in the southeast south direction, the door does not face the main house, that open the door of the hospital in the southeast. This is based on the orientation of gossip, the main house sitting north to Canton house, as do Hom house, Sunda must open the door, "Sunda" who is the southeast, open inexhaustible sources of income in the southeast, money flowing, so to do, "Hum House Sunda door "as well. Therefore, Beijing courtyard door open in the southeast. This is determined according to feng shui theory, this approach is only around Beijing, other places are not. Yuan Dynasty capital in Beijing, Yuan currently has no in-kind courtyard in Beijing, the only reference is excavated on the site of the Yuan Dynasty Yuan Dynasty after the British residential house in ruins. This site reflected courtyard layout, the size of the bay, the word hall, side door, etc., and ancient courtyard are very similar, indicating a close relationship between the Yuan Dynasty inherited the ancient courtyard and residential buildings.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the social economy developed rapidly. Ming moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, and were moved into the tens of thousands of well-off from Zhejiang, Shanxi, etc., thus promoting the economic development of Beijing. In the Ming Dynasty, brick-making technology ever developed, which also promoted the development of the construction industry and housing construction. This period appears "Luban", "ternary diagram will" and other books, explain the construction of the Ming Dynasty not only Dizhai practice very active, but also the guidance of theory. In order to maintain the feudal order, the Ming Dynasty of residential buildings from all sectors of the system, the size, color aspects have been strict rules. You can see from the illustration "ternary diagram will", "Luban" and other books of the Ming Dynasty residential courtyard still follows the form of the Yuan Dynasty.

After the Qing Dynasty capital in Beijing, a substantial absorption of Chinese culture, Beijing is fully inherited the architectural style of the Ming Dynasty, in Beijing's residential building courtyard also be the entire inheritance. Early Qing Dynasty in Beijing implemented a flag of the people live in sub-city system, so that all the Han Chinese city moved outside the city, leaving only the inner city full of people live. This measure objectively promote the development outside the city, but also the inner city Dizhai be further adjusted and strengthened. Qing Dynasty, the most representative residential building is a palace-style Dizhai, this is the medium-sized courtyard bureaucrats, landlords, the wealthy live. Qing Dynasty is the peak period of the development of Beijing courtyard. Since the late Qing Dynasty, China was reduced to semifeudal and semicolonial society, the development of Beijing courtyard began to gradually decline.

Under the influence of the alien invasion and infiltration of Western culture, traditional Beijing residential construction also affected to some extent. Courtyard built during this period, some more or less added some Western architectural decorative components, the most typical is the emergence of Yuanmingyuan style with the wall of the door. By "Western Learning" style deeply influenced human advertised himself as a "new breed" stands, there are some examples in the Inside the residence construction of the "Western-style" but a few. Overall, during this period, Beijing's traditional houses remained the Ming and Qing Dynasties type system.

Japanese imperialist invasion of China, the Chinese society has changed greatly. Because of inflation, rising prices, deteriorating economic situation the public, many residents used to live detached homes have no ability to raise more houses, had to hire extra house to rent to subsidize life. Residents of the housing less and less, more and more tenants yard. Single family courtyard began to become multi-family tenements inhabited by the living nature of the courtyard has changed.

Since 1949, Beijing traditional courtyard there have been fundamental changes in the use. Since the change of ownership, many legacy Qing Palace, houses the private property becomes public property. They no longer occupied by the old aristocracy, turn into state organs, schools, hospitals, factories, kindergartens, clubs and other public housing. Use alter function, making the building itself and needs between users had difficult to resolve conflicts, the end result, not the person subject to the building, but the building was the transformation of people. Those courtyard still used as a residence, was no longer the exclusive possession, into a multi-family residence "tenements." These changes in use, so hard to keep the old courtyard deep, peaceful, elegant and welcoming, the courtyard is divided, transform, divide has become a common phenomenon.

The catastrophe of the Cultural Revolution, Beijing courtyard is the most serious period of the victims. Red Guard in the late 1960s "sweeping four olds", in the beautiful courtyard of brick, wood, stone, painted utterly raids, numerous highly valuable works of art, or smashed into pieces, or cast plaster It can be very few of the survivors. Happened next was "preparing" to dig out of the national movement, further destruction of the original landscape and courtyard drainage system, resulting in serious consequences. 1976 Tangshan earthquake even worse. As shock absorbers disaster, in already crowded courtyard filled with "earthquake shed", along with population growth, these seismic shed later became permanent building, the courtyard and made unrecognizable.

When after the Cultural Revolution, Beijing urban development master plan in the courtyard determine protection policy, so that the deterioration trend has control, but large-scale urban redevelopment followed from the protection of the courtyard and the emergence of sharp contradictions, creative destruction It has occurred, how to solve the contradiction between urban renewal and protection of the courtyard, still is - needs careful study.

In the ten years since the early 1980s, the Beijing courtyard gathering area and the emergence of a new scene: Some expatriates and people moved to Beijing in reform and opening to get rich first, and holding the nostalgia of traditional culture Qiang Lie pursuit, bought the old hospital in the courtyard concentrated, re-new renovated courtyard. Some foreigners residing permanently in China is also building land, we live in traditional Chinese houses. The new courtyard mostly traditional architectural shape and color, the room is heating, running water and the health of cattle, air conditioning and other modern facilities and high-end renovation. After renovation of the courtyard, a number of tenements inhabited back into a private residence of one, spacious courtyard, flowers and lush, elegant scenery, quiet diem, courtyard like back to its heyday. This new vision intensified in recent years, a great booming trend. This phenomenon is Beijing courtyard recovery, or traditional residential building under the new historical conditions of development, today has not been studied and defined, but it can not be ignored as a historical phenomenon, has been written in the history of the Beijing courtyard a new stroke.

Beijing courtyard origin of the name

Why is it called "quadrangle" mean? Because this residence has a main building (facing the South), the back seat (South Block), the east wing and west wing four houses in enclosed on all sides to form a square-shaped, which is a central courtyard, so this courtyard-style houses are called courtyard.

Courtyard in China have quite a long history, cultural analysis based on existing data, it appears as early as two thousand years ago there courtyard in the form of buildings.

In the course of historical development, the Chinese people are particularly fond of this courtyard architectural forms, not only palaces, temples, official use of the courtyard, and houses around the courtyard is also widely used. However, as long as people mention courtyard, they naturally think of Beijing courtyard, which is why? This is because Beijing courtyard type system neat, very typical and in a variety of courtyard among Beijing courtyard could represent its main features.

First, Beijing courtyard central courtyard in plan view is substantially a square, houses some of the other areas is not the case. For example, Shanxi, Shaanxi area courtyard houses, courtyard is a north to south and west narrow vertical rectangular shape, and Sichuan, courtyard, garden stuff for the addition of long narrow north-south horizontal rectangular.

Secondly, room housing the direction of the four directions of east, west, south and north of Beijing courtyard independent, west wing and the main building, the back seat of the building itself is not connected to the main house and all the houses, rooms, and so are the back seat a layer, no buildings, just connect the veranda at the corners of these houses. In this way, Beijing courtyard from the bird's eye view, like the four small box enclosed a courtyard.

And in many parts of the south courtyard, surrounded by buildings, mostly houses, and at the four corners in the courtyard houses connected east and west sides of the house has no independent existence. So Southerners called the garden "patio", shows the small southern courtyard, like a "well", as the name suggests is inevitable people.

Beijing courtyard of the structure

The so-called Snap, "four" refers to the east, west, south and north sides, "integration" that is surrounded by houses get together to form the structure of a "mouth" shape. After hundreds of years of construction, Beijing courtyard from the layout to the internal structure, detail decoration have formed a unique capital Beijing City style. Beijing Hutong formal courtyard generally east-west direction and faces south, surrounded by the separation of the basic shape is facing the South (the main house), south room (back seat room) and the east, west wing, surrounded by high walls and then around to form a Courtyard, open a door. The provision in the southeast corner of the house door "Sunda" bit. Number of rooms facing the South generally positive 3 5 2 ears, east, west three rooms each, not a house south gate 4, even large openings, a total of 17 decorated second door. As to 11-12 per square meter, the entire area of ​​about 200 square meters.

Beijing courtyard is the middle of the courtyard, a spacious courtyard, planting flowers in the garden stone home, usually planted crabapple trees, pomegranate bonsai column to vats goldfish, meaning auspicious, is ideal outdoor living space, is like a large open-air living room, the world closer to people, most people love. It is a closed courtyard house, a street just outside the door, behind closed doors since the world, with strong privacy, ideal for exclusive residence. Hospital, surrounded by courtyard houses are open to the direction in which the family and the US United States, enjoyable.

Since the spacious courtyard, planting trees can grow flowers in the yard, bird feeding fish, Stones landscaping. Not only occupants enjoy a comfortable housing, but also to share the gift of nature a wonderful world.