Traditional Chinese Houses
Chinese architecture is most famous for the Great Wall of China. However, there are many other remarkable structures. Chinese houses reflect a tradition of craft and symbolism that echoes that of China's great monumental architecture. Besides showing the connection between architecture and daily life of Chinese people in the past, they also reveal Chinese cosmology and beliefs in concrete and practical terms.Housing is the first response of human. As human must regularly lie down to sleep, and most of us sleep deeply enough to become oblivious to our surroundings, a safe sleeping place is very important to us. Houses do not only provide the shelter, they also provide spaces for us to cook our food, store our properties, have some leisure and care children There are many types of Chinese houses. Some examples are northern houses, southern houses, subterranean or cave housing and courtyard houses.Most Chinese houses share some common features. The ridgepole of most houses is arranged in an east-west direction. The facade is then oriented so that the doors and windows face south. This is for maximum light and warmth. Besides, according to Confucian principles, parents, their unmarried child
Rich families have servants who live in the house, too. Rain, snow and dust can fall into the courtyard freely, but some courts are edged at the top with a wall to prevent surface water from draining it. Few windows together with thick white walls are used to foil the penetration of the sun. The courtyard contains a well providing drinking water. It is where the senior generation live in. There is a much longer summer and a relatively warm winter. Deciduous trees are also used to shade the facade of such houses. Such a cave requires at least three months to dry out completely. Subterranean and cave housing are mostly found in North and North Western China, which is the region of loessial plain. Each room contains a wooden, pottery or enameled bucket. The two other rooms, the 'dark' rooms are served as sleeping rooms and rooms for daily activities. Outside the gate of some large siheyuan, it is common to find a pair of stone lions. During the plum rains, there is little sunlight and high humidity. Protective walls are common features of southern dwellings for both rich and poor, for protection from bandits and ethnic strife. They can protect people from the direct path of the wind especially in winter.
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