What are the characteristics of Huizhou architecture?

The features of Huizhou architecture are mainly reflected in village houses, ancestral halls, archways and gardens. Its most distinctive style is a large number of traditional residential villages, which reflect Huizhou's mountain characteristics, geomantic will and regional beauty tendency from site selection, design, modeling, structure and layout to decoration and beautification.

Most villages in Huizhou are located in strict accordance with China's traditional geomantic rules, with beautiful mountains and rivers, pursuing ideal living environment and artistic conception of mountains and rivers, and are known as "villages in Chinese painting". Influenced by the traditional concept of "water is the source of wealth" in Feng Shui, Huizhou people entrusted with business paid special attention to the "Shuikou" of villages and built some unique Shuikou gardens. The structure of Huizhou-style mansions is mostly in the form of multiple courtyards (the small ones are mostly in the form of three courtyards), which embodies the characteristics of Huizhou people living in compact communities. Generally, they sit facing south, facing the mountain and facing the water, emphasizing the value of geomantic omen. The layout is symmetrically divided by the central axis, with three rooms wide, a hall in the middle and wings on both sides. The front of the hall is called patio, which has lighting and ventilation. Courtyard collocation creates living space for deeply self-sufficient families. The overall appearance and aesthetic feeling of the residential building are very strong. The high wall is closed, the horse's head is tilted, the wall lines are strewn at random, and the black tiles and white walls are elegant in color. In terms of decoration, the brick-cleaning door cover, stone carving leaking windows, wood carving columns and buildings are integrated into one, making the house beautiful and poetic, which can be regarded as a major feature of Huizhou government. Ancestral temples and memorial archways in Huizhou are also important architectural forms in Huizhou architecture. Every village has a shrine, which is generally large and magnificent. Various memorial archways scattered all over the country are an important part of the cultural landscape of ancient Huizhou.

As a traditional architectural school, Huizhou architecture has always maintained its unique artistic style of simplicity, simplicity and richness.