A brief discussion on the characteristics and architectural features of Gansu folk houses

Architectural culture is one of the three major elements of human social life. Housing in food, clothing, housing and transportation reflects the importance of architecture to people. Architectural culture presents a diverse appearance in our country, and different regions and nationalities have different architectural cultures. So, what about the architectural culture in Gansu culture? Let’s take a look at the traditional residential buildings in Gansu.

The main component of Gansu’s folk houses is undoubtedly the courtyard system, which has also been the mainstream of the development of folk house architecture since the Han and Tang Dynasties. This architectural form fully embodies Confucian cultural thought, fully embodies the needs of the feudal clan system, and meets the living and living needs of large families to the greatest extent. Governed by local traditional Feng Shui concepts, the courtyard gates are located in the southeast of the courtyard, and the toilets are placed in the southwest corner of the courtyard. The rainwater inside the hospital is collected in the southwest and discharged outside the hospital. The gates of courtyard houses mostly adopt the form of house doors. It is a kind of gate that opens a doorway on the east side of the inverted seat and opens the door on the back wall of the inverted seat. The door frames and door leaves are solid and thick, and the shape is simple and plain.

There are two practical purposes for using this kind of door: first, in the history of Tianshui, there were many wars and wars, and there were many military disasters and banditry; the back wall is strong and high, so it is safe to open and close the door here. Second, the simple shape of the gate can hide clumsiness without showing wealth. In addition, some gates also adopt the gable-style wall door, that is, the gate opens to the south door facing the gable of the east room in the front yard, or the north door opens to the gable of the west room.

Gansu has historically been in a closed inland hinterland. The folk customs are simple and unique, and the residential buildings are still the same. Each facade outside the courtyard shows the appearance of a closed rear eaves wall, which is gray, rough, thick, and cold; while inside the courtyard, there is a strong inward interface. Each single building faces the two-dimensional main facade of the courtyard, providing space for the courtyard. It has an obvious inward interface, because the four sides of most courtyards are located on golden pillars and are filled with soft wooden door and window textures.

This rich introverted interface strengthens the introverted character of the courtyard; the "transitional space" and "intermediary space" where the corridors on all sides are both inside and outside, and outside and inside are very friendly. Set off by the introverted wooden walls, the corridor has a more obvious outdoor interiority. Such as "Feng Guorui's former residence" and so on.

The traditional Chinese courtyard layout is adapted to the ideological and psychological structure restricted by feudal ethics. The enclosed courtyard space constructs a closed small world. In this closed small world, strict and deep The courtyard combination and the symmetrical pattern with a prominent central axis provide the main-slave composition, front-side composition, inside-outside composition and back-facing composition of the building space. These spatial compositions are endowed with ceremonial hierarchical meanings.

Through the main and subordinate, internal and external divisions of the main courtyard and the side courtyard, the main room and the wing room, the outer courtyard and the inner courtyard, the front courtyard and the back courtyard, the courtyard groups fully adapt to the strict distinction between respect and respect in feudal ethics. A complete set of ethical order needs such as humbleness, superiority, intimacy, nobility, men and women, elders and children, concubines, etc. For example, the North and South Zhaizi, Jia Mansion, and Feng Guorui's former residence are all in the traditional Chinese courtyard layout, embodying the cultural image of Confucian "ritual".

At the same time, residential courtyards such as Feng Guorui’s former residence, with houses on four sides and corridors on all sides, well reflect the bright space of the central courtyard, the “grey” space of the eaves and corridors, and the “dark” space of the interior. The transitional relationship between layers, which also reflects the hierarchical relationship of the atrium-style courtyard space from public space to fuzzy space and then to private space. This hierarchical relationship shows the introverted character of the architectural form, the organic blend of indoor and outdoor spaces, and The inclusion and penetration of the natural landscape with sparse flowers and trees in the courtyard, etc., all reflect the aesthetic "happiness" of human relations in the courtyard-style layout of Tianshui residential buildings, that is, the emotional enlightenment and harmonious effect of "happiness".