As the saying goes when building houses in rural areas: "The north and south are long and narrow, rich and auspicious", does it refer to the yard or the house?
When it comes to Chinese architecture, we have to talk about rural architecture.
After all, the rooms that people in big cities live in are now buildings. Only rural areas still vaguely retain the style of ancient buildings. For example, the courtyard house is a relatively representative one.
Although there have been some changes in rural courtyards, they are still in line with the architecture of courtyard houses.
So everyone knows the general layout of the courtyard.
Generally, it faces north and south, and there is a main room in the middle. My understanding is that it is equivalent to our living room now, used to entertain guests.
Connecting the main room are the ear rooms and side rooms. This is the general appearance of a courtyard.
But there is another point: the front door wall.
It is usually a welcoming wall in a long and narrow courtyard.
The function of the wall facing the door is to hide the wind and prevent the guests from seeing something in your house at a glance. This is also common in buildings. Now there are things like this even indoors. The construction of a door-facing wall is also necessary from an aesthetic point of view.
Then here we have to mention the long and narrow north and south.
1. Narrow length from north to south
You must know that the narrow length from north to south here usually refers to the courtyard, not the living room.
In rural areas, long and narrow from north to south also refers to long and narrow from front to back.
Chinese houses pay attention to the direction of facing south. However, due to the geographical environment, there is no guarantee that it will be facing south.
Therefore, there are certain restrictions on the layout. You can’t just sit north and face south. You must not be able to change it. This is too cliché.
Therefore, there is also the saying that the front and back are long and narrow.
And because of the differences between the north and the south, the requirements for fences are also different. In short, they are all for the convenience of life. Some families may not build fences, but just use a fence instead.
So the north and south here do not necessarily refer to the north-south direction, but also the front-to-back direction.
No matter what direction, there is a symmetrical distribution, which is along the central axis.
This will give people a more integrated and unified feeling, and such a house will have the meaning of wealth and auspiciousness.
Of course, remember to have a welcoming wall in the middle, which can also give people a comfortable feeling visually.
2. North and South Narrowness and Folk Customs
Houses are for people to live in, so all good wishes are inseparable from folk customs.
One of them stems from the worship of dragons.
Our country is called the Kingdom of the Dragon, and we are called the descendants of the dragon. This shows how sacred the dragon is in people's minds.
So it is not an exaggeration to say that the long and narrow north and south originate from the worship of dragons.
What does it mean specifically? The dragon's body is like a snake. In the Chinese zodiac, there is a saying that Chenlong is a snake. Everyone knows that snakes are long and strip-shaped. If it corresponds to whether the house has a long and narrow feeling from north to south, this also conforms to the fact that the dragon head is in Hai and the dragon is in the sky. The principle of tail in the sky, that is, the saying that yin and yang are like a long dragon, corresponds to the meaning of auspiciousness if it lives in it.
Because the dragon is the symbol of the emperor, and the emperor is the most prosperous and auspicious person, so from this aspect, being able to be in a building with a long and narrow body like a dragon represents wealth, and this kind of The narrow length also corresponds to the north-south length of the family house.
That’s why the folk custom says “narrow and long from north to south, wealth and auspiciousness”.
In folk customs, there is a saying of hiding wind and absorbing energy in a place that is long and narrow from north to south.
Generally speaking, the construction of a house should be in compliance with the way of heaven and the harmony of yin and yang, so as to achieve the purpose of hiding wind and absorbing qi.
We all know that if you are in an open environment, the wind will not be hidden, so you will face the cold wind.
And if you live in such a long and narrow environment, you can directly collect the wind, and then slowly disappear through every corner of the house.
This corresponds to another type of wind called cross-hall wind. Usually it is because there is no place around to contain the wind, so all the wind gathers in the cross-hall. Why do the old people say not to blow the cross-hall breeze when sleeping? The human body can cause a lot of harm, that’s why.
The same is true for Naqi. When spring comes and the flowers bloom, when the sun shines into the yard, the narrow length of the yard will collect the warm air, giving people a special sense of warmth overall. Comfortable feeling.
Living in such an environment is not only conducive to the circulation of the human body, but also conducive to the growth of flowers and plants in the yard, which will show wealth and good luck.
Summary:
Whether it is because of the B&B or the geographical environment, in fact, Chinese wisdom is integrated into all aspects of life. If you don’t think carefully, you won’t know first. What a precious cultural heritage humans have left us, especially in ancient Chinese buildings. Not only do they have Feng Shui and Numerology considerations in mind, but the main consideration is actually more about human health.