What does patio mean?
Patio, a unique name in ancient Huizhou, is a name full of expectations.
There are many old houses in Huizhou villages, most of which are high walls and deep courtyards with heavy doors and narrow windows. When I walked into the old house, the first feeling was that it was dark inside. It is said that most Huizhou men go out to do business, and their families are women, children, old and young, so they are built for safety reasons. The whole house is closed and conservative, but the patio is connected with heaven and earth.
Lu Ji, a writer in the Western Jin Dynasty, has two poems, saying: the side sewer surges and the patio hangs. This may be the earliest source of patio. As for why it is called patio, I checked some information and didn't have a definite answer. We can only take it literally.
The patio is the most important structure for lighting in old houses. Because of this, the living room was called "Tang Ming" in ancient Huizhou, so there was a saying that "four waters belong to Tang Ming", so that all spiritual things falling from the sky belong to the old house, which can only be understood as an expectation of ancient Huizhou people.
In the early autumn, I came to live in an old house in the country, put everything down and enjoyed the rural customs. This is leisure. Through several alleys with friends, I came to the door of an old Ming Dynasty house with three floors and two entrances. It takes a lot of effort to push open this heavy brick door. In the silent ancient village, this slow and sharp "creaking" sound seems to have penetrated hundreds of years of dusty history, which is particularly clear and harsh.
After a friend pushed the door open, the first thing he saw was the sunshine from the patio, which made the ancient house full of vitality. That patio hanging in the air, leaning over the ground, is really a hole in the sky. The ancient houses in Huizhou are cooler because of the high walls. I have lived in an ancient house many times, and every time I see the direct sunlight in the courtyard, I feel a warm and soft feeling in my heart.
The Ming hall in the house is relatively large, probably because of the patio, which makes it look tall, spacious and bright. There are many patios in the old house, such as porch and kitchen, and there is a small patio against the wall in the larger side compartment on the left. The structure of the patio is extremely exquisite, in which many Huizhou people's life concepts and good wishes are integrated.
I didn't visit the village, because I came to the village too many times, so I brought books. After my friend made me a cup of tea, he exchanged a few pleasantries with me and began to do his own thing. I moved a chair in the patio myself, opened the book and read it.
Tired of reading, I put down my book and looked up at the sky. A light beam stands on the ground. I think the men in ancient Huizhou, like me, studied hard in this world since childhood, and became the pillars of this courtyard when they grew up, becoming indomitable men. In this way, as if the children's voices really came from a distant world, this childish voice suddenly evolved into a towering beam and rushed to the sky. The patio in the sun gave me a strong shock and a baptism of my heart.
The autumn night is breezy and very cool. I came to the beauty upstairs to enjoy the moon and look for the sorrow of Huizhou women. Looking up at the starry sky, I can't help admiring the aesthetics of the ancient Hui people. This patio is like a lens. Looking up from the lens, if the moonlight is like water and the stars are all over the sky, it is really more beautiful than looking at the empty land. I enjoyed it from all directions around the fast horse building and was intoxicated by the thick osmanthus fragrance floating in the breeze. Perhaps the times have changed, and I haven't felt the sorrow of Huizhou women for some time.
The night is getting deeper, the fog is rising, the tea in the cup is cold, and the stars in the sky are gone. The faint moon hangs in the air, lonely, and the moonlight leaks from the patio, blue and full of ancient houses. There are only three or two guests in the big old house, and a feeling of loneliness and desolation suddenly comes to mind. I suddenly understood that this is the life of Huizhou women, relying on beauty alone, covered with blue moonlight, facing the empty old house.
This patio can make Huizhou men jump into the sky, but it is a deep well that Huizhou women can't cross. I was strongly shocked again. This time, it was an impact that could not calm my mind.