The characteristic architecture of Bando

Honglincuo, commonly known as Xinhuli, is located in Xinhu Village, Bandong Town, Minqing County. It was built by Huang Zuobin, the founder of Xinhuli, in the 60th year of Yimao, Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1795). It was not completed until 1823, which took 28 years. It was built by Huang Zuobin, a timber merchant, and his eldest son Huang Honglin, a wealthy man in Liudu. Yanxi River in the upper reaches of Meixi River has a deep bay here, which is regarded as the "Jade Belt" in folk geography. Honglin House is built in the river bay surrounded by the jade belt, shaped like a jade belt around the waist. Looking across the river, from near to far are five parallel ridges from low to high, known as the "Five Heavy Cases", "the door welcomes the five heavy cases, with a jade belt ring in front", and is backed by Keyangxian Peak. In ancient times, It is considered to be an excellent Feng Shui treasure land.

Honglin House covers an area of ​​more than 17,000 square meters and used more than 70,000 pieces of wood. The entire house was built and was completed in 1823, which took 28 years. Honglin House covers an area of ​​more than 17,000 square meters, uses more than 70,000 pieces of wood, has 35 large and small halls, 25 flower gardens, 30 patios, 36 wind and fire walls, and four wells. It has 13 gates, 666 houses, and more than 900 people living in more than 100 households. It is so large that it is rare in the world. The entire building is designed and built according to the principle of axial symmetry. The interior corridors are looped and orderly vertically and horizontally, with sufficient light and wind. The roads are smooth. The house is fully equipped and convenient for walking and living. The structure is scientific and reasonable, and the decoration of the house is very exquisite. According to reports, the large residential buildings in Honglin were designed and constructed in one go, with a construction period of 28 years. It is a residential building with exquisite structure.

Go straight into the three entrances from Hutou Gate, with a cross street between each entrance. Connected by Guoyu Pavilion. The inner buildings are all made of wood, and the eight fire walls are composed of nine columns interspersed with horizontal beams. In the middle main hall, there are one, two, and three official rooms and fire wall lanes on both sides. There are three academies on the left and right, with the academy hall in the middle and study rooms on both sides. The three entrances of Huizhao are different. There are no rooms on both sides of the front and rear entrances. The second entrance of Huizhao has two rooms on the left and right. The main hall, academy and Huizhao are surrounded by patios. The main hall and the back hall are separated by a screen. There is a shrine for worshiping ancestors in the third main hall, which shows that it was designed at one time. The second and third entrance halls are separated from the back patio by the kitchen. In the middle is the kitchen hall, with four kitchens on the left and right. Outside the fire wall, there are ditches on the left and right sides to build horizontal houses, which are oriented at 90 degrees to the main hall. There is one horizontal hall at each end of the horizontal hall in the forward and reverse directions, and eight horizontal halls are built in a row between the two halls. In addition to the Hengcuo, an outer Hengcuo was built, with two dismounting rooms in each layout, and one rabbit ear room in the northeast corner and one in the southwest corner.

What is amazing is that the underground sewers and well-arranged manholes in Honglincuo are connected into a whole. The fire canal next to the house keeps clear water flowing smoothly, and manholes are mostly located at the intersection of the upper and lower ditches. The 47 manholes in the entire house are designed in a unified position. In the event of a fire, water can be obtained nearby to extinguish the fire. Since the sewers are interconnected, the water will reach the front line of fire fighting according to people's will.

The design of Honglincuo windows gives many inspirations: the window is positioned high to ensure the concealment of indoor life; the window drawers are designed to push and pull up and down, left and right, to minimize the window sash activity space. It brings a lot of convenience to daily life. In a large family with a large population and frequent travels, if the window sash is too large to open indoors and outdoors, it will inevitably cause collision injuries due to inaction. The living conditions of large families and small families are very different, and the opening conditions of window sash are not the same. Since the movable space of the window drawer is limited to the inside of the wall, it has not been affected by wind, rain or man-made damage. The windows of Honglincuo have remained the same for more than 200 years.

The Honglincuo building is a civil structure. It pays great attention to symmetrical wing rolls, flying bird leather, carved beams and painted buildings. It has exquisite craftsmanship and is a valuable practical material for the study of folk architectural art. What is particularly outstanding in the design and construction of Honglincuo is its defensive function. The whole house is equipped with thick walls and heavy doors from the outside to the inside, multiple defense facilities such as a dark room on the city sill, rabbit ears, a gun room for dismounting, an impact door, an attack eye at the foot of the wall, and a throwing platform across the street. It is also equipped with training equipment. Without the simple servants, the house becomes an impregnable city that can withstand thousands of fierce bandits and robbers. Located in the northern part of the Bandong Plain, it was built in the 19th year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1754). It originally covered an area of ​​24,500 square meters, with four buildings in front, each with seven columns and eight wind and fire walls, and a horizontal house next to it. The scale is so large that it is unparalleled. Therefore, there was a saying in ancient times that "no bird can fly within the four happy houses." Today, although some of the horizontal houses have been renovated into new houses, the main house is still intact. Silexuan is a well-known scholarly residence in Xiaer. Historically, it has scholarship mechanisms such as the Book Light Field. The whole house has a strong culture of studying and emphasizing education, and there are many talents. There were originally 54 plaques and deacon plaques of various types in the hall, and his descendants are called "descendants under the plaques".

Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong were the heydays of the feudal dynasty. Most of the larger ancient houses in Minqing County were built during these periods. This folk song has been circulating since ancient times: "Six capitals have four happy houses, three capitals have stayed in foreign houses, and five capitals have studied in Chinese houses." Silexuan is located in the northern part of the Bandong Plain. It was built in the 19th year of Qianlong (1754) in the Qing Dynasty. It originally covered an area of ​​24,500 square meters. Because of its grand scale, a nursery rhyme once sung: "Silecuo, Silecuo, Bird You can't fly." For the sake of elegance, the scholars in the house renamed it "Silexuan". The architectural features of Si Le House are straight forward, with seven columns and eight wind and fire walls forming the main body. It is symmetrical from left to right according to the main axis, with the main hall in the middle and three official rooms on the left and right. The three official rooms are separated from the wind and fire wall by a passage of 1 or 2 meters, which is called the fire wall lane. In front of the left is a large patio, with three academies on the left and right of the patio. In the middle is the academy hall, with study rooms on both sides. There is a small patio behind the academy for a flower garden. A kitchen is built on the back corridor of the official house, separated by a 2-meter ditch, with three rooms on the left and right. There is a 4.5-meter horizontal street between Erluo and Sanluo, which leads to the left and right model houses. Next to the Fenghuo Wall, there is a 2-meter-wide straight street and water ditch on the left and right, which leads directly to Siluo and forms a "++" with the horizontal street. "shape. There are four arched side doors under the wind and fire wall of each Luozhengcuo, leading to Zhi Street. Each building outside the straight street has several rows of horizontal houses, and the upper and lower mold houses are separated by a wind and fire wall one meter thick and twelve meters high to prevent fire hazards. The buildings on the left and right sides are in accordance with tradition, and the buildings outside are backed by a fire wall. The outer Hengcuo is built in the opposite direction, facing the Hengcuo, forming an overall building centered around the main building. A turret was built at each of the east, west, south and north corners of the house. The narrow windows of the building were equipped with gun holes to prevent bandits. Near the back door of the house, near the wall, there is an ancient camphor tree planted on the left and right sides. It is five meters in width and eighteen meters in height. It looks like a canopy and is of the same age as the house. There is an ancient well on Erluo Zuozhi Street. The spring water is clear and sufficient for domestic water for the whole house. There are thirteen gates, screen doors, and back hall doors in each of the four main houses. The gates are vertical in one line, and the double doors are open. The wide courtyard hall stretches far and wide, and is magnificent. The whole house is rich and rigorous, with oyster-walled and tiled houses arranged one after another, forming a huge building complex.