The traditional layout of ancient people when building houses

1. "A house is crowned by its portal" and "A house is crowned by its portal" is an old saying. To paraphrase Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, steel can be used as a mirror to straighten the crown and belt. History has cast such a mirror, and the ancients used it to build, install and evaluate doors. Today, our Duanxiang mirror feels both unfamiliar and familiar. Because it is "alloy copper" smelted from many elements of Chinese culture such as the unity of man and nature, yin and yang and the five elements. Its raw materials use folk customs and Feng Shui mixed with ancient residential folk customs. Just talk about the direction of the door. The Dunhuang manuscript "Zhu Za Tui Five Surnames Yin Yang and Other Houses Illustrations" has a sentence that is definitely not profound: "The south entrance is the Yang House." Sitting north and facing south is the most common residential custom. Not only "the yamen door opens to the south", but also the north room is the main room of the houses. Our country is located in the northern hemisphere, with the door facing south, shady and facing the sun, and good light. The south wind blows slowly in summer, and the cold wind blows on the back wall in winter. As the saying goes: "The flowers in the door facing the sun always spring." This reasonable living custom is accepted by Feng Shui theory and is called "Ziwu Xiang". The Dunhuang posthumous book "Zhu Zalue De Yao Chao Zi" records that it reflects the superstition about the direction of opening the door: "If the door is on the green dragon, it is unlucky. If the door is on the Xuanwu, it will be stolen by thieves." Each of the four elephants represents one generation. Qinglong is the east and Xuanwu is the north. In ancient times, Dunhuang people avoided opening their house doors to the east or north. In the residences of the Yugu people in Gansu, it is forbidden to open the door to the north. There is a saying: "A person only opens the door to the north when he is unlucky." In rural areas of northeastern Shandong, the courtyard doors of folk houses generally open to the south. The main room in the courtyard faces north, but the courtyard The door cannot face the main room door, otherwise it will be said that the fire in the south and the water in the north are in conflict with each other, which is a taboo. This theory even involves the positional relationship between doors and windows. It is said that "door to window, people will suffer; windows to doors, people will die." It is also taboo for the courtyard door or the south room door to be opposite the main room window. 2. "Invite Gongshuzi to install the gate, and hire Jiang Taigong to establish a household." "Invite Gongshuzi to install the gate, and hire Jiang Taigong to establish a household." This couplet is commonly used when building houses in Juancheng, Shandong. There is a saying that "food is the sky for the people, and residence is the earth for the people." In the old days, buying real estate and real estate were both important family matters that benefited children and grandchildren; today among the people, building a house is still a very important matter. This is not only because building a house is a large fixed asset investment for a family, but also because the traditional psychology of exorcising evil spirits and bringing good fortune has been deeply involved in living customs for thousands of years, and a large part of the living customs is reflected in When building a house. Among the various house building processes starting from laying the foundation, installing the door and raising the beams require the most attention. The importance of pillars in the structure of a house needs no elaboration. It's natural that it should be taken seriously. Compared with the construction of beams, the various explanations of Anmen are more focused on driving away evil spirits and bringing good fortune, rather than on the structure and decoration of the building itself. 3. Don’t be afraid of things. Before building the gate, carefully choose the auspicious day and time of the zodiac. First, a small bottle is buried under the threshold, containing money and medicinal materials (such as Shiquan Dabu Decoction, etc.). It is called the "treasure bottle", which means "attracting wealth" and "peace and safety". On the day when the gate is set up, the owner must go out and fetch a load of water before the sun rises. He is not allowed to look back or rest on the way, and he is not allowed to meet funerals, weddings, sick people, pregnant women, etc. Until the door frame is erected, no outsiders are allowed to enter. The main beam of the door frame is made of peach wood (ancient wood in most places in Qinghai) carved with patterns, which is the same as the beam of the house. A hole is drilled in the middle to store food and property, and the red cloth covering the beam is nailed with copper coins. Before an auspicious occasion comes, the owner burns incense and mounts it to comfort the ancestors. After the door frame was erected, the water picked up in the morning was poured on the wooden sill. The craftsman stood on the door frame and threw dates, sugar, money, steamed buns, etc. downwards, and everyone rushed to grab it. Then, the congratulatory guests filed in and took their seats. In some places, people also put lions made of blue bricks in the door openings of door frames to ward off evil and seek good luck. Under the threshold, a "treasure bottle" containing money and medicinal materials is buried. Money represents wealth, and medicinal materials represent the removal of diseases. These two things are kept under the door, which corresponds to a common saying: "If you have it, don't get sick; if you don't have it, don't have money." It was buried under the threshold, and holes were drilled on the door beams to hold grain and money. In addition, blue bricks were Lions are used to ward off evil spirits. In ancient times, the Zhaoqing Temple in Hangzhou was built and destroyed several times from King Qian Wusu of Wuyue to the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. According to Kan Yu, it was caused by the location of the "Fire Dragon". It was rebuilt during the Jiaqing period of the Ming Dynasty. "Then the theory of the Kan Yu family was adopted to remove the houses and make the temple gate exposed to water to avoid fire." What was the result? According to Zhang Dai's "Xihu Mengxun" in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was written in the third year of Longqing. After burning once, another fire broke out in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen. The sky was covered with smoke and the lake was red. The "water at the temple gate" failed to subdue the "fire dragon". This seems to explain that the cause of the fire is not the same. It's not about the earth's veins, but it's about the loopholes in the management of incense.

Therefore, the "water at the temple door" technique can only reflect the desire to prevent fire, but it is not an effective fire prevention measure. 4. "Stepping on the Wealth Gate" and "Opening the Lottery Gate" In traditional living customs, the gate of the house is very important. In some places such as Qinghai, the erection of a gate is called "opening the gate of wealth", and a ceremony of "stepping on the gate of wealth" is held when a new gate is completed. Yunnan's "Xiongzhen County Chronicle" also records that the gate is fully decorated and it is up to the close relatives to "step on the financial gate". At this time, the respected elders should give a "eulogy for stepping on the door": Opening the auspicious gate, opening the auspicious gate, auspicious spring will come all the year round, and the world will be prosperous with two fortunes; stepping on the blessing gate, stepping on the longevity gate, blessings will grow like the East China Sea. The flowing water is as long as the immortal pines in Nanshan. Xunhe's "Customs of the Buyi Nationality" records the "Kaicaimen Song": "The Thoreau forest is one root, and the Thoreau forest is straight and straight. The long board can be solved by thousands, and the short board can be solved by thousands. Bring the long one. The door strips are made, and the short ones are used to decorate the door. The two golden doors are bright, and the two silver doors are carved with golden lions and jade unicorns on the right. When the door is opened in the morning, the golden rooster crows, and when the door is closed, the phoenix returns. "Prosperity every year, prosperity for generations to come." This is sung by the carpenter when a new house is completed and relatives and neighbors come to congratulate it. This ceremony is called opening the lottery gate. At this time, a piece of red cloth one foot five inches long and two feet wide must be nailed to the gate railing to symbolize attracting wealth. In the first few days of "Opening the Wealth Gate", it is forbidden to bring filial piety, widowers, disabled people and people who have done evil things into the house, which is called "Taboo Wealth Gate". It is said that this is to avoid bringing in bad luck. In Hainan, when villagers of the Li ethnic group move into a new house, they insert red vine thorn leaves behind the door. Legend has it that the thorn leaves can hook ghosts and protect people from disasters.