How did the descendants of the Mou family expand other courtyards in the park?

During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, the number of members of the Mou family increased dramatically, and the four large courtyards were far from enough to accommodate the Mou family. Therefore, Mou Molin's six grandsons each established their own houses, with an area of ​​20,000 square meters. Within the scope of the manor, large-scale construction projects were carried out to compete with each other for luxury, and later buildings such as "Dong Zhonglai" and "Shi Gutang" were built.

After the completion of these buildings, Mou's Manor has formed a complex facing south, 158 meters long from east to west, 148 meters wide from north to south, and with a courtyard wall of more than 800 meters. It is dominated by ancient buildings from the Qing Dynasty. , the largest and best-preserved manor in my country.

The buildings in the entire manor are laid out in accordance with ancient Chinese architectural regulations. This building embodies the closed characteristics of ancient Chinese society, reflecting the hierarchical relationship of father being strict and son being filial, and men being superior to women.

The master lives in the pavilion, the hall is used for worshiping ancestors, the bungalow is used for wives and concubines, and the podium is used for servants. The accounting room, grinding room, coffin room and brewing room are mostly arranged in the skirt, creating a unique hierarchical atmosphere in the inner courtyard.

Looking at the stacked courtyards and looking at the passages from the side, the levels are clear and the priorities are clear. In addition to three groups and six courtyards with 480 halls and buildings, there are also 11 auxiliary houses with 331 rooms and 437 tenant houses in the surrounding area.

The three groups of six hospitals are the third hospital in the east group, the second hospital in the southwest group, and the first hospital in the northwest group. The three courtyards in the east group are "Rixintang", "Xizhonglai" and "Dongzhonglai". The three courtyards are side by side, 65.2 meters wide from east to west and 98.2 meters long from north to south.

"Dong Zhonglai" lives in the east, where the fourth grandson Mou Zongyi lives; "Rixintang" lives in the west, where the eldest grandson Mou Zongzhi lives; "Xizhonglai" lives in the middle, where the third grandson Mou Zongkui lives.

The second courtyard of the Southwest Group is "Nan Zhonglai" and "Shi Gutang", which are juxtaposed from east to west, with a width of 55.2 meters from east to west and a length of 59.2 meters from north to south. "Nan Zhonglai" lives in the west and is the residence of Mou Zongju, the fifth grandson; "Shigutang" lives in the east and is the residence of Mou Zongmei, the sixth grandson.

The first courtyard of the northwest group is "Baoshantang", which is a group of its own. It covers an area of ​​37.2 meters wide from east to west and 64 meters long from north to south. It is the residence of grandson Mou Zongpu.

Among them, "Dongzhonglai" has a six-entry courtyard layout with 87 houses in total. From south to north, they are the south group room, bungalow, living room, building, small building, north group room, and east group room. The entire courtyard is a late building in Mou's manor, and it is also a relatively representative group of buildings.

The chiseled wall stones in this courtyard are all seamed by water grinding. The materials used are very exquisite and the workmanship is very fine, which is a masterpiece.

According to research, the stone walls of Mou's Manor are the best among traditional Chinese buildings. There is no adhesive between the two stones, and copper coins are used as pads for uneven polishing.

It is said that the owner of the manor gave the craftsmen a certain amount of copper coins. If the stone wall could not be smoothed, he would put the copper coins on it. If the stone wall was smoothed, the copper coins would belong to him. Therefore, in order to keep the copper coins, the craftsmen polished the chisel wall very smoothly.

At the same time, the green bricks and gray tiles of Mou's Manor are soaked in soybean juice to prevent weathering. It does not fade, so even though the entire manor has been eroded by wind and rain for hundreds of years, it still maintains its original simplicity.

The living room, the main building of Dongzhonglai, was the place where Mou Zongyi entertained guests and discussed matters. On the door of the living room, there is a couplet:

There are fragrant pavilions, Zheng Lanyan and osmanthus trees in the courtyard;

There are no long things in the room, Tang poetry, Jin characters and Chinese articles.

This couplet is very proud to tell everyone that the precious flowers and trees planted in this yard are planted by famous painters, and the family collects rare calligraphy treasures such as Tang poetry and Jin calligraphy.

The interior display of the living room is divided into three parts: the east room is where the owner Mou Zongyi reads, writes and helps people write complaints; the west room is a place for guests to rest temporarily; the middle room is where the owner entertains guests .

The construction materials of the entire hall are very particular. The main beams are all made of logs with a diameter of more than 80 centimeters. The purlins have the same specifications and are evenly arranged, giving people a tall, wide, solid and upright feeling. The internal slope of the house is made of square bricks, and a layer of oak charcoal is laid on top of the square bricks, which can not only absorb water and moisture, but also reduce the weight of the roof.

There is a colorful plaque hanging above the nave, which reads: "I still look forward to the public security". This is a warning to future generations to remember that their ancestral home is Gong'an County, Hubei Province. Future generations should always cherish their hometown and remember it. public security.

Under this plaque, there is a portrait of Mou Guolong, the tenth generation ancestor of the Mou family and Mou Molin's great-great-grandfather.

Under the portrait, there is also an imperial edict, which was given to Mou Guolong's parents by the Qing court. His father was named Wenlinlang and his mother was named Ruren.

On the east wall of the central hall, there is also an edict given by the Qing court to Mou Changyu's grandparents. Mou Changyu was the elder brother of Mou Molin. He was a Jinshi. He served as the supervisory censor of Jiangnan Road, Hedao Road, and Yunnan Road in the Qing Dynasty, and as the chief minister of the military gate of nine provinces.

During his tenure, he dared to tell the truth to the court. He once suggested that the court lift the ban on exporting grain from the Kanto region, and also abolished some outdated legal provisions. His memorials often hit the mark, and history books say that he "can say things that others cannot."

For this reason, both Qianlong and Jiaqing dynasties valued him and allowed him to serve as an official steadily throughout the country until he died of illness at the age of 62. "Shandong General Chronicles" and "Shandong Historical Figures" both listed him as a famous minister.

The form of this edict is very different from that of Mou Guolong. It is composed of five colors and is used for officials of fifth rank and above, which is called "five colors". The one worn by Mou Guolong is used for lower-ranking officials. It has only one color, which is called "plain face".

Behind this living room is the Mou Zongyi residential building with four entrances in Dongzhonglai. This courtyard was the result of Mou Zongyi's investment of thousands of acres of land. He chose Dalian Western-style buildings and hired famous bricklayers from Laiyang County and famous carpenters from Huang County. It took three years to complete.

The eaves of the building are painted with purple-red paint, and are matched with white and green painted brackets. The warm and cool tones are contrasted by the shadows under the eaves, which appropriately shows the depth of the eaves and gives people a sense of majesty. .

There are imaginary evil beasts built on the ridges of the roof, with different shapes, to serve as a deterrent. The building embraces the east and west compartments, with the main entrance and screen door facing each other. Screen doors, connected to the left and right walls, form a typical courtyard house. The screen door is located at the back of the hall and in front of the building. It is exquisitely carved and painted, echoing the front and back of the living room building, and has a solemn momentum.

On the lower floor of the building is Mou Zongyi’s daily treasure, used to accompany his wife and concubines to eat, sleep, check accounts and educate their children. The upper floor is his dedicated study room, which is used for reading, reading newspapers, drafting complaints, and resting. At the same time, the upper floor is also a place where he imitates the past, admires the past, and has spiritual enjoyment.

In the past, he once kept more than a dozen boxes of ancient books and a large number of famous calligraphy and paintings on the upper floor. Although many of the treasures have been lost, there are also some preserved books, calligraphy and paintings of the Mou family, and ink ink by celebrities.

Because many sons of the Mou family lived in this building later, this building was also called the "Young Master Building". In the Dongzhonglai Courtyard, in addition to the living room and young master's building, there are also a grinding room, a farm tools exhibition, and a granary accounting room in the adjacent wing rooms.

In addition, Mou's Manor not only has an exquisite layout, but also has three major quirks in the manor's architecture. The "three major quirks" mentioned here are the unique features that appeared during the construction of Mou's Manor. The different scenes and the weirdness of the architectural style are even more intriguing and have been pursued and explored by people.

The first is to "open the door to the hall". There are front and back doors in the living room and main room of each compound, and they are all on the same line. This breaks the old Feng Shui rule in Qixia area that "doors are not allowed to open from the front to the back."

The second is "the fire pit is outdoors." While the dormitory was being built in Mou's Manor, a square stone kang opening was left at a suitable location under the corner of the window so that the servants could burn the kang outdoors on a regular basis for warmth.

This unique heating design method is relatively rare in northern folk houses. However, such a structure can effectively avoid gas poisoning that is easy to occur when burning a kang indoors.

Finally, "the chimney stands outside the gable." In house buildings in the north and south of our country, whether it is a bungalow or a building, the chimney is generally designed to be located on the eaves slope of the roof.

However, Mou's Manor has nearly a hundred chimneys erected outside the gables, with rain caps at the top. From a distance, they look like a small tower in the clouds and mist. They are small, exquisite and unique.

The function of this design is to burn the fire pit for warmth in cold weather. The burning of firewood does not emit much heat. In order to make full use of the heat, the chimney is placed beside the gable to extend the direction of the fireworks and allow the firewood or grass to burn. The heat is retained in the kang. It can make the thermal insulation performance of the house better.

It can be seen that the entire architecture and layout of Mou's Manor, with its magnificent scale and profound connotation, has been evaluated by many experts and scholars as "the living fossil of the century-old manor" and "the treasure of traditional architecture". "The place where prosperity has flourished for six hundred years."

The courtyard gate of Mou's Manor