Traditional chinese residences reflect the national culture the sub culture of a specific region and that of the ethnic group within it.
Traditional courtyard houses in china. And despite the different geographical conditions traditional chinese dwellings are usually designed around the common values of shared communal and family space. Traditional courtyard houses in china the traditional house form in china was a court yard dwelling. Chinese courtyard houses are one of the most common housing typologies spanning all the way from the northern capital of beijing to the poetic southern cities hangzhou and back to the picturesque. It also appears in english translation as courtyard houses and less often as chinese quadrangles.
During the evolutionary process of vernacular dwellings the form of the courtyard house was. Although the courtyard house was not the only house type in china it was the typi cal form used by the majority of the population from north to south. In china traditional homes called siheyuan or courtyard houses formed basic patterns where they included central spaces surrounded by buildings on all sides. There are countless types of traditional chinese houses both old and new and modern models virtually every province and region of the country has different old chinese houses.
They exhibit outstanding and fundamental characteristics of chinese architecture. Siheyuan refers to a courtyard surrounded by buildings on all four sides. This ancient private courtyard was built by wealthy shanxi merchants the wang family over the course of 300 plus years since the mid 17 th century. Types of traditional chinese houses.
The wang family courtyard located in jingsheng town 140 km from taiyuan the capital of shanxi province is one of the most outstanding representative dwellings in china. Depending on the terrain the material the time and the climate they were built in one way or another. Its formation and development has a long history. Courtyards in beijing siheyuan or compounds with courtyards in northern china farmers caves yaodong in northern shaanxi province.
The traditional domestic architecture of china has five major styles. Siheyuan dates back as early as the western zhou period and has a history of over 2 000 years. Typically used in housing complexes today siheyuans date back over 2 000 years. Dating back to ancient times courtyard houses also known as beijing siheyuan buildings are enclosed and inward facing structures with a courtyard in the center surrounded by.
Siheyuan traditional courtyard house in beijing beijing iconic s hutongs are formed by lines of gated courtyard houses known as siheyuan literally meaning four side enclosed courtyards.