floral-pendant gates

floral-pendant gates

Chuihuamen is the inner door of the courtyard of ancient Chinese residential buildings. It is a very particular door in the courtyard. It is the dividing line and the only channel between the inner house and the outer house (front yard). Because the eaves column does not fall to the ground and hangs under the eaves, it is called the vertical column. There is a drop bead under it, which is usually painted in the form of petals, so it is called the vertical flower gate.

Introduction to chuihuamen

Chuihuamen is a very particular door in siheyuan. It is the dividing line and the only channel between the inner house and the outer house (front yard).

The front courtyard and the inner courtyard are separated by a vertical flower gate and a courtyard wall. The outer courtyard is mostly used to receive guests, while the inner courtyard is the living place of the family. Generally, outsiders are not allowed to go in and out at will. Even the male servants of the family must implement this rule.

In the old days, people often said that "the gate does not come out, the second gate does not step forward", "the second gate" refers to this vertical flower gate.

The vertical flower gate means that the eaves and pillars on the gate do not fall to the ground, but hang on the central pillar, and the pillars are engraved with gorgeous wood carvings such as petals (Lotus) leaves, etc., most of which are lotus flowers and flower cluster heads on the back. Because of its location on the central axis of the whole house, the chuihuamen is the most eye-catching place in the whole house.

This is one of the characteristics of chuihuamen. Therefore, there is a large space in the chuihuamen, which also provides great convenience for housewives to say goodbye to their female relatives and friends.

Chuihuamen is an important building in siheyuan. With a dignified and gorgeous image, it has become the watershed between the outer courtyard and the inner house of siheyuan. Generally, the vertical gate is located in the middle of the north side of the courtyard, opposite to the one in the middle of the inverted south room facing the street. Generally, the vertical gate is built on three or five floors of bluestone steps. On both sides of the vertical gate are exquisite brick walls with polished brick joints. The vertical gate is built on the main axis of the courtyard. Like the cross road and the main room in the courtyard, it is on the same north-south main axis and is first displayed to the guests In front of you. After entering the inner house, the plagiarism corridor and the cross Yong road are separated from each other by the central axis of the Chuihua gate.

history

Lotus plumule

Chuihuamen has a long history of chuihuamen. In the Song Dynasty, which was completed in the third year of Fu of the song and Yuan Dynasties (1100), there are several references to "xuzhu" and "xuzhu lianhuapeng five layers". This is the practice of Buddha's tent, which belongs to wood carving. It shows that the practice of hanging lotus column in Song Dynasty is very popular, so its formation may be earlier than that in Song Dynasty. In the Jin Dynasty tomb unearthed from Dong's tomb in Houma, Shanxi Province, there is a decoration image of the brick eaves. The shape of the vertical lotus column on the upper part is very mature. It remains to be verified when the vertical lotus column was applied to the door. From the perspective of the gates of houses all over the country, it is very common to use lotus columns, such as "Longmen" in Sichuan and obvious lotus columns in the gates of houses in Southern Fujian. In Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi and other places in the south of the Yangtze River, brick carvings are also used to make door covers with the image of lotus columns. It can be said that using lotus columns to expand the space under the eaves of doors or to decorate the eaves of doors is an important part of Chinese architecture It's a common practice.

Two doors

As the saying goes, the door of a lady of a family does not come out, and the two doors that do not step out refer to the vertical flower gate in the door of the house. The vertical lotus column is used to deepen the eaves of the vertical flower gate, which does not occupy the ground, and is in line with the functional needs of the second gate. If two eaves pillars fall to the ground, the movable floor in front of the door will be greatly limited. The floor will be much more spacious with the non falling lotus pillars. There is a roof with sunshade and rain protection on it. In addition to the gorgeous flower hanging door, the environment and atmosphere are extremely appropriate.

function

brief introduction

The vertical flower gate is a highly decorative building, and almost all its prominent parts are decorated with exquisite decoration. The beam head on the outward side of the vertical flower gate is often carved into the shape of cloud head, which is called "Ma Ye beam head". This kind of carved beam head is rare in general buildings. Under the head of Ma Ye Liang, there are a pair of overhanging short columns with the stigma downward. The head is carved with lotus petals, beads, calyx clouds or pomegranate heads, which are similar to a pair of budding flower buds. This pair of short columns is called "Chui Lian Zhu". The origin of the name of Chuihua sect is probably related to this pair of special Chui Zhu. There are also beautiful carvings on the parts connecting the two columns, with themes such as "generations after generations", "three friends in winter and old", "Yutang's wealth" and "happiness of fortune, wealth and longevity". These sculptures express the owner's longing for a better life, and also decorate the facade of this prestigious inner house with extraordinary splendor.

Looking from the outside, the vertical flower gate looks like an extremely gorgeous brick and wood structure gatehouse. Looking from the courtyard, it looks like a square hut with pavilions and pavilions. Because the four green wooden screen doors are often closed, they are like a wall, which increases the three-dimensional feeling of the vertical flower door. The top of the vertical flower gate is mostly of the rolling shed type, the top of the outer part is the clear water ridge, and the inner part of the gate is the rolling shed roof. The intersection of the two roofs forms a gutter, and half of the rain water carried by the vertical flower gate flows out from both sides of the gutter, which greatly reduces the dripping water in front of the eaves and the erosion of rain water on the vertical flower gate steps.

In addition to the decorative features, the function of chuihuamen is to show the owner's financial resources, the reproduction of family background, the level of cultural literacy, and even the owner's hobbies and personality.

defense function

The first one is to have a certain defense function. For this reason, the first door is installed between the two pillars on the outside side. This door is thick and similar to the street door. It is called "chessboard door", or "save side door". It is opened during the day for the residents to pass through, and closed at night. It has a security function.

Barrier effect

The second is to act as a barrier, which is the main function of chuihuamen. In order to ensure the concealment of the inner house, another door is installed between the two columns on the inner side of the vertical flower gate, which is called "screen door". Except for the important ceremonies in the family, such as marriage, funeral, marriage and marriage, the screen doors are closed for the rest of the time. When people enter and leave the second door, they do not go through the screen doors, but go through the side doors on both sides of the screen doors or through the plagiarism corridors on both sides of the vertical flower doors to the inner courtyard and rooms. This function of chuihuamen fully plays a special role in not only communicating the inner and outer houses, but also strictly dividing the space.

Through a small hanging flower gate, we can see the industriousness, intelligence and wisdom of the ancient Chinese working people, which is a picture of folk customs with strong characteristics.

The gate of the house

People who have lived or entered Beijing's residence will have a deep impression on the vertical flower gate, because it is dignified and gorgeous, and extremely eye-catching. Here I use the word "gate" instead of siheyuan. I heard Mr. Zhu Jiazhen say that Siheyuan refers to a house with East, West, North and South rooms, and a house with many entrances, such as hanging flower doors and porches, is a gate. The late famous folklorist Mr. Jin Hui also said that the residence in Beijing should not be called Siheyuan, but "sihefang". He said it with indignation. Therefore, it is necessary to gradually correct the name. The houses with East, West, North and South rooms are called quadrangle houses, and the houses with many courtyards, such as chuihuamen, are called "curtilage doors".

The entrance to the house

Chuihuamen is the entrance of the inner house in the gate of the house. Most of them face south, and are on the same north-south axis as the main hall and the main house. Of course, there are also a small number of chuihuamen facing north or East. The reason why it is called chuihuamen or chuihuamen is that it has chuihuanzhu, a short column that does not fall to the ground from the front eaves. The end of the column is made into a lotus bud shaped drop bead. There are also various forms of drop beads, such as wind swing willow or carved square, etc., but the drop lotus shape is the most regular.

Generally, the vertical flower gate of the house gate is located on the middle line of the first entrance, opposite to the inverted sitting room. In front of the entrance to the courtyard, there are halls, halls, etc. the appearance of the vertical flower gate marks that the inner house is here. The so-called difference between inside and outside is to take this as the boundary. In the old society, women were not allowed to appear in public, and the women's families stopped to welcome and see off their relatives and friends. At that time, sedan chairs or cars were parked in front of the Chuihua gate, and salutes and farewell were carried out on the platform of the Chuihua gate. People with big rules, servants and ordinary visitors are not allowed to enter the house.

structure

Independent column beam type vertical flower gate

This is the most concise structure of the vertical gate. It has only a row of columns. The beam frame intersects with the column cross, and it is carried on both sides of the column. The two ends of the beam head bear an eaves purlin, and the lower end of the beam head hang a vertical lotus column. From the side elevation, the whole vertical gate looks like a woodcutter's shoulder, so it is also called "Erlang Dan mountain" type vertical gate. (see the picture on the right).

As the flower gate on the wall, there are many examples in classical royal gardens and large private gardens

. The characteristic of this kind of vertical flower gate is that its two sides are completely symmetrical, and it has the same artistic effect when viewed from any side. The two columns of the vertical flower gate are equipped with a couplet frame, a side door or a screen door. The ratio of face width to column height is generally 10:9, that is, the face width is one Zhang, and the column height is nine feet (according to: the column height here refers to the distance from Taiming to the lower skin of maye Baotou beam, not the through height of Zuojin column), which is slightly different from the stipulation of face width of one Zhang and column height of eight feet in the Qing code, and the column height is appropriately increased, making the Chuihua gate light as a whole. For example, the ratio of column height to column diameter is not 11:1, but 12:1 or 13:1, which shows the flexibility of miscellaneous buildings in weighing proportion.

One hall and one scroll vertical flower gate

One hall and one roll type vertical flower gate is the most common one

Chinese PinYin : Chui Hua Men