Xiguan old house

Xiguan old house

Xiguan old house is a traditional folk house with Lingnan characteristics built by wealthy businessmen in xiguanjiao (today's Liwan District) in the west of Guangzhou in the late Qing Dynasty, so it is called "Xiguan old house" and "Xiguan big house".

Xiguan big houses are mostly of brick and wood structure, with blue brick and stone feet, and large main doors are inlaid with granite. Its typical plane is three rooms and two corridors; it is symmetrical to the left and right, with the main hall in the middle. In the hall, there are the heaven palace and the land God official. There are four middle doors behind them. They are usually not opened. They are only opened when you visit by sedan chair. According to statistics, there are more than 100 existing ones, and more than 10 ones with reservation value.

brief introduction

Xiguan big house is a traditional folk residential form of Guangzhou with Lingnan characteristics, which was built in xiguanjiao (today's Liwan District) by wealthy businessmen in the late Qing Dynasty. Xiguan had become the commercial center of Guangzhou City in Ming Dynasty, and shibafu had gradually formed in Ming Dynasty. Xiguanjiao was formed during the reign of Tongzhi and Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, covering the areas around Wenchang bridge, Daguan bridge, pantang and Changhua garden. Xiguan big houses are concentrated in Baohua Road, Duobao Road, Baoyuan road and Fengyuan road. Later, it expanded to other areas of Xiguan, mostly built by famous families and bureaucrats.

Xiguan big houses are mostly of brick and wood structure, with blue brick and stone feet, and large main doors are inlaid with granite. Its plane layout is based on the traditional form of Central Plains main hall house, which is basically in depth. Its typical plane is three rooms and two corridors; it is symmetrical to the left and right, with the main hall in the middle. From front to back, from south to north, the central axis is in the order of porch, foyer (gate Hall), sedan Hall (tea Hall), main hall (hall or God Hall), head room (elder room), patio, second Hall (dining room) and second room (tail room). Each hall has one entrance, and generally large houses have two or three entrances, forming quite a number of central axes. On both sides, the front is the study and courtyard on the left, and the side hall and guest room on the right. The top of the guest room is a flat roof, which is used for enjoying the cool, appreciating the moon and paying respects to the seventh sister on Qixi. The back of side hall and guest room is bedroom, kitchen, etc. The garden is planted with flowers and trees and built with rockery fish pond, which is quite elegant and quiet.

The porch of Xiguan mansion is decorated with three kinds of doors: low foot hanging door (also known as foot door), long door and hardwood door. It is a movable fence, which is composed of 13 or 15 pieces of hard round wood (generally mahogany or hardwood), and it is horizontally opened and closed, so it is called a long fence. The foot door and the walk long have the function of ventilation and security. They are specially designed building components to adapt to the hot and rainy climate in Lingnan. The gate of Xiguan big house is made of high-grade wood such as mahogany or camphor wood. It is about 8 cm thick. It has a copper ring on the door button. The foot of the door is hidden in a stone mortar. Behind the door, it is fastened with a crossbar to prevent thieves. In the hall, there are the heaven palace and the land God official. There are four middle doors behind them. They are usually not opened. They are only opened when you visit by sedan chair. Only left and right doors are allowed to enter and exit, so that passers-by can not see the scene inside the door. The sedan hall is a place for guests and owners to enter and stop the sedan. The hall is the main building of the big house, with the largest area and the highest ridge. The whole hall is red building (main girder painted with oil red paint), black Jue (wood corner painted with oil black) and white tile (lining tile painted with white), spacious and grand. In order to make the hall more bright, the roof is scattered with clear tiles, that is, glass tiles. Behind the main hall is the head room (or elder room), which is the place where the elders live, with bright tiles and high windows for lighting. After the first room, there are two rooms (dining room) and two rooms (for married couples). The second room, also known as the tail room, is the last room on the central axis. The hall is separated from the hall by a small patio, which is covered with a cabin and is ventilated by high side windows. There are mainly study, side hall, bedroom and staircase on both sides of the central axis, which are arranged symmetrically. On the right side of the hall, there is a small courtyard, in which rare flowers and trees are planted, and stone hills, stone scenery, fish oil or lotus pool are arranged for the host or visitors to enjoy. There is a Qingyun Lane on both sides of the big house, which means "walking smoothly". Qingyun lane, also known as cold lane, fire lane and Water Lane, has many functions, such as transportation (female family members or servants in and out), ventilation, lighting, drainage, air drying, flower planting, feces and garbage removal, etc.

The facade of Xiguan big house is equipped with low foot hanging door, long door and hardwood door. The interior decoration is elegant and can be regarded as a masterpiece of Arts and crafts. Wood and stone carvings, pottery and plaster carvings, mural stone scenes, glass and iron leaky flowers, Manchuria windows, carved color patterns, mahogany furniture, wood carvings and window sills are all full of Lingnan charm and style. Xiguan big house is the treasure of traditional architecture in Guangzhou. According to statistics, there are more than 100 existing houses, and more than 10 of them have reservation value. The most famous Xiguan mansion is located at 18 Baoyuan North Street, "Liang Zizheng Di", Deng Gongbao Di, Duobao Road, and Zhongjia garden in the middle of Baohua road. It is a pity that most of these famous gardens and mansions no longer exist. At present, the only famous house left is the small painted boat studio.

In 1918, Guangzhou launched the movement of demolishing the city wall. In the following four years, Guangzhou demolished houses everywhere. At first, it started from Ximen, but the merchants in Xiguan strongly opposed it. The merchants organized many protests, but the government sent troops, police and firefighters to raze the city wall. Many people have not yet moved out, their houses have been auctioned by the government, and some "nail households" are trying to fight to the end, so the government sent fire brigade to demolish the houses. With the demolition of the city wall and the houses of the merchants in Xiguan, arcades also developed and replaced them.

architectural style

From front to back, the central axis is in the order of porch, foyer (gate Hall), sedan Hall (tea Hall), main hall (hall or God Hall), head room (elder room), second Hall (dining room) and second room (tail room). Each hall is one entrance. The halls are separated by patios. A small house cover is added on the patio, and ventilation and lighting are provided by high side windows (water windows) or skylights. There are mainly study, side hall, bedroom and staircase on both sides of the main room. Finally, the kitchen. On the right side of the hall, there are usually garden sketches, flowers and trees, and stone fish ponds for recreation. The back of the courtyard is the study. There is a Qingyun Lane on both sides of the big house, which means "walking smoothly". Qingyun lane, also known as cold lane, fire lane and Water Lane, has the functions of ventilation, fire prevention, drainage, lighting, drying, transportation and planting flowers and trees.

Xiguan ancient big house is made of high-grade hardwood, with two low foot doors outside, a long door in the middle and a gate inside. Interior decoration is very particular. The furnishings include furniture, lamps, banners, couplets, books, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, vase Flowers, potted plants, caged birds, mirror platform, various works of art and mahogany furniture, exquisite wood carvings, Manchuria windows and sill windows with local characteristics and their unique layout, which have a strong Lingnan charm.

Address: 15 Fuzheng street, shisan

Longitude: 113.244755

Latitude: 23.112167

Tour time: 2 hours

Ticket information: 10 yuan

Opening hours: all day

Chinese PinYin : Xi Guan Gu Lao Da Wu