The traditional Huizhou dwellings were very mature in the Ming Dynasty. The most typical model was the courtyard house (four channels join inside the courtyard). Huizhou dwelling is a closed system, the external part is large and tall solid walls to guard against thefts only with some small windows for aeration. A number of Huizhou dwellings were intensively built, only separated by fireproof walls, which can curtain off fire and avoid fire's spread. Because these walls have horse-head-like upper corners, they are called horse-head wall. The closed appearance of Huizhou dwelling is the "'real" aspect: but in the inside of the dwelling the constructors used patios to communicate with nature. Patios of varied kinds distributed among large stretches of buildings. In the patios, bonsais flourish and the living atmosphere pervades - it is the "imaginary" aspect. Just in the combination of "imaginary" and "real", Huizhou dwelling arrived a realm in which art and life are perfectly unified.
Huizhou dwellings are very different from the quadrangles in the north of China. It is a product through the combination of wood storied building with railings and the quadrangle in the north of China. The courtyard house with Huizhou style is fundamentally storied building, the quadrangles only with one floor in the north of China are very rare in Huizhou area. Even if in a one-storey building, a wood floor was paved and an airflow interlayer was installed for removing humidity. In fact, Huizhou's houses built in the Minu Dynasty were storied buildings, the principal activities of life were on the second floor, so the proportion between the first and the second floors was 1:2. But Huizhou's houses built in the Qing Dynasty accepted some features of northern quadrangles - residents" activities were basically at the first floor, then the proportion between the storeys turned 2: 1. Nevertheless, the features of nest-like house were still kept: opening the central hall completely and linking it with the patio for better aeration. The proportion of patio is also different from the dimension of northern quadrangle's patio: tall and narrow for protection against the sunshine in summer, making the air up flowing.
This kind of patio suits the hot climate in summer. The building structure also combined two wood structures: northern form of "'raising beam" (A form of wood structure in Chinese ancient buildings, the beam is put on the pillar and other beam put on this beam.) and southern form of "mortise and quoin connecting" ( Another form of wood structure in Chinese ancient buildings, the beam is put on the pillar are connected by mortise and quoin.), which are respectively used in main hall and in bed-rooms of the same house. The gate of Huizhou dwelling also combines the features of southern stockade village's gate and northern house's gate. The memorial archways and archway-like gates at Huizhou are typical examples.
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