Cultural Heritage Unlocked
No.12 Courtyard House in Changxiang 2nd Lane 長巷二條12號四合院, Dongcheng District 東城區, Beijing 北京, China, Qing Dynasty 清代 (1644-1912)
Closely associated with the social status and wealth of the owner, there were 5 different types of gate of traditional Courtyard Houses in Beijing. This small entrance belongs to the Golden-Column Gate 金柱大門, which was the second highest ranking gate in general, often adopted by relatively upper class families. In China’s Ming 明 (1368-1644) and Qing northern official style 北方官式 architectural tradition, the second row of columns behind the eave are called ‘golden columns’. The doors of a Golden-Column Gate are fixed between those second row columns on the front façade forming a little porch, hence its name.
Hanging underneath the front lintel, a piece of openwork wood carving depicts a winding vine with hanging grapes. Due to its image of multiple beads, grapes have been long associated with fertility in the Chinese decorative art tradition. The beams above are covered with colourful beam-paintings, each with a specific theme such as bird on peony, Daoist 道教 immortals and imperial garden views. On the lowest part, the garden views were realised with Western style perspective, which was a popular painting skill in Chinese decorative art since mid-late Qing Dynasty.
A Screen Wall 影壁 behind the entrance is a kind of decorative structure in Chinese architectural tradition, keeping the privacy for a more intimate space. Decorative glazed tiles or brick carving works are often embedded in these ritual walls to offer auspicious signs. The most common type of Screen Wall of a Beijing traditional Courtyard House is usually a pseudo-wall attached to the side of an inner building, facing the entrance from inside. This particular wall inside the No.12 Courtyard House in Changxiang 2nd Lane was built with a pseudo-timber roof full of auspicious signs carved on brick components, such as the openwork brick carving of gourds on the ridge ends implying fertility.
The main building inside the courtyard is full of tiny but exquisite wood carving works, such as the little wooden piers and heads of the doorframe decorated with the pattern of five bats implying the auspicious idiom of luckiness and longevity 五福捧壽, and the pattern of crane and pine tree representing the extension of lifespan 松鶴延年.
This photo was taken in 2009.
No.12 Courtyard House in Changxiang 2nd Lane 長巷二條12號四合院, Dongcheng District 東城區, Beijing 北京, China, Qing Dynasty 清代 (1644-1912)
Closely associated with the social status and wealth of the owner, there were 5 different types of gate of traditional Courtyard Houses in Beijing. This small entrance belongs to the Golden-Column Gate 金柱大門, which was the second highest ranking gate in general, often adopted by relatively upper class families. In China’s Ming 明 (1368-1644) and Qing northern official style 北方官式 architectural tradition, the second row of columns behind the eave are called ‘golden columns’. The doors of a Golden-Column Gate are fixed between those second row columns on the front façade forming a little porch, hence its name.
Hanging underneath the front lintel, a piece of openwork wood carving depicts a winding vine with hanging grapes. Due to its image of multiple beads, grapes have been long associated with fertility in the Chinese decorative art tradition. The beams above are covered with colourful beam-paintings, each with a specific theme such as bird on peony, Daoist 道教 immortals and imperial garden views. On the lowest part, the garden views were realised with Western style perspective, which was a popular painting skill in Chinese decorative art since mid-late Qing Dynasty.
A Screen Wall 影壁 behind the entrance is a kind of decorative structure in Chinese architectural tradition, keeping the privacy for a more intimate space. Decorative glazed tiles or brick carving works are often embedded in these ritual walls to offer auspicious signs. The most common type of Screen Wall of a Beijing traditional Courtyard House is usually a pseudo-wall attached to the side of an inner building, facing the entrance from inside. This particular wall inside the No.12 Courtyard House in Changxiang 2nd Lane was built with a pseudo-timber roof full of auspicious signs carved on brick components, such as the openwork brick carving of gourds on the ridge ends implying fertility.
The main building inside the courtyard is full of tiny but exquisite wood carving works, such as the little wooden piers and heads of the doorframe decorated with the pattern of five bats implying the auspicious idiom of luckiness and longevity 五福捧壽, and the pattern of crane and pine tree representing the extension of lifespan 松鶴延年.
This photo was taken in 2009.