Needless to say, the first category, the second category upstairs said a lot, and the third category can not be said casually.
In other words, these three characteristics are combined.
It goes without saying that the imperial city highlights the royal cultural tradition.
People's City shows folk cultural traditions, and has all kinds of undertakings, eating, drinking and having fun.
The mysterious city hides bedrooms, Taoist priests, real people and so on. Of course, it's hard to explain.
Traditional culture with Beijing characteristics
Siheyuan (quadrangle) is an inner quadrangle surrounded by houses in the east, west, south and north. Beijing quadrangles, as the main architectural form that old Beijingers have lived in for generations, are well-known at home and abroad and all over the world. First of all, it has a long history. Since Beijing was formally established as the capital in Yuan Dynasty, quadrangles and palaces, office buildings, blocks and hutongs in Beijing have appeared at the same time. According to Xiong Dui's analysis at the end of Yuan Dynasty, "Dadu street system, north and south are called meridians, and east and west are called latitudes. The street is 24 steps wide, with 384 long lanes and 29 narrow lanes. " Secondly, the composition of quadrangles is unique. Its courtyard is spacious, surrounded by independent houses and connected by verandahs, making it very convenient to live; Closed doors make quadrangles have strong privacy, and closed doors come from heaven and earth; All four doors in the courtyard are open to the courtyard, and home and music are beautiful; The spacious courtyard can also plant trees and flowers, feed birds and fish, and stack rocks and scenery to let residents enjoy the beautiful scenery of nature. In addition, although quadrangles are residential buildings, they contain profound cultural connotations and are the carriers of China traditional culture. The construction of quadrangles pays great attention to geomantic omen and geomantic omen theory, which is actually an ancient architectural environmentology in China and an important part of China's traditional architectural theory. The decoration, sculpture and painting of quadrangles also reflect folk customs and traditional culture everywhere, showing people's pursuit of happiness, beauty, prosperity and auspiciousness, such as the pattern composed of bats and longevity characters, which means "longevity and happiness"; The Chinese rose pattern in the vase means "peace in the four seasons"; The auspicious words embedded in the door hairpin and the door head, the couplets stuck on the pillars and the masterpieces of calligraphy and painting hung indoors are all ancient teachings of the sages and philosophers. They use ancient and modern famous sentences, or praise the beauty of mountains and rivers, or learn to live in the world, or recite the ambition of a swan. They are elegant and full of rich cultural atmosphere, just like the halls of traditional culture in China.
Many people study quadrangles and solidify them in Beijing. In fact, the architectural tradition of China is quadrangle culture. If you visit the Qiao Family Courtyard and Pingyao Ancient City, you will find that even businessmen in the history of China followed the humanistic philosophy based on Confucian philosophy. In Suzhou Gardens, people have experienced the architectural philosophy created by China's cultural management in the past dynasties in a picturesque and dreamlike process. After visiting Suzhou gardens with a foreign architect, we were surprised at the conclusion. He said: truly great architecture is not produced by architects, but created by philosophers, thinkers and scholars. Just like the garden in front of us, it is essentially a home, or a study, or an ancient office. It is like a garden and can become a representative of oriental culture. If we regard it as a home, people will forget how many living rooms and bedrooms there are in this home, or their size and height, in order to enjoy the scenery in the garden. If we regard it as a garden, the house hidden in the landscape and the furnishings in the house are the best portrayal of the owner's spirit and soul. Qi Baishi, a grand prize in China painting, once said that the beauty of things lies in similarity and dissimilarity, and there is no skill, or that "there is no sword in hand, but a sword in heart" written in Jin Yong's martial arts novels is the best taste and realm.
China has been modernized, but all the old houses have been demolished. Beijing is more and more like new york, Hongkong and Tokyo, but people don't know why they miss life in quadrangles so much. Siheyuan used to let ordinary people live and work in peace and contentment.
There is a truth. Nowadays, the rich people in the world are converging. Rich people in China and the United States wear Armani and Louis Vuitton, but the unique culture is often passed down by what we call the poor. This is why so many foreigners like to visit Beijing's hutongs, and Old Town of Lijiang has become the Shangri-La of mankind.
Ordinary people are like this, but in the past, quadrangles were big enough to accommodate court nobles. In fact, if you think about it carefully, our Forbidden City is a big quadrangle. Our Beijing is a civilized ancient capital strung together by many quadrangles with hutong as the golden thread. So some people say that the cultural essence of quadrangles is hutong culture.
The ancient quadrangles in China have unparalleled modern significance not only in architecture, but also in culture, philosophy and spirit.
Now the quadrangle has really become a treasure in the ivory tower. People who can live there have more than wealth ... We have built several sets of foreign quadrangles in Happiness Village, or new quadrangles, and pursued such a feeling imagined by foreign architects in the center of modern cities, such a feeling of collision, integration and sublimation of Chinese and Western cultures.
Siheyuan has a long history in China. According to the analysis of existing cultural relics, quadrangle architecture appeared as early as 2000 years ago.
In the process of historical development, China people especially like quadrangles, which are not only used in palaces, temples and government offices, but also widely used in local houses.
However, as long as people mention quadrangles, they will naturally think of Beijing quadrangles. Why?
This is a typical quadrangle in Beijing. Among all kinds of quadrangles, Beijing quadrangle can best represent its main characteristics.
First of all, the central courtyard of Beijing Siheyuan is basically square in plan, but some houses in other areas are not.
For example, the courtyards of quadrangles in Shanxi and Shaanxi are vertical rectangles long from north to south and narrow from east to west, while quadrangles in Sichuan and other places are mostly horizontal rectangles long from east to west and narrow from north to south.
Secondly, the houses in the east, west, south and north directions of Beijing Siheyuan are independent, and the east and west wing rooms are not connected with the main building and the inverted building itself. Moreover, the main building, wing room, inverted building and other houses are all on the first floor. There are no buildings, only the veranda at the corner connects these houses.
In this way, the Beijing quadrangle has a bird's eye view from the air, just like four small boxes enclosing a yard.
In many quadrangles in the south, the surrounding houses are mostly buildings. At the four corners of the courtyard, the houses are connected together, and the houses in the east, west, north and south do not exist independently. Therefore, southerners call the courtyard "patio", which shows that the courtyard in the south of the Yangtze River is as small as a well, which inevitably reminds people of the idioms of "frog in the well" and "sitting in the well and watching the sky".
Beijing quadrangle is a veritable quadrangle, spacious and open, with plenty of sunshine and broad vision.
In the feudal society, where the old and the young are in order and there are differences in seniority, the housing allocation of Beijing quadrangles is very strict, and the first courtyard in a superior position must be occupied by the old grandfather's wife.
Only one of the three rooms in the north room is open to the public, which is called the main room. The two rooms on both sides only opened the door of the hall to form a suite, which became a pattern of light and shade. The main hall is the place where family members live, entertain relatives or worship ancestors on New Year's Day, and there are many bedrooms on both sides.
The bedrooms on both sides of the east and west also have the distinction of honour and inferiority. Under the system of polygamy, the east side is distinguished, occupying the first house, and the west side is humble, occupying the wing.
East-west wing-can open the door alone, or communicate with the main room, generally used as a bedroom or study. Both the East Wing and the West Wing are occupied by the younger generation. The wing is also light and dark, with a living room in the middle and bedrooms on both sides.
You can also separate a room on the south side for use as a kitchen or restaurant. Back-built houses-quadrangles of medium or above often have back military houses or back Gai Lou, mainly for unmarried women or maids.
To be exact, in the past, old Beijingers called all kinds of animals that like to keep and enjoy as "playthings", but seldom used the most popular word "pets".
Speaking of pets in old Beijing quadrangles, there are quite a few, which can be roughly divided into four categories: birds, insects, fish and mammals. Keeping pets is not only a hobby of old Beijingers, but also an important part of quadrangle culture. What people get from enjoying pets is a kind of spiritual pleasure and enjoyment, which makes the life in quadrangles more interesting.
Let's start with birds and pets. There are more than a dozen birds and birds that are often kept in old Beijing. What thrush, lark, yellowbird, bluebird, parrot, starling, lovebird, wenbird, pigeon and so on. Only parrots can be divided into three types according to their size, the most common ones are budgerigar, colorful parrot and sunflower parrot. The most euphemistic song is yellow bird, also called oriole. Although small in size, it has a crisp and pleasant voice, which can imitate the calls of mountain magpies, red scorpions and crickets. Because it is easier to feed, there are more people in quadrangles. Myna is often good at its clever words and is favored by the elderly who are a few years younger. Putting a myna under the roof will yell at everyone, but it is not fun to learn a few words.
People in quadrangles keep birds for fun. Every morning, before people get up, the birds call jujube first, which makes the small courtyard full of vitality, so the first thing people do when they get up is to walk the birds. In fact, bird walking is not just "fresh air" for birds, but mainly to train birds and teach them some tips for viewing and entertaining. People who like to keep birds pay special attention to the choice of bird cages, such as bamboo cages, purple lacquer cages and wicker cages. Some people carry one in one hand, others carry two in one hand, or move up and down gently, or swing slowly from side to side. Many people often get together to compete for "share": whose bird is more beautiful, whose cage is unique, whose voice is good, and whose flowers are more lively.
Among bird pets, there are pigeons in quadrangles. In the past, walking in the streets of Beijing, you often heard the whistle of pigeons. Looking up at the blue sky, you will see pigeons passing by with the wind, and they form a harmonious and peaceful picture with ancient trees, red walls, hutongs and old yards, which is actually a scene of Beijing. Pigeons are different from other birds. Raising other birds is fun to watch and sing, while raising pigeons is fun to fly. Old Beijingers are used to calling raising pigeons "playing with pigeons", which is very particular.
First of all, there are as many as thirty or forty kinds of pigeons, the most famous of which are Dianzi, Huaner, Hale and Winger. Some pigeons are all white with only a small piece of black or purple on their heads. The ring pigeon has a ring of other coat colors around its neck. Black pigeons are black from beginning to end. Winged pigeons have a special color on their wings. Pigeons are good or bad not only by their coat color, but also by their flying endurance and somersaults. Some pigeons can do a series of somersaults in the air, others can fly from hundreds of miles away and come back soon. This is a very good pigeon. Pigeons in quadrangles have no distinction between high and low. Pigeon lovers often get together to learn skills and often fly dozens of miles together to see whose pigeon flies back first.
Beijingers like to keep birds, which not only helps to create A Le II, but also has the function of nourishing the heart and strengthening the body. In the past, there was a saying: "Raising birds and walking them means walking them and practicing people. If you broaden your mind and become stronger, your life will be bright. Therefore, whether it is a literati, a famous actor in a pear garden, a driver or a worker, they all have a hobby of keeping birds, making birds and birds the most pets in quadrangles.
Speaking of playing with bugs, A Le, who is also an old Beijinger, is fun regardless of his status. There are many kinds of insects, such as cricket, cricket, golden bell, smacking mouth, oil gourd and so on. Cricket and cricket are the most popular.
Besides, the breeding of slugs is just a hobby of many people in quadrangles. In the past, after the wheat harvest, grasshoppers began to appear in the hutongs. Most vendors put crickets in cages made of straw or wheat straw. Cages are fancy, round, square, octagonal and triangular. You can hear the crisp sound of pots and pans from a distance, attracting many people from quadrangles to buy them. The Chronicle of Yanjing Years Old describes that "after May in Beijing, bells are peddled along the street, each with one or two articles". Most of these grasshoppers come from Yixian County and Laishui, Hebei Province. One is big, and the other is crisp and pleasant. People in quadrangles seldom buy one, but mostly buy two. One is that old Beijingers have the habit of pairing, and the other is auspicious numbers. The other is that they can play together and scream more happily. Most of the cages bought are hung on the eaves, lintels, grape racks or begonia trees in front of the window or yard. From then on, the singing of Guoguoer became the most beautiful voice in the yard, and it can always be called to beginning of winter.
Beijing people are very particular about raising slugs. First of all, they should choose the top slug and pay attention to all the tails and pleasant sounds; Second, the color is positive and the appearance is good. Generally choose black, green and blue. Third, active, love to jump. The more lively and fun slugs are, the more popular they are. According to the seasons, there are summer and autumn. Before beginning of autumn, there were summer slugs, and after beginning of autumn, there were autumn slugs. Good nutrition can be kept until mid-winter. In the past, some people with money and status in quadrangles would go all the way to Hebei, Shandong and even Northeast China to buy a top-grade slug. And Guo Guo Er Long is also exquisite. The first-class Guo Guo's second cage is made of gourd, and there are carved flowers, carved flowers and hot flowers outside. Most of the designs are ancient mascots, such as Song He Yannian, Fulu Xi Shou and Meiju. These works are simple and elegant, and can be regarded as a work of art.
In addition, cricket, also called cricket or promoting weaving, has become a common custom in the old society to play cricket in quadrangles every autumn, from princes and nobles to ordinary people. However, in the past, most ordinary Beijingers kept crickets instead of gambling. Fighting is just a pleasure. Even hanging a small "fragrance" is just a pack of cigarettes and half a catty of "miscellaneous sugar", and there are few big bets. Although cricket is small, it is also very particular. The same is cricket fighting, which is also divided into three grades in the yard. The worst thing is that several children are squatting in their yard or at the door to play cricket for fun. The utensils are nothing more than enamel jars and glass bottles. All the crickets are not high-quality goods, but mostly coffin plates and old rice mouths that are caught by themselves. The media is that some literati play cricket at home, mainly for entertainment and making friends with cricket. The best is dignitaries, who often set up cases in quadrangles and invite some relatives and friends to get together to enrich their tastes, but they often gamble when fighting.
Most of the crickets played by Beijingers are Moya Huang in Dezhou, Shandong, Tietou Qingbei in Ningyang and Qingmatou in Hei Chi, and there are also "Voldemort Crickets" in Sujiatuo in the northwest suburb of Beijing, "Shrimp Head Green" in Heilongtan and "Qingmatou" in Fushouling, Shijingshan. The fun of keeping crickets lies in their fighting and singing. When fighting cricket, pay attention to using "tricks" such as clip, hook, flash, hide, hug, hoop, bite, pinch and roll. It takes a basin to raise cricket and a basin to fight cricket, and it is extremely particular. Ordinary people in quadrangles often keep animals in wooden cages and bamboo cages, and often use clay pots or clay pots when fighting. The general fighting of cricket is unattractive, while the good cricket is unattractive. Its titles are also beautiful: General Yongzhen, Marshal Red Beard, Big Mac, Invincible King, Spotted Leopard and so on. Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is the climax of cricket fighting in quadrangles. The fight between two small crickets attracted more than a dozen people to watch and cheer. The winning cricket fluttered its wings and sang, and the owner immediately felt that his face was graced. If it's a draw and several battles are pending, the master will make peace. Crickets bring infinite fun to quadrangles.
Let's talk about fish pets. People in Beijing have kept goldfish for hundreds of years. Because "fish" and "surplus" are homophonic, meaning "more than a year", they are regarded as auspicious things. Fish farming is not only a pleasure, but also a way to cultivate sexual desire and escape. In summer, "ceiling, fish tank and pomegranate tree" are the most harmonious scenery in the yard. North Korea, from princes and nobles, officials of all sizes to ordinary people, likes to put fish tanks in their yards and rooms, ranging from dozens to hundreds of goldfish. In the words of Beijingers: fish farming is a slow job, and the important thing is the process of tempering, so as to nourish the heart and soothe the nerves.
Goldfish that Beijingers often keep can be divided into two categories: grass carp and day pearl fish. Grass carp is a small goldfish peddled along the street. The size is very small, ranging from one inch to five inches, and the price is relatively cheap. Most people buy a few and put them in a small round fish tank to watch. The owners of "Tianziyu" are all exquisite people. There are many kinds of "day pearl fish", including red longan, red longan, black longan, blue longan and Zi Long eye. Multi-purpose wooden pots with a diameter of more than three feet are used for breeding. Generally, fish tanks are placed under the ceiling or next to the aisle of quadrangles. Fish tanks are supported by special shelves, and some pots contain some aquatic plants. There are three things that must be done to raise fish: changing water, catching fish worms and feeding fish. Sun the water for three to five days before changing the water, then copy the fish in the fish tank to another fish tank, then clean the water in the fish tank, especially the feces and dirt of the fish, then put the sun-dried water on it and pour the fish in. Fishing bugs are fishing for fish and food in nearby ponds and reed ditches every day. Fish farmers seldom feed fish dry food, but more live food, so that fish love to eat, grow fast and look fresh. Feeding fish is the most enjoyable time for fish farmers. It's boring to sprinkle a handful of fish food and watch it.
Among animal pets, old Beijingers used to have more cats and dogs. I don't want to talk about cats in quadrangles. There is an article "The Cat in the Siheyuan in Old Beijing" published in the "Siheyuan" edition, which clearly describes the story of Beijing people raising cats. It's just that the dog is here There have never been so many dogs in Beijing before, and dogs have never been so favored. Even if you have a dog, you will never enjoy the "treatment" like today. A beauty treatment costs 600 yuan to 700 yuan, and no one even regards it as a "son". At that time, dogs were mostly used to look after the house, or to go out as companions and act as "bodyguards".
Nowadays, Beijing people keep almost all kinds of famous dogs from all over the world. More expensive dogs, the price ranges from several hundred yuan to tens of thousands of yuan, which was unimaginable in the old Beijingers. In the past, there were many small Beijing dogs and Shiba Inu dogs in quadrangles, and only large families would raise German shepherds and the like. The number of dogs is far less than the number of cats, so in all kinds of books about old Beijing, there is little talk about raising dogs. In the early years, people's lives were not rich. Dog food is mostly leftovers from their owners. They are often full of hunger, and when they are not full, they go out to eat wild food. They don't know what dog food is. Most kennels are located at the entrance of quadrangles, in order to have a good response. It is too much to keep a dog in the house where its owner lives or as a member of the family.
In addition, old Beijingers have pets such as eagles, turtles, monkeys, chickens, geese and falcons. , but the number is not much, only people who like it very much will raise it.