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Charming Walled Oases

Beijing's old siheyuan (courtyards), usually located in hutongs, are still home to numerous residents, though many former occupants have moved to high-rise apartments because of redevelopment programs. Courtyards are walled com pounds with houses around their inner perimeter, and a communal space at the center. Along with palaces and temples, they represent one of the best-known forms of ancient Chinese architecture.

Tradition dictates that in a courtyard, the dwelling at its northern end, facing south, is called the "main house" or "north house". There are east and west "side houses" and, at the courtyard's southern end (facing north) an "opposite house" or "south house".

In feudal times, courtyard dwellings were built according to the traditional concept of the five elements--gold, wood, water, fire and earth--that were believed to compose the universe, and the eight diagrams of prophetic divination. The gateway was located at the south-east or "wind" corner, while the main house faced south because it was believed to belong to the "water" element that prevented fire.
 

The gateway's doors are usually painted vermilion, and fitted with large copper ring handles. When the gate is closed, courtyards become quiet, peaceful oases--small, intimate worlds unto themselves. There is usually a screen-wall inside the gate, both to prevent outsiders from seeing directly into the courtyard and to protect the houses from evil spirits. All courtyard houses have large windows at the front, and small ones high on their back walls.

It is still common for a whole family to occupy a compound, though in feudal times strict rules were applied to their different rooms. The taller, better-furnished rooms facing the gate were for the family's heads. Sons and daughters-in-law lived in the row of rooms alongside the gate, and usually used the side houses as their sitting or study rooms. Some large compounds had two or more courtyards, inhabited by a large extended family made up of perhaps three generations. Today, because of housing shortages in the city, courtyards tend to be shared by several families.

To cope with Beijing's increasing population, the municipal government is building many high-rise residential buildings as replacements for the more derelict courtyard dwellings. Courtyards in the city which have been well maintained continue to serve their purpose, though a few have been converted into museums to maintain permanent links with the past. The courtyard life of Old Beijing, in large measure reflected in those that remain, are popular among domestic as well as foreign tourists.