Tang Dynasty Crossing Guide: Chang'an and People's Life Manual

Chapter 15 Do as the Romans do, you must have basic life knowledge (5)
What is a "halberd frame"?This is a kind of architectural decoration with Tang Dynasty characteristics.According to the regulations of the imperial court, high-ranking officials of the third rank and above and princes and nobles can line up long halberds outside the main gate. The higher the official rank, the more halberds there are, ranging from ten to sixteen.Flags are often tied to the top of the halberds, which vibrate when the wind blows, just like the flagpoles in front of the doors of modern buildings.

Now let's take a look at the real gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion in the Tang Dynasty.

The gate building is two stories high, the left and right width is equivalent to three rooms, and the front and rear depths are five beams.The roof is in the shape of a suspended mountain, covered with black terracotta tiles, and there is an upturned "owl tail" at each corner of the roof.

The big pillars supporting the gatehouse on the second floor and the two large door panels were all painted with vermilion paint, so when Lao Du described the rich and powerful, he sighed that "the wine and meat of the rich family stinks".As for the walls between the pillars, although they are also made of rammed earth, thick white paint will be applied on the outside of the soil layer, which looks elegant and clean.Now, of course, the white walls have been weathered and defaced.

The gatehouse, as well as the white house walls extending on both sides of the gatehouse, are all built on a platform protruding from the ground.These platform foundations are also first made of rammed earth into short cuboids or trapezoids, and then covered with a layer of bricks and stones, and then gate towers or walls are built on the bricks.Facing the base of the doorway, several stone steps should be cut out. If the steps are taller and longer, there will be railings beside them for people to climb the steps.

Come on, everyone follow me through the gate.Pay attention to the copper-headed nipples on the two gates and the doorknobs with the beast mouth rings. These two things appeared not long ago in the Tang Dynasty, and they are considered new things. It seems that the prime minister is still a trendy person.

Wow, what a big yard, isn't it.

Haha, this is the common feature of buildings in the Tang Dynasty. They may not be exquisite, gorgeous, uncomfortable, and low-tech, but as long as conditions permit, people in the Tang Dynasty will try their best to make the houses, yards, bridges and roads tall and wide, and stable. , Square upright.

Let's take a look at the courtyard of the prime minister's house.Basically, all the houses of the Tang Dynasty are made partial changes on the basis of the "siheyuan".Everyone is familiar with the quadrangle courtyard. It is a square closed courtyard surrounded by the main room, east and west wing rooms, corridors, and halls.Although the part of the prime minister's house is very large and spacious, it is also made up of many courtyards. The largest courtyard is the one where we entered the gate now. It is said that many polo matches were held here in the past!
Most of the ground in the yard is compacted loess, only the main road is paved with bricks and stones.There are flowers and trees planted in front of and behind each house, but not too many. The main garden scenery is in the inner house at the back.

① The pottery decorations at both ends of the ridge of a Chinese-style house are shaped slightly like the tail of an owl.

Come with me, everyone, please visit the tall building facing the gate.This is the most essential and eye-catching part of the whole house, and it is also the most representative house that marks the grade of the house—the main hall.For example, this room is equivalent to the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City in Beijing, and the Hall of Hanyuan in the Daming Palace in Chang'an. It is a place where the head of the family receives guests, holds important banquets, holds family meetings, and even stops the coffin for worship after death. place.It is said that the prime minister spent 200 million Wen in this main hall alone, enough to buy an entire ordinary mansion.

The biggest difference between the courtyards of the Tang Dynasty and the old Beijing Ming and Qing courtyards that you are more familiar with is the main hall.Think about it, the old Beijing siheyuan usually has houses and walls on all sides, and the middle is empty, which is used for planting trees, erecting vines, growing flowers, hanging birds, and setting up goldfish bowls. In summer, a canopy is stretched for shade.

In the courtyard of the Tang Dynasty, in addition to the surrounding houses, walls, and corridors, in the middle of the courtyard, there is such a gorgeous main hall standing alone and unreliable on all sides.If the typical Beijing courtyard is in the shape of "口", then the typical Tang Dynasty courtyard is in the shape of "Hui".

The architectural style of the main hall is consistent with that of the gate, with a black tile roof, vermilion pillars, and a brick platform.Ordinary people also use white paint to paint the inner and outer walls of the main hall, but our prime minister, in order to show off his wealth, got a lot of spices and red powder paint, and actually painted the outer wall of the main hall bright red.It is said that when it was first built, people felt a strange fragrance as soon as they approached the main hall.That guest, are you allergic?Don't worry, don't worry, after such a long time, even the red wall has faded and almost faded, let alone smell anything.Alas, decoration pollution is really harmful.

Let's go up the steps of the main hall. The group member who is not very good with legs and feet, be careful, someone else can help, or help the railing next to it.Let’s pay attention to these railings again. On the foundations of ordinary people’s houses, some wooden railings are considered good. The railings of the prime minister’s house are made of high-quality stone carvings, similar to those in the palace.To be honest, this is quite a taboo, no wonder he ended up like that later.

Push the door, I'm entering the room, everyone follow closely, you don't need to close the door for the group member at the back—oh, it's too late.

As soon as the door was closed, the light in the room was obviously dimmed.Although there are two large mullion windows facing south on both sides of the door, and there are windows on high places on the other three walls, the white paper pasted on the windows is still damaged a lot, and there is more light leakage, but the main hall is too large, It's too deep.There is still a little light near the door and window in the south, but in the depths of the house in the north, almost nothing can be seen clearly.

In order to solve this lighting problem, some hosts simply do not build the south wall of the main hall, but use several pillars to support the roof together with the north, east, and west walls, forming a semi-open-air stage.There are also those that are not afraid of the cold, do not build walls on all sides, and use pillars to support the roof, and build the main hall into a large pavilion.Anyway, rich people don't sleep in the main hall, so if it's too cold, just don't go there.

The prime minister has already been moved away because his house was ransacked, and now there is no furniture in the main hall, and it is empty.But even if there is furniture, you don't have to expect to see the Eight Immortals Table and Taishi Chair when you walk in, hehe.

So how was it set up here?Let me make a comparison. In the middle of the hall and to the north, there used to be a large screen. It is said to be a red sandalwood frame inlaid with gold, silver and jewelry. The brocade is painted with landscape and figure paintings by famous artists. .

There is a big bed in front of the screen, it is not a bed for you to sleep on, it is mainly used for sitting people, it is a bit like the Arhat bed of later generations.The bed is covered with a thick and soft mattress, and there are several tables under the bed for storing things.There are still some proofs on the bed, which are placed in front of the sitter to let people lean forward.

In front of the big bed, there are a row of small sitting beds on both sides, each with a few mattresses.In addition, there are various incense burners, heaters, lamps and candles in the corners, and the whole room is separated and decorated with tents and curtains.

Oh, I also forgot to mention the ground.Wooden floors are rarely used in northern cities. You can see that under our feet is the indoor floor paved with carved tiles. Another advanced method is to tile with terrazzo, which is as bright as a mirror and easier to clean.However, the dignitaries are not satisfied with this. Like our prime minister, when he lived in the past, he laid a thick Xuancheng red carpet on the ground all the year round. , one zhang blanket, one thousand taels of silk. People who don't know the cold want to be warm, and less people's clothes are taken to make lichens." ①.

When the prime minister held the grandest banquet in the main hall, the dancers danced on the red dresses.If the dance band that comes to perform is too large to perform indoors, they will perform in the open space outside the hall, while the prime minister and guests sit at the entrance of the hall to watch.

People of all kinds who came to meet the prime minister, if they were not very familiar with them, would generally wait in the wing room of the gate tower or the wing room of the side hall even if they were invited in after the notification of the "Gushi".When the prime minister is free, he will be called to the main hall to meet and salute and talk about things.In short, the outer house, including the main hall, is a place where the master of the family meets guests, discusses business affairs, and conducts social activities. The female relatives and children are not allowed to run around here.

This is the end of the tour of the outer house. Come with me, and then we will go to the inner house.

The outer house and the inner house are separated by walls and doors.The door in the middle is commonly known as the "Second Gate" and is usually guarded. Outsiders are not allowed to enter indiscriminately, and maidservants in the inner house are not allowed to leave indiscriminately.

After entering the second gate, everyone can see that there is another lonely hall in front, but it is smaller than the main hall of the outer house.This is the inner hall in charge of the hostess, also called the dormitory.

If it was an ordinary family, this would be the bedroom of the hostess and hostess.But the prime minister's house has a lot of houses, and his wife only receives her own guests here, manages housework, and conducts some social activities.

①From Bai Juyi's "Red Thread Carpet"

The architectural style of the inner hall and all other houses frequently used by the owner is the same as the gate and the main hall, but the scale is smaller and some details are not so luxurious.It is worth noting that... everyone looked up and looked up.

(End of this chapter)