The traditional layout of the ancients when building houses.

1. "The house is the crown of the portal" and "the house is the crown of the portal" is an old saying. To paraphrase Emperor Taizong, steel can be used as a mirror to straighten the crown. History has cast such a mirror, which the ancients used to build, stabilize and evaluate doors. Today, we look at this mirror and feel strange and familiar. Because it is "alloy copper" composed of many elements of China culture, such as harmony between man and nature, yin and yang and five elements, its raw materials are folk customs and geomantic omen mixed with ancient life customs. Just say the direction of the door. There is an absolutely abstruse saying in the Dunhuang edition "The Family Map of Five Surnames of Yin and Yang": "The South Gate is the Yang House". Sitting with the north facing south is the most common folk custom of living, not only "the entrance of yamen faces south", but also the north house is the main house. China is located in the northern hemisphere, with the door facing south, sunny shade and good light. In summer, the south wind blows Xu Lai, and in winter, the cold wind blows the back wall. As the saying goes, "sunshine is always spring". This reasonable residential folk custom is accepted by Feng Shui theory, which is called "meridian direction". The note "All chores have to be copied" in Dunhuang suicide note reflects the superstition about the direction of opening the door: "The door is on the Qinglong, which is unlucky. The door is on Xuanwu, and many people have been stolen by thieves. " Each generation has four elephants, with Qinglong in the east and Xuanwu in the north. Ancient Dunhuang people hoped to avoid opening their doors facing east and north. The doors of Yugur people's houses in Gansu are forbidden to open to the north. There is a saying: "People only drive north when they are unlucky." In the rural areas of northeast Shandong, the courtyard doors of residential houses generally face south, and the main rooms in the courtyard face south, but the courtyard doors cannot face the hall doors, otherwise it will be said that the south fire and the north water are in harmony, which is taboo. This statement even involves the positional relationship between doors and windows. The so-called "door to window, people suffer; The window faces the door, and people will die. " The courtyard gate or south gate is opposite to the main window, which is also a big taboo. 2. "An invited Gong Bozi, Li Du hired" and "An invited Gong Bozi, Li Du hired", which are couplets for architecture in Juancheng, Shandong. There is a saying that "food is the sky for the people and land for the people". In the old society, buying real estate and buying real estate were all family events that benefited future generations; Today, building a house is still a very important thing among the people. This is not only because building a house is a big investment in fixed assets for families, but also because the traditional psychology of exorcising evil spirits and receiving blessings has been deeply involved in life customs for thousands of years, and a large part of life customs are reflected in building a house. Among all the construction procedures starting from tamping foundation, Anmen and upper beams are the most important. Needless to say, the importance of beams in building structures. Nature should be taken seriously. Compared with Shangliang, Anmen's various statements focus more on exorcism and blessing than on the structure and decoration of the building itself. 3. Before building the gate, carefully choose the auspicious day and time of the ecliptic. First, bury a small bottle under the threshold, which contains money and medicinal materials (such as shiquan Dabu soup, etc.). ), called "Aquarius", which means "making money treasure" and "keeping safe". On the day of opening the door, the host should go out to pick up a clean water before the sun rises, and avoid going back to rest on the road, avoiding funerals, weddings, patients, pregnant women and others. Don't let outsiders in until the door frame is erected. The main beam of the door frame is carved mahogany (most places in Qinghai are replaced by ancient wood), just like the beam of the house. Dig holes in the middle, put food and property, and nail copper coins with red cloth on the beam. Before the auspicious moment comes, the master will burn incense and put it on to comfort his ancestors. After the door frame is set up, the water picked in the morning is poured on the wooden ridge, and craftsmen stand on the door frame and throw dates, sugar, money, steamed bread and so on. Come down, everyone is scrambling for it. Then, the congratulating guests filed in and took their seats. In some places, people also put lions made of blue bricks at the door of doorframes to ward off evil spirits and seek good luck. Buried under the threshold is an "Aquarius" full of money and herbs. Money represents abundance, and medicinal materials represent expelling diseases. With these two things firmly under the door, it is just a saying: "if you have them, you will not get sick;" No, don't go bankrupt. Buried under the threshold, there is a hole in the lintel to hold food and money, and the blue brick lion ward off evil spirits, which belongs to aversion to victory. In ancient times, Zhaoqing Temple in Hangzhou, from wuyue, Janice, Wang Su to Song Zhiming, was built, destroyed and burned repeatedly. According to Kan Yujia, it was caused by being located in a "fire dragon". It was rebuilt during the Jiaqing period of the Ming Dynasty, so we used the theory of "He Lv's home" to tear down the houses and let the temple gate see the water, so as to avoid the fire. "What's the result? According to Zhang Dai's Dream of the West Lake in Ming and Qing Dynasties, Qin Long burned it once every three years, and it burned it again in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen. Smoke covered the sky and the lake was red. The war-weariness of the gate of "seeing water at the temple gate" failed to subdue the "fire dragon", which seems to show that the cause of the fire lies not in the way of the earth pulse, but in the loopholes in the management of incense. Therefore, the technique of "seeing water in front of the temple" can only reflect the desire of fire prevention, not an effective fire prevention measure. 4. "stepping on the door of wealth" and "opening the door of color" In traditional living customs, the door of the house is very important. In some places, such as Qinghai, opening the gate is called "opening the door to finance", and a ceremony of "stepping on the door to finance" will be held when the new gate is completed. Yunnan's "Xiongzhen County Records" also records that the gate is fully decorated, and a close relative must "step on the wealth gate". At this time, venerable elders are needed to come to a "tribute gate": Qijimen, Qixiang Gate, auspicious in all seasons, and prosperous; Step on the door of happiness, step on the door of longevity, fortunately, happiness is like flowing water in the East China Sea, and longevity is not old. Xunhe's Buyi Folk Custom records the Song of Opening the Color Gate: "Thoreau Woods are all straight. Long board thousands of solutions, short board thousands of solutions. The long one is used to make door strips and the short one is used to install door cores. Two golden gates are bright, and two silver doors are bright. There is a golden lion carved on the left and a jade unicorn carved on the right. The golden rooster crows in the morning and the phoenix returns at night. The six animals in the main family are prosperous every year, and the children and grandchildren are bright in spring. "This was sung by the construction carpenter when relatives and neighbors came to congratulate the completion of the new house. This ceremony is called opening colored doors. At this time, a piece of red cloth one foot and five inches long and two feet wide will be nailed to the gate to symbolize wealth. In the first few days of "Caimen", people who are filial, widowed, disabled and have done bad things are forbidden to enter the door, which is called "Caimen". It is said that this is to avoid ominous. In Hainan, when Li villagers move into their new houses, they have to put red vines and thorns behind the doors. It is said that thorn leaves can hook ghosts and protect people from disasters.