Yan Yi Hall, a Hui-style building in Ming and Qing Dynasties —— Looking at the advanced fire prevention concept of the ancients from the seven-column stone wall

As we all know, the ancient buildings in China are mainly wood structures. The biggest disadvantage of wood structure buildings is the existence of fire hazards. How to prevent fire has been a difficult problem for thousands of years. Our ancestors have been using common sense to solve problems, from palace buildings to civil dormitories, and advanced fire prevention concepts have derived various fire prevention structures.

However, many fire prevention measures have been completely preserved in Anhui residential buildings in southern China. After hundreds of years of wind and rain, they are still playing the role of fire prevention. In ancient Huizhou, there were fewer mountains and more land, and the village buildings were very crowded. In addition, the wood structure is flammable. Once the house catches fire, it is easy to have a joint fire effect, and the whole village may be affected.

In order to cope with these fires, Huizhou uses embankment walls to partition buildings in a large area, and at the same time wraps its wooden structure with incombustible materials to enclose the interior of the wooden wall, so that it will not hurt itself in the event of a fire in the neighborhood. Put "seven stone jars" in the courtyard of the house to collect the falling rain in case of fire.

We might as well take Yan Yitang in Huizhou ancient village as an example to talk about the advanced fire prevention concept of the ancients.

Huizhou Yanchi Hall —— the representative building of "the first village in the south of the Yangtze River"

Huizhou has been a place where talented people come forth in large numbers since ancient times, and literati are eager for it. Tang Xianzu, a dramatist in the Ming Dynasty, once said, "I have never dreamed of Huizhou in my life." Huizhou has also become a paradise on earth with numerous famous villages. The "first village in the south of the Yangtze River" mentioned by Zhu, a neo-Confucian in the Song Dynasty, refers to Chengkan village where Yan Yitang is located.

Chengkan has a long history, among which there are many famous families. From the end of the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, Chengkan had a prosperous population and talented people, with more than 500 historical celebrities. A large number of talents have also prospered the buildings in Chengkan. Up to now, Chengkan Village still preserves a large number of Ming and Qing buildings, including 28 buildings in the Ming Dynasty alone. The Romance Hall we are talking about is the representative building of Chengkan Village.

Yan Yitang was a building in the middle of Ming Dynasty. It is a three-story building with two rooms, which can be called a high-rise building in Ming Dynasty. The whole building sits west to east, and the whole building is rectangular with the central axis running through it. The building is divided into front porch and back porch, and the two sides are connected by cloisters respectively. The window is small and surrounded by high walls. It is said that the master was a doctor of the Ming Dynasty and lived in the court all the year round. The building is mainly for his mother and his wife and children, so it is perfect in fire prevention and theft prevention, and it can be called a complete fire history museum of ancient buildings.

Throughout Huizhou, the representative of fire-fighting buildings is Yan Yitang, so it has become a model of fire-fighting in ancient buildings. In fact, the main fire prevention core of Huizhou Yi Yan Guild Hall is "the wooden structure is not exposed". When a fire broke out, the wooden structure was first lit. If the wood structure can be separated from the fire source, the building can be protected from fire. How to prevent fire in swallow wing hall should be discussed from each division.

1, fire prevention measures for external walls and gates

There are many streets and lanes in Huizhou villages, and the front, back and left of Yan Yitang are also streets and lanes. The width of the alley is only about 1 m, which increases the fire hazard. In order to cope with the potential danger, the surrounding external walls are sealed with blue bricks, and there is no exposed wooden structure outside. The roof is blue tile, and the wood structure of the roof is placed in contact with the fire source. The main access door should be a wooden double door, but in order to prevent fire and theft, a Chinese fir door is used.

The door leaf is also inlaid with square bricks, which hide the external wood, and the lintel is fixed with flat round nails. In order not to expose the wood structure, the lintel is also inlaid with water mill bricks. The building cuts off the contact between the wood structure and the fire source from the outside, which is an impregnable fire prevention measure.

2. Long-term fire prevention measures

Yan Yitang's "Qianjin" is a three-story building with three bays and five steps, the bottom of which can lead to the back hall. Except for the steps, the ground is paved with bluestone, other spaces are paved with square bricks, and the side corridors on both sides of the hall are also paved with square bricks. It is worth mentioning that not only the first floor, but also the wooden floor on the second floor is covered with square bricks.

3. Backward fire prevention measures

Yan Yitang's "back" and "front" are also three-story buildings with three bays and five steps. The following two floors are consistent with the "forward" approach, in which the outward side of the back door is also made of brick, abandoning the traditional wooden window and replacing it with Chinese fir window sash and external brick window. Although these tiled window sashes look heavy, they solve the problem that traditional wooden buildings cannot resist external fires.

To put it bluntly, the fire prevention measures of Huizhou folk houses are that every household should take care of their own houses. For external fire hazards, accumulation walls, volcanic walls, accumulation windows, square brick floors and small green bricks will be used to isolate external fire sources from all directions. These fire prevention methods can be said to be the same as modern firewalls and fire doors.

The advanced fire prevention concept of the ancients-an attempt of automatic fire extinguishing with household fire extinguishers

In fact, Yanyitang incorporated the concept of fire prevention at the beginning of its design. In addition to the above-mentioned standard fire prevention facilities, it also adopts the concept of household fire extinguisher and builds automatic fire prevention facilities. Although these fire prevention facilities are relatively primitive and simple, they have created the awareness of family fire prevention in concept and are the first in automatic fire prevention projects.

1. "Seven Stone Pots" in the patio-the concept of modern "household fire extinguishers"

"Seven Stone Tanks" is a large water tank in the yard, which is parabolic up and down. One * * * can hold seven Shi Shui, so it is called "Seven Stone Tanks". There is such a jar in Yanyitang's yard. The main function of vats is to collect rainwater in rainy days. These rainwater can be collected to raise fish or grow lotus flowers. Such a water tank also has a name called "Taiping Water Tank". When a building is on fire, the ancients can take water from it to put out the fire, which is equivalent to a modern "home fire extinguisher".

2. Automatic fire fighting attic-an attempt of automatic fire fighting.

On the second floor of Yanyitang, there is a thick layer of dry sand covered with square bricks. If there is a fire, the fire will burn from the first floor to the second floor first, so all the dry sand will fall to put out the fire, and the brick will also fall after the dry sand, similar to our common modern fire automation.

Yan Yitang is a model of Huizhou folk houses in Ming and Qing Dynasties. In addition to superb construction technology, its various fire prevention measures are also amazing. Although our ancient buildings are mainly wood structures, the ancient people's fire prevention concept is also trying to minimize the fire risk. These fire prevention concepts still affect us today, warning us that we must not ignore fire safety.