Characteristics of Folk Houses in Northern Jin

Types of Folk Dwellings in Northern Jin

Because Northern Jin is located on the Loess Plateau, with many deep mountains and ditches, thick soil and abundant forests, many cold winter pounding winds, and a thousand dry summer and fall heat, and the vast majority of the area is dominated by agricultural production, historically, the pioneers of this area have had the custom of settling down, and the people have had a relatively stable place to live. Just because of the geographical conditions and economic basis of the differences, its residence also has a different form and type.

<a>, fully enclosed courtyard

The courtyard is a traditional housing style in northern Jin. Mostly brick and wood structure, the roof to the hard mountain style mostly, by the tube, plate tile overlap interlocking and become, beautiful and strong, but also has good thermal insulation and leakage performance, commonly known as the "two out of the water tile room", the secondary housing is a single shelter tile or flat roof. Its walls and roofs are relatively thick. The houses and courtyards are arranged symmetrically along the north-south axis. I. Generally, the main house is the main house, the two sides with the ear room and a small courtyard, the east and west sides of the house, the courtyard door is set in the southeast corner of the residence, while the toilet is located in the southwest. Residential surroundings, closed by the back wall of each house and the wall, generally do not open the window, "the door latch and the whole yard sealed". The rich and powerful people also divided into the inner courtyard, outer courtyard, commonly known as "one into two strings of yard", there are individual one into three strings of yard or more. This form of residence is mostly found in towns and flatter, richer villages.

<two>, north and south facing rows of houses

This form of earth and wood structure, the roof of the gently see steep, with mud or white ash and the grass Rang or sandstone plastered roof, commonly known as the cottage. The houses are mostly in two rows facing north and south,

and some of them are equipped with east and west rooms. Residential walls around the earth rammed or adobe base, the roof and walls are very thick, solid, this kind of residence is really a simplification of the courtyard, is the countryside, most of the ordinary people living in the form of home.

<three>, by the cliff on the shape of the soil, stone kiln

Kiln type of living in a style, mostly in the hills and mountains of the half-slope. In the natural earth wall cut arch-shaped horizontal hole, often three holes connected, the middle of a hole for the door, the left and right two holes open window, commonly known as "a bright two dark". There are also a few up and down several layers. The earth kiln to save materials and money, living comfort, mountain people called it "warm in winter and cool in summer fairy hole". In order to prevent the collapse of the soil, some also in the hole plus brick coupons or stone coupons, or outside the hole along the soil wall brick wall or stone wall, to protect the cliff face. This kind of residence generally does not have a wall, the shape is not a courtyard. But the more affluent people also have to build houses outside the cliff or base walls to form a compound, in order to prevent people from stealing and animal harassment.

In addition, there are imprisoned cellar into a courtyard (on the ground with bricks, stones or adobe, etc. to build the arch form of houses composed of courtyards), the grass hut fence courtyard, and temporary housing such as nunnery, shed and so on.

Nowadays, in towns and villages are fashionable row house system, mostly brick and wood structure of the floor or tile house. However, due to the influence of traditional habits, is a row of houses, households are separated from each other by a wall, forming a small courtyard of equal size, the same height, no difference in scale. With the progress of society and economic development, buildings are not only lined up in the towns and cities, in the countryside can also be seen everywhere. People's living conditions gradually to high-grade, high-level change.