Why are the steps singular? The exquisiteness handed down from the older generation is worth understanding.

Many people's first choice for traveling is often historical places of interest. Compared with the bustling modern city, places of interest will be more humanistic, such as ancient buildings, which are much more profound than modern buildings with high buildings.

Although modern architecture is grand and huge, it will bring people a sense of oppression, while ancient architecture can bring people an inexplicable sense of intimacy. This difference is probably because modern architecture pursues a sense of design and visual impact, while ancient architecture is a life art based on cultural and historical precipitation, such as pavilions, pavilions, corridors, boats, etc., which are all aesthetic buildings combining culture and art.

In all kinds of buildings, steps are the most common building components. When people first built houses to live in, they built them directly on the dirt floor, but it was too wet. Later, people specially raised the foundation of the house to prevent moisture. After the foundation was put forward, the steps naturally appeared.

Then the first steps were actually not called steps, but called "Thai steps". During the period of astrology worship, the Thai step refers to a constellation named Santai in the sky, which consists of six stars and forms three steps in pairs, so the ancients called the steps in the building Thai steps.

In ancient buildings, the number of steps is very particular. For example, the steps in the main hall of the ancient palace were dedicated to the emperor, and the number of steps was nine. Because nine is a supreme number in the traditional concept, which means the supremacy of imperial power, it is forbidden to use nine steps in ordinary people's homes.

The steps in the main hall of the palace are divided into three layers. The middle layer is called "pursuit". Below this floor are the emperor's guards. According to the etiquette at that time, when the courtiers told things, they could not tell the emperor directly, but had to let the guards tell them. But many courtiers from other places don't know the names of these guards, so they are called "Your Majesty". When they want to play, they will. Hearing this, the guards went up the steps to tell the emperor.

Obviously, this kind of etiquette is too complicated, which will cause errors in information transmission. Therefore, the process of message transmission was later cancelled, allowing courtiers to tell the emperor directly. But the etiquette among them can't be ignored, so the courtiers still have to pretend to shout "Your Majesty" first, so as to retain their respect for etiquette. Over time, your majesty has simply become the respectful name of the emperor.

Then, in the private buildings of ordinary people, the number of steps is also very particular. The most important thing is that the number of steps must be singular, such as the number ending in 357. Even for private public buildings, the number of steps must be singular. For example, the number of steps in Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie is 999, which is also odd.

Why must the number of steps be odd? It is still related to our traditional culture. When the ancients were building buildings, they had two important references. One is the various standards and taboos handed down by Lu Ban, and the other is that the ancients paid attention to Feng Shui.

Therefore, both Lu Ban and Kan Yu are based on the theory of Zhouyi. Everything has yin and yang, odd numbers are yang and even numbers are yin. As long as it is a building where people live, it must use Yang, so the number of steps is naturally odd, while the steps like cemeteries or haunted houses are generally even.

However, the higher modern buildings are built, the more practical the steps are, and the less attention is paid to the ancients. Whether it is odd or even, as long as the design is reasonable, it will be forgiven, but at the same time, some things with traditional cultural attributes will gradually disappear, and the building is just a cold building.