The earliest example of quadrangles in the world: the site of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Feng Chu Village, Qishan, Shaanxi Province

Siheyuan can be said to be a traditional quadrangle in China. Although it is rare now, do you know where the earliest quadrangle in the world is?

Archaeologists in China discovered a palace building site in Feng Chu Village, Qishan County, Shaanxi Province. According to analysis, this is a ancestral temple site in the Western Zhou Dynasty? The layout of houses here is quite neat in the form of quadrangles, which is the earliest known example of quadrangles in China. This site consists of a courtyard with two entrances, facing south, 86 meters long from north to south and 32.6 meters wide from east to west, with a total area of 2,600 square meters. The screen wall, the gate, the front hall and the back room are arranged on the central axis in turn. The front room and the back room are connected by cloisters to form an I-shaped plane. There is an underground ditch under the foundation of the house, with clay pipes and pebbles piled up, and the roof is made of tiles and semi-tiles. According to textual research, this temple was built under the leadership of Gu, the leader of the Western Zhou Dynasty, with a history of more than 3 180 years.