What are the architectural features of Taiwanese houses?

Taiwanese houses have various forms of layout, with the triad being the most common, from the simplest one dragon to the three-fall large houses and five-fall large houses with multiple courtyards and dragons, according to the family members and social status.

Details:

1. One Dragon:

This is the most basic form, which is known as the "main body" and "almighty body" in southern Fujian. Only the main body, including the main hall, the left and right rooms, and the side rooms of the stove, firewood, etc.. The roof is the highest in the center of the main hall, and the two sides descend in turn. Inside, there are corridors that lead to each room.

Families with a small population often adopt this style. When the number of people increases, it can be extended to 9 or 11 rooms. Or add a room, which is called "Dragon Guard" or "Room Guard" in Taiwan. The central main hall is the most honorable, where ancestors and gods are worshipped and guests are received. The closer the room is to the main hall, the higher the status of the room, and the left is honored and the right is humbled. The left room facing the main hall is the apartment of the head of the family, and the right room is the apartment of the elders.

2. Single Stretching Hand:

"Stretching Hand" is a nickname for the protective room, which is called "horizontal house" in the Hakka area. The single-stretching hand has only one side of the guard room, and it is often a "quirk-shaped" house.

3. Triad:

Taiwan is commonly known as the "main body with dragon protection", that is, with the main body of 3 or 5 rooms, the left and right out of the protective room 2 or 3 rooms. Some of them are built in front of the wall or set up a gate tower to distinguish the inside and outside. This type is the most numerous in Taiwan and is mostly found in rural areas, where the front yard can double as a sunbathing area. There is a permanent porch inside the wall near the courtyard, so that after the door is closed at night, the rooms and the main hall can still be connected.

The main hall is used to enshrine the tablets of ancestors and is the tallest part of the house. The left and right sides of the main hall are where the elders live. The guarding dragons can be used as rooms for the younger generation, as well as for storage, pigsties, and cowsheds. The left and right sides of the protection of the dragon, forming a courtyard space, called "Cheng", usually used to enjoy the moon, hosting banquets, chatting or early morning boxing practice, and when the farm is busy, it is used to sun grain, is a common form of farmhouse.

4. Courtyard:

Taiwan is commonly known as the "Two Falls with Protected Dragon", which means that there are two entries in the front and back, and there are protected rooms on the left and right, forming a closed atrium. The courtyard is mostly for the official gentry or rich landlords like to use. Its pattern is wider, and space is tightly organized, inside and outside are different. In ancient times, more concerned about the defense of the quadrangle mansion, and even in the body of the wall and then set up a circle of corridors, the wall opened up the eyes of the gun, you can shoot the offenders, such as Taipei's Lin Antai ancient house.

The symmetry of its central axis and its relatively low and open plan are a reflection of the Chinese concept of ethics and morality, and of respect for the young and the old, and this is reflected in the distribution of space in traditional houses. Most of the rich and powerful houses are built in courtyards, and the wide face is a characteristic of the southern Fujian-style courtyards, with delicate and gorgeous facades.

The main door and its two sides are the key parts of decorations of Minnan-style houses, including: lattice doors, flower windows, pillars, pillars, columns, column bases, door pillows, wood, stone and brick carvings, etc. Under the eaves is the main part of Minnan-style houses. Under the eaves is another key decorative part of Minnan-style houses.

5. Multiple dragon guards:

Taiwanese rural areas are popular for building several rows of dragon guards on the left and right sides of triple and quadruple courtyards. Usually, the expansion of a farm house is not to increase the depth of the house, but to solve the problem of the prosperity of the people by adding more rows of dragon guards.

The higher generations live near the center of the main body, while the more distant branches can only live on the outside. The advantage is that members of the family do not have to go through the center door, but can go in and out directly from the "water door" between the dragons, which is very convenient. Multi-dragon dwellings need to have a wide range of land conditions. This type of residence is especially prevalent in the Hakka area

In Hsinchu's Hsinpu, Fangliao, and Guanshi areas, you can see three rows of dragon guards on each side. Between the guardrails, pavilions called "water pavilions" are often built in the long, narrow side yards for the purpose of internal transportation, as a place to cool off and rest on summer days. Wells were drilled in the side courtyards for drinking water. The Chen Yiyuan mansion in Changhua, Taiwan is a typical representative of this type of multi-protected dragon.

6. Multi-courtyard Big House:

The development of the basic pattern of four courtyards, toward the vertical and horizontal development, the depth of three into the day shape, four into the eye shape.

The one who leaned in was honored, and the one who went beyond was inferior. And the height of the house is also with the main hall, room, the dragon in order to fall. In Taiwan can even be found in the five fall big house, as the saying goes: "big house nine pack five, three fall hundred and two doors", that is to say the main hall has nine openings, the foyer has five openings, the front and rear of the three into the meaning of the windows and doors **** have one hundred and twenty. The famous Banqiao Lin family or fog Feng Lin family, the depth of four or five into, is such a deep house.

Generally speaking, the first entrance of a large house is a gate house, where a sedan chair can be parked, and the two sides are for the concierge or servants to live. The open space in front of the gate is the "outer court", which is used for drying crops. The second is the hall, and the open space in the courtyard is the "inner court," a place for women to do household chores or for family members to chat. The third is a private room or boudoir, which is the space for women's activities and is not accessible to the general public.

7. Street house style:

The store house style is a residential house built along commercial streets. It is characterized by each family *** with walls, the plane is only one room wide, about one zhang six feet or one zhang eight feet. However, the depth of the house is very long and can be as much as three or four or more. Street house because of the street, the front hall for business, the back side of the house, in order to increase the use of area, often built a building, or as a mezzanine, called half-floor, as a storage room or bedroom.