I have many friends around me. When it comes to the ancient buildings in China, the first thing that comes to mind are white walls and tiles, and Huizhou-style dwellings with high horse-head walls. In fact, there are many ancient buildings in China, but only Huizhou architecture can give people a sense of familiarity. Why are we so fascinated by Huizhou architecture?
In fact, Huizhou architecture is in line with modern aesthetics. Different from the royal buildings with red walls and inlaid with gold and silver, Huizhou ancient houses take a small and fresh route. The color of the exterior wall is simple, with only two basic colors, black and white, which is very simple and neat. Except cornices, the other walls are neat and straight, and the exquisite feeling is very similar to the decoration style of modern LOFT. The interior space is very high, the hall is spacious for meeting guests, and the upstairs hall is used for daily life, giving people a proper feeling of duplex small high-rise buildings.
Moreover, Huizhou folk houses attach great importance to practicality. When there was no running water before, the villagers had learned to use natural water sources such as mountain springs, streams and lakes to build a pure natural "running water" water supply system. In Hongcun, every household can come to the canal in front of their house when they go out. These intricate canals constitute the strongest water supply system in Hongcun, which flows from top to bottom into the two big lakes "Moon Marsh" and "South Lake" in the village, playing the role of fire prevention and water storage. Moreover, the sources of tap water are all mountain springs and streams, which can reach the standard of natural drinking water without other treatment. It can be said that many problems such as cooking, laundry and fire prevention have been solved in one fell swoop, and the quality of life has been greatly improved.
In addition, the "soft decoration" part of Huizhou architecture is also very interesting. The soft decoration of Huizhou architecture is mainly wood carving. Because of different tastes and interests in life, the themes of woodcarving are different. Some stories come from the Analects of Confucius, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the selection and carving of Tang poems, folklore, and plants and scenery symbolizing good luck. Compared with the European portraits, biblical stories, Greek myths and other themes at that time, the themes of Huizhou woodcarving are really rich and colorful, very human, without blind preaching or sacred worship. It is simply the owner's understanding of life. Every decoration is very personal, and there will be no embarrassment that a decorative painting appears on the living room walls of four different families.
In fact, we like to be so fascinated by Huizhou architecture, probably because Huizhou architecture is very grounded. As a middle class in that era, I don't want too many rights disputes. I just want to live a happy and comfortable life, decorate the house according to my own wishes, and improve the quality of life as much as possible within my own ability. When I am free, my friends will come to my house and ask the chef to cook some good dishes, talk about interesting things and enjoy the rare quiet time. I earn my own money and spend it myself, so I don't have to show it to others. I focus on food, clothing, housing and entertainment. This century-old village is really living in a down-to-earth way. If the Forbidden City is an encyclopedia for tourists and scholars, Hongcun is everyone's daily necessities.