Shuiyun House

## Shuiyun House 水云楼

### Layout of classic Beijing Courtyard Houses

Shuiyun House Troupe's Residence, also called Shuiyun House in the drama, is a traditional Beijing Courtyard House (四合院: Sìhéyuàn). The layout of courtyard houses in Beijing is largely influenced by its urban form. Typically, a courtyard house is located on the north side of a small alley (Hutong), which runs east-west. That means, the entrance is always situated on the south side of the house, whereas the main building stands on the opposite side of the gate, namely on the north side of the whole building complex.

A fully developed Courtyard House has four basic characteristics: introverted form, central axis, bilateral symmetry, and hierarchical structure. Shuiyun House perfectly matches to this description.

General layout of classic couryard houses (Siheyuan)

### The Gates and the Screenwall

A Beijing Courtyard House normally has the front gate in the southeast corner. This gate faces a screen/spirit wall. This structure protectes the privacy of the household and eschew "evil" according to the "Feng Shui" theory. A second "festooned gate" is built between the outer and inner courtyards. We can see these two gates as well as a screen wall in the drama.

### Buildings in a courtyard house

Buildings of Courtyard houses usually stands independently and in the past each building was usually occupied by family members as well as servants according to their social hierarchy. That said, **a main building** (正房), located on the north side, was inhabited by the head of family. Other members of the family occupied side houses respectively. Servants lived in the building on the south side of the courtyard.

This hierarchical principle is also adapted by Shuiyun House in the drama. Shang Xirui lives alone in the main building, while other actors share two side houses with others.

Adding to that, Shuiyun House has some specific features. While its main courtyard is divided into two by the huge Gatehouse, there is no north hall nor pavillion, which is usually built on the north side of the main building. That's maybe the reason, why they set the ancestral Hall on the west side of the courtyard.

### Shang Xirui's living space

As a leader of Shuiyun House Troupe, Shang Xirui lives in the main Building, to which two "ear" rooms are attached. Shang Xirui spends most of the time in his bedroom, which is located on the east side of the entrance. The study corner is on the west side of the entrance. You can see two brown leather armchairs as well as a Gramophone on the opposite Side of the study corner. The east "ear" room is used for keeping his opera attires as well as head dresses, while the west "ear" room is used as an extra drawing room.

In front of the Shang Xirui's bedroom there is a small Crabapple tree (Haitang). The bigger one stands at the corner of the Gatehouse.

Shang Xirui's main living spaceThe study cornerThe study cornersitting corner on the opposite side of the studythe east "ear" roomthe east "ear" roomthe west "ear" roomCrabapple Tree (海棠 haitang)crabapple
Speaking of heating, Shuiyun house is not well equipped. Even in the main Building there is just only one stove. The additional hanging of the entrance door as well as double-pane Windows are further attempt to prevent cold air from outside.

Double-Pane Windows

### Two-Story Inner Gatehouse

Shuiyun House's courtyard is divided by a huge two-story Inner Gatehouse. The space on the north side of the Gatehouse is used as a living space of actors and on its south side, there is a training space. In the southern part of the courtyard, there is also the ancestral hall, which is located on the east side of the courtyard. In front of the ancestral hall, they place a wooden table as well as benches. When the weather is good enough, actors dine in the courtyard. Otherwise, they eat together on the 1st floor of the gatehouse.

We don't know exactly, where the kitchen is located. However, since the kitchen stove is attached to the gatehouse, they probably prepare their meals in the ground floor of the gatehouse. When Xiao Lai brings Shang Xirui tea, she comes out from the west side of the Gatehouse. They maybe keep their tableware there.

### Number of Buildings

The rent deed tells about the number of rooms and buildings. According to this, the main building consists of three rooms. Two side rooms ("ear" rooms) are attached to the main Building directly.

There are also five side houses (厢房). This number is a bit unusual, since a courtyard House's layout is usually symmetrical. Two small buildings on the east side of the southern part of the courtyard can be seen on the picture, while one building is located on the other side of the courtyard, which is used as an ancestral hall in the drama. The western side house is occupied by female actors. Xiao Lai's room is also in the western side house. Male actors used the eastern side house.

Furthermore, the house has a reverse-facing building (到座房), which is located on the south side of the front courtyard. This building consisted of eight rooms.

the ancestral Hall on the west side of the courtyardthe ancestral hallThe eastern side housethe eastern side house. A view from the courtyardActors went into their roomsthe entrance of Xiao Lai's roomVery likely Shi Jiu and Xiao Lai shared the entrance but they got their own bedrooms

## Address of Shuiyun House

Where is Shuiyun House located? According to the rent deed as well as the sales agreement, the building is on the Beibingmashi (北兵马司) alley No. 327, which is located in the northwest of Dongcheng District (东城区). It is, however, a bit confusing. Cheng Fengtai's address is also on the same alley, Beibingmashi No. 29. Is the former princely residence located on the same alley, where the humble opera actors house is situated? Also, as the map shows, the alley isn't really long. Can the No. 327 even exist? Besides, Shang Xirui walks with Cheng Fengtai in Tianqiao area in episode 6. Tianqiao area is located in the Xuanwu District, south of the Qianmen Gate. Do they walk from Dongcheng District all the way to the south part of the city? (In the novel, they took a car.) Later in the same episode, one of the Shuiyun House actors comes to Tianqiao to fetch Shang Xirui. He also comes to that area by foot. Considering the situation, Shuiyun House should not be that far from Tianqiao area. It is more likely that Shuiyun House is located in the southern area of the city, like Qianmen area, where the city's entertainment, commerce and people's cultural activities were concentrated. Most of the opera houses as well as homes of the performers were also situated there.

the sales agreement of the Shuiyun HouseBlue Star: Beibingmashi Alley. The Tianqiao area is located between Qianmen Gate and Yongdingmen Gate.
## Literature

* BRACKEN, Gregory: The Shanghai Alleyway House. A vanishing urban vernacular (Routledge 2013)
* Fercility: Siheyuan - Chinese Courtyards (May 17 2020) https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/architecture/siheyuan.htm
* KNAPP, Ronald G. / LO, Kai-Yin (eds.): House, Home, Family. Living and Being Chinese (University of Hawai'i Press, 2005)
* -------- : Courtyard Houses (Siheyuan) (Sìhéyuàn 四合院)|Sìhéyuàn 四合院 (Courtyard Houses (Siheyuan)), in: Berkshire Encyclopedia of China. Modern and Historic Views of the World’s Newest and Oldest Global Power (Berkshire Publishing Group LLC, 2009) 508-511.https://chinaconnectu.com/2011/11/18/courtyard-houses-siheyuan%E5%9B%9B%E5%90%88%E9%99%A2/
* XU, Chengbei: Peking Opera (Cambridge University Press, 2010)
* ZHANG, Donia: Classical courtyard houses of Beijing: architecture as cultural artifact, in: Space and Communication 1(1) (December 2015) 47-68. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292735947\_Classical\_courtyard\_houses\_of\_Beijing\_architecture\_as\_cultural\_artifact
* -------- : Chinese Courtyard Housing under Socialist Market Economy, in: China Currents 2016 Issue Volume 15 Number 1 (China Research Center, January 2016) https://www.chinacenter.net/2016/china\_currents/15-1/chinese-courtyard-housing-under-socialist-market-economy/
* 69幅老地图，看尽北京城市历史变迁 (historical changes of Beijing with 69 maps), in: 澎湃号, 北京脉搏 (Nov. 29, 2019) https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail\_forward\_5108744 ----