Chapter 27 Section 6 Residential Houses in Jiangnan Water Town

Human life is inseparable from water, so ancient cities and villages were mostly located near rivers and lakes.In the south of the Yangtze River in my country, the water flows vertically and horizontally, which brings many favorable conditions for the development of urban and rural areas, and also makes the houses in these areas have some characteristics unique to water towns. Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province was the ancient Pingjiang Mansion. It was a famous handicraft industry and prosperous commercial city in the south of the Yangtze River during the Tang and Song Dynasties.It is located in the Jiangnan Plain, and the famous canal surrounds the west and south of the city. Taking advantage of this favorable condition, Suzhou has planned two systems of land and water for the traffic in the city, and the water of the canal is drawn into the city through the water gate on the city wall. A traffic network that complements the streets is formed through arterial lines and canals.In this way, many houses in the city are connected to the street in the front and the river in the back, and the back doors of every household are equipped with steps to go down to the river, forming a unique water town landscape.

In Hongcun Village in Yixian County, Anhui, and Yantou Village and Furong Village in Nanxi River, Zhejiang Province, you can see the ancient designers leading the river water to the village through tortuous channels.Some of these rivers gather into concentrated ponds, and temples, ancestral halls and residences are built around the ponds. Whenever Buddhist services, temple fairs, and sacrificial ceremonies are held, this place becomes a place for mass gatherings.On weekdays, the ponds and under the big trees are also places for villagers to rest and socialize. The buildings with gray tiles and white walls, dots of red and green villagers, and the reflections in the water form an excellent picture.The most important thing to introduce the river water in the village is to let it flow through the doors of every household along the canal parallel to the road.The running water, where adults wash vegetables and laundry, and village children play in it, constitutes the special scenery of the water town.Some residences cleverly introduce the flowing water in front of the door into the house, gather water in the courtyard in front of the main house to form a pool, pile up some rockery in the pool, and plant a few lotus branches to add a lot of interest; The meandering flow and small stone bridges are erected on the water to make the residential courtyard lively.