The Light Court Dwellings in the South of the Yangtze River

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The South of the Yangtze River refers to the region in the lower valley of the Yangtze River, southern Jiangsu Plain and Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou Plain, includingJiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui Jiangxi provinces. The climate is temperate or sub-tropica with clearly divided four seasons and dense population. The light court quadranglesusually have two stories with a light court in the middle of houses. This structure saves land, suits the densely populated region, and, at the same time, keeps the whole yard closed and quiet. It is very popular in the south of the Yangtze River.

There are two basic forms of such residences:”three rooms with two wing-rooms” and “houses on circumference”. The former form refers to the yard circled by three rooms and one wall. The principal house mostly has three rooms, and on either side is a wing-room. In some larger residences, however, there are more and bigger rooms.

The “houses on circumference”is the form of courtyard with a light court circled all around by rooms.

The light court dwellings in the south of the Yangtze River face the south or the southeast with thin walls and long eaves. They are better at insulating heat and ventilating. Besides, the roof designed to be steep so as to adapt to local rainy weather-easing up the pressure of the rain to the roof. Moreover, it facilitates the draining of the water. Inside the courtyard are door rooms, principal house, hall house and back houses, among which the most important part is the principal house. There are three rooms in the principal house, of which the central one serves as a hall room for accepting guests, family gathering, and worshipping gods and ancestors. The hall house is spacious and connects with the light court directly, which enjoys good sunlight and ventilation. Generally speaking, most family events are held in the hall room.

For example, families will celebrate the birthday of the elders here; in the wedding, the newly married couple will thank their parents here; according to the traditional custom, if elders pass away, families will put the coffin here and prepare some ceremonies to show their grief. With so many important functions, people pay much attention to the decoration and layout of the hall room. Inside the hall room lies a line of desks against the middle of the back wall, which are the most important furniture of the hall room. Tablets of ancestors are presented onthese desks with vases and mirrors on either side, symbolizing ancestors’ blessin of the family. On both sides of the hall room are bedrooms of the owner. The wing-rooms are on the both sides of the courtyard to store sundries, or to be used as kitchen or bedrooms.

It is the light court that gives such dwellings the very name. Light courts pla an important role in the courtyards in the south of the Yangtze River. In winter, the light court can prevent the courtyard from cold wind; in summer, it can make the courtyard much cooler by sheltering out strong sunlight. Besides, in the rainy season, the light court can send rain water into the courtyard, which means that “fertile water does not flow out”. Believing that the rain water is cleaner than the we1l water after taking away impurities, local people keep the rain water for drinking. In addition, the light court is the place for better air and light. All inal1, the light court guarantees the normal living of the locals from many aspects.

One significant characteristic of residences in the south of the Yangtze River is that they connect with waters. The front gates are usually opened towards streets with the back gates near rivers.A stone dock is built near the back gates of every residence, which is quite different from the northern residences. Of course, building houses near river is for the convenient transportation. Some rich families would channel the river water into their back garden and create the view of the river running through the house, just like House of the Zhang Family in Zhouzhuang county.

A cluster of houses with gardens constitute a variety of towns.Nowadays，in the Yangtze River Delta area，traditional residences of some towns are preserved in good condition，among which the most famous are Wuzhen，Zhouzhuang，Tongli，Luzhi，Xitang and Nanxun.Residences of the six old towns are important representatives of residences in the South of the Yangtze River.These residences reflect the traditional local economy and culture，so preserving them will contribute to a better understanding of our ancestors’living styles，thus providing reference for many academic fields such as history and folklore.

The town of Wuzhen is an important and well-known small town in the Yangtze River Delta area.We can say that Wuzhen is a town where people of tanlent coming forth in great number.There appeared more than 100 Juren（a successful candidate in the imperial examinations at the provincial level in the Ming and Qing dynasties），of them more than 60 were Jinshi（a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations）.The town is divided into four major streets，the east，the west，thesouth，and the north，which assume the cruciform distribution.On the Xizha Street is the residence group of the Ming and Qing dynasties.In addition，in east of the town is the Lizhi School，where Mao Dun（a famous contemporary writer of China）studied in his childhood.In Mao Dun’s novels，we sometimes can find the description of Wuzhen.Wuzhen.It is a wonderful tourist attraction with beautiful sights and outstanding people.

Residences of Zhouzhuang，another historic and legendary small town，are also representation of residences in the south of the Yangtze River.With its intensive networks of connected waters，Zhouzhuang is also reputed for its various bridges，of which the most famous are the Double Bridge and the Fu’an Bridge.The luxurious houses in the past，such as residences of family surnamed Shen and Zhang，and the house of Ye Chucang（1887-1946，famous poet），have all become tourist attractions.

The richest man of the Ming dynasty Shen Wansan once lived here.Zhouzhuang enjoys a history of more than 900 years，during which time it has become more andmore beautiful and elegant.Its residential architecture has so much cultural and viewing value that many people think highly of them.

Residences of Suzhou are also representation of the light court residences.

These houses usually face the south，and outside the southern gate are screen walls with different shapes such as the Chinese character”-“-shape，”ba”-shape and”men” shape.After entering the gate，it is the anteroom，which is also called sedan-chairroom as it is often used to park sedan-chair.A little further inside is the fully decorated hall room，a place for receiving guests and family gathering.Every part of the house，including the gate connecting the hall room and the anteroom，and thecorridor in front of the hall house is elaborately laid out.The gate is decorated with brick carvings of figures，flowers or birds.The rich families even hang inscription plaque to show their status and wealth.Over the front corridor are roofs of different styles.

Just like the northern residences，the parts of the house here are not connected，so corridors（”binong”in Pinyin）were built to connect each part.Binong has roofs to shelter from the sun and rain，and also has doors leading to every room.Usually binong is small，even so small that it can only let one person pass.

Between two binongs are small light court for the lighting which is another feature of residences in the south of the Yangtze River.With relatively small land，Suzhou，whose residences are narrow south to north with even narrower light court，is not an exception.In spite of this，it prevents strong sunshine in summers as well as the hot and damp monsoon.Being along with high walls and numerous buildings makes thecourtyard cool and comfortable.The drain here is the so-called inner drain，that i to say，the rain runs into the courtyard first and then run out through underground paths in the courtyard.

Since Suzhou is famous for its rivers，its residences have some common features with the residences in the south of the Yangtze River.A stone dock is also built near the back gate.People carry goods to the courtyard from here and wash vegetables and rice here.It is a picture depicting the daily life of the local people.

Residences of Suzhou are important representation of that in the south of the Yangtze River. The residence style of Suzhou has affected many other places like Wuxi, Changzhou, Yangzhou, Nanjing and Shanghai. The construction technique and layout of residences in these places are similar.