Zhu Kai Mountain Courtyard

Zhu Kai Mountain Courtyard

The place we have now arrived at is Zhu Kai Mountain Courtyard, located in the eastern part of Huangyazi Folk Culture Tourism Village. Zhu Kai Mountain Courtyard is built based on the real-life family of Qiao Hengzhang, a migrant from Huangyazi Village during the Chuang Guandong (northeastward migration) period, and artistically adapted from parts of the storyline of the TV drama "Chuang Guandong." It is a courtyard that reflects the production and living scenes of early wealthy families. The courtyard covers an area of 26,000 square meters and is a featured attraction integrating sightseeing, dining, and accommodation.

We can see there are five steps in front of the courtyard gate. These five steps symbolize a bountiful harvest of the five grains and success for five sons in the imperial examinations. Regarding "five sons achieving scholarly honors," there is a line in the Three Character Classic: “Dou Yanshan had a special way, taught five sons, all renowned.” It tells the story of Dou Yujun of the Song Dynasty, whose five sons successively passed the imperial examinations.

The owner built these five steps also wishing for favorable weather and prosperous descendants. There’s an old saying that when looking for a partner, one should seek someone with matching social and economic status—it’s suitable for marriage. In fact, the “matching doors and gates” refer to parts of the main gate in ancient residences, used as decorative elements to ward off evil spirits. The pair of stone drums we see here are the “doors.”

They have a history of over a hundred years. You can tell this pair of doors are actually deformed turtles, which symbolize longevity because turtles are associated with long life. Also, the sound of drums is deep and imposing, and people believed they could ward off evil. Now let’s look at the four short round pillars above—these are called the “gates.” They are located above the doorways, usually in even numbers—either two or four—hence the name “gates.” These short columns also represent the ancient belief in the importance of having male offspring, expressing wishes for prosperity and continuity of the family line. Where there are gates, there must be doors—that’s the principle of harmony and beauty in ancient architecture. Nowadays, the term “matching doors and gates” has become a common phrase used to evaluate compatibility in marriage.

We can also see that the threshold of wealthy households is very high. Sometimes we jokingly say, “Your family’s threshold is too high, I can’t step over it.” This high threshold represents power, status, and wealth. Stepping over the high threshold, we can see decorations on the ground: a bat, a copper coin, and a crane. Everyone, follow me. By stepping on blessings and money, we can achieve longevity. Friends, look at the wall ahead—that’s called a screen wall. There is a story about this screen wall: A long, long time ago, in a village, there was a skilled bricklayer named Wang Jincai. Wang Jincai was not only good at his craft but also a filial son, which earned him great respect from others. No matter whose house he worked on, the owners would always treat him well. One day, a wealthy landlord surnamed Zhao from the north of the village invited him to build a house. Before leaving, Wang Jincai kowtowed and bid farewell to his mother before setting off with the man. This Zhao landlord was quite generous, slaughtering a chicken for every meal. Wang Jincai was naturally very happy. But later, he noticed that no matter which meal it was, he never saw chicken drumsticks. After observing several meals, he still didn’t see any. Wang Jincai became angry: he thought, “They serve the meatless parts, just making us chew on chicken bones. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and he wanted to quit and go home. But then he thought, if he left like that, what excuse would he have? People would say he was just being greedy and had no integrity. He couldn’t leave. So Wang Jincai held back his anger and continued building the house. When the house was almost finished, Wang Jincai remembered something his master once told him: if you place a clay figure of a person pushing a small cart in the ridge joint of the roof when building a house, it will cause the owner’s family to gradually grow poor. Filled with anger, Wang Jincai secretly molded a clay figure of a person pushing a cart and embedded it in the roof ridge. After the new house was completed, the Zhao family first presented the wages, then handed over a porcelain jar and said, “Master Wang, I see you’re a filial man. Your mother is getting on in years and should take some tonic to nourish herself. In this jar are dozens of chicken drumsticks I’ve preserved—take them back as a token of my regard for your mother!” Upon hearing this, Wang Jincai’s face turned red instantly. He realized he had wronged the family. He thought, if that clay figure really caused them to lose their wealth, he would truly be heartless. To dig it out in front of everyone would be embarrassing, so he could only think of a way to break the spell. With that in mind, Wang Jincai didn’t accept the gift, walked around the yard once, and then said to the owner, “Brother Zhao, I see your yard is so big, and the main gate faces the side gate directly—it really doesn’t look nice. Why not use the leftover bricks to build a screen wall?” The Zhao family owner was naturally very pleased, and Wang Jincai set to work, using all his skill to build a screen wall that was both sturdy and attractive. Wang Jincai thought, “With this wall in place, the cart won’t be able to push out through the gate, and the owner’s family won’t suffer financial loss.” The owner didn’t know the reason but, seeing the screen wall, thought it looked nice and could shield the doorway. He kept praising Wang Jincai for his craftsmanship. Later, people saw that screen walls indeed had many benefits, so they started building them after constructing houses. The practice spread farther and farther and gradually became a custom.