Yan Family Courtyard in Xiayuan Village

Yan Family Courtyard in Xiayuan Village

Yan Family Courtyard is a cultural heritage site protected by Henan Province.

Yan Family Courtyard in Xiayuan Village is located in Xiayuan Village, Yangping Town, Lingbao City. It dates back to the Qing Dynasty. The Yan Family Courtyard is listed as part of the seventh batch of cultural heritage protection units in Henan Province.

The Yan Family Courtyard currently consists of four traditional residential buildings, three of which are connected as one unit, while the fourth is a standalone structure with a round moon-gate entrance.

1. The three connected courtyards are all siheyuan (quadrangle compounds), each measuring 11.8 meters in width with the gatehouse extending 4.8 meters in depth. The courtyards face east and are situated to the west, with the main gate located on the northern side in the form of a passageway-style gatehouse. The gatehouse features a brick-carved floral ridge, front eaves with upturned ridges, bracket sets (dougong) under the eaves, with two vertical columns beneath them, and wooden carved horizontal lintels below the columns. On both sides of the gate are bluestone gate piers. The walls on either side of the gate are adorned with brick-carved geometric patterns. The wooden panels above the gate are carved with designs—externally square with four bats at the corners, and internally round with floral patterns surrounding a carved Chinese character “shou” (longevity). Inside the gate, on the outer wall of the north wing room, there is a screen wall with five sets of brick-carved patterns, below which is a round brick carving of peony flowers with a magpie perched on a branch, and beneath that, a shrine to the Earth God. The side room (reception room) is a flush-gable roof structure, with a brick-carved floral ridge, front eaves with upturned ridges, bracket sets on the beams, and dougong under the eaves. The room’s door is located in the center and consists of a six-panel wooden door. The wing rooms: there are three rooms each on the north and south sides, featuring brick-carved floral ridges and full-length windows. The main room matches the gatehouse in size, with a brick-carved floral ridge and bracket sets featuring dougong.

2. Behind the northern courtyard, there is a three-room study facing south, with a brick-carved floral ridge and front eaves with upturned ridges (now damaged). There are dougong under the eaves. The door is a six-panel wooden carved door, and the windows are fully carved wooden panels. The door surface is composed of wood carvings, with couplets on either side.

3. The round moon-gate courtyard: the gatehouse is built in the style of a memorial archway, with wing rooms and a main room. The gatehouse resembles a ground-level eaves structure. The exterior walls of the wing rooms align with those on either side of the gate. The upper part of the gatehouse features a brick-carved floral ridge, with eaves and drip tiles, beneath which are roof tiles, then a row of flying rafters, beneath which are brick-carved bracket sets, with two vertical columns beneath the beams connected by floral patterns. Below that is a round brick-carved moon gate. Both the wing rooms and the main room have two stories, with wooden decorations beneath the eaves, and the upper floors feature hanging columns and corridors.

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Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Cultural Heritage Protection Units in Henan Province