The Yan Family Courtyard in Lingbao

The Yan Family Courtyard in Lingbao

The Yan Family Courtyard is located in Xiayuan Village, Yangping Town, Lingbao City. There are currently four courtyards, all of which are traditional residential buildings. Three of them are connected as one, while one is a standalone structure with a round moon-gate entrance.

1. The three connected courtyards form a single unit, all designed as traditional quadrangle dwellings. Each courtyard is 11.8 meters wide, with the gatehouse extending 4.8 meters in depth. The complex faces east and is situated on a westward axis, with the main gate located...

1. The three courtyards form a unified structure, all being quadrangles. Each courtyard is 11.8 meters in width, and the gatehouse is 4.8 meters deep. The courtyards face west and are oriented eastward, with the main gate set on the northern side as a passageway-style gatehouse. The gatehouse features a brick-carved floral ridge, front eaves with upturned ridges, bracket sets (dougong) beneath the eaves, two vertical pillars beneath the brackets, and wooden carved horizontal plaques under the pillars. On both sides of the gate are bluestone gate piers. The gateway is flanked by brick-carved geometric patterns. The horizontal timber panel (zouma ban) above the gate is adorned with carved designs: the outer section is square with four bats at the corners, while the inner circular section features floral patterns with a carved Chinese character "shou" (meaning longevity) in the center. Inside the gate, on the exterior wall of the north wing room, there is a screen wall with five sets of brick carvings in its central panel. Below that is a circular brick carving of peony flowers with a magpie perched on a branch, and beneath that is a Temple of the Earth God. The side room (reversed living room) is a flush-gable roof building, featuring a brick-carved floral ridge, front upturned ridges, bracket sets on the beams, and dougong under the eaves. The main door of the room is located in the center and consists of a six-panel lattice door. The wing rooms: there are three rooms each on the north and south sides, with brick-carved floral ridges and full-length windows. The main room matches the gatehouse in size, also featuring a brick-carved floral ridge and bracket sets with dougong.

2. Behind the northern courtyard, there is a study consisting of three rooms, facing south and situated on a northward axis. It has a brick-carved floral ridge, front upturned ridges (now partially damaged), and dougong under the eaves. The door is a six-panel wooden lattice door, and the windows are fully carved wooden panels. The door surface is decorated with wood carvings, and there are couplets on both sides of the door.

3. The courtyard with the round moon-gate entrance features a gatehouse designed in the style of a memorial archway. It includes wing rooms and a main room, with the gatehouse built to resemble a ground-level eaves structure. The outer walls of the wing rooms align with the sides of the gate. The upper part of the gatehouse features a brick-carved floral ridge, with a drip edge in front, followed by the roof surface, then another drip edge, below which is a row of flying rafters. Beneath the rafters are brick-carved bracket sets, with horizontal beams below them, and two vertical pillars beneath the beams connected by floral-patterned carvings. Below that is a brick-carved round gate. Both the wing rooms and the main room are two-story structures, with wooden elements beneath the eaves, hanging pillars, and corridors on the upper floor.