Chin-Chin; Or, The Chinaman at Home

by Ki-tong Tcheng

Let us now examine the different kinds of Chinese houses.

In the northern districts, less favoured by Nature, buildings are generally constructed of earth. It is only the palaces and the houses of rich people of which the framework is of wood. In spite of the severity of the climate and the quantities of dust which are brought by the wind from the sandy regions, these houses have, generally speaking, two stories, in which they differ considerably from the houses in the south, which have rarely more than one. The walls are low, with but a very slight curve at the top, whereas in the south this curve, which we style “the saddle,” is very pronounced. These walls are called “fire-walls,” because they are intended to protect the house against fire.

The upper storey is called “the pavilion of the horse races,” a name I have never been able to account for, as the staircases were never such as to allow of horses being brought up them. This upper storey is generally used as a place of pleasure, the ground floor being preferred as an ordinary dwelling-place. The Chinese love symmetry in all things, and so, no matter the size of the ground on which they build, their houses are always constructed so that the drawing-room is just opposite the entrance door, and that on either side of it there be one or two rooms exactly the same. Instead of speaking of our houses as having so many rooms, we say, “It has such a number of rooms on the front—three, five, seven,” &c.

The following is a description of a good average middle-class dwelling:

On entering you find yourself in a large antechamber, flanked on the right and on the left by a servants’ room. Facing you are three doors, one large and two small, giving access to a courtyard, which is entered by descending a staircase of three steps. On either side of the courtyard there is first a paved gallery, then a room. One of these rooms is reserved for the children of the house, the other is a smoking-room, or small drawing-room.

The drawing-room is reached by ascending the three steps on the other side of the yard. On its left and right hand side there are one, two, or three rooms. Behind the drawing-room is the dining-room, flanked also on either side with one, two, or three rooms. Then comes a second courtyard, with the kitchen and lumber-room on the right and left. If the house is a large one, you will find three, five, or seven more rooms behind this courtyard. The same distribution may be repeated over and over again where the habitation is very vast. The garden, with its kiosques and its artificial rockeries, is on one of the wings, and is surrounded with walls.

The rent of an ordinary house, such as the one that I have just described, is about two pounds eight shillings a year.

The roof is more or less elevated, but it always is very sloping, and is covered with overlapping tiles, so as to allow the rain to run off easily.

The windows are large, the framework being of wood. The panes are of glass, silk, or transparent paper, according to the part of the country. Instead of endeavouring to protect themselves against draughts, the Chinese do all they can to procure currents of air through the house.