The toilets and kitchens in the old Beijing courtyard are basically in well-arranged locations. In large households, the toilets are located in the southwest (in small households, the toilets are public toilets in alleys), and the kitchens are located in the southeast. Speaking of which, this arrangement is related to Feng Shui, but in essence it is related to Beijing’s climate and environment.
About Beijing’s geography and climate. Beijing is located on the northeast edge of the North China Plain. The terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. It is surrounded by the Xishan Mountains to the west, the Yanshan Mountains to the north, and the vast plain facing the "Beijing Bay" to the southeast. It is said that "it has Taihang on its right and the sea on its left"; The climate is a typical temperate continental monsoon climate. What does this have to do with toilets? It matters a lot.
Siheyuan built according to traditional Feng Shui theory has good and bad directions. Among them, the southwest corner is white tiger star position, which is very bad. The toilet should be built in the southwest corner, and the white tiger star should be suppressed with unclean things. The evil star brings good luck to everything. This seemingly superstitious arrangement has its own scientific reason. As mentioned earlier, Beijing has a continental monsoon climate . The wind generally blows from the northwest and goes to the southeast. The toilet is on the south side. When the wind blows, the wind will not blow the wind into the yard.
At the same time, a yard house is not on the same level, and must have a certain slope to facilitate drainage and protect the building. Designed drainage is called "water method" in ancient construction industry jargon. According to Feng Shui, the east is the position of the green dragon. Dragon and water are the same. Water flows best from the east, so the courtyard is higher in the northwest and lower in the southeast. This is also consistent with the topography of Beijing. Placing the toilet on the west side facilitates smooth flow of water and prevents stagnant water from causing bad smell. To sum up the above two points, the toilet is very suitable in the southwest. You said, why can't we cover the east side? It's also the downwind. It really doesn't work, because the kitchen is on the east side.
The ancients built a kitchen called a stove, which was the focus of courtyard construction. Chinese people believe that food is their first priority, and only when they can have a comfortable meal can they feel like they have a family. Therefore, the kitchen must be placed in a favorable location in the courtyard. The most auspicious things in the courtyard are the north and the east. Why are they placed in the east? The east belongs to wood. According to the five elements of , wood makes fire, which is suitable for cooking. You said again, isn’t fire more prosperous in the south? That can't be done. This is adding fuel to the fire and lighting the house on fire. Everything must be done in moderation. We Chinese people call it moderation. This is based on Feng Shui and natural conditions. To put it bluntly, the wind comes from the northwest. If the kitchen is in the east, it is easy for smoke to escape, people will not be easily choked, and it is not easy for carbon monoxide poisoning when lighting a fire.
Therefore, when the ancients built houses, they did not design them randomly. There were too many ways in them. If you don't take it seriously and design it randomly, you will definitely find that the house is not suitable for this or that, and you will suffer when you live in it. Even if you make changes, you still won’t be able to reach the ideal state of
