Shaanxi Provincial History Museum (Shaanxi History Museum)

Model of the Tri-Colored Courtyard Buildings of the Tang Dynasty. Unearthed from the Tang Tomb of Zhongbu Village in the western suburbs of Xi'an in 1959. There are two groups of siheyuan (compounds with houses around the courtyards). The front courtyard consists of the gate house, wingrooms, quadrangular converging-roof pavilion and the front hall with inclined roof. The back compound includes wingrooms, rockery, octangonal pavilion and the main hall with upturned eaves. These buildings are laid out along the central axis. The tri-colored buildings, with carved beams and painted rafters, are exquisitely constructed, offering valuable material for the study of the popular houses of the Tang Dynasty. Photographed June 9, 2001.