"This shows a house viewed from the courtyard. Residences for all relatives, uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, etc. were often built in a quardrangle, facing inward, the outerwalls built on the boundary lines of the land owned, with all houses facing the outer walls, all doors or windows open inward, a single wall sufficingfor any two adjoining houses." More information in Descriptions of Glass Photo Slides from China file.