Yang Zhai San YaoThe residential spine · 陽宅三要
Door • Master • Stove. Place people where the house can actually hold them—after landform passes and before décor begins.
The residential spine
門 主 灶Intake. Recovery. Metabolism.
The entry, the true decision-maker’s base, and the kitchen determine whether the home supports daily life.
What this page covers
Structure before symbolism.
Yang Zhai San Yao arranges the Door, Master, and Stove only after the site passes landform testing. It follows a clear selection sequence: lot → building or unit → interior.
The method survives modern utilities because it tests real evidence—noise, wind, drainage, privacy, smoke paths, exhaust, and makeup air.
If Door, Master, and Stove are wrong, compass degrees will not save the home.
What it actually asserts
Three essentials. Three household functions.
The house mouth
Governs intake and exchange. Bad geometry bleeds quiet, money, and privacy.
The stability anchor
The real decision-maker sleeps and recovers in a quiet, protected, well-ventilated volume.
The metabolic rhythm
Heat, grease, exhaust, water, and fire must cooperate safely rather than collide.
Working grammar
Keep every item distinct.
Bowl
Higher back, side embrace, usable bright hall, and a bounded mouth. No bowl means stop.
Door
Primary entry plus its full approach geometry: road, stairs, drive, corridor, landing.
Master
The protected room where the actual household decision-maker sleeps.
Stove
Cooktop and oven plus hood, duct, makeup air, grease control, and drain.
Water paths
Streets, sidewalks, drains, and corridors act as micro-rivers; lift lobbies form eddies.
Knives
T-junctions, corridors, stairs, and unbound mouths aimed at door, bed, or stove.
Five-step residential sequence
Select from outside inward.
Interior styling is downstream. Fix the physical hierarchy before spending on finishes.
Evidence, red flags, fixes
What good looks like.
Intake without bleeding
Approach slows at a turn, landing, or alcove; sightlines are offset; air drifts rather than tunnels.
- Flags: road, stair, or corridor knife; long flush hall; lift or garbage-shaft blast.
- Fix: angle entry, add a screen or wing wall, widen the landing, seal and balance pressure.
Stability where you sleep
Two protected walls, no service shaft, no direct bed knife, low night noise, and fresh air without fumes.
- Flags: lift or pump wall; exhaust alley; room used as a passage.
- Fix: swap rooms, turn the entry, add a vestibule, acoustic sealing, or filtered air.
Heat and exhaust discipline
Stable wall, ducted hood, makeup air, offset sink, and no direct view from the main door to active flame.
- Flags: weak island canopy, shared-shaft blowback, heat or smell sent toward bedrooms.
- Fix: wall the stove, upsize canopy and airflow, offset the sink, or add a partition.
Apartments and urban realities
Read the building as moving water.
A flume
Long, straight corridors accelerate movement. Favor offset entries that slow before the door.
A micro bright hall
Treat it as an eddy, but avoid facing the lift directly where pressure and traffic hit the door.
Wind and noise source
Keep the master room and stove away from lift, pump, refuse, and exhaust walls.
A water mouth
Do not align the home’s entry with loading bays, ramps, or fast vehicular release.
Only after form passes
Use Qing Nang Jing and the 24 Mountains to refine axes—not rescue a failed layout.
Inspect twice
Test at night and during rain; comfort on one pleasant afternoon proves little.
Why it matters
Daily function, not décor.
Lower ambient load
A calm door reduces stress, a true master room improves decisions, and stove discipline cuts maintenance.
Protect privacy and rest
Offset sightlines, remove bedroom knives, and stop private rooms becoming hallways.
Stabilize home studios
A calm intake supports client flow; kitchen exhaust prevents odor and grease complaints.
Abstracted micro-cases
Correct the physical vector.
Door faces a 20-metre flume
Move: Flip the swing, create an L with a wing wall and console, then add an inner screen. Result: quieter intake and fewer drafts.
Great master view; bad fumes
Move: Give the master the protected interior room and convert the view room to a study. Result: better sleep.
Recirculation spreads grease
Move: Install a ducted canopy with makeup air and offset the sink. Result: cleaner air and fewer repairs.
One-page checklist
Door • Master • Stove
- Door slows before entry?
- Head-on knives removed or blocked?
- Master has two protected walls and low night noise?
- No corridor or door knife crosses the bed?
- Stove has ducted exhaust and makeup air?
- Sink and stove do not clash head-on?
- No direct line from entry to active flame?
- Bowl and mouth pass in wet and dry seasons?
Decision rule and ethics
Two “No” means revise.
- Two failed checks: change the plan.
- Three failed checks: change the unit or site.
- Vent properly, seal gas lines, and use required electrical protection.
- Document every material change.
- Never trade engineering, safety, air, fire, or privacy for symbolism.
Related reading
Keep the sequence intact.
The bottom line
Door meets the world. Master recovers. Stove feeds.
Get the three essentials right inside a qualified bowl and most residential “mysteries” disappear into better intake, quieter recovery, cleaner air, and safer daily function.