Housing capacity
The House for Distinguished Guests can accommodate
eight visitors of rank in four separate rooms, each of which
is furnished with two beds, two benches, and a corner
fireplace.[318]
These are the rooms for the emperor, the empress,
or any other members of the imperial family who
accompanied the emperor on his travels, and some of the
highest ranking ministers and councilors who were part of
the emperor's permanent staff. The rooms for the servants
in the southern aisle of the house have a bedding capacity
for eighteen men. This is the number of beds of standard
size that could be set up for the servants if they were ranged
peripherally along the walls of their rooms (nine in each).
Eighteen also happens to be the number of toilet seats
available in the servant's privy. The two stables in the
northern aisle of the house can accommodate four horses
each (figuring for each horse a standing area 5 feet wide and
7½ feet long). These must have been the mounts of the distinguished
guests, since their number corresponds exactly
to the number of beds available in the latter's private
chambers.
Even the seating capacity of the dining room is closely
correlated with the total number of men who can be accommodated
in the House for Distinguished Guests. The
eastern or upper end of the hall is furnished with two short
straight tables, each capable of seating four of the eight
distinguished guests (if we attribute to each of them a sitting
area 2½ feet wide). The western or lower end has longer,
L-shaped tables with sufficient sitting space to take care of
the eighteen servants.
