Specific information about Hakka dwellings and Dai bamboo houses
Surrounding Dragon House
The styles and forms of Hakka Dwellings have changed in different historical periods and in different regions, including Yuanzhai, Surrounding Dragon House, Zoumalou and Sijiaolou. But the most representative one is the dragon enclosure. Surrounding Dragon House is a typical Hakka residential building with Central Plains characteristics. Hakka surrounding dragon house, together with Beijing's quadrangle, Shaanxi's cave dwelling, Guangxi's pole column style and Yunnan's seal, are called the five traditional residential building forms with the most local flavor in China, and are called one of the five characteristics of China residential buildings by Chinese and foreign architectural circles. According to the investigation by historians, this kind of residential building is very similar to the house type of the noble courtyard in the Central Plains, which has its historical origin. Hakka ancestors originally belonged to the Han people in the Central Plains, and moved south to the mountainous areas bordering Jiangxi, Guangdong and Fujian for reasons such as war and famine. After the Hakka ancestors moved south to settle in Lingnan, they not only spread the advanced farming techniques of the Central Plains, but also maintained the original traditional style of the buildings and houses.
first, the overall layout of the enclosure
the overall layout of the enclosure is a big garden, and in the overall shape, the enclosure is a taiji diagram.
The first half of the enclosure is a half-moon pond, and the second half is a half-moon building. The joint of the two halves is separated by a rectangular open space, which is tamped and paved with concrete. It is called "Wo Ping" (or Ditang), which is a place for residents to exercise or dry. At the junction of "Wo Ping" and the pond, a high or low stone wall is built with lime and small stones. The short one is called "wall ridge" and the high one is called "zhaoqiang". Half-moon pond is mainly used for stocking fish and shrimp, watering vegetable fields and storing water to prevent drought and fire. It is not only a natural fertilizer warehouse, but also a natural sewage purification pool.
The building in the second half is a square main building in the middle. There are "three buildings and two horizontal buildings" and a surrounding layer; There are "three buildings and four horizontal buildings" and two surrounding floors. The smallest enclosure has a building area of thousands of square meters, and the largest is tens of thousands of square meters. Some big dragon houses are inhabited by hundreds of families and hundreds of people. Generally speaking, "three buildings and two horizontal buildings" are the majority of one enclosure. There are three dragon houses with two horizontal walls, including upper hall, middle hall and lower hall. There is a patio between the halls, which is separated by wooden screens, which can be opened and closed as required. There are north and south halls, upper and lower corridors, toilets, drawing rooms, wing rooms, study rooms, living rooms, etc. around the hall, which are patchwork and have clear priorities. The building structure is low at the front and high at the back, which is beneficial to lighting, ventilation, drainage and sewage discharge.
the main house-the outer layer of the horizontal house is a half-moon enclosure, some of which are one enclosure and some are two enclosures, hence the name of the enclosure. The arc-shaped enclosure guards the main room, forming a defensive barrier. The windows in the enclosure are generally small, which are natural observation holes and shooting holes, so it is convenient to use bows and arrows, soil guns, soil guns and other martial arts to fight against the attacking enemy. In fact, the design and architecture of the dragon house had a great relationship with the situation of the Hakkas at that time. Hakkas are Han Chinese who migrated from the Central Plains to the south since the Tang and Song Dynasties. Most of them live in remote mountainous areas and are squeezed out and bullied by local people. In order to unite and resist aggression and survive, they have to live together and build a defensive castle-style house-the Dragon House, to resist the intrusion of bandits and local people. There is also a solid multi-storey "turret" in the dragon enclosure, which can be used to store food and forage, and can also shoot the invading enemy from a commanding height. If bandits come to harass and rob, as long as the gate and half door are closed, the villagers will carry weapons into the dragon enclosure and turret to fight.
second, the cultural spirit implied in the dragon enclosure
first, it reflects the traditional virtues of Hakka people, such as unity and mutual assistance, respect for the elderly and the virtuous, courtesy and civilization, and knowledge and understanding. Small rockeries, fish ponds and bonsai are generally arranged in the large and small patios in the enclosure. All kinds of flowers and trees are carried around the "flower head" in the half garden behind the main house and the half-moon pond in front of the main entrance. The forest on the hill behind the enclosure is called "Dragon Clothes", and it is forbidden to cut down. The whole building is hidden among the evergreen trees, with flowers and birds all year round, and the environment is beautiful and Jing Ya.
The columns, beams, beams and doors in the enclosure are carved with vivid patterns such as landscapes, flowers and birds, birds and animals, and painted with bright and dazzling paint, which looks magnificent, antique and magnificent. Generally speaking, a dragon enclosure is inhabited by a close relative family, who live in harmony with each other, respect the old and love the young, and respect each other as guests. On holidays, men, women and children gather in the upper hall of the main house to worship their ancestors, and dance dragons and lions, beating gongs and drums and enjoying themselves, showing a scene of joy and peace.
second, the style of Hakka dragon enclosure house is the inheritance of the original residential style. According to archaeological data, the Banpo clan and Longshan clan in the middle and late primitive society in the Yellow River basin lived in an area composed of dozens of square and round rammed earth houses. This shows that the Hakka people's concept of living subconsciously contains their recovery and reference to some of their ancestors' housing experiences.
thirdly, the architectural features of the dragon enclosure are also the projection of ancient yin and yang thoughts.
It is embodied in the philosophy of "harmony between man and nature". In case of unsatisfactory terrain, adjust the seating direction by adding a half-moon flower terrace or pond or building half door to achieve the balance of yin and yang and adapt to the environment. This thought of yin and yang was later mixed with a lot of witchcraft culture that pays attention to "feng shui house field", such as the old saying: "Feng Shui is indispensable to the world, and it is all supported by yin and yang".
Fourth, it embodies the traditional clan concept.
Hakka residential buildings are large in scale. On the one hand, they show the habit of Hakka people living in groups. Because, whether in the long journey or in a new place, Hakka people have difficulties that are difficult for one family to overcome, and they have to rely on their own surnames to live together; On the other hand, the residents in the house allocate rooms according to seniority and rank, and ancestral tablets are arranged in the center of their buildings for future generations to worship, which reflects the traditional family ethics of Hakka people to some extent.
When the Hakkas build a new house, they usually hold the custom of "moving to a new house", which is called "shaming". It will be safe and auspicious to ask Mr. Feng Shui to drive away the "three evils". On the day of moving, there are big banquets and sacrifices to the gods.
Hakkas, also known as Heluolang. Hakka is a distinctive Han nationality, and it is also one of the most widely distributed and far-reaching Han nationalities in the world. Dai villages in Daijia Bamboo House are all near the water in Pingba, on both sides of the river by the stream, and around lakes and marshes. Wherever there are green bamboos and trees, there must be Dai villages. The big stockade is inhabited by two or three hundred families, and the small village has only one or twenty families. Houses are single buildings, surrounded by open spaces, and each family has its own courtyard. There are many bungalows with earth walls along the border of Tenglong, and there are three rooms in each house, which are divided into bedrooms and sitting rooms. This is obviously influenced by the Han people and is no longer an inherent form of the Dai people. On the border of Sipu, there are completely bamboo buildings and wooden frames, with people living on the top and livestock living on the bottom. The style is similar to a big tent, which is completely consistent with the situation of "nesting in South Vietnam" recorded in Huainanzi, and it is also the "dry column" residence of ancient Liao people "living by trees and building blocks" recorded in history books. This is a typical building of the Dai people. This kind of bamboo building is about seven or eight feet high, with four uncovered columns, and horses and cattle tied to columns. There is a terrace on the upper floor near the ladder, which turns into a long big room, and a corner is separated by a bamboo fence to be the master's bedroom and also the storage place of important money and things; The rest is a large open room, with a low roof and sloping sides, and the eaves are on the floor, so there is no window. If the eaves are slightly higher, there are also small windows on both sides and a door at the back. In the center of the building is a fire pond. No matter in winter or summer, brew tea burns day and night and cooks, all of them are on this fire, and the host and guest gather to talk and squat or sit around the furnace. The roof is covered with thatch, and the floors of beams, columns, doors and windows are all made of bamboo. The construction of this kind of house is extremely easy. It can be built in a few days by cutting down big bamboo and gathering neighbors to help each other. But it is also very easy to rot, and it must be repaired after the rainy season every year. Toastmasters' houses are mostly built of wood instead of bamboo, and the style is still like a bamboo building, only slightly tall, and instead of thatching, they use a tile roof. In Xishuangbanna, the Dai people can burn their own tiles, which are like fish scales, three inches square and only two or three points thin. One side of each tile has a hook, and bamboo strips are nailed horizontally on the rafters of the roof, about two inches apart. The tiles are hung on the bamboo strips like fish scales, so the roof of the Dai people cannot be climbed. If the tiles need to be replaced, just reach out under the rafters and break the tiles. Anyone who lives in this kind of house is a big family in the village, that is, the Xuanwei yamen in the car. The architectural style is just so much, but the area is much larger than that of the common Dai folk wooden building. The whole building is made of 12 large wooden columns, which are more than ten meters long and seven or eight feet wide. The upstairs is divided into several rooms, surrounded by walkways, but no windows are opened, so it is dark, and the downstairs is empty and there is no shelter. Only one hundred and twenty large wooden columns are arranged neatly. This kind of houses where people live above and cattle and horses are raised below can be generally seen in the southwest border region, such as Hani, Jingpo, Lisu and Miao, Yao and Li nationalities, and so are housing buildings, but the lower floors are mostly made of stones or mud. The bamboo house of the Dai people is empty on all sides of the lower floor. Every morning, when cattle and horses are out of the barn, they will remove the feces, so that people living in the upper floor will not be fumigated by foul air.
The furniture in the house is very simple, and most of them are made of bamboo. All tables, chairs, beds, boxes, cages and baskets are made of bamboo. Every family has a simple quilt and tent, and occasionally there are blankets, lead and iron imported from Myanmar, agricultural tools and pot knives that are only used, and rare ones are redundant. Pottery tools are also very common, and the patterns of water tanks are all local.
Dai people have lived in bamboo houses for more than a thousand years.
Dai people's bamboo houses are dam areas. Because of the hot and humid weather, bamboo houses are mostly close to mountains and rivers. Outside the village, banyan trees cover the sky and the air roots hang low; In the village, the bamboo buildings are scaled, surrounded by bamboo fences and hidden in the shade; Manjinglan Village and Ganlanba in Jinghong County are the standard types of Dai bamboo buildings in the dam area.
In the past, Dai bamboo houses were divided into official bamboo houses and common bamboo houses according to social class. The official bamboo building is spacious and tall, square, with a triangular pyramid roof, which is quite similar to the western "Gothic" building and is topped with wood chips. The whole bamboo building is supported by 2 to 24 thick wooden columns, which are built on stone piers, and some beams are carved in a shape of a dragon or bow, which is the result of the influence of Buddhist culture, especially in Myanmar temples and pavilions. The cross beam in the house passes through the column, and the structure is simple. After climbing the wooden ladder, it is the "palm room". The main room is the guest room, with a fire pond in the middle and two or three rooms on the side, which are the bedrooms of the master, the couple and the children. The official bamboo building guest room is about 3 square meters in size and can accommodate 1 to 2 people. The palm room is paved with mats, which is a place for enjoying the cool and women's spinning.
People's Bamboo House is the same as the official bamboo house, except that it is relatively small. The roof is covered with thatch, and wooden columns are not allowed to use the foot of stone piers, cross beams or carve patterns.
why do Dai people love bamboo houses rather than bungalows? In the Yuan Dynasty, Jing Li had already made a reply in Yunnan Zhilue. The book said: "There are all kinds of gold teeth ... and the weather is wet and hot, and there are many bamboo houses, which live near the river and take ten baths a day." It turns out that the wonderful use of bamboo building is that it can avoid humidity under it, avoid heat on it, be close to the river bank, and take ten baths a day. [Edit this paragraph] The ancients said, "It is better to eat without meat than to live without bamboo". In this sense, the Dai people living in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province are the happiest people, because they not only live in a "bamboo" building, but also eat "bamboo" rice and drink "bamboo" wine, which is really more enjoyable than the gods. When you come to Banna, the most exciting thing is the piece of bamboo forest and the beautiful and unique bamboo buildings hidden in the bamboo forest. From the appearance, it looks like a golden peacock with its screen open and a beautiful girl dancing like a crane. The beautiful scenery makes people suddenly feel like they are in a dream.
Legend of Bamboo House
According to legend, in ancient times, there was a brave and beautiful young man named Paya Sammuti in the Dai family. He wanted to build a house for the Dai family so that they would no longer live in the wild. He tried several times and failed. One day it rained heavily, and he saw a dog lying on the ground. It rained heavily, and the rain flowed down along the thick dog hair. He was very inspired and built a sloping shack. Later, the Phoenix flew in and kept waving its wings to him, asking him to build the roof into a herringbone shape, and then motioned to Paya Samuti in a high-legged independent posture, asking him to build the house into a high-legged house with two floors. Paya finally built a beautiful bamboo house for the Dai family according to the will of Phoenix.
Inside and outside the Bamboo House
The shape of the Dai bamboo house is a dry-column building, and its roof is herringbone. Xishuangbanna has a tropical rain forest climate with heavy rainfall. The herringbone roof is easy to drain and will not cause water accumulation. Generally speaking, the bamboo building of Dai family is a high-rise building with two floors. The high-rise building is to prevent the moisture on the ground. The bottom floor of the bamboo building is generally uninhabited and is a place for raising poultry. The upper floor is the place where people live. This floor is the center of the whole bamboo building. The indoor layout is very simple, and it is generally divided into two parts: a hall and a bedroom. The hall is located at the entrance of the wooden ladder, which is relatively open. In the middle, there is a big bamboo mat, which is a place to entertain visitors and discuss matters. There is a balcony and corridor outside the hall. In the corridor of the balcony, there are Dai family's favorite water tools, such as bamboo tubes and water tanks. Here are also Dai women. Generally, there is a fire pit in the hall, and a triangular bracket is put on the fire pit to place cookers such as pots and kettles, which is the place for cooking. Walking from the main room is a bedroom separated by bamboo fences or wooden boards, and the bedroom floor is also covered with bamboo mats, which is a place for a big and small rest. The whole bamboo building is very spacious, with a lot of space, few obstructions and excellent ventilation conditions, which is very suitable for the humid and rainy climate in Banna.
All beams, columns, walls and accessories of the whole bamboo building are made of bamboo, and each part of the bamboo building has a different meaning. Walking into the bamboo house is like walking into the history and culture of the Dai family, and the owner of the Dai family will tell you its meaning one by one. The pillar of the top beam of the bamboo building is called the "falling pillar", which is the most sacred pillar in the bamboo building. You can't lean on and pile things at will. It is a symbol of protecting the bamboo building from disaster. People often get leaves to pad under the pillar when building new buildings. It is said that this will be more solid. In addition to the top beam and big column, there are columns representing men and women in the bamboo building. The thicker column in the middle of the bamboo building represents men, while the short column on the side represents women. The roof symbolizes the phoenix tail and the corner symbolizes the wings of egrets.
In the past, the rank and seniority of Dai people were very strict, which was also obvious in the construction of bamboo houses. For example, the pillars of the building where the elders live should not be less than 6 feet, and the building should be 6 feet higher than the bottom of the building. There is no word rack in the room, which is extremely spacious and bright. The wooden ladder of the bamboo building also has regulations, generally above grade 9. The bamboo building of the younger generation is generally poor. First, the height is lower than that of the older generation. Secondly, the wooden ladder can only be below level 7, and the indoor structure is much simpler.
with the development of tourism, we can not only see the beautiful bamboo house in Yunnan, but also appreciate its unique style in many tourist attractions. No matter where you are, as long as you walk into the bamboo building, you will be greeted with different wonderful things.
After liberation, especially in recent years, great changes have taken place in the bamboo buildings of the Dai family. Most bamboo buildings have been changed into wooden buildings or bamboo-wood buildings, and thatched roofs have been changed into wooden or tile roofs. Wooden railings should also be installed around the palm of your hand. You can look at the small garden by the railing, open glass windows in the building, and hang beautiful curtains for the ancient ones.