Architectural structure of Dong people's houses

Most of the houses of the Dong people in the north are made of wood. Flat houses have a single-eave structure, and studio rooms have a double-eave structure. All columns, beams, purlins, melons, strings, citrons, purlins, etc. It is composed of tenons and mortises. There are fishtail tenon, palm tenon, buckle tenon, axe tenon, full tenon and half tenon. This kind of building technology has a long history among the Dong people.

Most of the Dong people's houses in the south are built in the green trees on both sides of rivers and streams, and the ancient Yue people's "dry fence" wooden buildings are still preserved. These houses have unique architectural skills. Except for the tiles on the roof, all the buildings are made of Chinese fir from top to bottom. The pillars of the house are chiseled with Chinese fir, and the pillars are tenoned with square bars of different sizes. The whole house is composed of columns with different heights, and wooden purlins with different sizes pass through the straight sleeve obliquely. There is a "diaojiao building" around the wooden building, and the eaves of the building are upturned, such as Dapeng spreading its wings. The walls and floors of the building are slotted with boards. At both ends of a wooden building, there is usually an inclined building to make it flow around. Mulou usually has four floors: firewood is piled up on the ground floor, livestock are kept in captivity, and stone rafts are set up; There are fire pits and houses for the elderly on the second floor; The third floor is the dormitory of young people; The fourth floor stores grain or piles up sundries. There is a corridor railing outside the building, which is spacious and bright, with good air circulation, and can be used for family members to rest. It is also a good place for Dong girls to spin and weave.

Wooden buildings in southern Dong area are often connected by cloisters or eaves and floors. On festive occasions, people gather here to hold banquets to entertain guests. There is a good saying: "Dong Zhai lives high in the clouds and doesn't go downstairs to walk around the village." It embodies the uniqueness of Dong folk houses.

Dong traditional architecture never uses drawings, even high-rise buildings. Craftsmen only use half a bamboo pole as a ruler, commonly known as "Zhang Pole". The clever carpenter built many magnificent and beautiful buildings with this pole.

The mountainous areas in the south of Dong nationality are rugged. Clever architect Dong can not only build high-rise buildings on the flat ground, but also build buildings on steep slopes, cliffs or by the river.

In Dong villages, people can see all kinds of wooden buildings, some like magnificent pagodas, some like exquisite pavilions, some like magnificent palaces, and some like beautiful promenades. Some of these houses are hundreds of years old. They are still strong and intact. A poem praised: "Mulou is not inclined for a hundred years, and Chinese fir is as strong as iron." Nowadays, Dong architecture has aroused great interest from people at home and abroad.