Characteristics of our dwellings

Beijing Courtyard

Kiln Cave

Ancient Folk Houses

Hakka Tulou

Mongolian Yurt

Daijia Bamboo Mansion

Anhui Folk Houses

Tujia Folk Houses

Folk Houses encompasses dwellings as well as living environments that are an extension of them.

Because of China's vast territory and many nationalities, the geographical and climatic conditions and lifestyles of each place are different, so the style and style of the houses in which people live are also different from one place to another.

Among China's dwellings, the most characteristic ones are the Beijing courtyard house, the kiln caves on the Loess Plateau in the northwest, the ancient dwellings in Anhui, the Hakka tulou in Fujian and Guangdong, and the yurts in Mongolia.

[edit]Beijing courtyard houses

In the big and small hutongs of Beijing, there are many courtyard houses surrounded by houses in the east, south, west and north, which are called siheyuan.

The gate of the courtyard is generally open in the southeast corner or northwest corner, the north room in the courtyard is the main room, the main room is built on a brick and stone pedestal, larger than the scale of other houses, is the owner of the room. On both sides of the courtyard were built the east and west compartments, where the younger generations lived. A corridor was built between the main house and the chambers for people to walk and rest. The walls of the courtyard and the houses on the street are generally not open to the outside, and the environment in the courtyard is closed and quiet.

There are various sizes of siheyuan in Beijing, but no matter how big or small they are, they are all composed of a courtyard surrounded by houses on all sides. The simplest courtyard has only one courtyard, the more complex ones have two or three courtyards, and the deep houses where rich and noble people live are usually composed of several courtyards side by side. There is also a partition wall in the middle.

[edit]Kilns

The area around the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River in China is the world-famous Loess Plateau. People living on the Loess Plateau have built a unique kind of residence, the kiln, by utilizing the deep and thick layer of loess there, which has excellent three-dimensional properties. Kilns are divided into earth kilns, stone kilns, brick kilns and so on. Earthen kilns are loess kilns dug against the hillside, which are warm in winter and cool in summer, and have the best heat and sound insulation. Stone kilns and brick kilns are built with stones or bricks to form an arched hole, and then covered with a thick layer of loess, which is sturdy and beautiful. Since the construction of kilns does not require steel and cement, the cost is relatively low. With the development of society, people on the construction of kilns continue to improve, the Loess Plateau, warm in winter and cool in summer, the kiln is more and more comfortable and beautiful.

Ancient dwellings in Anhui Province In the southern part of Anhui Province, many ancient dwellings are preserved. Most of these ancient houses are made of brick and wood, and are surrounded by tall walls. The houses within the enclosure are generally small two-story buildings with three or five rooms. The larger houses have two, three or more courtyards; there are pools in the courtyards, flowers and plants are planted in front of and behind the houses, and the beams and balustrades are carved with exquisite patterns. The small buildings and deep courtyards are like a world of art. Architects have praised it as "a treasure house of ancient residential architecture".

[edit]Ancient Houses

Most of the ordinary houses in Pingyao were built in the Qing Dynasty, which are large in size and made of exquisite materials, and most of them are well preserved due to the dry climate of Shanxi, which has not been damaged by wars.

The layout of the residences is mostly in the form of strict courtyards, with obvious axes, symmetry, and a clear distinction between primary and secondary, consisting of several sets of courtyards along the central axis, and generally three courtyards in the basic form of the "eye" type. Between the courtyards with low walls and ornate decorative hanging door as a separation, some in the courtyard side or behind the garden is also built.

The main house is generally three or five rooms of the brick structure of the arched coupon kiln, in the front of the kiln room are generally added to the wooden structure of the Phi gable, colonnade, covered with tile roof. The roof of the main house is flat, generally on both sides of the brick ladder can be mounted, on the roof of some also have a wall type Fengshui building. In some cases, a wooden structure with a double-slope roof is built on top of the kiln. The outer walls of Pingyao houses are made of bricks, and the walls are made of bricks with clear water, up to seven or eight meters high, with no windows open to the outside, with a solid and majestic appearance, and some of them are made into battlements at the top of the walls, like a small castle, and there are very few trees planted in the courtyards, and the superstitious notion is that the trees will attract ghosts and monsters and that there will be no tranquility in the houses. The floor of the courtyard is paved with bricks, and flower beds are often built without soil for easy cleaning. Pingyao houses are ornately decorated both inside and outside, with fine wood carvings and pendant doors, and the beams of the main rooms are hung with flower decorations, some of which are engraved with lions rolling embroidered balls, and some with the three stars of fortune, luck and longevity, or zither, chess, calligraphy and painting, etc. All of them are of a certain style. Doors and windows are wooden lattices, most of them have complicated patterns and are different, and some of them are sculpted with the story of Tang Yao, Yu and Shun's Zen throne. At that time, the use of glass was widespread, some rich merchants used carved glass. In order to keep warm and cold, most of the doors and windows are made of double, eaves rafters and beams under the square and so on are applied with colorful paintings. Along the streets and lanes of the house door are particularly elaborate, the door roof in a variety of forms, there are overhanging the mountain, the roof of the mountain has two slopes of the ridge, two slopes of unequal lengths and half-slopes and Phi Eaves, etc., under the eaves of the beams and squares interspersed with arches out of the eaves and so on, the practice varies. Some use columns, some do pilasters and piers. Door plaque on the door, the book has "Xiude", "Xiuqi", "Fanao", "Xiawei", "Le Tianlun", etc., some of the residential door also has a horse stone, horse pillars, stone carvings are exquisite, reflecting the affluence of these households at that time. Well-preserved residential houses in the city has more than four hundred, the number of its well-preserved degree in the country is rare.

[edit]Hakka Tulou

Tulou is the residence of the Hakka people in northeastern Guangdong and southwestern Fujian. The ancestors of the Hakka people were Han Chinese who migrated to the south from the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River more than 1900 years ago. Because most of the Hakka people lived in remote and remote mountainous areas, the Hakka forefathers created these huge dwellings, the earthen buildings, in order to guard against the harassment of bandits and to protect the family's safety. Dozens of families and hundreds of people can live in an earthen building. There are round and square earthen buildings, among which, the most characteristic one is the round earthen building. The round buildings consist of two or three circles, with the outer circle more than ten meters high and one or two hundred rooms. They do not distinguish between the rich and the poor, the noble and the lowly, each family is equally divided into the bottom to the upper floors of each room, its use is very uniform, the first floor is the kitchen and dining room, the second floor is a warehouse, the third and fourth floors are bedrooms. The second circle of two floors, there are 30 to 50 rooms, usually guest rooms; in the center is the ancestral hall, which can accommodate several hundred people for public **** activities. There are also wells, bathrooms and toilets in the Tulou, just like a small city. Hakka Tulou's tall and peculiar has been praised by architectural masters all over the world.

Hakka dwellings are architectural wonders in the mountainous regions of southern China, and its unique style has attracted many Chinese and foreign scholars, tourists and even American military experts.

In the mountains of southwestern Fujian and northeastern Guangdong, there are thousands of round houses or earthen buildings, which are known as the "wonders of the world's dwellings" of the Hakka houses.

Most of them are three to six-story buildings, one hundred to two hundred houses arranged in the shape of an orange petal, with an even and magnificent layout.

Gossip Layout Diagram Tulou enclosing a circle of houses are arranged in accordance with the gossip layout, the trigrams and trigrams with firewalls between them, neat and tidy.

[edit]Yurt

Mongolia and other nomadic peoples traditional housing. Anciently known as the dome, also known as felt tents, tents, felt bags and so on. Mongolian language called ger, Manchu for yurt or Mongolia Bo. Nomadic people to adapt to the nomadic life and the creation of this residence, easy to disassemble, easy to nomadic. Since the Xiongnu era has appeared, has been used until now. Yurt is round, around the side walls into several pieces, each piece of 130 to 160 cm high, 230 cm long, with a strip of wood woven into a net, several pieces connected, surrounded by a round, long cover umbrella bone-shaped dome, and the side walls connected. The roof of the tent and the four walls were covered or surrounded by felt, fixed with ropes. A wooden frame is left on the southwestern wall to install the door board, and a round skylight is left on the roof of the tent to let in light, ventilation and smoke, and it is covered with felt at night or in rainy or snowy days. The smallest yurt is more than 300 centimeters in diameter, and the largest can accommodate hundreds of people. The tent of the Khan and the kings in the Mongol Khanate era could accommodate 2,000 people. There are two kinds of yurts: fixed and traveling. Semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas are mostly built in fixed style, surrounded by earth walls, covered with reeds and grasses; nomadic areas are mostly in mobile style. Traveling type is divided into detachable and non-detachable two kinds, the former to livestock transportation, the latter to oxcart or horse-drawn carriage. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the Mongolian settlers increased, only in the nomadic areas are still retained yurts. In addition to the Mongols, Kazakhs, Tajiks and other nomadic herders also live in yurts. It is easy to dismantle and install, which is favorable for relocation and mobility when grazing.

[edit]Dai family bamboo building

Dai people living area is located in the subtropical, high temperature, so the Dai bamboo buildings are in the dam near the water, the banks of the creek on both sides of the river, lakes and swamps around. Where bamboo around the green trees, shade of the place, there must be Dai villages. The big cottage set living two or three hundred family members, the small village only more than ten people. Houses are single, surrounded by open space, each family into its own courtyard. Tenglong along the edge of the residence, more earth wall cottage, each house is also spaced out for three, divided into bedrooms and halls, which is obviously influenced by the Han Chinese, has been the inherent form of the Dai; Sipu along the edge of the bamboo building is completely wooden frame, on the people to live, under the perch of the livestock, the style is similar to a large tent, which is with the "Huainanzi" recorded in the "South Vietnam Nest Dwelling" of the situation Fully consistent with the "Huainanzi" recorded "South Vietnam nesting" situation, is also recorded in the history of the ancient bureaucrats "according to the trees to live" of the "dry appendage" housing, which is considered the typical architecture inherent in the Dai. This kind of bamboo building is about seven or eight feet high, four without a fence, cattle and horses tethered to the column. Upper near the stairs at a terrace, turn into a long room, separated by a bamboo fence in a corner to do the master's bedroom and important money storage; the rest is a large open room, the roof is not very high, both sides of the sloping, the eaves and in the floor boards, so there is no window. If the eaves are a little higher, there are also small windows on both sides, and a door is also opened at the back, and the center of the building is a fire pit, which burns day and night in winter and summer, and cooks rice and tea on the fire, and the hosts and guests set up a conversation, and squat or sit around the stove. The roof is covered with thatch, and the beams, doors, windows and floors are all made of bamboo. This kind of residential construction, extremely easy, only to cut to the big bamboo, about the set of neighbors to help each other, a few days can be created; but also very easy to rot and destroy, every year after the rainy season, they will have to be repaired. Tusi head of the residence, more than bamboo and wood to build, the style is still like a bamboo building, only slightly taller, do not pave thatch and changed to tile roof. Xishuangbanna territory, the Dai themselves can burn tiles, tiles such as fish scales, three inches square, thin only two or three points, each tile on one side of a hook, first in the roof rafters nailed across the bamboo strips, two inches between each strip, will be hanging on the bamboo strips, such as fish scales, and no longer add the gray solid, so the Dai roof can not be climbed, if the tile is broken need to be replaced, only have to reach down in the rafters will be broken tiles removed, and then will be hooked on the new tiles on the can. Where to live in such houses, it is considered the village of the big family, is the car Xuanwu Yamen, the building style is just so, but the area is much larger than the general Dai folk wooden building, the whole building with one hundred and twenty large wooden columns into a long more than ten Wen, broad seven or eight zhang, upstairs partitioned into a number of large and small houses, surrounded by walking rails, but do not open the window, so the darkness is not light, downstairs, empty without a fence, only to see neatly one hundred and twenty large wooden columns are arranged This is the official office and residence of the ruler of the Dai most bureau. This kind of house above the people below the raising cattle and horses, in the southwest border area in general can be seen, such as Hani, Jingpo, Lisu and even Miao, Yao, Li tribes, housing construction is also so style, but the lower level of more boulders or mud for the walls. The Dai's bamboo buildings, is the lower four sides of the open, every morning when the cattle and horses out of the pen, they will be cleared of feces, so that the sunshine throughout the day, living in the upper floor of the people, not to be smoked by the filth.

Tujia Hanging Corner House

The Tujia people love to live in groups, and love to live in hanging wooden buildings. Building houses are a village, a cottage, rarely single-family. Built houses are mostly wooden structure, small green tiles, lattice windows, the Division of the eaves overhanging, wooden railing handrails, walking horse corner, ancient color. General home have a small courtyard, fences in front of the yard, the yard behind the bamboo forest, green stone paving, planing boards installed walls, pine bright illumination, a family living in the sunrise and sunset idyllic quiet life. Tujia Tujia, the country's existing population of 5,704,223 people, mainly in Hunan Xiangxi, Hubei Enshi. In addition, Shizhu, Xiushan, Youyang, Qianjiang and other counties in Sichuan Province are also distributed.

The Tujia region is characterized by winding hills and mountains, and is rich in produce. With majestic natural scenery and rich ethnic flavor, it attracts Chinese and foreign tourists. Among them, Zhangjiajie is the first national forest park in China, which has become an emerging tourist destination.

The Tujia people call themselves "Bizka", meaning "native people". 2000 years ago, they settled in the area of today's western Hunan and western Hubei, and together with other ethnic minorities, they were called "Wuling barbarians" or "Wu Ling barbarians". "After the Song Dynasty, the Tujia became a separate ethnic group. After the Song Dynasty, the Tujia were separately called "Tuding" and "Tumin". After the founding of New China, according to the will of the Tujia people officially named Tujia.

The Tujia have their own language, which belongs to the Tibeto-Burman group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Most of them started to use Chinese and Chinese language very early because they have been intermingled with Han Chinese for a long time. Only a small part of Longshan, Yongshun and Guzhang counties in western Hunan still use Tujia language. The Tujia people are mainly engaged in agricultural production, and are more influenced by the Han in the development of economy and culture, but they also retain their own characteristics. The "golden tung oil" of western Hunan and the "dam lacquer" of western Hubei are famous products in China and abroad.

[Edit Paragraph]Folk Houses in South Anhui

The folk houses in South Anhui are most representative of Xidi and Hongcun in Yixian County, which were included in the "World Heritage List" in 2000.

Hongcun has more than 140 well-preserved ancient houses of the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the village, the lined buildings and the charming lakes and mountains reflect each other, and the static and dynamic is suitable, everywhere is a scene, step by step into the picture. Hongcun, with its wonderful idyllic scenery, is known as "China's Painted Countryside". Xidi has 124 ancient houses of the Ming and Qing dynasties and 3 ancestral halls. On behalf of the Huizhou style of residential architecture, the "three greats" (houses, ancestral halls, pagodas) and "three carvings" (wood carving, stone carving, brick carving) are well preserved here.

Green tiles and white walls are the prominent impression of Huizhou architecture. The staggered horse head wall not only has the beauty of modeling, but more importantly, it has the practical function of fire prevention and blocking the spread of fire.

One of the characteristics of Huizhou style houses is the high wall and deep courtyard, on the one hand, it is the defense against thieves, on the other hand, it is the need of the migrant family who suffered from the pain of displacement to obtain psychological security.

Another feature of the Huizhou folk houses is the deep patio as the center of the formation of the inward courtyard, surrounded by high walls, outside almost can not see the tile, the only long and narrow patio light, ventilation and communication with the outside world. This basic form, centered on the patio and enclosed by high walls, is the focus of people's attention. Rainwater falling from the four sides of the roof into the patio, commonly known as the "four water to the hall", but also a graphic reflection of the Huizhou merchants "fat water does not flow outside the field" mentality, which is similar to the Shanxi residence.

The folk houses in southern Anhui are famous for preserving a large number of ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Xin'an for the township of culture, the history of many officials and businessmen, only the Shexian more than a scholar that is up to hundreds of people. Hui merchants are all over the southern Anhui Province. "The rich room of the claimant, Jiangnan first push Xin'an", their enormous wealth, creating a beautiful museum of ancient houses in southern Anhui. Existing Huizhou Ming and Qing dynasties of ancient architectural complexes are mainly concentrated in Yixian County, Shexian County, Jixi, Xiuning. Yixian County now exists in more than ten ancient villages, such as Xidi, Hongcun, Bishan, Pingshan and so on. Yixian City has more ancient buildings. The county retains hundreds of valuable ancient buildings. Xidi alone has 122 buildings. Shexian County *** there are 365 ancient buildings, valuable more than a hundred, 27 ancient ancestral halls, concentrated in the village of Xiongcun, Chengkan, submerged in the mouth, Tangyue, deep ferry. Jixi surviving ancient buildings more than a hundred, concentrated in the head of Hung Hom, pit mouth, Feng village, on the Zhuang and other places. Ancient villages are generally composed of pagodas, houses, ancestral halls, water mouths, road pavilions, workshops, etc. Some villages are very large, such as the submission of 99 streets and alleys, strangers often get lost when they go in. Many villages have a well-organized layout, and the water system of Hongcun is an example. Hongcun in the village at the head of the mountain dam, the village canal from both sides of the street into each household, converging on the village in the middle of the moon pond. And then diverted to the household, into the South Lake. Each household has large and small canals for washing and drinking water. The layout of the residential houses is generally a triple or quadrangle courtyard centered on a patio, with a two-story height. Medium-sized and large mansions use a combination of multiple courtyards, and the buildings are all whitewashed. In the old days, many architectural complexes of large families were huge in scale, decorated with Huizhou three carvings, with delicate and staggered layouts. A piece of ancient architecture in southern Anhui set in the Huangshan Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain, Xin'an River in the vast expanse of famous mountains and beautiful water, heaven and earth, just like a world-class park without makeup.

The residential houses in southern Anhui are two-story buildings with a very small patio in the center, and the hall is located on the north side of the patio. There are no walls, doors or windows between the hall and the patio, which is an open space. On the north side of the hall, that is, at the back, there is a wooden wall, and on both sides of the wall, there are doors without doors. In front of the wall, furniture such as a long table and an eight-imperial table are placed. Hall east and west sides, respectively, placed several groups of backrest chairs and coffee table, people often place some utensils on it as decoration.

The site selection, layout and architectural form of the ancient residential villages in Southern Anhui are guided by the feng shui theory of Zhouyi, reflecting the traditional Chinese philosophical thinking of the unity of man and nature and the yearning for and respect for nature. Those elegant Ming and Qing residential complexes are closely integrated with nature, creating a scientific and interesting living and dwelling environment, which is the essence of traditional Chinese residential buildings. The unique water system of the village is a model of water conservancy project combining utility and aesthetics, which profoundly reflects the outstanding wisdom of human beings in utilizing and transforming nature. The layout of the work, the structure of the clever, the beauty of the decoration, the creation of the fine, the depth of cultural connotation", for the domestic ancient residential complex is rare.

[Edit Paragraph]Tujia Folk Dwelling

First, the ancient literature called the Tujia Folk Dwelling for the "dry bar"

"Chenzhou Fu Zhi o customs" cloud: "residents near the city of more than the structure of the building, on the living room, under the storage of goods, for trade. No palm trees curved room, also rare deep attempt to several heavy. Recently, the teeth flourish, dense residential, land value more than doubled ten years ago. Mountain family with a hut, alongside the cliff for the room, tied thatch covering the board, only sheltered from the wind and rain, set up a fire bed to replace the stove, daytime is cooking, the night is to the fire for warmth. Mountain deep cold, the beginning of winter that is".

The New Tang Dynasty Book: "Nanping Bureaucrat, east from Zhizhou, south of Yuzhou, west of Nanzhou, north of Fulingzhou, more than four thousand households. Much miasma, the mountain has poisonous grass, sand lice, vipers, people living in the building, ladder up, called dry bar".

"Wei Shu" cloud: "Bureaucratic, cover the southern barbarians of the other species, from Hanzhong up to Qiong Tiles between the caves, all have, there are many types, scattered in the valley, no national difference ......, according to the tree to live on the wood, the name 'dry bar', dry bar size, with the number of their families."

"The Old Tang Book" cloud: "the soil gas more miasma, the mountain has poisonous grass and sand crickets, vipers, people and building residence, the number is 'dry bar'.

"Yongshun County Records o Miscellaneous" cloud: "the original old magistrate Yamen Cherry columns carved beams, brick Li scales. Hundreds of people are forked wood frame house, woven bamboo for the wall. The house put the head of the permitted vertical beams and pillars, surrounded by board walls. All are not allowed to cover the tile. Violators of the crime of trespassing, commonly known as: only allowed to buy horses, not allowed to cover the tile.

"Tang Zhi O Miscellany" cloud: "Ancestor Hall, in the old Division City. Jin Tianfu built in two years, the main hall column four, wood number around. Upper shelf wood square, no axe marks, really God's work. Legend has it that Gong输子显灵所建。"

"Ancient Chinese Architecture" cloud: "in the warm and humid south, the house more to take the south or southeast to accept the cool summer sea breeze, or in the lower part of the house with an overhead dry railing type structure, circulation of air, reduce moisture. Building materials in addition to wood, brick, stone, but also the use of bamboo and reeds; walls Pu, more windows; architectural style light and sparse, ......".

Second, a few folklore literature called the Tujia residential "corner building"

"Chinese Tujia customs" cloud: "Tujia people's homes, most of the wooden houses, the structure of the custom to the main house, the side of the house, the wooden building, the door towards the four parts. The general family has only the main house, and the well-off family has the main house, the side house and the corner building. Wealthy people have a door to the house. The big family, repair the courtyard, build to the courtyard wall, four sides of the brick, commonly known as sealing the fire bucket, individual households also repair the sky building and sunbathing platform. The scale of the main house has three columns of four banners, three columns of five banners or five columns of eight banners to seven columns of twelve banners, mostly four rows of three, there are six rows of five, avoiding the repair of a single fan of the double room of the house. The main house in the middle of the hall, to sacrifice ancestors and welcome guests, on both sides for the earth. Behind the hall, there is an aisle room, commonly known as 'holding the pocket room'. The side room is called 'grinding corner', also called 'horse's butt', or brush house, connected to the left and right sides of the main house, as a stove or pestle and mortar room. The distinctive Tujia corner house is commonly called 'horse-riding corner house'. For people with many children, their daughters live in the corner building, so they are called 'embroidered flowers' or 'old maiden's building'. The corner building is built in front of the left or right front of the main house, and there are also main houses around the corner building. The corner building is generally three rows of two rooms, the upper and lower two floors, the upper for the people, the lower for the compartment, warehouse or pestle and mortar. Corner building next to the side of the main house, there is a suspended corridor, turn to the outside edge of the head, when the head of the two sides of the upper end, the wonderful corridor warped, quite a majestic".

Third, the Tujia folk said that the Tujia dwellings are "corner buildings"

Youshui Boat Singing Cloud: "Slate Street, five miles of road, sealed fire manholes turn corner buildings". Jia Shaoxing note corner building cloud: "corner building, the Tujia language called lie3pB1, is a unique form of construction in the Tujia folk residence. General Tujia people live in a house, the length of its even three, even five, even seven, even nine, the depth of its three columns of four riding, five columns of four riding, five columns of eight riding, and so on. A even three (four rows of three) of the wooden house, the center of the room called the hall, as ancestor worship, welcome guests, weddings and funerals and other major events; left and right two called housing, the front room for the fire store, for the gathering of fire to the fire of the deliberations of the use of the back room for the bedroom. If the foundation of the house is wide enough and the family is rich, the right side of the house is equipped with a side room, which is used to put the stove, firewood room, cattle pen and pigsty; and the left side is equipped with a compartment and a building. The left side was equipped with a room and a building. Under the building, the pestle and mill and the granary were arranged, while the upper part was used as the 'study' or the 'embroidery room' for the daughters. When the foundation of the house was facing the kan, the building would be hung with feet, but if there was no kan, the columns would be aligned with the main house, and only some false columns would be hung on the corridor of the second floor. Regardless of the hanging feet not hanging feet, in the outside of the building must be cocked corner, so called 'corner building'.

The Tujia mountain song cloud: "mountain song is difficult to start, the carpenter is difficult to start the corner of the building, the rock maker is difficult to play the rock lion, the blacksmith is difficult to roll the iron embroidered ball".

The Tujia proverb: "Your house Xiong (rich meaning), your house Xiong, nan 么没起转角楼（或冲天楼）"；"Sichuan there is a Emei Mountain, from the sky only three feet three. Shubi has a building in the sky, a corner of the sky to the head";

According to the author's survey, in the Tujia customs preserved the most ecological slope foot, indigo houses, he sand, Miaoer Beach, wash the car, Lungtou, Riye, Jia City, NeiXi, etc., Tujia characteristics of the Tujia people are called the "corner of the building".

Fourth, the Tujia people called the secret

Tujia people are based on the structural form of the house to refer to their own residence. Generally speaking, the Tujia folk dwellings have a single room and a combined room. The combined residence is formed by the combination of the single residence, and its designation is also different.

1, the Tujia monolithic residence title

Tujia residence according to the depth of three columns of two flags (commonly known as the sharp knife frame), three columns of four flags, three columns of five flags, three columns of six flags, three columns of seven flags, four columns of five flags, four columns of six flags, four columns of seven flags, four columns of eight flags, five columns of seven flags, five columns of eight flags, six columns of six flags, seven columns of twelve flags of difference, generally even three, four, five, and six, seven, nine, fifteen. The single-unit residential houses have tiles according to the material. Single dwelling according to the material has a tile house, rock house, thatched roof, mud house.

①, tile house: round wood for the column, square wood for the square, board for the wall, purlin, citron angle, mud tiles for the cover of the room.

②, rock house: a round wood for the column, square wood for square, surrounded by rock walls for the wall; two for the end of the rock wall for the wall of the apartment.

③, thatched roof: round wood for the column, purlin for the square frame, wood or bamboo for the rafters, covered with thatch or straw, surrounded by wood, thin bamboo for the wall of the apartment.

④, mud house: round wood for the column, purlin for the square frame, covered with thatch or straw, with fine wood, bamboo for the wall, in the wood (bamboo) wall sealed with green paste (or yellow earth) mud and into the living room.

On one of the Tujia monolithic residence material is not fixed rules, its title is only to the main material of the monolithic residence to refer to. In reality, the Tujia residential materials are varied.

2, the Tujia combined residence title

Tujia combined residence is a unique form of Tujia residence, is developed from the Tujia monolithic residence, contains the Tujia people's aesthetic concepts, craftsmanship values, folklore concepts, as well as the idea of using nature for my own use and struggle with nature. The designation of the Tujia ensemble dwellings is divided into corner house, four-water house, cellar house, and cupola, and its expression is divided into two-hex water, three-hex water, and four-hex water.

①, corner building. The corner of the performance of the building has two water, three water. To two water is more. For the two water, the main family in the main house on the left or right to build a corner building, generally two layers. For the three water, or left to repair the corner building, right to repair the room; or right to repair the corner building, left to repair the room. The compartments are generally three columns and four flags, a few three columns and three flags or three columns and five flags, with two rooms. After the compartment with grinding angle, commonly known as "dragon eye", "bias", "bias cedar". The first floor may be pigsty, cattle pen, or warehouse, pestle and mill. The second floor is for people to live in, or for guest rooms, or for women's boudoirs (also called embroidery rooms). The depth of the corner building is generally three columns and four flags or three columns and five flags, generally connected to two rooms, but also connected to three rooms, a few connected to four rooms. The second floor of the front side of the corridor, with handrails, the front side, the outer side with hanging hanging round wooden flagpole, column head (i.e., foot) for the elliptical melon wood carving, the Tujia people called fake column head. Handrail and carving columns from the outer square of about 1 meter, handrail and the front of the outer square, side of the outer square between the corridor in and out or landscape or leisure. Building outside the tiled surface of the eaves and corners, the Tujia people accordingly called the corner of the building. Corner building in the Tujia settlement area is more common, the middle family can be equipped with corner building. At that time, the Tujia corner building and Miao residence hanging foot building appearance form is similar, Miao people floor hanging foot called Miao residence for hanging foot building, Tujia people to floor tile surface corner of the Tujia residence for the corner of the building. In fact, the complete Tujia corner building from the form, structure than the Miao residence footstool exquisite, functional, more complete and diverse uses.

②, four water house. Four water house is another unique Tujia residential building, the form of performance for the four water. Four water house before and after the two main buildings, the left and right sides of the two main buildings will be connected to the compartment. In a sense, the Sishui House is actually a combination of four single buildings. Sishui house has two halls before and after, the front hall plays the role of aisle, after the hall in the middle of the patio, an area of about 2 square meters, a corner of the patio dug a gutter, when it rains, to the inner level of the rainfall convergence into the patio, and by the gutter discharged out of the house. The patio on the four corners of the eaves, by the four conjoined buildings on the inside of the roof aggregation, or quadrilateral, or hexagonal. The patio and eaves have the symbolic meaning of gathering wealth and treasures, and returning nine to one. The rear hall house is generally 4 to 7 steps above the front hall house, and the front house is generally higher than the other three houses. The scale of the four water houses is larger than the corner building, generally living in several households or a dozen or even dozens of families, depending on the number of family members. Sishui house is the residence of the rich Tujia family. At present, the existing four water house in our county is not much.

③, cellar house. Cellar house is the Tujia people to prevent theft, wind (cold) will be used to live in the stone, brick wall and the formation of the courtyard residential form, but it is purely two yards with the Han family courtyard. It is characterized by the courtyard wall and the door. The courtyard building or a single residence, or for the corner building, or for the four water house, or even other unique architectural forms, is the Tujia luxury family living place.

④, Cupola. Chongtian building is the Tujia residential collection of the master, not only contains all the Tujia single residential building forms, but also contains the corner building, four water house, such as Tujia combined residential building forms. Located in Shubi Village, Miaoer Beach Township, the Tujia Punchbowl is the only surviving Punchbowl architectural paradigm. The Shubi Oktian Building covers an area of 5 acres. The house foundation is low in front and high in the back, and the house body is high in front and low in the back, with two halls in front and back, and two subdivisions on the left and right. The left and right sides and the rear are equipped with a number of compartments, grinding angle (longan), drag step. The face of seven columns and six rooms, right and left after the roof of the hall above the two-story cupola, about 10 meters high, flying eaves and corners. The rainwater on the cupola and the rainwater from the main room to the inner roof is discharged to the tile surface of the left and right side rooms through the groove. Cupola air drainage system using the gossip structure, making the hundreds of square meters of the building all year round watertight, drainage system of the wonderful work of God makes people think of endless. Shubi Chongtian Building has been passed down for fourteen generations, nearly a thousand years of history. It includes all the architectural forms of Tujia houses and the construction method, which is a great collection of Tujia house forms and carpentry skills, and a classic model of Tujia house historical forms. Nowadays, this millennium building is still dozens of Wang surname Tujia people recuperation residence, always happen Tujia folk story, is a living and interpretation of Tujia folk specimen. For this reason, on August 10, 2000 Shubi Tujia Punchbowl was announced by the People's Government of Longshan County as a county-level cultural relics protection units.

Etymology:

1. Where the people live. Rituals - the king's system ":" Where the residents, the measurement of land to the system Eup, the degree of land to the residents. The land and the people's residence, must also be referred to each other." Guanzi Xiaokuang: "If the people's residence is fixed, the matter has been finalized." East Zhou Lieguo Zhi" eleventh: "Today, the eastern suburbs were broken by the Song soldiers, the people's homes have not been restored."

2.folk home, folk house. Northern Wei Li Daoyuan "Water Classic Note - Surabaya": "around the people's homes, knowledge of its leakage, pre-wood for the curved undercurrent, about the barrier cave mouth, the fish and turtles storm scales can not be loaded carry on." The New Tang Dynasty Book - Five Lineages: "In June of the second year of Kaicheng, Xuzhou was on fire, and more than 300 homes were burned." Ming History - Five lines of Zhi 1: "Panyu, Nanhai wind and thunder, flying hail, bad residential ten thousand."