Cultural characteristics of Qinghai traditional architecture

Qinghai meets several major ethnic autonomous regions, and at the same time exchanges and blends with its own local ethnic culture. These factors form the diversity of Qinghai culture. One of the manifestations of this multi-ethnicity is in housing. In terms of architectural style, all ethnic groups absorb other advantages and integrate into their own characteristics, and finally form Qinghai characteristic buildings.

Qinghai is a multi-ethnic region, including Han, Tibetan, Tu, Hui, Salar, Mongolian and Kazak. The traditional culture and art of Han, Tibetan and Hui have the deepest influence on her culture, art and architectural features, and they learn from each other, absorb and integrate with each other to create culture and art with local characteristics. An important part of these cultural and artistic achievements is embodied in architecture.

Living in an "accounting room" in a pastoral area

Four-fifths of Qinghai's land is a vast pasture with green grass, which has been dominated by grazing since ancient times. In order to adapt to the lifestyle of living on weeds, herders adopted a living form "tent" which is easy to move, can shelter from the wind and rain, and has certain warm-keeping performance.

Tent is an ancient way of life for Tibetan herders. The plane of the counting house is mostly square, supported by wooden sticks and covered with carpets made of yak hair. The middle opening is used for lighting and ventilation, and the four corners and waist are fixed to the ground with cow hair ropes. The most important part of the tent is the stove, which is located in the back part of the tent. The custom of Tibetan people is to worship Buddha statues directly behind the stove. The tent is simply furnished, and the ground is covered with sheepskin or felt for sitting and lying.

The "Diaofang" and "Diaoyuan" of Folk Houses in Southern Qing Dynasty

In some areas of Yushu, Guoluo and Huangnan Prefecture in southern Qinghai, Tibetan residential buildings are mostly stone two-story or local three-story buildings, which are mostly built on hillsides with sunny lee and can resist invasion. It is made of stone and wood, and the outer wall is made of stone or sheet. Its shape is solid, steady and rough, and it looks like a watchtower, which is generally called "watchtower". The cowshed, sheepfold and utility room are arranged on the ground floor of the bunker, and people live upstairs. On the roof, it can be used as a place for threshing, drying firewood and outdoor activities.

Bunkers can be divided into bunker-style bunkers, bunker tower bunkers, independent bunkers and courtyard bunkers according to their forms. Bunker-style bunkers are generally two or three floors, and some have four floors. The surrounding walls are closed, and some upper floors are recessed, which is conducive to lighting and outdoor activities. This is the main form of local hiding.

"Zhuangke" of Rural Dwellings

Zhuangke is the basic form of rural farmers' residence in Qinghai. It takes one household and one bungalow as the basic unit, and the plane is square or rectangular. Walls made of loess walls or adobe surround all the houses and courtyards inside. There is no other opening in the Zhuang wall except the only gate. All kinds of rooms are arranged on two sides, three sides or four sides of the Zhuang wall. Generally, there are three rooms, one hall and two rooms in the middle, and the darkrooms in the four corners are mostly kitchens, warehouses, barns, utility rooms and toilets.

Most of the "Zhuangke" are bungalows, which have the characteristics of ordinary houses in China. It is rarely a flat-topped building. The flat roof is covered with grass and mud, and the slope of the roof is gentle, so it is not easy to be washed away by rain. Sunny days can be used to dry things on the roof, and it is also a place for outdoor activities. However, due to the limitation of natural conditions, the earth wall gives people a rough and closed feeling, and its appearance is simple and simple.

Tibetan Buddhist temple architecture

Tibetans, Tibetans and Mongolians in Qinghai believe in Tibetan Buddhism. Temples are all over the country, with a long history and long preservation time. They are the most extensive and important part of local architecture in Qinghai, and are famous for their unique style and the integration of Tibetan and Chinese architectural arts. In the development of Tibetan architecture, we not only pay attention to absorbing the architectural art and style of Han nationality and other nationalities, but also maintain our own tradition of architectural characteristics and style.

Islamic architecture

Northwest China is the main area where Islam spreads. There are many Islamic buildings-mosques in areas where Hui and Salar people live in concentrated communities in Qinghai, such as Xining, Hualong, Minhe, Datong, Menyuan and Xunhua. Almost every village where believers live has built mosques of different sizes and styles.