Internal structure of Tujia diaojiao building

Diaojiaolou is a typical dry fence building. Built on a steep hillside. During construction, the two-stage roof foundation is excavated along the slope, with the upper column shorter and the lower column higher. In this way, after the house is completed, the floor of the first half can be on a horizontal line with the floor of the second half. The column standing directly on the lower foundation from top to bottom constitutes the hanging foot column supporting the first half of the house, hence the name "hanging foot building". Diaojiaolou generally has three floors, and the lower floor is mostly used for raising livestock and poultry, stacking firewood and farm tools. The second floor is the main place for the whole family to eat and live, with a corridor outside and a long curved bar chair in the middle. The third floor can be used as a bedroom and can also store sundries. Diaojiaolou is mainly made of Chinese fir. According to the traditional standard, a three-story three-bay diaojiao building needs 24 columns, 40 to 50 sleepers, 39 purlins, 28 rafters, 135 rafters, 600 rafters, 600 boards and 15000 tiles. Surprisingly, a huge building is built with tenons and tenons except for a few nails for fixing rafters, which reflects the superb construction technology of Miao people.