The Relationship between Chinese Folk Houses and Geographical Environment, Local Customs

In the rich and beautiful Nengjiang River in northeastern China on both sides of the river, living in an agriculture-based both animal husbandry and fishing and hunting industry of the ethnic groups - the Daur people. Daur people have always been known for their bravery and warlike behavior, and have been good at riding and archery, wrestling and playing field hockey since ancient times. Field hockey, Daur language called "Beiqiao", is the Daur people's long history of traditional sports.

Houses are like people. Most of the Daur villages are located near the mountains and the water, and the scenery is very beautiful. The houses and courtyards are very neatly constructed. A block of tall "meso" shaped straw house, giving a generous and rugged impression. Every house is surrounded by a fence made of red wicker with various patterns. The layout of the courtyard is strict, and the horse stalls and cattle sheds are usually built far away from the courtyard to keep them clean.

The traditional housing of the Daur ethnic group is mostly pine or birch beams for the frame, adobe or adobe district for the wall, inside and outside the smear a few yellow mud, thatched roof grass, two, three, five rooms vary. The two-room house has a bedroom in the west room and a kitchen in the east room; the three-room or five-room house has a kitchen in the center and living rooms on both sides. The house is generally north-south, focusing on lighting, more windows is a major feature of the Daur houses. There are three large kangs connected to the south, north and west sides or the south, east and north sides of the living room, commonly known as "banshi kang". The trailing kang has good warmth and is an indispensable heating facility for the Daur people in winter.

The Daur people's living room is the west house. In the west house, the south kang is the most important one, and it is mostly inhabited by the elders, while the sons, daughters-in-law and their children live in the north kang or the east house, and the west kang is exclusively used for the guests to get up and live in. Most of the kangs are covered with reed mats or felt.

Nowadays, with the development of the economy and the improvement of living conditions, the number of brick houses is increasing, but the use of the kang and other living customs are still very popular among the Daur people.

The form of traditional houses

China's traditional architectural heritage is very rich, not only the majestic palaces, altars and temples, mausoleums, temples and other official buildings, but also homes, ancestral halls, halls of worship, the academy and other folk buildings. Residence is the most basic, the most abundant, and closely related to the people's life of a building type. In order to distinguish it from the new houses nowadays, we call it traditional folk house or folk house architecture. Folk residence form includes social form and residential form. Social form refers to the characteristics formed by social factors such as history, culture, beliefs, customs and concepts. Residential form refers to the characteristics formed by the layout, structure and internal and external architectural images of the houses. The characteristics of traditional houses are mainly manifested in 3 aspects in architecture:

1) Plan layout and environmental characteristics. It is the embodiment of social system, family organization, customs and beliefs, and production and life style in the dwellings.

2)Structural and appearance features. It reflects the influence of climate, geography and materials, construction techniques and so on on the building.

3)Decorative decoration and detail features . It is the expression of culture, custom and aesthetic sense in the interior and exterior art of residential buildings.