Dong ethnic people's residential architecture of the Dong ethnic people's residential architecture of the Dong ethnic people's residential architecture of the Dong ethnic people's residential housing

The residential houses of the Dong people can be roughly divided into three major categories or two major categories. The three major categories are: the mountainous areas, the valley flatlands, along the riverside or steep slopes and steep cans. The two categories are: the southern part of the Dong ethnic minority area residential, the northern part of the Dong ethnic minority area residential.

The Dong people in the mountainous areas mostly live in "dry bar" buildings, downstairs to place the pestle and mortar, stacking firewood, debris, raising livestock; upstairs to live. The front half of the porch, bright and spacious, with plenty of light, is a place for the whole family to rest or engage in manual labor; the back half of the room, which has a fire pit, which is the place where the "ancestors" sit, but also the place where the whole family heats up and cooks. On both sides of the fire pit or on the third floor are the bedrooms. Generally speaking, the Dong ethnic minority houses are built in a single house, but there are also some houses of the same family that are connected together, with the corridors and eaves connected to each other, so that they can communicate with each other. In normal times, the women of this house clan spin and weave here; during festive seasons,

the whole house clan gathers here to entertain guests.

The Dong people in the Pingba area mostly live in two-story houses, with people living downstairs and storing food or sundries upstairs. There is a shrine in the hall and bedrooms on both sides. Kitchens, pig and cow pens, etc., are located in the back of the house. Some of the rich and powerful families also live in high buildings and deep courtyards.

Living along the river or steep slopes and steep cans of the Dong walled villages, according to its topography and built to the railings of the hanging wooden buildings, some of the eaves and columns as high as a few feet to ten feet high, the house furnishings and the pingba residence is similar.

The villages in the northern Dong ethnic area are mostly located on the mountains and along the water, open to the sun. Small villages of twenty to thirty households, large villages with hundreds of households, single family rarely. The villages are surrounded by ancient trees called "feng shui trees". There are also cultivated bamboo or peach and plum fruit trees. Whenever the season of spring blossoms, the wheat seedlings in the field are green, and the peach and willow are green beside the villages. The villages are connected by a pebble-lined flower street.

The Dong ethnic group to build a house, generally have to ask the experienced old man to check the foundation of the house, to the terrain is gentle, surrounded by mountains, sitting in the north to the south, ventilated to the sun is the most ideal location. There are very few east-west oriented houses. Traditional building materials include cedar, pine, bamboo, thatch or earthen bricks, tiles and lime. Only in the last few years have new materials such as steel, cement, paint, tiles and glass been used to build homes in some areas.

The dwellings in the northern Dong areas are generally divided into main houses, compartments, front halls and side mansions. The main house is the main part of the house, which usually faces south, and there are three-pillar houses, five-pillar houses, seven-pillar houses, eight-pillar houses and so on. On both sides of the main house are side houses and compartments, forming a "concave" shape for the whole house. Some rich people also have a front hall, so that the overall structure to form the form of courtyard, but not many.