Naxi folk houses
Naxi folk houses are generally two-story wooden structures about 7.5 meters high. There are also a few three-story buildings with bucket-type structures and bases. It has broken walls, a tiled roof, and a verandah (i.e., "Duzi"). According to the different structure forms and verandahs, it can be divided into seven categories: bungalow, Minglou, Yubulou, Qidulou, Manlou, Menlou, and Yumianlou.
Building structure?
Patio
Most Naxi folk houses are civil structures with three squares and one screen wall. The more common forms are as follows: three squares and one screen wall, There are several forms such as four-in-five patios, front and back yards, one entrance and two courtyards. Among them, three squares and one screen wall are the most basic and common form of Naxi folk houses in Lijiang.
Structurally speaking, the first square of the main house is generally higher, facing south and facing the contrasting wall. It is mainly for the elderly to live; the east and west compartments are slightly lower and are occupied by the younger generation; the patio is for daily life, mostly paved with bricks and stones, and often beautified with flowers and plants. If there are houses facing the street, residents use them as pavements. The Sanfang Yizhaobi dwellings in rural areas are slightly different in function from those in towns. Generally speaking, each of the three houses has two floors. The east-facing main house and the south-facing side house are used for people living downstairs and the upstairs is used as a warehouse. The north-facing house is used for livestock stables downstairs and fodder is stored upstairs. In addition to being used for daily life, the patio is also used for production (such as drying millet or processing grain). Therefore, the patio in rural areas is slightly larger and has a smooth floor, so it does not need to be paved with bricks and stones.
Eaves
The deep and long "eaves" at the upper end have a certain curvature of the "face slope", which avoids being heavy and rigid and shows a soft and graceful curve. The walls are appropriately tilted inward, which enhances the stability of the entire building. The surrounding walls are not built to the top, and "leaky windows" are installed above the floor window sills. In order to protect the wooden boards from rain, most of the eaves are extended outwards, and skirts are placed on both ends of the beams that expose the gables. This is known locally as "wind and fire wall". In order to increase the beauty of the house, some also add railings to form a corridor. Finally, in order to weaken the monotonous atmosphere of the sudden transition of the "hanging eaves board" and the exposed gable column boards, the "fishing" board technique was cleverly used, which not only protects the beams, but also enhances the artistic effect of the entire building. Through the layout of the main and auxiliary houses, screen walls, walls, wall eaves and "fish" decorations, the entire building has different heights and echoes vertically and horizontally, forming a balanced, symmetrical and varied exterior scene, which shows Naxi's superb skills. level of construction.
Verandah
In addition, one of the most striking features of Naxi folk houses is that, regardless of urban or rural areas, every house has a large mansion (i.e. veranda) in front of it. Xiazi is one of the most important components of the Naxi folk residence in Lijiang, which is inseparable from Lijiang's pleasant climate. Therefore, the Naxi people moved some of the functions of the rooms, such as eating and receiving guests, into the building. This is reflected in the following: distinctive features of the residences, construction adapted to local conditions, simple and vivid shapes, and exquisite and elegant decoration. In addition, the Naxi people have always focused on seismic performance in the architectural design of their houses, and have summarized some effective seismic structural measures. This can be seen from the 1996 "February 3" earthquake, where a large number of residential walls collapsed in the ancient city, but the main frames remained intact.
Since the reform and opening up, with the continuous development of the Naxi community, although the Naxi people still maintain the traditional style in terms of the overall framework, architectural design and style when building their houses, they have gradually adopted the traditional style in the internal decoration of the houses. Modern decoration means and decoration materials. In these houses, you can feel the organic and harmonious combination of ancient and modern. ?
Houses
Houses are generally three squares and one screen wall or a courtyard, divided into main room, sutra hall or wing room, dormitory building, some people call it flower building, gate building, also called thatched building. . The main room is used for family group activities, and is a place for discussion, cooking and worship. The wing room is also called the building of the sutra hall. The upper floor is for lamas or for Buddha statues, and the downstairs is for single men or for guests. The dormitory building or flower building is mainly for women. There is grass on the gate tower, and there are stables on both sides of the gate downstairs. The doors of Mosuo houses generally open to the east or north. The well courtyard is larger, and weddings and weddings are held in the well courtyard. The structure of the main house is complex. There is a wall at the back of the house to store food and serve as a living room for the elderly. The right side of the main house is the housewife's living room. In the main house, there is a stove in one corner, and a shrine in the corner of the stove, with statues, offerings and vases placed on it. There is a fire pit under the high stove. The right side of the fire pit is the host seat and the left side is the guest seat. There should be no confusion. There are two large pillars in the room, divided into left and right pillars. The left pillar is the male pillar and the right pillar is the female pillar.
When the Mosuo people cut down these two pillars, they must use a tree. The top section is the left pillar and the bottom section is the right pillar. When the coming-of-age ceremony is held, men hold it next to the left pillar and women hold it next to the right pillar. It can be seen from the above introduction that the Mosuo people's house building structure is adapted to their religious beliefs, marriage patterns and family organization, and has a unique national style. However, in recent years, in order to adapt to the continuous development of tourism, the Mosuo people, in addition to maintaining the above characteristics in house construction, have adopted modern decoration methods and materials in house structure and interior decoration. In addition, the use of some rooms Functionality and construction also changed.