There are many kinds of caves in Qingyang, which can be divided into more than ten kinds, but according to the main categories, there are three kinds, namely, Zhuang Ming kiln, earth pit kiln and hoop kiln. Zhuang kiln, also known as Yazhuang kiln, is usually located on the side of mountain and ditch. Make use of the cliff potential, first level the cliff surface, and then build a village to dig a kiln. "Fu Tao" in "Fu Tao Cave" refers to Zhuang Ming Kiln, which has three kilns, five kilns and more. There is a 1,000-year-old cave in Waxie Township, Ningxian County, covering an area of 200 square meters, with five windows, which can accommodate hundreds of people. On the plains of Dong Zhiyuan and Cao Shengyuan, there are also people who use hutongs to build villages. Because the cliff is not high, they have to dig a few meters and then dig a kiln, which often forms three sides high and one side low. This kind of Zhuangzi is called half bright and half dark village.
Pit kiln: This kind of kiln is built on a large depression in the plain. First, dig a rectangular pit on the flat ground, which is usually five to eight meters deep, and the four sides of the pit are cut into cliff faces. Then, dig caves around the cliff, while building a long slope diameter or inclined hole, which goes straight to the original surface as a sidewalk. The "Tao Cave" in Fu Tao Tao Cave is such a pit village. This cave is actually a basement, and the characteristics of "warm in winter and cool in summer" are more obvious.
Ring kiln: Generally, the ring kiln is built with soil embryo and wheat straw yellow mud, and the top of the kiln is arched. The top of the kiln is filled with double slopes, polished with wheat straw mud, and pressed with short rafters before and after. Rich people also cover the ceiling with blue tiles, which looks like a studio from a distance and a kiln from a distance. A cave with a rectangular or square stone hoop is called a stone hoop kiln.
Cave culture
Qingyang is located on the Loess Plateau in the east of Gansu Province, with a mild climate. It was called North in ancient times and Longdong today. It has a long history, "the prosperity of Zhou Dao began today." This is the birthplace of farming culture in China, and farming culture and folk culture are even more colorful. Qingyang, with a long history, has a rich cultural background after a long period of accumulation. To understand the development of caves, it is necessary to trace back to the ancient farming period. After thousands of years' baptism, the cave dwelling is like a mother, witnessing the changes of dynasties, watching the growth of her land and the development of farming culture, with profound traces of farming culture, and the development of farming culture has also driven her development. As early as 200,000 years ago, human beings had lived and multiplied in Qingyang. Zhou people attached great importance to agriculture. Geography of Hanshu said: "His people have the legacy of their ancestors, and they are good at farming and have adequate food and clothing." . Xia Dynasty lost power and influence in Taikang, only his stepfather Hou Ji. The political chaos in Taikang destroyed agricultural production, so he led his people to Qingyang and settled here. Instead of using his own skills in growing crops, he taught people to harvest crops at sunrise and rest at sunset. The Book of Songs in July depicts the scene of farming at that time. After three generations, from/kloc-0 to Jutao and Gongliu, Zhou developed agricultural production and created Zhou's splendid culture. In Tongzhi, Gansu, Qingyang people's virtue is that "the grain is abundant, the legacy of their ancestors", and "Fu Tao's way of thinking and living" is their virtue, which provides a guarantee for themselves. The caves inhabited by primitive people are all natural, dark and humid without sunshine, and are often endangered by wild animals, which is very unfavorable to human survival, life is not guaranteed, and is not conducive to development. When Jutao was in power, he was responsible for digging caves. The so-called pottery caves are two kinds of caves dug by Zhou people according to different geographical conditions. Ancient kilns, like pottery, had caves, and people began to dig caves.