Dong Timber Architectural Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Dong timber-frame architecture retains to this day certain features of ancient stilt-house (ganlan) construction, and the Dong countryside has also preserved a large number of buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Tongdao Dong Autonomous County is located at the southwestern tip of Huaihua City, Hunan Province, in the border region adjoining Guizhou and Guangxi, and has long been known as "the farthest reach of southern Chu, the throat between the Hundred Yue." The climate here is pleasant, with boundless forest seas stretching over a land of vast extent and sparse population; timber is produced in abundance, chiefly fir and pine, and provides fine raw material for timber-frame construction. Dong timber-frame architecture is represented by the drum towers and flower bridges. Its construction craft employs core techniques such as the densely set cantilever-bracket simply supported beam system. Not a single nail or rivet is used in construction: mortises are chiseled and holes bored, beams threaded through and arches joined, columns set and purlins linked, all connected by mortise-and-tenon joints, so that the structure is firm and the joints tight. The construction work proceeds without design drawings; the ink master (moshi) relies solely on the "incense rod" (xianggan, or measuring rod) to record the dimensions of every part. The construction process includes laying out the ink lines, machining the frame components, trimming and assembly, and artistic decoration. Among these, the Dong laying out of the ink lines (famo) is distinctive, comprising water-step calculation, snapping lines and marking with ink, narrowing and raising the roof gables, and the fitting and interlocking of the inscribed markers. In several thousand years of practice, the Dong timber-frame construction craft has been continually summarized and developed, so that the column-and-tie and post-and-beam structures have become more complete and substantial, the mortise-and-tenon joints tighter and firmer, and the design and layout more refined and rational. The craft compendium summarized as "raising purlins and setting struts, threading joints through tenons, closing them tight without a gap, carving beams and painting brackets" organically fuses folk architecture, painting, and sculpture into a single whole. Highly skilled folk craftsmen rely on the unique "ink-master script" (moshwen) to annotate their designs; with nothing more than ordinary carpentry tools and timber, they can produce towers, bridges, and other buildings of every description, handsome in form and varied in style. The carved beams and painted brackets, and the various patterns painted upon them, embody the Dong people's fine wishes for favorable weather and abundant harvests as well as their aesthetic aspirations, and collectively express the cultural character of the Dong people. Most Dong men in Tongdao Dong Autonomous County have mastered some degree of the Dong timber-frame construction craft. Under the lead and help of the ink masters, nearly every large village cluster (tuanzhai) has a team capable of building all kinds of timber-frame structures.
The cantilever bracket system
The dense cantilever bracket and simply supported beam system lets the eaves reach further outward as the storeys rise, producing the overhanging stilt-house form.
No nail and no rivet
No nails and no rivets anywhere: mortises, tenons and wooden pegs lock the frame, so the tower can be taken down and rebuilt unchanged.
Fir, pine, tower and bridge
A wooded, thinly peopled land rich in fir and pine, the village places its drum tower at the centre and its bridge across the stream.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Tongdao Dong Autonomous County is located at the southwestern tip of Huaihua City, Hunan Province, in the border region adjoining Guizhou and Guangxi, and has long been known as "the farthest reach of southern Chu, the throat between the Hundred Yue"; the climate here is pleasant, with boundless forest seas stretching over a land of vast extent and sparse population; timber is produced in abundance, chiefly fir and pine, and provides fine raw material for timber-frame construction. Dong timber-frame architecture is represented by the drum towers and flower bridges, and its construction craft employs core techniques such as the densely set cantilever-bracket simply supported beam system. The Tongdao Dong Autonomous County Cultural Heritage Protection Center serves as the project's protecting unit.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Dong Timber Architectural Craftsmanship · Dong Timber Architectural Craftsmanship · Dong Timber Architectural Craftsmanship · Dong Timber Architectural Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Dong timber-frame construction craft is a traditional building technique and form of cultural expression passed down from generation to generation by the Dong people, distributed mainly in the border region of Hunan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hubei. Since ancient times, the craft has been transmitted by family inheritance and master-apprentice succession, forming systems along the lines of descent; every village has two or more branches of transmission, each forming a learning group led by an ink master. Its distinctive artistic character is fully integrated with the plain and honest folkways of the Dong countryside; it is one of the important cultural symbols that display Dong culture, and possesses considerable historical, cultural, scientific, and artistic value.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yangshiyu 01-0149
- Yang Qiushi 05-2743
- Yang Guangjin 05-2744
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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