Cave-dwelling Building Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Yaodong (cave dwellings) are a form of vernacular dwelling unique to the Loess Plateau and a physical survival of the development and evolution of humanity's early cave-dwelling; they are widely distributed in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, and other regions. In Pinglu County, Shanxi Province, yaodong are called diyin (sunken) courtyards, also known as dikeng courtyards, tianjing yaodong courtyards, or sunken-style yaodong courtyards; according to their different uses they can be divided into dwelling caves, storage caves, livestock caves, toilet caves, and gate-tunnel caves. The construction technique has a history of more than 4,000 years. According to the Qingyang Local Gazetteer, in the late 1940s the whole district had 86,491 yaodong with a floor area of 2.46 million square meters, accounting for 88 percent of the total floor area of rural dwellings; in the late 1960s, the whole district again had 86,491 yaodong, with a floor area of 5,041,120 square meters, accounting for 47 percent of the total floor area of dwellings in the district. After the 1990s, people's lives improved enormously and they built tile-roofed houses; coupled with the influence of the modern way of life and the accelerating urbanization of the countryside, the old yaodong were abandoned in large numbers and collapsed for lack of occupants.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Yaodong stretches generally run one to two hundred meters in length; the loess is extremely resistant to seepage and has strong vertical stability, providing good natural conditions for yaodong. At the same time, natural and geographical conditions such as dry weather with little rainfall, cold winters, and few trees have also provided an opportunity for the development and continuation of the economical, practical yaodong construction technique, which requires no timber. Under the influence of different natural environments, landform features, and local conditions, yaodong have developed a great variety of forms. There are many types of yaodong; classified by the layout and structural form of the building, the main ones are open-courtyard (mingzhuang) caves, earth-pit (tukeng) caves, freestanding yaodong, cliff-side (kaoya-style) yaodong, and sunken yaodong. The construction techniques for yaodong are rich and varied. Flat-roofed yaodong, for example, are built on level ground by laying adobe or brick and stone. Cliff-side (kaoya-style) yaodong are made by cutting into the vertical face after one side of a hillside has been shaved flat. Courtyard-well (tianjing) style yaodong are more elaborate: generally a pit about seven meters deep, square on all four sides, is first dug on level ground, and caves are then cut into the lower parts of the pit's four walls, forming a square courtyard dwelling of the courtyard-well type. "You see the trees but not the village; you see the village but not the houses; the yaodong are born of the earth; the courtyards are hidden underground." This folk rhyme vividly depicts the construction characteristics of the sunken courtyard. In Xifeng District, Qingyang City, Gansu Province, human activity existed as early as the Paleolithic era, with yaodong serving as the basic place of dwelling. During the Xia and Shang dynasties, the early inhabitants dug yaodong here, built villages, and tilled the land, pioneering the agrarian civilization of China. With historical development and continuous population growth, yaodong became ever more numerous. Some villages even tore down yaodong and filled in the pits to create farmland. Under these circumstances, the yaodong construction technique may become utterly extinct along with the disappearance of the yaodong themselves.
Cutting soil and trimming the face
Soil is taken and the face trimmed before digging; the condition of the earth decides the rate of progress and the evenness of the chambers.
Digging the chamber
Digging proceeds downward while the excavated soil is laid aside on the ledge for reuse as fill and rammed earth.
Xuan qiang (hollowing and finishing the chamber)
The rough chamber is smoothed and the vault fitted to the face with smooth, gap-free walls.
Gu qiang (lining the chamber)
Lining the chamber in stone or adobe stabilises the roof; he later explored red-brick facing and brick linings.
Zha jian (shouldering the wall)
The sloped shoulder where the face meets the opening must be rammed smooth, or rainwater finds its way in.
Building kang, stove and flue
Kang, stove and flue are hollowed out in the chamber and connected so one fire heats several rooms; triangular flue mouths set in the rear wall draw well.
Four disciples
He took on four disciples from 1995 and is strongest at assessing soil and form for different chamber types.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The yaodong of Qingyang excel by virtue of their dense slopes and thick strata: locals settle on sun-facing slopes, opening caves as they go, and villages spread out along the ridges and hillocks. The forms of yaodong also differ with the terrain - open-courtyard caves, earth-pit caves, freestanding yaodong, cliff-side yaodong, and sunken yaodong each suit different conditions. The Xifeng District area saw human activity as early as the Paleolithic era, and during the Xia and Shang dynasties early inhabitants were already digging caves and building villages here, making it one of the earliest footholds of the local cave-dwelling tradition. Transmission follows the method of passing the craft from master to apprentice: Li Maozheng was born in May 1950 in Qingyang City; in 1969 he learned to dig and cut yaodong from his older male cousins Li Maogang and Li Manai; in 1971 he went to places such as Chunhua County in Shaanxi Province and Huachi County to build caves, mastering two lines of skill - stone-built and adobe-hooped cave construction; from 1995 he successively took on four apprentices: Li Zhenguo, Jiang Yafeng, Li Junhai, and Li Xingyong. After 2010, as he advanced in years, he shifted mainly to surveying soil quality, designing forms, and guiding his apprentices, and has explored techniques of facing cliff walls with red brick and building brick-hooped caves.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Cave-dwelling Building Craftsmanship · Cave-dwelling Building Craftsmanship · Cave-dwelling Building Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Yaodong architecture is handsome and durable, warm in winter and cool in summer, comfortable and quiet; it saves land and protects vegetation, and is economical and labor-saving - a perfect architectural form adapted to local conditions. In the study of architectural history, social life history, and related folk culture in northwest China during the agrarian era, the yaodong construction technique has irreplaceable reference value. Selecting sites for the protection of existing yaodong and carrying out rescue protection of the yaodong construction technique have become urgent tasks. Li Maozheng (from the official archives of the associated inheritor): Male, of the Han ethnicity, born in May 1950, from Qingyang City, Gansu Province. Representative inheritor of the yaodong construction technique, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item in the fifth national-level batch. Yaodong construction technician. In 1969 he began learning to dig and cut yaodong under his older male cousins Li Maogang and Li Manai. In 1971 he went to places such as Chunhua County in Shaanxi Province and Huachi County to build caves, mastering the techniques of stone and adobe hooped-cave construction. Since 1995 he has successively taken on four apprentices: Li Zhenguo, Jiang Yafeng, Li Junhai, and Li Xingyong. Over several years he has led apprentices in digging caves, boring caves, and building hooped caves; he is highly skilled in yaodong construction, understands surveying techniques for different types of yaodong, and excels at the routine construction steps of earth extraction, face cutting, cave digging, cave boring (xuanyao), hoop building, and shoulder forming (zhajian), as well as interior works such as building kang (heated brick) beds, stove platforms, and chimneys. After 2010, owing to his advanced age, he has focused on surveying soil quality, designing forms, and guiding his apprentices in normal times, and has explored techniques of facing cliff walls with red brick and building brick-hooped caves.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhang Hecheng 05-2873
- Wang Sihu 05-2874
- Li Maozheng 05-2875
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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