Cave-dwelling Building Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The prototype of cave dwellings first appeared about 4,500 years ago. The formal sequence of northern Shaanxi cave dwellings can be roughly reconstructed: the earliest are prototypes dating back about 4,500 years; by the Zhou dynasty semi-subterranean dwellings had already appeared; after the Qin and Han dynasties they developed into fully subterranean forms—what is known today as earth caves (tu yao). The most splendid period in the architectural history of these dwellings fell in the late Ming and early Qing. Most of the cave dwellings commonly seen today around the Baota District were fixed in this heyday, and their basic methods of construction have continued to the present; although they have been repaired many times, the main structure can still be recognized. From the prototype to the semi-subterranean and then to the fully subterranean form, one thread is that the living space kept migrating underground, and another is that the scope of excavation kept expanding, until entire hillsides were hollowed out to become living surfaces.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Northern Shaanxi is a cradle of Chinese civilization, where the mountains are lofty and the gullies deep, with countless ravines crisscrossing the land. The deep loess and abundant sand-stone provided uniquely favorable natural conditions for building cave dwellings. Here the plateau and ravines are majestic yet desolate and barren; in the fierce struggle with nature, the bold and rugged people of northern Shaanxi were forged, and so too was the highly distinctive loess architecture—the northern Shaanxi cave dwelling. Because cave dwellings are warm in winter and cool in summer, save energy and land, and are easy to build, they were embraced by the broad masses of northern Shaanxi and remain the principal dwelling of local residents to this day, earning the name "living cultural relic" of raw-earth architecture. The building techniques of original ecological culture are inextricably bound up with the loess cave dwellings. Thus the cave dwelling is not merely a simple "living" spatial environment, but the very source of northern Shaanxi culture and art; the endlessly renewing people of northern Shaanxi created a distinctive cave-building craft. The building conditions for cave dwellings are almost fully met in northern Shaanxi: the terrain of deep mountains and gullies provides continuous cliff faces; the thick loess layer and the sand-stone available on site remove the need to haul materials from afar; and the climate—cold winters, hot summers, dry and rain-scarce—precisely calls for thick walls and small openings. What dwellers value most is in fact three things: fuel-saving, warmth in winter and coolness in summer, and no need to erect large timber frameworks during construction. With these three merits, in years of scarce materials and labor it was the preferred choice, and the cave's ancillary facilities came into being accordingly: the kang (heated bed) and the chimney had to be excavated and shaped right inside the cave, sharing the same layer of earth with the main cave.
From semi-subterranean to fully subterranean
Zhou dwellings were half underground; by the Qin and Han they were wholly subterranean, the forerunner of the loess cave.
The peak of building in late Ming and early Qing
The finest period came in the late Ming and early Qing, and the forms built then remained in use.
Cutting chambers into the slope
Chambers are cut into a trimmed vertical face rather than built on flat ground, using the soil above as the roof.
Keeping warmth and moisture steady
Thick earth stores heat slowly and blocks drafts, giving warmth in winter and coolness in summer without any fuel.
Storing and keeping things fresh
Stable temperature and humidity let grain, seed and fruit be stored through winter in the same cliff as the dwelling.
Settlement along gullies and terraces
Caves line gullies and slopes alongside terraces and fields, leaving the level ground free for cultivation.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Because cave dwellings are so highly suited to local conditions, the craft of building them has been passed down through generations in northern Shaanxi.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Cave-dwelling Building Craftsmanship · Cave-dwelling Building Craftsmanship · Cave-dwelling Building Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The semi-subterranean form took shape by the Zhou dynasty, and after the Qin and Han it developed into the fully subterranean form—the earth cave of today—while the most splendid period of cave architecture came in the late Ming and early Qing. The cave dwellings of northern Shaanxi possess practical values such as moisture retention, material conservation, environmental friendliness, longevity, disaster mitigation, fresh-keeping, storage, and long-term livability. Whether as individual structures or as settlement groups, they all possess a distinctive aesthetic value. The practical values of northern Shaanxi cave dwellings can be summed up as moisture retention, material conservation, environmental friendliness, longevity, disaster mitigation, fresh-keeping, storage, and long-term livability. This assessment does not apply only to the residential line: fresh-keeping and storage refer to the row of caves built against the cliff for harvest storage, while disaster mitigation and longevity correspond to their dependence on the stability of the cliff body. As for settlements, rows of caves are arrayed along the gullies following the slope, sharing the same terrain with terraced fields, roads, and plots, forming the rare continuously low-lying skyline of mountain settlements—this is also what distinguishes northern Shaanxi villages in appearance from those on the plains.
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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