Yurt Building Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The Mongolian yurt (ger) is the most representative dwelling of the Mongol and northern nomadic peoples. As early as the Qin and Han dynasties it appeared in our historical records under names such as "qionglü" (domed lodging) and "zhanzhang" (felt tent), and from the Qing dynasty it was renamed "Mongolian yurt" (Menggubao) through Manchu transliteration and translation. The people of Chen Barag Banner moved from Qiqihar to Mongolia in the tenth year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing dynasty (1732) to garrison Hulunbuir; adapting to local conditions, they used local willow branches and lakeside reeds to build yurts for summer dwelling.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Mongolian yurt combines three integrated sets of materials: wood, hair rope, and felt; the three-in-one frame of "toonoo" (skylight), "uni" (umbrella-spoke radiating rafters), and "hana" (lattice wooden wall); and the three-in-one covering felt of "meng zhan" (the part covering the skylight), the canopy (the part covering the uni), and the wall felt (the part covering the hana)—together forming a unique dwelling most suited to the northern climate and nomadic production. Because it is essentially a "three-section composite" house that can be broken into parts, with light and portable materials that can be reused, its construction, dismantling, relocation, and repair are all very convenient. West Ujimqin Banner is located in the northeast of Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; its Mongol residents number nearly 50,000, accounting for 68% of the total population. The yurt-making craft of West Ujimqin Banner is exacting; its structure mainly consists of three parts—frame wood, covering felt, and mane rope—generally made of elm wood, with no iron nails allowed in the frame. Such a yurt is spacious and comfortable inside; it uses specially made wooden frames as "hana," is wrapped in two to three layers of wool felt, and is bound on the outside with ropes twisted from horse mane or camel hair. Its top uses "uni" as supports, taking the form of a canopy. The round, pointed roof has a skylight called the "toonoo"; the toonoo is covered with square wool felt and allows for ventilation and daylight. The Chen Barag Banner yurt is also called the "reed-curtain yurt," built from reeds. This kind of yurt uses local materials, is handmade, simple and practical, elegant in appearance, neither seeping nor leaking, and pleasantly cool. The yurt-building craft consists of making and decorating the frame wood and covering felt; it integrates carpentry, embroidery, carving, painting, and weaving, embodying the full range of Mongol folk handicrafts. The "hana" is extensible and can change freely; the height and size of the yurt can be adjusted as needed, and it can cope readily with abrupt climate changes in the rainy or windy seasons and with fluctuations in the number of occupants. The round structure reduces the assault of wind, rain, and sand on the yurt, enabling it to better adapt to the severe cold and scorching heat of the continental climate of the Mongolian Plateau.
The four-section khanas frame
The four-panel khanas used by Ujimqin herders is entirely hand-made and fastened without nails, and can be dismantled for transport.
Elm frames and the ban on nails
Frames are usually elm and must contain no nails, which would rust in the damp cold and split in the sun.
Horsehair and camel-hair ropes
Ropes spun from horsehair or camel hair bind the felt against the wind and can be unwound and reused.
Wrapping the frame in two or three felt layers
Two or three layers of wool felt are wrapped over the lattice frame, dense enough to shut out wind while keeping the seams invisible.
The canopy over the rafters
Felt is laid over the radiating rafters as a canopy, its junction with the wall felt being the most critical seam.
Husenge and his three apprentices
Husenge could build a ger by thirty and passed on woodworking, felt-making, sewing, patterned decoration and rope-making to named apprentices.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Mongolian yurt and its building craft are an important component of the Mongol people's nomadic culture; they were accumulated and formed through long-term production struggles and life practice, adapted to the natural environment, and possess a distinctive regional cultural style.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Yurt Building Craftsmanship · Yurt Building Craftsmanship · Yurt Building Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The uniquely skilled and long-inherited yurt-building craft has high historical and cultural value; now that nomadic life is gradually giving way to settled life, the yurt-building craft is declining and deserves serious summarization and transmission. Husengge (recorded in the official inheritor archive): Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item "Mongolian Yurt Building Craft." Mongolian yurt-building craftsman. From childhood he loved the Ujimqin traditional handicrafts, and by the age of 30 could independently make a traditional yurt. Under the influence of his father Dorji, he systematically learned the traditional Ujimqin yurt-making craft. The four-hana yurts commonly used in traditional Ujimqin nomadic life are entirely handmade in every part, featuring durability, cold resistance, easy assembly, easy dismantling, and easy transport. He has mastered the traditional yurt-building skills required to meet these standards—handmade carpentry, felt-making, sewing, pattern decoration, and mane-rope making—and has trained apprentices such as Jamtsag, Suirag, and Togtoa. Male, Mongol ethnicity, born in August 1942, died in March 2014, from West Ujimqin Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Husenge 04-1915
- Binba 05-2876
- Ban Fengbin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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