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 willow catkin lid
The conical lid, called the debo, is made from local reed stems covered with felt, light yet firm enough to resist wind.
The willow chdag walled ring
The wall ring is woven from willow rods joined segment by segment; bending a rod instead of following its grain loosens the whole ring.
Twisting horsehair rope
Horsehair rope binds the felt and the frame; Binba learned it from older artisans and made ropes even, strong and long-lasting.
Weatherproof covering
Hand-made from local willow and reed, the covered structure keeps out wind and rain while staying cool.
Learning from mother and mother-in-law
Binba learned from her mother Tagga and then her mother-in-law, helping neighbours with the work; the craft passed largely through women.
Sourcing willow and lakeside reed
Settled at Hulun Buir in 1732, the Chen Barag people built summer dwellings from local willow and lakeside reed.
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. Binba (recorded in the official inheritor archive): Female, Mongol ethnicity, born in June 1951, from Chen Barag Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item "Mongolian Yurt Building Craft." Mongolian yurt-building craftsman. From her early teens she began learning the basic craft of making reed-lotus yurts from her mother Taga, then further studied the reed-lotus yurt craft from her mother-in-law, and helped relatives and friends with the labor of building reed-lotus yurts, accumulating many years of experience. The reed-lotus yurt-building craft includes making the "wcilian deburi" (top cover), the "liutiao tauriga" (fence wall), and braiding horse-mane ropes. Humbly learning the traditional craft of making horse-mane ropes from the older generation of artisans, she thus produces exquisite and durable horse-mane ropes.
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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