Kazakh Zhanfang Building Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The Kazakh art of building felt dwellings (yurts) is an ancient craft with a history of more than two thousand years. The Kazakh yurt is composed mainly of a frame and felt; the overall structure is delicate and flexible, being mobile—easy to erect, easy to dismantle, easy to carry—and shock-resistant, able to migrate continuously with the pastoral life.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Kazakh felt dwelling is closely bound to the nomadic mode of production and way of life; it is both a means of subsistence and a tool of production. It adopts a wooden structural frame assembly, standing out uniquely among folk dwellings. The Kazakh craft of building felt dwellings encompasses many techniques—carving, engraving, chiseling, weaving, tying, and dyeing—and the process is fairly complex. The yurt builder makes his own dyes and dyes colored wool, with which he weaves grass mats and rolls patterned felt, using no drawings or patterns but embroidering as he makes. In recent years, the appearance of cheap, fine industrial products—floormats, embroidered carpets, and lightweight steel-tube houses—has dealt a huge blow to the traditional Kazakh craft of building felt dwellings.
Iron hoops and the wooden frame
A timber frame clad in felt needs both ironwork and carpentry; Dalielihan mastered ironwork, joinery and saddle-making alike.
Home-made dyes and coloured wool
Dyes are made at home and the coloured wool used for door curtains and patterned felt, with colours chosen to hold up under sun and rain.
Weaving curtains and rolling felt
Coloured wool is woven into curtains and rolled into patterned felt; even weaving and even rolling are what keep wind and shape in order.
Carving, cutting, chiselling, weaving, tying and dyeing
Six distinct processes - carving, cutting, chiselling, weaving, tying and dyeing - each must succeed for the finished dwelling to hang together.
Storing timber in autumn, building in winter
Timber is readied in autumn and the ger built in winter so that air-dried wood reaches its best flexibility and strength.
Building without patterns
No drawings or templates are used: patterns grow from the maker's hands as the work proceeds.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The yurt-building method is transmitted most concentratedly around Emin County in the Tacheng region, directly related to the local climate of cold winters, hot summers, and strong winds, and to the pastoral practice of following water and grass. The dwelling itself has only two parts, frame and felt; the components can be dismantled and assembled, migrating as a whole with the herds, so a single yurt is both a residence and a means of production that moves along with the livestock. Transmission relies on oral craft: Daliehan Habidixi studied with folk artisans from 1976, mastering ironwork, carpentry, and saddle-making, so his yurts can solve both the iron-hoop and the wooden-frame ends himself; to this day he has made over a hundred yurts and is widely praised across the Tacheng region. The requirements for timber also vary by place: the yurt's materials are particular about where the wood grew, its thickness and thinness, and its straightness or curvature, and observe the seasons—prepare materials in autumn and make them in winter, letting the wood air-dry naturally to the state of best flexibility and support.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
All this displays the superb wisdom and inexhaustible creativity of the Kazakh people, showing that the handicraft of the Kazakh nation has reached a superb level; it condenses the Kazakh people's aesthetic conceptions, humanistic thought, folk characteristics, and historical memory, and has important reference value in the study of minority aesthetics, folklore, and the like. The Kazakh felt dwelling occupies an important place among China's folk dwellings; the mechanics and materials-science methods it involves, together with its integrated dynamic plastic art and craft thought, are of high research value. The inheritors of this minority handicraft are aging and steadily diminishing; the transmission of the craft faces the worry of having no successor, and urgently needs protection. Daliehan Habidixi (per the official archive record of the associated inheritor): male, Kazakh, born October 1955, a native of Emin County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item Kazakh Felt Dwelling Building Craft. Kazakh felt-dwelling building artisan. Began learning yurt-making from folk artisans in 1976; expert in ironwork, carpentry, and saddle-making. His yurts are durable and finely crafted; he emphasizes the yurt's practical function while decorating according to traditional principles, with particular attention to the raw materials needed, imposing strict requirements on where the wood grew and on its thickness and straightness. During making he observes seasonal requirements, preparing materials in autumn and working in winter to ensure the materials air-dry naturally so the wood's flexibility and support reach their optimal state. His yurts are widely praised and sell well in the Tacheng region; to this day he has made over a hundred yurts and has received relevant awards from the autonomous region and the Tacheng region.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Dalielihan Habidixi 03-1437
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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