Watchtower Building Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Judging by the building materials and the character of the construction techniques, Qiang watchtowers (Qiang diao) can be divided into the following three types: 1. Stone-built Qiang watchtowers: great care is taken in selecting materials for the walls, with the flat face of each stone laid upward and outward; stones on the left and right are wedged firmly together, and small stones are driven into the gaps to wedge them tight before they are bonded with clay, and only after leveling is the second stone placed.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Radiocarbon (C-14) dating shows that most were built during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The construction craft of the Qiang watchtowers in Maoxian County is meticulous: during construction no drawings are made, no plumb lines are used, and no external scaffolding is erected; the whole work relies entirely on the masons' eyesight and experience. The corner stones are selected with care, mostly medium and small stones of superior quality showing regular geometric patterns, which give the structure crisp angles, a compact form, and smooth walls, conveying a sense of natural wholeness. In the course of building, the craftsmen apply many principles of architectural mechanics with great appropriateness, making these towers truly outstanding examples among similar structures in the world. 2. Clay Qiang watchtowers: the clay is selected with care for its quality, kept at a moderate moisture level, thoroughly mixed, and then rammed solid to form the walls. In areas with poor soil and a shortage of stone, when building clay Qiang watchtowers a certain proportion of chopped wheat (highland barley) straw segments or yak/sheep wool, or even salt as an additive, is mixed into the clay to raise its bonding strength and enhance the building's capacity to withstand natural disasters. During construction, clay Qiang watchtowers must avoid periods of high heat, so as to prevent the rammed earth from cracking due to temperature differences between its interior and exterior and uneven moisture evaporation; thus, in sunny or rainy weather, sun- and rain-shielding covers must be placed over the work. 3. Stone-clay mixed Qiang watchtowers: in both appearance and building technique, this type represents a perfect combination of stone construction and clay construction. The base of a Qiang watchtower is mostly a stone structure 1.2 to 2 meters high, serving mainly to resist water, absorb impact, and bear the load of the entire building; above this, the tower is rammed from clay.
Wedging and levelling stone work
Stones are laid face up and outward, wedged side to side, gaps packed with small stones and clay, and each course levelled before the next begins.
Choosing corner stones
Corner stones are chosen for quality and geometric regularity, giving the tower crisp arrises and tight joints.
Wheat straw, wool and salt in the clay
Wheat straw, animal wool or salt are mixed into the clay as fibre reinforcement or a binder.
Avoiding heat and covering the works
Rammed earth is laid in mild weather and covered against sun and rain so the wall cures evenly.
The stone base of mixed construction
A 1.2-2 metre stone base resists water and impact while rammed earth rises above it.
Towers at Shaba, Jiaochang, Fengyi and Nanxin
The surviving towers cluster where stone is scarce, so their distribution is effectively a map of local materials.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The existing Qiang ethnic watchtowers in Maoxian County are mainly distributed in areas such as Shaba, Jiaochang, Fengyi, and Nanxin. They are mostly found in villages where stone resources are scarce.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Tibetan Watchtower Building Craftsmanship · Watchtower Building Craftsmanship · Watchtower Building Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Qiang watchtowers of Maoxian County are divided by building material into three categories—stone-built, clay, and stone-clay mixed—and this very classification is itself a technical judgment: the stone-built ones appear where stone is abundant, the clay ones where stone is lacking, and the mixed ones combine the strengths of both. What most reveals experience in the clay-tower method is the mixing of ingredients: a certain proportion of chopped wheat (highland barley) straw segments or yak/sheep wool, or even salt, is blended into the clay, which is then thoroughly mixed and rammed solid, raising the bonding strength and enhancing the building's capacity to withstand natural disasters; construction must also avoid periods of high heat, so that the rammed earth does not crack from interior-exterior temperature differences and uneven moisture evaporation, and thus in sunny or rainy weather sun- and rain-shielding covers must be added. The base of a mixed tower is built as a 1.2–2 meter stone structure, taking on the duties of water resistance, impact resistance, and load bearing, above which the tower is then rammed from clay. In terms of distribution, the existing Qiang ethnic watchtowers in Maoxian County are mainly found in areas such as Shaba, Jiaochang, Fengyi, and Nanxin, and mostly in villages short of stone, fully corresponding to the local availability of materials; radiocarbon dating shows that most surviving towers date from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and although they are built without drawings, plumb lines, or external scaffolding—relying solely on the masons' eyesight and experience—their masonry quietly conforms to the laws of force at every point, occupying an important place in the architectural history of northwestern China and the settlement history of the Qiang people.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Guoluozheqiu 04-1916
- Qimibadan
- Wang Guoyue
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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