Tujia Folk Architecture in Zhangjiajie: Stilted Houses
Upon arriving in Zhangjiajie, everyone wants to see Tujia stilted houses. Because successive dynasties implemented garrison-and-suppression policies against the Tujia, driving them into remote mountains with harsh living conditions, the "Old Book of Tang" says: the land is full of miasma, the mountains have poisonous grass and snakes, and people all live in raised buildings, climbing ladders to enter — these are the ganlan structures. With little farmland, the Tujia had no choice but to...
This article has been compiled from historical materials on 'Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network' (33519.com · Specialty Foods / Cuisine / Customs section). Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated. Before traveling, please refer to the latest announcements from merchants, scenic areas, and local competent authorities; the parts involving folk legends and folk customs are local historical and cultural anecdotes, provided for cultural reference.
Stilted Houses
When people arrive in Zhangjiajie, they all want to see the Tujia stilted houses. Because successive dynasties implemented a policy of stationing troops to suppress the Tujia people, driving them into the deep mountains and old forests, their living conditions were extremely harsh. The Old Book of Tang says: The soil is full of miasma, the mountains have poisonous grasses and sand crickets and pit vipers; people all live in buildings and climb ladders to go up, which are called ganlan. In addition, with little farmland and little land, the local people had no choice but to build stilted houses on cliffs and steep slopes.
Stilted houses are mostly wooden structures. In earlier times, the Tusi kings strictly forbade the common Tujia people to use tiles, allowing only fir bark and thatch; this was called "only horses may be bought, tiles may not be used." It was not until the thirteenth year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing dynasty, after the policy of replacing local chieftains with appointed officials, that tiled roofs became common. Generally, they are arranged horizontally with four bays and three rooms, with three pillars and six purlins or five pillars and six purlins. The central room is the main hall, housing the ancestral shrine for generations of ancestors, and is the core of family sacrifices. According to the terrain, the buildings are divided into half-section stilted, half-side stilted, two-winged stilted like hands pushing a cart, key-head stilted, carpenter's-square stilted, waterside stilted, and gorge-and-cave-crossing stilted. Wealthy families had carved beams and painted rafters, upturned eaves, and winding stone steps, full of the poetic and pictorial charm of a castle in the air. The famous Tujia poet Jiang Chengdong wrote: Marvelous mountains and beautiful waters intertwine wondrously, wine villages and song villages gather all beauty. Sleeping one night in a stilted house, even after ten years one dreams of romance.
Most Tujia people live on steep mountain slopes. Because of this terrain, their dwellings mostly adopt the stilted-house form. Four wooden posts are set up at both ends of the residence, and a wooden frame is built along the direction of the slope. Horizontal beams are laid at the same height as the ground floor of the main house, covered with wooden boards, and three sides are fitted with half-platform board walls or wooden corridors, with thatch or fir bark as the roof. The space below the building is open on all sides and can be used to pile fertilizer or temporarily tie up livestock. The upper floor is generally where daughters make shoes, embroider, or where family members eat and cool off. Stilted houses are well ventilated and moisture-proof, with ample sunlight, and the Tujia people love them very much. They are one of the important architectural features of the Tujia region. Today, on the high mountains and mid-level mountains on both sides of the Qingjiang River, stilted houses are still in use. In the county towns of Changyang and Wufeng, the high-rise buildings now being constructed also adopt the stilted-house form, only the building materials have become reinforced concrete.
The art of window carving in Tujia stilted houses is an important marker of the level of architectural craftsmanship. There are many carving techniques, such as relief carving and openwork carving, with delicate carving methods and rich connotations. Some symbolize status, some pray for good fortune, some depict farming, some reflect daily life, some educate descendants, and some record customs. Birds and beasts, flowers, birds, insects and fish, song and dance contests, myths and legends—all are lifelike and profoundly meaningful.
Stilted houses have many advantages: suspended above the ground, they are both well ventilated and dry, and can guard against poisonous snakes and wild beasts; miscellaneous items can also be stored under the floorboards. The stilted house has distinctive ethnic characteristics; the elegant "silk eaves" and spacious "walking corridors" give the stilted house a style of its own. Compared with the "railing" type, this kind of stilted house has more successfully escaped primitiveness and possesses a higher cultural level, and is called a "living fossil" of Ba-Chu culture. Well-preserved examples survive in Yinjiang, with representative Tujia stilted houses in the Langxi and Heshui areas.
Stilted houses are highly enjoyable to view, and the best angle for appreciation is from a distance: row upon row of stilted houses hidden deep among high mountains and green trees, arranged in picturesque disorder, high and low. Adorned by wind-and-rain bridges, drum towers, and the terraced fields or streams in front of the villages, they resemble a real landscape painting. In fact, stilted houses have different kinds of beauty at different times: at sunrise and sunset, the antique wooden buildings cast long shadows in the sunlight, and the ink-black roofs seem coated with a layer of golden yellow; at dawn, when mountain people begin the labor of a new day, rows of stilted houses appear and disappear amid the mist and clouds, like castles in the air. —In truth, the real beauty of stilted houses is not in words, but only in the feeling in one's heart. Perhaps the simple, traditional stilted house is incompatible with modern fashion and luxury, but its plain inner meaning and cultural character give people a fresh, friendly feeling and a sense of humanity returning to nature. Each experience deepens one's reluctant, inseparable attachment to the stilted house—to experience the stilted house is like feeling the pure, pure breeze of ancient times, refreshing to the heart.
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