Local Houses

A folktale of “Dipper Brothers” is well known among the Tibetans: In the ancient time, one day seven brothers from the east cut trees, carried stones and built a giant building overnight to house the common people and to shelter them from the storm. Henceforth, the brothers were invited to the heaven to build houses for Gods, after they became Big Dipper. The story shows that it was in the course of fighting against the natural calamities that the Tibetans improved the architecture skills and the way of inhabitation. During the period of Tubo I, the first palace Rongbuklakon was built on the top of a small hill in the Yarlong Valley. The following Sampos built a series of palaces such as Qinghandazhi Palace, Potala Palace, and etc. During the time of Trisong Detsan, the first Samye Monastery was built based on the fantasy world of the Buddhism tenet. The Monastery is magnificent consisting of Buddha, rites, bonze etc. From then on, the foundation of the Tibetan housing style and construction more or less had been laid.

In the pasturing area, people usually house themselves in a yak hair tent. They spin the yak hair into thread and weave it into stripped cloth, then sow the cloth into a square tent of two pieces, which are joined by ten ouches or so to form a completed tent. This kind of tent is usually square-shaped supported by eight upright pillars. One end of more than ten strings of yak hair is tied to the pillars at the top of the tent while the other end is tied to the poles about three meters away, making the tent flat and firm. The tent is about 20㎡ and 1.7 meters high with an ventilative interstice at the top to give out smoke and heat when opened and to keep the tent warm and protected from wind and rainwater if covered. In the front of the tent there is a tractive string tied to the door curtain. In hot days the door curtanin can be propped up to let air in making the inside cool and comfortable. Made of yak hair, simple as it is, the tent is wearable, thick and durable enough against wind and snowstorm. Meanwhile it is convenient to be dismantled, put up and removed, suitable for the herdsman’s life.

According to the traditional customs, when guests visit a Tibetan’s home, men are always seated on the first seat on the right, which is called “guest seat”, women on the first seat on the left, which is called “kitchen range” In the rural area of the south Tibet, flat roof houses can be seen everywhere. It is recorded in Annals of Tibet: “All houses have flat roofs throughout Tibet”. The average people live in a simple bungalow with stone bounding wall. Girders are used as framework, and the section of the wood column is shaped round; the upper is thin and the lower part thick; Chapiter is equipped with square wooden bucket and wood pillow, with wooden beam and rafter laid on one by one; then tree branches or short sticks are added and stones or clays cover the surface; some houses apply the local weathered “Aga” earth against rain leakage. In the rural area residences most houses are U-shaped single-storeyed, which are usually southwards; around the roof are parapet walls of 80cm high, and stacks are made at the four corners. In the new year in Tibetan calendar, each stack table is inserted with tree branches which are decorated with colorful scripture streamers and will be replaced each Tibetan calendar year to show prosperous luck. There is an incense burner right in front of the house, which will be burnt and sacrifices will be offered; there is a small Buddha niche above the entrance door, with Kalachakra - the design of Gathering Ten Powerful Elements, which symbolizes Misshū honzon and mandala, to show praying to avoid demon and whammy and to let adverse predestined relationship become favorable circumstance. All the flat-roof houses are surrounded by bounding walls. In the layout of traditional residences, the scripture hall is in the middle, living rooms are at the two sides, kitchen is closely adjacent to the living rooms, and toilet is at the two corners of the bounding wall far from the living rooms. Windows have eaves, the edge of which is folded with colorful square wood, so as to protect the windowsill from rain and show the beauty of the houses. The two sides of all residence doors and windows are spread with black painting, which set off the while walls. Generally, rural area residence courtyard has production tool room, forage grass storing room and sheep pen and cowshed, etc.

In the forest regions of the eastern Tibet, most villages are located halfway up the hillside. People gather the raw materials from the local countryside to build their wooden houses, with log walls and pitched roofs covered with wooden tiles. In the Kongpo area houses usually have irregular stone wall.Generally, the houses are two storeys high, with a wooden ladder to the upper storey. People usually live upstairs, and keep livestock downstairs. The main room is behind the entrance door, with a cooking range of 1 square meter in the middle; the whole family will have their meal around the cooking range and warm themselves at the same time. The cooking range is the center of activity for the whole family. Guests will also have tea and talk there.

The traditional Tibetan houses, like other Tibetan culture forms, are unique and full of local characteristic features: in valley area of south Tibet, people live in a castle-like house. In the pastoral area in North Tibet people live in tents for most of the time. While in the forest area along the Yarlung Tsangbo River, people live in wooden buildings which are distinctive and different from each other. People in Ali plateau live even in cave dwellings.

The Tibetan residential buildings have enjoyed a long history. Plenty of architecture remaining has been found among the Kanuo New Stone Age relics as early as 4,000 years ago. Some typically local featured buildings are: