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Luhuo and Daofu are located in the area where earthquakes occur frequently, that’s why the resident dwellings are built with load-bearing structure by applying massive logs. The arrangement of pillars looks like a Chinese chessboard, with equal distance between each pillar, protected by ground mass and earth-compacted walls. The bottoms of pillars are deeply buried into the earth. Walls are of wide bottom and narrow top, extremely stable. The front wall of the house consists of semicircular logs, piled up in well-frame style forming an external-convex-and-internal-flat wall painted in red.
Cleaved firewood and grain are stored on the ground floor. On the second floor, rooms are separated by planks according to the positions of pillars, making the bedroom connected with the scripture hall. A stove should be built in the kitchen, and a skylight should be set for lighting and discharging smoke. There is a small drying platform in the sunny side on the roof, entering through the living room, and a little pagoda and an eight-treasure picture are placed here, different types of prayer wheels are set on the four corner of the roof. A table for burning aromatic plants is built and prayer flags are hanged, in concert with the pagoda. The toilet suspends at the corner outdoor for storing dry cow dung or sundries, combined with the enclosure as a whole, looking like an attached watchtower with a small window on each floor.

Details

  • Title: An Anti-Seismic House
  • Creator: Zhan Zheng
  • Provenance: Museum of Ethnic Cultures, Minzu University of China
  • Original Source: http://bwg.muc.edu.cn
  • Photography location: Luhuo, Sichuan Province
  • Photography date: 2006.1
  • Object type: Photography
  • Ethnic group: Tibetan
  • Creator's dates: 1963 -
  • Creator nationality: Chinese
  • Creator gender: Male

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