Dong Nationality Timber Architectural and Building Skills

 时间：2006年
  Time：2006
  类别：传统手工技艺
  Category：Traditional Handicraft Skills
  地区：广西
  Region：Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
  地区：广西
  Ref. No.：VIII-30
  申报地区或单位：广西壮族自治区柳州市、三江侗族自治县
  Nominating unit[s]：Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County, Liuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
  族木构建筑营造技艺是广西三江县最出色的民族民间传统文化表现形式。三国时期，侗族先人“依树积木，以居其上，名曰干栏”，逐渐形成木构建筑营造技艺。三江侗族木质建筑以风雨桥、鼓楼为代表，不仅造型美观，而且工艺堪称一绝。整座建筑凿榫打眼、穿梁接拱、立柱连枋不用一颗铁钉，全以榫卯连接，结构牢固，接合缜密，有极高的工艺和艺术价值。              
  Dong nationality timber architectural and building skills are the most extraordinary form of expression of traditional ethnic folk culture in Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County, Guangxi Province. During the period of the Three Kingdoms, the ancestors of Dong nationality “built their houses against trees by erecting stilts to live above the ground, and such homes were called stilt-style architecture”. From then on, the timber architectural and building skills were developed as time went by. Represented by a wind-rain bridge and a drum tower, Sanjiang Dong nationality timber architecture has attractive appearance and brilliant craftsmanship. The entire house is built by means of tenon-and-mortise work instead of using any one iron nail in mortising, drilling, crossing of beam through holes, joining of arcs, erection of columns and connection of tiebeams. The closely jointed house with robust structure has extremely high craft and artistic value.
  鼓楼又称“罗汉楼”，埋巨木为中心柱，建成塔形“独角楼”，矗于侗寨之中，立地顶天，成为侗家人的精神象征。风雨桥横卧江上，在侗族观念中是沟通阴阳两界的“生命之桥”和护寨纳财的“福桥”，因此不吝雕琢修饰，使其集亭、塔、廊、桥为一体，壮丽辉煌。楼、桥上的各种图案及雕梁画栋寄托了侗族人民祈望风调雨顺、五谷丰登的美好愿望和美学追求，是侗族文化特性的集中体现。
  Drum tower, also called “Arhat Tower”, stands tall and upright in Dong stockaded villages. It has a large timber buried to the ground as the central column to form a pavilion-style “single-pillar tower”. It stands upright between heaven and earth and has become the spiritual symbol of the Dong nationality. In the eyes of the Dong people, the river-crossing wind-rain bridge is a “life bridge” linking the secular world with the nether world and the “blessed bridge” for protecting the villages and gathering the wealth. It is full of sculptures and decorations to integrate a pavilion, a tower, a gallery and a bridge together to present a spectacular and magnificent view. Various patterns, carved beams and painted rafters on the tower and the bridge express the Dong people’s good wishes for favorable weather and good harvest of all crops as well as their pursuit for aesthetics. They embody the overall cultural identity of the Dong nationality.
  侗族人是天生的艺术家，民间工匠的建筑才能十分高超。他们建造楼、桥和民居时不用一张图纸，整个结构烂熟于心，仅凭简单的竹签为标尺，靠独特的“墨师文”为设计标注，使用普通的木匠工具和木料就能制造出样式各异、造型美观的楼、桥，设计之精巧，造型之美观，均令人叹为观止。
  Dong people are born artists. Local craftsmen have superb architectural skills. They bear the entire structure in mind very well without using drawings and build towers and bridges with diversified patterns and beautiful appearance with common carpenter’s tools and timbers, and only use simple bamboo sticks as rulers and distinctive “symbols” on a piece of wood as design markings. The exquisite design and attractive appearance are acclaimed as the acme of perfection.
  令人担忧的是，目前由于侗族建筑工匠后继乏人，木材来源匮乏，加之木构建筑防火能力极弱，易损毁而难再生，因此侗族木构建筑及相关技艺存在着延续的危机。只有加强抢救和保护工作，才能使绝妙的侗族木构建筑技艺世代传承下去。
  Nevertheless, there are concerns that there is no successor of the craftsmen for architectural building of Dong nationality and timbers are in deficiency. What’s more, timber architecture may easily catch fire and would be hard to restore if it is damaged. Therefore, it would be difficult to pass down the Dong nationality timber architectural buildings and relevant skills. only if maintenance and protection are strengthened, the fabulous Dong nationality timber architectural building skills would be handed down generation by generation.
  相关传承人：
  Inheritor(s):
  杨似玉
  Yang Siyu