1.4 Craftsmanship

In terms of the craftsmanship of the Bai architecture，there has been three different trends in history. First，since the Neolithic Age and the Bronze Age，the stilt constructions and log cabin constructions used in mountainous areas had seen constant improvement and development. Second，influenced by the Han culture，the Bai buildings in bazi areas had basically converged with the style of Han architecture in terms of structures and shapes，whether for residential buildings，government offices，gardens，temples，ancestral temples，or bridges. Third，due to the introduction of modern Western architectural forms and the rapid economic and social development in the past three decades，the traditional wooden architecture of the Bai people had gradually been replaced by modern architectural forms，especially in well-developed towns. Certainly，in terms of historical development and spatial distribution，techniques in the Bai architecture had been influenced by the architecture of the Han people for a long period of time. It can be said that Bai architecture represented by the buildings in the bazi areas is not only a sub-system of traditional Chinese architecture，but also an indispensable part of China's outstanding ethnic culture.

The relationship between Dali and Central Plains architectures is also reflected in the folktales of the Bai people. When it comes to Bai architecture，we cannot help but mention carpenters from Jianchuan County. In the past，there was a folk saying in western Yunnan：“Lijiang pancakes，Heqing wine and Jianchuan carpenters are everywhere（丽江粑粑鹤庆酒，剑川木匠到处有）”. Jianchuan carpenters are famous for their expertise in woodcarving and construction. According to an ancient legend，it was all because they had benefited from the personal guidance of Lu Ban（鲁班），the God of Carpentry. The story goes like this：

Once upon a time，an emperor recruited carpenters all over the world to the capital city for the building of his palace，including Ashengbo（阿生波）and his father from Jianchuan County. It was a huge project，and all carpenters were exhausted because of ceaseless work for days and nights. Lu Ban，the God of Carpentry，intended to help the workers. He turned into an old man，with an ink marker and a Luban ruler in his hands. Everybody on the construction site was indifferent to the ragged old man，except Ashengbo. He pitied the old man who was shivering with cold，so he started a fire pit to warm him up. He also boiled a cup of hot tea for the old man with his father's tea pot. Lu Ban watched Ashengbo working while drinking his hot tea.

At noon，it was time for lunch. Ashengbo cooked an extra bowl of rice when he saw the old man was still there. Lu Ban asked him if he had always eaten so much. Ashengbo said that he himself only needed two bowls，and the extra bowl was for Lu Ban. Lu Ban was delighted and decided to pass on his Scripture of Carpentry （《木经》）to him. He asked Ashengbo whether the copper pot for lunch could cook ten thousand bowls of rice. Hearing the answer was“no”，he said the copper pot in his hometown，Yu Ri Village（鱼日村），could do that. And then，he gave his ruler to Ashengbo，asking him to apprehend the formula on it.

Aashengbo's father came back. Having learned about the incident，he looked at the ruler and scripture left by the old man. He was very surprised and asked the old man's name and whereabouts. Hearing that the old man came from Yu Ri Village，he reckoned that his son would have met the God of Carpentry because“Yu（鱼）”and“Ri（日）”could be combined to one character“Lu（鲁）”which is the surname of Lu Ban. Before he had a chance to say it out loud，they heard Lu Ban speaking in the air，“Now I have given you my Scripture of Carpentry . You should apprehend it with your heart. After finishing the palace，you two should quickly return to your hometown and teach your craftsmanship to other people.”

After getting back to Jianchuan， they told villagers about what had happened. People were very happy and came to learn Scripture of Carpentry . The news spread quickly and there were more and more carpenters in Jianchuan. Their skills were passed down from generation to generation，which made Jianchuan the home of carpenters. When tens of thousands of carpenters went out for business，they all carried one little copper pot for cooking，which fulfilled Lu Ban's words that“his pot could cook ten thousand bowls of rice” .

Legend is legend after all. It is impossible that Jianchuan carpenters got Lu Ban's personal guidance. However，we could also say that their craftsmanship has inherited Lu Ban's spirit. Their superb skills benefit from the spirit of continuous learning，thinking and innovation. This group of people，starting from the simple purpose of livelihood needs，has achieved striking and admirable accomplishments.

Based on a systemic study of complex constructional technologies，combing environmental factors in Yunnan，and taking full advantage of the local natural resources，the Bai craftsmen represented by Jianchuan carpenters have formed a comparatively complete local system of constructional technology over a long period of practice. The system has the following characteristics.

1.4.1 Diverse Architectural Types

The Dali area，where the Bai live，has a complex landform. In order to adapt to different geographical environments such as mountains and flatlands，different types of building structures are used，such as post and lintel constructions，column and tie constructions，log cabin constructions and stilt constructions. Among them，the former two types are commonly used in flatlands，whereas the latter two are mostly used in mountain areas. The method of building a post and lintel construction is to erect columns on the foundation，set up roof beams on the columns，erect short columns on the beams and in the meantime lay purlins to both ends of the beams in order to support the roof. The advantage of this structure is to minimize the number of indoor columns，which will create a comparatively large space. But its disadvantages are the overuse of wood and poorer performance in earthquake and wind resistance. The way to build a column and tie construction is to erect columns on the foundations at first，but not to place any beams on the columns. Instead，purlins are directly put on the columns which are connected by penetrating ties. In this structure，all constructional parts are tightly connected，which provides a better capability to withstand earthquakes and strong winds，but there is no large space in the rooms. For the log cabin construction，there is no need to erect any columns on the base. Instead，round timbers or half round timbers are used as the major parts. Through the mortises and tenons cut on each end，the timbers are jointed into a number of square frames which are placed layer by layer and form the walls of a house. The advantage of this structure is that it is relatively easy to construct and repair，and uses only one kind of material，i. e. wood. However，it has certain disadvantages，such as waste of wood，narrow spaces and vulnerability to fire. The stilt houses are built mainly with columns and tie-beams，and have a structure which is similar to that of column and tie construction. But the difference is that the stilt houses do not place bases on the earth. Instead，penetrating ties are used to support the floor and thus form a suspended foundation. This structure fits perfectly in mountains，lakeside and riverside，because it is well ventilated and can be kept away from wetness and animals. However，the rooms will be small，and cannot be built into multiple stories because of the limit of material lengths.

1.4.2 Flexible Layouts

In terms of layout，buildings in the mountain areas are different from those on the flatland. Due to relatively slow economic development and restricted by the landform，mountain buildings have smaller plan layouts and fewer choices in the building orientations and structures. Even so，they can also adapt to the environment and present multiple variations. For instance，no matter how small the courtyards are，the Bai folk houses in Nuodeng Village（诺邓村）and Tianjing Village（天井寸）of Yunlong County（云龙县）still have variations in the number of houses and courtyards. What is even more ingenious is that the courtyards are usually adapted to the sloping landform，namely a small door is left open at the back of the second floor of the front yard to access the patio of the back yard. In comparison，house building in the flatland areas is better financed because of better economic conditions，and can be more innovative and flexible in floor plan because it is not restricted by rough terrain. Nowadays，the commonest layouts for Bai dwellings in flatland areas include One House and One Gallery（一坊一廊），Two Houses and One Side Room（两坊一耳），Three Houses and One Screen Wall（三坊一照壁），Four Houses and Five Patios（四合五天井）and even large courtyard compounds（六合同春）. Although they are different in size，they can fully and flexibly coordinate factors such as the courtyard，the gate，rooms and walls. Therefore，from the gate to the main house，we may pass through a small patio，a large patio and eaves platforms，etc. The meandering path gives us a sinuous and dynamic pleasure. Meanwhile，since the courtyards are different in size and height，when walking around a village，we can see the houses scattered randomly while being well-proportioned，just like the musical notes in praise of Bai people's architectural art.

1.4.3 Advanced Stone Crafts

Although traditional Bai dwellings use wooden beams and columns as the weight bearing components，they also attach great importance to the role of the walls. Common wall bodies are as follows. The first type is a rammed earth wall，which is made of earth compressed with parallel panels. The foundation part of the wall is made of stones，and the outer part forms a slightly sloping side. The second type is adobe walls，also known as soil-based walls. Soil mixed with grass fiber is used as the raw material，and molded into soil bases which become solid after dried out in the air. The soil bases will be used to build the walls with stone blocks at the bottom. The third type is pebble walls. There is a saying in Dali that“A wall built with pebbles will never fall（石头砌墙墙不倒）”.Pebble walls，as one of the“three treasures in Dali”，have a very long history. In A History of Yunnan （《蛮书》），it is recorded that“The walls of the streets and alleys are made of stones，with a height of more than three meters，extending for several kilometers.” The stones were mainly pebbles in the eighteen mountain creeks. There is a formula for the Bai people to build walls.

Stones are wall bases ，

条石做墙脚，

With strengthened corners .

加强四大角。

Columns are ashlars ，

角柱料石砌，

And on the wall are bricks .

或作金包玉。

A wall has two parts，

墙分上下段，

Ceiling as the cut-point .

楼面为界线。

Stones for the lower，clay for the upper，

下石上土基，

But do not change in thickness .

厚度不改变。

Walls are to be staggered，

砌墙要错缝，

Bamboo as wall ribs .

竹木做墙筋。

Seal the wall top with stone slabs，

墙顶石板封，

And the gables should have waist eaves .

山墙加腰檐。

Wind up with whitewashing，tiling and painting，

粉面、贴砖、穿花衣，

But do not forget waterproofing .

土墙防水切切记。

The general meaning of this formula is that the lower part of the wall should be made of dressed stones，and the four corners should be reinforced with dressed stones or bricks. A layer of black bricks is placed outside an adobe wall，which is the so-called“Jin Bao Yu” . The wall is divided into upper and lower parts by the ceiling. The lower part is usually rammed while the upper is often made of adobe. The clay is reinforced with bamboo canes and placed on the stone base in a staggered way without changing the thickness. In order to prevent the dipping of rainwater，the top of the wall should be sealed with tile stone and waist eaves should be added to both gables. Meanwhile，hexagonal black bricks should be fixed onto the wall，and whitewashed with lime in the end.

1.4.4 Exquisite Decorative Arts

It is easy to see the close connection between the Bai architecture and the Han architecture through the layouts and structures of buildings，but delicate and colorful architectural decorations in the Bai buildings reflect strong ethnic group's character. The major parts in need of decoration are gates，partitions，windows，beam heads，screen walls，and pediments. Among them，gates and courtyard walls are the most featured. For example，there are magnificent gates with“Three Drops” . With colored patterns and gold foil paintings，long pointy upturned roof-ridges are like bird wings；the bracket system is delicate and majestic，whereas the screen wall is built very well-proportioned. Except for the gull-wing eave roofs and the paintings below，the other parts of wall are left white. Only a piece of round marble with a texture of Chinese landscape painting is fixed in the middle of the wall，or else a proverb meaning good fortune or the family's motto is written in the middle. This makes the courtyard nicely balanced，delicate and elegant. The most common way to decorate a house is to use color painting，ink painting，wood carving，stone carving，clay figurines and brick carving. The most commonly used colors are black，grey，light green，light blue and white，which make the paintings refreshing and delightful. All quotes or patterns used in the decorations have cultural and thoughtful connotations. The quotes are mainly from classical Chinese poems，maxims，or blessings，while the patterns could be drawings of animals，plants，human，or tools.

1.4.5 Effective Anti-Seismic Measures

Dali is located in a seismic area. In the earthquake in 1925，more than 1，200 people died，551 people were injured，and most houses collapsed in Dali County. Because of the earthquake，local craftsmen started paying great attention to the seismic performance of the building and have summed up a set of rules through practice. In 1962，professor Wang Cuilan from the Yunnan Provincial Design Institute conducted a detailed investigation of the Bai people's residential buildings，and learned about the earthquake-resistant measures of the Bai craftsmen in Jianchuan. According to her，in order to enhance the earthquake resistance of the house，the local practices were mainly concentrated in the following ways. First，five columns should be set，that is，both sides of the house should use a column-and-tie construction，with five pillars set on the foundation. Second，mortises and tenons should be carefully jointed，not only for the beam columns，but also for purlins and corner pillars. The most important step is to cut mortises well. Third，（the building should ）use more tiebeams. The tiebeam placed at about 40 cm down from the top of the middle column to connect the middle columns of each of the raising purlins is called the column tie. The tiebeam placed at about 1 meter above the ceiling and used to connect columns of the truss is called penetrating tie. The tiebeam placed at about 70 cm above the ceiling and used to connect a row of eave columns is called the eave tie. Fourth，adobe walls should be thick enough. Workmanship is the key to thick and solid walls. Clay is added with pebbles，and four workers should only build one and a half walls. This means“to build a wall and give it some time to get‘well rested'（stable）（筑墙不如歇墙）”. Fifth，walls should be reinforced. As the saying goes，“In the first 30 years，the walls are secured by the columns. In the last 30 years，the columns are held up by the walls（前三十年梁抬墙，后三十年墙抬梁）”. So，in this case，bamboo and wood fiber should be used to reinforce the walls and make them resilient and strong . cK5Pq4WCcDassil9f2hvkds0nHrcjXGjRvjmjTf1Lf13967xpiehuCCr/O4Cexv+