There is a folk saying in Dali: "There are three treasures in Dali, but the stone walls will not fall down ..." Stone materials are widely used in Dali Bai residential buildings. It is not only used for wall foundations, walls, steps, patios and balconies, but also used as beams of doors and windows with large stones several meters long. Try to use inexhaustible stones in Dali area, which is both economical and strong. This kind of wood and stone structure is especially common in Dali area. The cornices of houses are made of thin blue slate (commonly known as cornice stone), which is tightly closed and has good fire resistance. Therefore, this kind of wall is called "accumulation wall". In addition, according to the natural environment of Dali and Xiaguan, the Bai people have accumulated rich experience in architectural layout. The whole building adopts a stepped wind-proof and fire-proof design: there are many main rooms in the east-west direction, and the floors of the three houses are the same, with the windows and doors facing east and a high side facing the wall. People call Zhaobi the "Feng Shui Wall", and the superstitious view is to eliminate disasters, save money and prevent the overflow of Feng Shui. In addition to wind protection, it also plays a role in preventing the spread and invasion of external fire and blocking the fire. Bai folk houses are mostly wood and stone structures. If there is no fire separation between buildings, once one of them catches fire, it will inevitably spread to adjacent buildings quickly, forming a situation of burning and even camping. To this end, there is a rule that at least three feet of water should be left between the courtyards of Bai folk houses. This not only solves the fire barrier, but also leaves room for future house maintenance. Bai folk architecture art greatly enriches the architectural art form, and is a model integrating structure, function and art. Its creativity embodies the superb skills of Bai people in architecture, condenses the wisdom of Bai people, and integrates Bai traditional architectural technology, folk culture and building fire prevention technology, which provides a vivid example for studying the history of China fire protection development.
Due to the different natural environment and technical level in different areas, Bai folk houses have created a variety of residential forms. Most of the Bai people in mountainous areas live in single rooms or two connected "stacked wooden houses" or "bamboo fence houses". Most Bai people in the dam area live in tile houses with civil structures. Its layout takes the form of "three rooms and one wall", "one front ear and two ears" or "four entrances and five patios", and the courtyard is spacious and sunny. Most people also have flower beds, planting camellia, pomegranate, hanging flowers, torreya grandis and other flowers and trees, flowers and plants overflowing, beautiful and comfortable environment. Bai people attach great importance to the construction of zhaobi and gatehouse. The wall is painted with white ash, and celebrities write "colorful dry red", "Oriental rising sun" or "blessing" and "longevity" as auspicious symbols. The surrounding gables are also painted with various landscapes, flowers and birds, insects and fish patterns, and the decoration in every corner is very particular, giving people a lively, even, symmetrical, harmonious and beautiful feeling. The gatehouse has a unique style, which integrates the artistic wisdom of the Bai people into the architectural installations. Generally, archways overlap and the corners are staggered, and there are three-dimensional patterns such as clay sculpture, wood carving, stone carving, embossed blue bricks and marble. Its beautiful shape and rigorous structure can be compared with temples, pavilions and pavilions in the mainland. Many door leaves are composed of three-story embossed patterns such as flowers, birds, insects and fish figures, which are exquisite and beautiful. Some gatehouses and partitions don't need a nail, they just need to be connected by digging holes, but they are very strong. All these fully show that the Bai people have a high level of architectural art.
Most of the Bai folk houses are brick and wood tile houses, and the plane structure is mainly "three rooms and one wall". A few wealthy families also have the layout of "four in one and five patios". The roofs of the two architectural forms are covered with cylindrical tiles, and the front is double eaves, forming the pattern of front porch. "Bent frame" (a roof frame with a row of columns is called bent frame) bears the load, and four columns fall to the ground. The left, right and back sides are surrounded by earth walls, and the front and middle sides are separated by wooden boards. From the gable to the top, the roof picks out more than the gable that goes straight out of the roof (called "hard mountain" in architecture) (called "hanging mountain" in architecture). The "hard mountain" structure can prevent the fire of neighbors from spreading. In the "bent" room and under the eaves of the roof, there is a armor piercing machine in front and behind, which is called "square piercing" locally. It connects the "bent frame" of the whole house into a whole, and after interacting with cornice, cornice crane and floor bridge, the seismic capacity is enhanced.
Dali is a windy area, with many wind outlets and strong winds every year, especially in Xiaguan, where the maximum wind speed can reach 12 (that is, the wind speed is about 40 meters per second). This kind of strong wind is very rare in the inland of our country. In the struggle with nature, the Bai working people have accumulated rich experience. For the wind direction that is mostly west all the year round, they will sit in the layout of the main room from west to east, and the doors and windows are all facing east. The wind is blowing from the back of the house, so it is naturally difficult to get into the room. For the wind blowing from other directions, it is solved by quadrilateral or plane combination of "three rooms and one wall". The illuminated walls of Bai buildings are relatively tall, and the main rooms, wings and halls are generally of the same height, regardless of primary and secondary, which fully play a role in blocking each other. Because from the orientation of the house, plane combination to facade treatment, it is built step by step to avoid the wind, so it is not troubled by strong winds. In addition, making full use of the local rich cobblestones to build walls is also a major feature of Bai architecture. As early as 65,438+0,000 years ago, Schumann recorded that "... the old man built a stone for it, which was more than ten feet high and stretched for miles". For thousands of years, the working people of Bai nationality have accumulated a set of traditional masonry experience because of their long-term use of pebbles to build houses, and on the other hand, they use mountain torrents to deal with a large number of pebbles accumulated in eighteen streams of Cangshan every year. A local folk proverb says, "The cobblestone wall will not fall down." This is a vivid portrayal of praising the wisdom of Bai architecture.