C O N T E X T 1 4 1 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 39 SUN PEIFANG Traditional dwellings of Dajun The small town of Dajun, in Jingning She Autonomous County in China’s Zhejiang province, is known for its many 17th century buildings and as a showcase of She ethnic culture. With the development of tourism, Dajun has attracted many Chinese and foreign visitors.The most immediately appealing aspects include the original ecological landscape, the leisure canoe drifting and other folk customs. The traditional buildings are very attractive, especially if one is sitting by the house soaking up the atmosphere of the simple timber frameworks and boulder or soil walls. With a clear river encircling the town and several small hills at the back, the main traditional residential area is conserved in its entirety.The old cottages are disposed near the hill or along the river. The dominant street system is aligned roughly east-west. About 1,200 years ago the ancestors of the Dajun people first built their homes near the water.Today we still can see many houses scattered along both sides of the Dajun River (a branch of the Oujiang River). The town consists of hundreds of households. The residential area is divided into two parts by the river. On the west bank of the river, buildings were built near an adjacent bamboo forest.The environment is agreeable, the branches and leaves of bamboo shrouding the outline of the old houses. Some houses abut the hill, the backyards near the hill are not enclosed, and there is usually a kitchen in the backyard. Hill spring water is piped in, allowing people to appreciate the gurgling of natural running water in their home. More buildings are clustered on the east shore of the Dajun River. The residential area is split into two small parts by an east-west central street: these two sections are shaped on plan like two old men, chatting knee to knee.Most houses are built along the river there, next to the flowing water. Recently, when I was wandering through the old buildings, trying to work out the original appearance of the town, several elderly residents related to me a (perhaps apocryphal) tale about the origins of the settlement. According to this story, early in the 9th century some homeless itinerants came here, attracted by the clear water and the dense bamboo forest, and built their houses in bamboo. Later, in order to adapt to the local climate and environment, a wide range of natural resources were exploited as alternatives for walling and framework building. Timber, mud, clay, brick, stone, straw and other organic materials all played their part in this traditional construction. Most of the old houses in Dajun date from the 17th century. Generally they feature a courtyard, and have been built oriented north and south to maximise daylight. The typical traditional house plan in Dajun has buildings or pavilions placed along three or four sides of the site, forming a courtyard in the middle.The buildings face the courtyard, which provides outdoor space for family activities, circulation, ventilation, light and drainage. A special feature of the courtyard house is that it is fully enclosed by buildings and walls.There are no windows on the outside walls, and usually the only opening to the outside is through the front gate. The central street of Dajun Town
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