Carp Pond

Carp Pond

Carp Pond is located on the west bank of the Wu River at the head of Tuo Gorge, in Siqi Town, Yanhe County. The village is rich in Tujia ethnic culture with simple and sincere folk customs. The most distinctive feature here is the traditional Tujia stilted houses, which embody the wisdom of the Tujia people.

Stilted houses are living spaces for the Tujia people, usually built along the contours of the mountains in tiger-sitting or three-sided courtyard styles. Orientation is carefully considered—either facing west to east or east to west. The main house may consist of structures with three, five, or seven bays. Larger or medium-sized households typically have five or seven-bay houses, while smaller ones generally have three-bay houses. Their structures vary with support configurations such as 3 posts and 2 beams, 5 posts and 4 beams, or 7 posts and 6 beams. The central bay is called the “main hall” (堂屋), used for ancestral worship, receiving guests, and hosting wedding or funeral ceremonies. The left and right bays flanking the main hall are “living quarters,” each divided into front and back smaller rooms by the central pillar. The front smaller room functions as the kitchen (火房), equipped with two or three stoves, with a hearth board (火铺) placed in front of them. Between the stove and the hearth board lies a 3-foot square hearth pit (火坑), enclosed by bluestone slabs about 3 to 5 inches thick. In the center of the hearth pit sits a “tripod” (三脚) used for boiling rice or stir-frying. About one person’s height above the hearth pit, a wooden drying rack (木炕架) is suspended from the upper floor, used for drying cured meats and tofu products. The rear smaller room serves as a bedroom. Bedrooms have raised wooden flooring (地楼板) to prevent moisture. Parents sleep in the larger inner section (left side), while daughters-in-law stay in the smaller inner section (right side). When brothers divide the household, the elder brother takes the larger inner room, the younger brother the smaller, and parents reside behind the shrine in what is called the “grab-bag room” (抢兜房). All houses, regardless of size, have an attic (天楼), categorized into plank attics (板楼) and bamboo-strip attics (条楼). The plank attic is built over the bedrooms, with wooden flooring used to store various items and grain chests, and can also be used as additional sleeping space. The bamboo-strip attic is built over the kitchen, featuring gaps between bamboo strips specifically for storing corn cobs and melons. Smoke from the kitchen can easily vent through these gaps. In front of the main house, stilted structures extend to either side as wing rooms. Behind the house are pigsties and toilets. When constructing these wooden stilted buildings, straight and long pillars (亮脚) are emphasized, as are upturned eaves and sweeping roof corners. Stilted houses are often three stories high: the ground floor houses mortars, mills, and firewood; the middle floor stores grains and farming tools; and the upper floor, known as the “girls’ floor” (姑娘楼), is where Tujia girls engage in embroidery, paper-cutting, hemp-spinning, shoe-making, reading, and writing. The middle and upper floors are surrounded by wooden verandas used for enjoying views and drying clothes. During harvest season, corn cobs are often strung into long garlands, or bundles of soybeans and peanuts are hung across the veranda to dry. To prevent theft, the house is enclosed by stone and earthen walls. In front of the main house is a courtyard (院坝), and outside the left side of the courtyard, adjacent to the wall, there is an eight-character-style gate (八字朝门). The surrounding area is usually planted with bamboo, fruit trees, and ornamental plants. However, mulberry trees are not planted at the front, nor peach trees at the back, as their names sound like “mourning” (丧) and “escape” (逃), which are considered inauspicious.

The art of window lattice carving in Tujia stilted houses is an important indicator of architectural craftsmanship. The stilted houses of Carp Pond, located at the head of Tuo Gorge on the Wu River, are typical representatives of Tujia stilted architecture. Their window lattices employ various carving techniques such as relief carving and openwork carving, with delicate craftsmanship and rich symbolic meanings. Some carvings signify status, others pray for good fortune, depict farming life, reflect daily living, educate descendants, or record local customs. Birds, beasts, flowers, insects, fish, songs, dances, sports, myths, and legends are all rendered vividly with profound meaning.

Stilted houses offer many advantages. Elevated from the ground, they are well-ventilated and dry, while also protecting against venomous snakes and wild animals. The space beneath the floorboards can be used for storage. These stilted structures boast distinct ethnic characteristics, with elegant “silken eaves” (丝檐) and spacious “verandas” (走栏) giving them a unique style. Compared to simpler “railings” (栏干), these stilted houses have more successfully moved beyond primitiveness and represent a higher cultural level, often referred to as a “living fossil” of Bashu-Chu culture (巴楚文化).