Dai Bamboo House

Dai Bamboo House

The bamboo house is the traditional dwelling of the Dai people in Xishuangbanna. This "stilt house" style architecture was originally built mainly using bamboo—bamboo pillars, beams, rafters, purlins, doors, and walls. In some places, bamboo was even split in half to serve as roofing tiles. Because the structure primarily used bamboo and featured high stilts with two stories, it came to be called a bamboo house. The upper floor is used for living, while the lower level is used for storing items and housing livestock and poultry.

The Dai people in Xishuangbanna refer to their bamboo houses as "Hen." "Hen" is short for "Huang Hen," and the term "Huang Hen" is said to be an onomatopoeic version of "Hong Heng." "Hong Heng" mimics the posture of a phoenix spreading its wings and about to take flight. Folklore says that the ancestor who first designed the bamboo house was Pa Ya Sang Mu Di. He had previously built flat-roofed houses with green leaves and dog-head-shaped huts called "Du Ma Xie" in the Dai language, but none could effectively shelter against wind and rain. While pondering over the design of a better dwelling, a celestial being transformed into a phoenix and flew to him through thunder and rain. The phoenix lowered its head, drooped its tail, slightly spread its wings, and stood firmly on the ground in a pose ready to fly but not yet taking off. Inspired by the phoenix, Pa Ya Sang Mu Di constructed a stilted bamboo house with sloping roofs on all four sides and named it "Hong Heng," which later evolved into "Huang Hen" and eventually "Hen."

Traditional bamboo houses are divided into three types: the Pa Ya Sang Tu Di style, the Ma Ha Sa Ti style, and the Hen Men style.

The Dai people have a fine tradition of "the whole village helping when one family builds a new house." When someone is building a new house, all they need to do is blow a buffalo horn, and villagers will voluntarily come to help. Once the new house is completed, a housewarming ceremony is held to thank the helpers and to ward off evil spirits.

The housewarming ceremony is generally held when the sun is at its zenith. Once the auspicious time is decided, the elder presiding over the ceremony will first recite

blessings, celebrating the joy of moving into the new home, and then announce the ascent to the new house. On the day of the ceremony, the homeowner invites male and female singers (Za Ha) to perform "The Song for the New House" during the feast.

Dai bamboo houses are typically independent courtyards enclosed by neat and attractive bamboo fences (though low walls are also common). The courtyard is filled with blooming flowers, fruit trees, and shady greenery—banana leaves act as "fans," bamboo sways gracefully, fruit trees offer shade, and colorful flowers provide decoration. A bamboo house is like a garden unto itself. Over the centuries, bamboo houses have undergone major transformations from bamboo structures to wooden and brick-concrete ones. The ancient houses with bamboo pillars, beams, and tiles have become "historical relics," but the name "bamboo house" remains as vibrant as ever.