Features of Nung An stilt house

14:42, 11/27/2023

Tan Thinh village, Tan Thanh commune, Duc Trong district ( Lam Dong province) has 255 households with nearly 1,000 people, of which more than 50 households are Nung An ethnic people with nearly 300 people. Village head Hoang Van Hoa proudly said: "There is probably no place in Lam Dong province with as many stilt houses as here."

The Nung ethnic group, Nung An group, originally from Cao Bang province, migrated to Lam Dong province from 1982 to 1984. In Cao Bang , the Nung An people mainly reside in four communes of Quang Uyen district: Phuc Sen, Doai Khon, Quoc Dan, Tu Do. Mr. Hoang Van Hoa's Nung An hamlet belongs to Doai Khon commune. The Nung An people have a long-standing cultural tradition, with many similarities to the other nine groups: Nung Giang, Nung Phan Sinh, Nung Inh, Nung Loi, Nung Si Kit, Nung Khen Lai, Nung Qui Rin, Nung Xin (Nung Xuong) and Nung Chao.

A stilt house in Nung An hamlet.

Nung An Hamlet, Lam Dong, next to DT 724, connects National Highway 20 to Dak Nong Province. They brought to the Southern Central Highlands many beautiful cultural features of their people, the most impressive of which is the stilt house. When they first settled down, 100% of the households built stilt houses. Now that their economic life is better, many households have demolished their stilt houses to make warehouses. However, there are still 8 stilt houses that have become unique cultural highlights of the Nung people in Lam Dong, which are the stilt houses of Mr. Trieu Van Binh, Mrs. Luong Thi Lieu, Mr. Nong Van Hanh, Mr. Nong Van Nhien, Mrs. Lam Thi Nam, Mr. Le Van Phong, Mr. Nong Van Lem and Mr. Nong Van Tang.

To complete each stilt house as desired, the Nung ethnic community worked together for several months, in the form of exchanging labor. Although the roof is only covered with tiles from Lam Dong, not the type of tiles in Cao Bang, the structure and design of the stilt house still retains the architecture of the Nung stilt house in Cao Bang. Mr. Hoa said that there were tourism businesses that came to buy it for 200 - 300 million VND or more per stilt house. But no one sold it, the people kept it in their own yard as a souvenir, even though there were houses built next to it. The function of the stilt house is still promoted, living, celebrating Tet, storing treasures...

Stilt houses in Nung An hamlet.

Following the village chief Hoang Van Hoa, I went to the house of Mr. and Mrs. Trieu Van Binh and Nong Thi Sen. This is the largest stilt house in Nung An hamlet with 5 rooms, the floor area is more than 250 m2, of which the depth is about 17 m, the width is about 15 m. The structure has 4 tiled roofs, 2 wooden floors with 5 cm thick planks, the ground floor is used as a warehouse for firewood, plows, farm vehicles, motorbikes... The first floor is arranged with a kitchen, bedroom, living room and a part of the house where the owner raises silkworms. The top floor is left empty because there are few people in the house. The stilt house has two doors, the main door facing south, the side door behind, facing northwest. The central room of the house is divided by plank walls, the front is the altar, the back is the kitchen, keeping the original interior structure of the Nung people. The kitchen is lower than the wooden floor, covered with a thick layer of soil, and on the kitchen loft is a storage room for food, such as smoked meat, etc. The house is surrounded by layers of planks, two sides are arranged horizontally, the front is arranged vertically, so that rain cannot get in. The house has 36 wooden pillars, 25 - 30 cm in diameter. A 7-step staircase leads to the floor, the column system is all placed on square blocks of green stone. Even more special, the middle columns are 8 m high wooden trees, not joined together; the longitudinal and transverse beams are also wooden trees with a length of more than 10 m, a width of 20 cm and a thickness of 4 cm. The four tiled roofs are also supported by a system of very thick-spanned rafters.

Behind is a large three-story house built by the family in 2017. Mr. Binh and Mrs. Sen live in the house built by them, while the stilt house is given to the youngest son, Trieu Van Truong's family. Mr. Truong said: "The stilt house is cooler. The house is clean, but if it is not cleaned regularly, it will get dirty. This stilt house is a souvenir of our grandparents, the culture of the Nung people."

Village chief Hoang Van Hoa was born in 1970 and is very energetic. He does not hide his pride when talking about the prosperous life of the Nung An people, one of the leading groups in the new rural commune of Tan Thanh. In the new homeland of the Central Highlands, they have all grown up from agricultural production, with an average income per capita/year higher than the commune average, over 50 million VND. There are no poor or near-poor households. There are no people of school age who are uneducated, many young people have graduated from university and are working in Ho Chi Minh City...

Tinh Xuyen

Source