Preserving ancient houses nestled on the mountainside.

Stilt houses on the mountainside

Mrs. Lo Thi Mai, from Na Tuong village, Xuan Duong commune, Na Ri district, is over 80 years old. With a hunched back and radiant eyes, she enthusiastically recounts the story of her family's ancient stilt house, a labor of love built in the 1970s. She said: “In the early 1970s, building our family's 52-pillar stilt house made of ironwood took several years of searching for and carving the wood. Each month, we could only find and craft two pillars, gradually soaking them in pond mud. Once we had 52 pillars, we had to find planks for the walls and floor. Whenever we had free time, we would mix clay and fire yin-yang tiles for the roof – it was a very laborious process.”

The rustic wooden door, the polished black pillars, the rough yin-yang tiled roof... not a single iron nail is used in the entire house. The pillars, beams, rafters, and purlins are all connected using mortise and tenon joints, bamboo pegs, and wooden wedges, ensuring both sturdiness and showcasing the traditional craftsmanship of the Tay people in the highlands.

Village head Hoang Van Cuc proudly stated: “When talking about stilt houses, you have to mention Na Tuong. The village still has over 100 ancient stilt houses, most of which are 40 to 50 years old or more. These stilt houses have been passed down through many generations and remain standing to this day.”

These very houses are where cultural heritage is distilled and preserved: from language and lifestyle to folk art forms such as Sli singing, which has now been recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage.

Preserving traditional architecture

According to representatives of the Bac Kan Architects Association, traditional architecture in Bac Kan includes single-story and two-story houses. Traditional single-story houses mainly consist of wooden frame columns, wooden walls, and rammed earth walls mixed with gravel. Traditional two-story houses are basically stilt houses with wooden frames, yin-yang tiled roofs; floors made from bamboo, rattan, or wooden planks. In recent years, people have tended to "move away" from traditional housing, and the structure of villages has therefore "deformed" compared to before, risking the loss of ethnic cultural identity. Houses that have been modernized with concrete are gradually eroding the rural identity of the highlands.

Recently, the Bac Kan Department of Construction conducted an investigation and assessment of traditional architecture. Through this, it was determined that the province still has approximately 9,294 traditional residential buildings. Of these, 8,681 are stilt houses; 605 are earthen houses belonging to the Tay and Nung ethnic groups; and only eight are rammed earth houses of the Dao ethnic group.

Deputy Director of the Bac Kan Department of Construction, Ha Minh Cuong, expressed his concern: “The wood raw material is no longer available, the land for construction is limited, and especially the production methods of the people have changed. Meanwhile, the comparison of material prices between wooden and brick houses, along with the need to modernize life, has led people to gradually replace old stilt houses with other modern types of houses.”

Bac Kan province has made efforts to implement various conservation solutions. Initially, the province is carrying out a scientific research project titled "Assessing the current state and proposing model designs for traditional houses of some ethnic groups in the province"; on the other hand, it is providing guidance on architectural and landscape management in areas with tourism potential, especially around Ba Be Lake and traditional villages. Simultaneously, it is focusing on inventorying and selecting typical stilt houses with historical value to support their preservation and restoration. The Provincial Architects Association has completed model designs for traditional stilt houses and sent them to localities as reference materials.

The aforementioned efforts have initially yielded positive results. For example, in villages such as Khau Dang (Pac Nam), Khuan Bang (Cho Moi), Pac Ngoi (Ba Be)... community-based tourism models have been established. In Khuan Bang, 55 stilt houses have been designed to harmoniously combine tradition and modernity, suitable for use as homestays, and the village even has its own tourism management board.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/giu-nha-co-noi-lung-nui-post881979.html