Thatched Houses with a Peculiar Flavor

Like most people in the southern regions, the De'angs live in bamboo houses with railings. The framework of the house is made of wood, but all the other parts, such as the rafter, floor, balcony, walls, doors and stairs are made of bamboo, and the roof is thatched.

Most of the Bamboo houses back on hills, facing the east. There are mainly two types: the square and the rectangle. A typical and common bamboo house is square and has a yard, which is common in Dehong area. Such a house has a main storied square house and two subsidiary cottages. People live in the upper floor, on which there is a living room, bedrooms and rooms for storing grains and sundries. The lower floor is used for raising the stock. The subsidiary cottage, leaning on the main house, is built for storing firewood, and the pestle. The shape of the bamboo house is beautiful in shape and graceful in taste. It looks like a Confucius student's hat, which was popular in the Central Plains in ancient times. About its origin, there is a moving story among the De'angs. In the period of Three Kingdoms, the general of Shu Kingdom, Zhu Geliang, led his army to pacify the riot in the south. When he arrived in a De'ang village, he was attacked and hurt. Fortunately, a brave and kind-hearted De'ang girl, Anho, saved him. Although they did not stay long with each other, love bloomed between them. However, Zhu Geliang had to leave because of his missions. In their departure, he gave his hat to the girl and promised that he would return. The girl who was deeply in love with him waited for 18 years, but only to hear the sad news that her beloved was dead. From then on, the brokenhearted Anho neither ate or slept, but only stood on the east side of the village and watched the way on which her lover departed. This lasted for 33 days; but one day when thunders are bursting, lightning flashing, and rain pouring, Anho disappeared. At the place where she had stood, a house appeared, which was exactly in the shape of Zhu Geliang's hat. And that is how the De'angs bamboo house came into being.

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