The construction of the houses and the living environment are well-chosen and very exquisite in Mayang County. The dwelling place is esteemed as our body, the running water in front of the yard as our artery, the surrounding vegetation as our hair, the tiled roof as our clothing, and the doors and windows as our crown. The majority of houses are nestled between mountains and rivers, with beautiful scenery around. For the wooden tiled houses, there are usually three or five bays. In the center is a hall with a shrine, with a bonfire pond on the left or right. Separate from the house are toilets and animal pens. To prop up the house in the middle are two pillars (“Two” symbolizes family harmony), or three pillars with three beams (Three and three combined into six, metaphorically referring to “Everything will go well smoothly.”), or three pillars with five beams (Three and five combined into eight, implying a booming life.), or even five pillars and seven beams (five, seven, and twelve, metaphorically referring to the prosperous days, weeks, and months). Houses are often surrounded by adobe walls, while a few merely with clay. The walls are sealed even with gray bricks in the wealthy families. These homesteads and dwellings have good light transmittance and strong moisture resistance, warm in winter and cool in summer. They are orderly arranged in the village, revealing the harmony and tranquility throughout the families.

As regards to residential buildings in Mayang, it deserves our attention to the stilted wooden buildings with local characteristics. They are generally positioned on a hillside slope or on a high ground adjacent to the river. The foundation of the stilted buildings contributes into the upper and the lower levels. For the lower level, they are likely uneven, thus propped up by long columns, while short ones are erected on the upper level. The eaves and column bases are often several meters high. No board walls are equipped on the lower level, generally to stack debris or lay idle. In the middle layer of the building are placed with mills, pestles or stoves, as well as livestock. The upper floor is used as a bedroom or storeroom. On one side of the  pillars, there are mostly corridors extending out, surrounded by rails and roofed with gray tiles, forming a quadrilateral slope with overhanging eaves. Some have corridors on four sides to shape a “nook”. By the riverside, the stilted building will be suspended above the river and supported by wooden columns several meters high. This housing structure is not only economical and practical without occupying land, but also conducive to dry and ventilated living rooms, moisture-proof and less susceptible to mold and insects.

A house-building is a major event of the family, and a complete set of rites are strictly followed.

Location Selection   The geomancer is requested by the host to locate the house in consideration of the day and hour of his birth.

Date Selection   The geomancer is requested by the host to select an auspicious launching date for positioning the beams on the pillars.

Launching Ceremony  Carpenter, rock-masons, and saw-masons are requested to move the saws and make cornerstones. Relatives carrying noodles make their way for congratulations. A good meal is served on this occasion.

Sacrificial Ceremony   As soon as the wooden house frame is completed by the carpenter, a sacrificial ceremony is held regardless of sunny, rainy, or snowy days. After installing the cornerstones, incense and paper money are burned by the rock craftsman, butchering a rooster to spread its blood onto the cornerstones. The cinnabar, dry tea, and rice grains are in-fixed between the cornerstone and the rock base with a spell-muttering. Notably, the young rooster merely needs to be pinched on its crest for the sacrifice.

Pillars Positioning   The wooden braces are arranged in sequence on the basis of their functions, in order to construct the pillars of the house. When the first brace is positioned, firecrackers are set off, and the money paper is burned by the carpenter who yells “Together, up!” The helpers simultaneously exert force and slowly position the wooden pillars, firmly fixed with the wooden frames. And then, the next braces are positioned in sequence. A small wooden mound should be placed under each pillar for reassurance. The pillars positioning are settled only at the proper timing (usually the next morning). Then they are nailed to the rafters and purlins, and some even need to be covered with tiles, but the main hall is left without nailing or covering.

Sacrifices to Master Lu Ban    On the evening before positioning pillars and beams, it needs to sacrifice to Master Lu Ban by spreading a mat in the main hall, prepared with a banquet in the middle. After the carpenter pays homage to Master Lu Ban, the founder of wooden tools, he will be entertained and toasted by the host.

Set Up the Beams    It is crucial for the timing of Setting Up the Beams. In advance, wine, vegetable, incense and paper money are prepared by the host in order to acquire in the mountains a proper timber log as beams. A few days before Setting Up the Beams, the straight catalpa or toon trees with both ends cut off and tied with red cloth in the middle are granted by the uncles-in-law on a sunny day with firecrackers set off in a grand ceremony. For the Miao family in Mayang, a house-building is believed the most important event. And the beams of the house are to be granted by the most important relative, which is assumed auspicious. After the beams are trimmed, they are to be placed at a high place, and no one except the carpenter is allowed to cross (when the carpenter is trimming the beams, the peeled wood must be picked aside). There are nine procedures for setting up beams:

1. Sacrifice to the Beams    Beams was placed in the main hall, and the carpenter steps towards the edge of the beam, placing knife heads (or pig heads) as sacrificial offerings, burning incense and paper money, and setting off firecrackers to worship Master Lu Ban.

2. Mutter in the Sacrifice    The carpenter first stands at one head of the beam, muttering auspicious words, and at the other head, muttering in the similar way. The wooden residue at the heads of the beam are to be collected with a bamboo sieve and placed aside.

3. Wrap the Beam    After the carpenter wraps cinnabar and tea rice in the center of the beam with a piece of red cloth, the corners of which is nailed into the beam with three copper coins (or silver shillings), two farmer’s almanacs and two pairs of red chopsticks with five colored silk threads are firmly tied at both ends of the beam to pray for prosperity for generations.

4. Hoist the Beam    The beams are hoisted by the carpenter and his assistants up to the ladder (or tied one end with two pieces of red cloth and ropes to be pulled up to the roof). The carpenter surmounts the ladder, muttering some auspicious words.

5. Rooster Sacrifice    A rooster is clutched in hand by the carpenter, muttering some auspicious words for the house-building.

6. Step on the Beams    With the beams at their place, the carpenter steps on the beams, muttering some auspicious words.

7. Toss Glutinous Rice Cakes from the Beams    The carpenter, muttering some auspicious words, tosses glutinous rice cake first to the host, and then to the guests.

8. Descend the Beams    The carpenter descends the beams, expressing gratitude first to the host, then to the guests, while muttering some auspicious words.

9. Sacrifice to the Beams    A sacrifice to the beams is held with wood-chips burned by the carpenter in the main hall of the house.

Mock-Plow    On the completion of setting up the beams, the roof needs to be fixed and covered with tiles. Then a mock-plow is practised with a buffalo into the main hall. A piece of red cloth is tied on the horns of the buffalo, which is pulled back and forth by the host’s uncle, muttering some auspicious words.

Dangle Plaques and Couplets    Plaques and couplets are granted by close relatives for congratulations. Generally, the plaque, tied with red silk satin to shape an embroidery ball and draped over the head, is granted by the father-in-law, and couplets by the brother-in-law. On the plaque is usually engraved with gold letters, such as “Dragon and Phoenix Bring Prosperity” or “Five Generations of Prosperity” hung above the shrine or gate in the center of the hall. When dangling the plaque, firecrackers are set off (Currently there is a rise in the etiquette of decoration with coloured silk festoons.)

Banquet Setting     The banquet is arranged with three tables in the southeast of the main hall of the new house. The main table is placed by the pillar (commonly known as the “the master’s pillar”) as the top, while the other two tables are arranged according to the titles of the guests in the middle hall. The carpenter and rock craftsman are seated across over the main table, with sawmen or drinking partners on both sides.

Banquet opening     After the carpenter’s blesses to the host, a toast is proposed to open the banquet, commonly known as “serving a drinking”. It is customary to serve “nine” cups, which are homo-phonic blessings with the “lasting”. It is deemed auspicious if the host gets drunk, which is another homo-phonic blessing for living a long and prosperous life.

(Translated by Tian Xia)