A Modest Study on Ba Culture and Architecture

Xiang Yixian*

A Modest Study on Ba Culture and Architecture

Xiang Yixian*

Ba people are inherently different from Shu people, but they are also complementary to each other. Ba people are represented to have rough masculine qualities, while Shu people are distinctly described as gentle and graceful, entirely different from the vigorous Ba. The initial buildings of the Ba people were rock pits slightly reorganized in virtue of convenient geographical conditions, which are regarded as the earliest life pattern of the Ba people. After long study and progress, Ba people ultimately came out of wild pits, and perfected the dry column buildings by creating stilted buildings, which bring both security and superiority. The Ba people found the subtlest equilibrium point between utility and aesthetics, achieving a true harmony between human beings and nature.

Ba culture; Ba people; architecture

1．Ba People and Shu People

Today with development of transportation and communications, it is easy to distinguish Ba people from Shu people, namely East Sichuan people from West Sichuan people. From the perspective of philology, despite various interpretations of the character “Ba,” it is accepted by most people that the character must be correlated with a vicious animal (poisonous snake or fierce tiger). InOrigin of Chinese Characters, written by Xu Shen, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, “Ba refers to snake, or a snake swallows an elephant.” The statement is partially verified in the Jiaguwen character “Ba.” In Jiaguwen, “Ba” is like a large wriggling snake in shape. It is also believed by some people that “Ba” refers to “tiger.” Ba people call tiger “Ba”and tiger is the totem of the Ba tribe. “Tiger tribe,” which appeared inJinwen script(inscriptions on ancient bronze objects) is “Ba tribe”in Jiaguwen. This vicious animal plays a critical role in the shaping of the root of Ba culture. The tough quality is manifested in the most distinctive way on a general named Ba Manzi. It was recorded by Chang Qu of the Jin Dynasty, “There was civil strife in the Ba State in the late Zhou Dynasty. Manzi, the general of Ba, borrowed troops from the Chu State to quell civil unrest at the cost of three cities. The King of Chu agreed and sent rescue troops to the Ba State. After civil unrest was subsided, the Chu envoy went to Ba to demand the three cities as promised. Manzi said, “We quelled civil unrest by borrowing troops from the Chu State, however, our country is indivisible and it is impossible to offer them our cities. To manifest our credibilityiwould like to offer my head to the King of Chu to express our gratitude.” Then he committed suicide by cutting his throat and his head was offered to the Chu envoy. The King (of Chu) said, “Ifihad an official like Manzi of the Ba State, for what wouldineed the cities?” The head of Manzi was buried with the etiquette ofShangqing(an official with high rank) in the Chu State, and the body was also buried with the etiquette of Shangqing in the Ba State.[1]Chang Qu praised, “As loyal and decisive as Manzi and as firm and persistent as Fan Mu, both of them are reflections of the simple and homely customs of the Ba State. These famous generals are the elite characters of the rivers and mountains in the Ba region!” Even today, we still feel a gallant spirit beyond description in a substantial number of East Sichuan people, and we are sure there must be the blood of Ba Manzi running in them.

Chengdu was named Shu in the ancient times, and there was fascinating scenery different from nowadays. The character “Shu” appeared early many times in Jiaguwen. There are inconclusive statements about the interpretation of “Shu,” but a great majority of people believe it to be a kind of soft insect (silkworm or poisonous insect). InOrigin of Chinese Characters, it says, “Shu is silkworm, one kind of insect. The upper part of “Shu” stands for the head of an insect while the mid part stands for an insect bending crawling.” InBook of Songs, it says, a bending crawling insect is the character Shu. It is worth noting that the symbol of eyes is highlighted by character builder. Some scholars hold that Shu is an action rather than a noun, keeping eyes open wide to guard against the hidden danger in the surrounding jungle. There is some truth in this argument, asHan Feitzrecords, “Silkworm is like caterpillar; people’s fine hair erects at the sight of caterpillar.”[2]The worm could be a moth larva, and maybe eaten by predators at any time, so they had to always keep their eyes open. Some scholars believe that the character Shu is a representation of the ancient Shu people’s worship of eyes, from the cultural relics investigations at the Sanxingdui Site. Scholars in the study of dialect history hold that Shu is a dialectical word in the Shu region. Tang Shigui points out, “People with the surname of Shushan in the ancient times have inevitable connection with mulberry leaf harvest and silkworm rearing. As born lonely, each wild one piece of mulberry leaf for adequate nutrition. Therefore, Shu has an extended meaning of “l(fā)oneliness.”[3]The mountains where the tribes resided, who reared wild silkworms in the Minjiang River Valley in the earliest years, are named the Shushan Mountains, and the tribes are named Shushan’s. Their descendants later married the Huangdi tribes in the central plains.

There are inconclusive statements about the interpretation of “Shu,”but a great majority of people believe it to be a kind of soft insect.

In any case, an insect is bending crawling, thelithe, gentle and even graceful posture is apparently entirely different from the tough and vigorous Ba. Ba culture and Shu culture happen to be complementary to each other. The blue hills of Ba and the green waters of Shu add radiance and beauty to each other, and play the gorgeous movement of the symphonic poem of Chinese civilization.

2．Red Pit and Black Pit

The initial buildings of the Ba people were rock pits slightly reorganized in virtue of convenient geographical conditions, the same as those of ancestors of other ethnic groups. They were regarded as the first choice for residence as living in pits was the earliest life pattern of the Ba people. As Liang Sicheng said, “When our ancestors lived in the field pits, they chipped stones to produce objects for daily use; they began to paint in the dwelling pits, and therefore, sculpture is the most ancient among all forms of art as it originates from the Stone Age.”[4]The pit materials of the Ba people’s early residences were mainly rocks. Most of the original dwellings of human ancestors were pits. From that time on, humans have had a cultural connection with rocks. Rocks were habitats as well as shelters. In these natural homes, early humans found a sense of security, to prevent invasion of coldness and attacks of wild animals. Rock still plays an indispensable role in human civilization, even in this era of highly developed buildings. Any magnificent building in the world cannot do without rocks. The ancestors of the Ba people had a special affection for rocks. Today there remains the Rock City ruins of the Dragon Mountain people in the southern suburbs of Guang’an City in northern Sichuan Province, which is a fort from the ancient Ba State.[5]

Living in pits was the earliest life pattern of the Ba people.

There are two well–known primitive dwelling pits of the Ba people, one is red pit and the other is black pit, as described in relevant historical records. Early written records come fromShi Ben. Song Zhong of the Han Dynasty wrote annotations of this book, “The ancestors of Lin Jun took Wushan Mountain as their dwelling. In the Nanjun region of Bajun, there were five major surnames namely Ba, Fan, Shen, Xiang and Zheng, and all of them were from WuluoZhongli Mountain. One day, the mountain collapsed, there appeared two pits, a red one and a black one. The son of the Ba tribe was born in the red pit, while the sons of the other four tribes were born in the black pit. They could not distinguish the elders and the betters, so they all served ghosts and gods. Linjun, the son of the Ba tribe, was named Wuxiang, as well as sons of the other four tribes started to fight with each other. They agreed to select the best one as their leader by spearing on the pit wall. The one whose spear ran deep into the rock would be the leader called Linjun. The other four people failed to spear into the pit wall except Wuxiang, whose spear ran so deep into the rock that his sword could be hung on the spear. He won great admiration of all the people. Later, they made five boats with soil, and made carved paintings in the body of the boats. Then they agreed to select the best one as their leader by floating boats on the water. The one whose boat succeeded in floating would be the leader called Linjun. This time Wuxiang succeeded again, and therefore, Wuxiang was revered as Linjun.”[6]Later, Fan Ye, a historian of the Liu Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties,followed this record inBook of Later Han Dynasty (Biographies of Southwestern Yi of Southern Barbarians Volume 76).[7]In the record of Li Daoyuan, there were two pits of two opposing principles in nature, the former feminine and negative, the latter masculine and positive, namedYin and Yang, of the ancestors of the Ba people. In the pits, Ba people offered sacrifices to gods or ancestors and prayed for rain, and also took them for shelter.[8]Music History Tai Ping Huan Yu Ji(Changyang County) says, “The Wuluo Mountain is also called Nanliu Mountain, located 78liaway to the northwest of the county, where Linjun was born.”[9]Changyang County of Hubei is located in the Qingjiang River Basin (Yi Water), and was named Hen Mountain in the Han Dynasty, renamed Changyang in the Sui Dynasty and named Changyang(same pronunciation but different characters) in the Tang Dynasty. Dong Qixiang states that “Wuluo” is a tribe of Wu.[10]Fang Xuanling and other politician and historian of the Tang Dynasty, inBook of Jin, provided the origin of the names of red pit and black pit, “The formerly WuluoZhongli Mountain burst apart and two rock pits were generated. One was as red as cinnabar and the other was as black as raw lacquer. One man, named Wu Xiang, came out of the red pit, from the tribe of Ba. The other four men came out of the black pit, from the tribes of Shen, Fan, Bai and Zheng. They started to fight with each other for who would become the leader. Wu Xiang proposed to spear on the pit wall. The one whose spear ran deep into the rock would be the leader called Linjun. The other four people failed to spear into the pit wall except Wuxiang, whose spear ran so deep into the rock that his sword could be hung on the spear.”[11]On account of this record, the Ba people seemingly paid more attention to the color red. Wu Xiang, the first Ba ancestor whose name was recorded in history and who dwelled in the red pit, always won in a variety of mysterious competitions, while members of other tribes did not have such fortune. This original political electoral system indicated the gallant character of the warlike Ba people. Their personal charm was demonstrated in the fair and open competitions.

The Ba tribes of five surnames took tiger as their totem, and regarded rock pit as a sacred place. They first dwelled in the Wushan Mountain area, and later moved to WuluoZhongli Mountain in Hubei. Based on this, Ren Naiqiang, scholar of national history, concluded, “Wuzai culture appeared before Ba culture and Chu culture. Ba ethnic group became flourishing, with the bearing of Wuzai culture, and appeared approximately 1,000 years later than Wuzai culture, and several hundred years ahead of the development of Shu culture.”[12]When Mr Ren drew this conclusion, he was restricted by the ancient excavation at that time. With the constant discoveries of the Jinsha and Sanxingdui Sites, and the Yingpanshan culture, the statement that Shu culture appears later than Wuzai culture is doubtlessly false today.

3．Ganlan and Stilt House

The Ba people migrated from the east to the west, from Wushan Mountain to the Yi River Basin, and further entered the east of Sichuan region (Chongqing area) and the northeast of Sichuan region (represented by the Luojiaba Site of Dazhou). Its history went back to the West Sichuan region. There is one legend about Kaiming, the emperor of Shu, inChronicles of Huayang, “Bieling, a man of the Chu State, one day accidentally fell into the water and drowned. His body swam against the current to Pi. It was strange that he revived as soon as his body was dragged out of the water. Out of curiosity, Wang, the emperor of Shu, met him and assigned him to be the prime minister of Shu for his wisdom, and later abdicated and handed over the crownto Bieling due to his meritorious service in flood prevention.”[13]Through the fog of legend, the prime minister Bieling, who accepted the demised throne from Du Yu, the Wang emperor of Shu, and offered meritorious service in flood prevention, in fact, may be a representative of the heroes from the East Ba tribes. He replaced the Wang emperor and it can be imaginable how changeable the political situation was as waves and clouds, otherwise, why did the holy and frank emperor Du Yu become a crying blood cuckoo after he handed over his throne? Wasn’t there any pain or loneliness unspeakable in the bloody sad moan?

The Ba people, ultimately, came out of the original state of dwelling in wild pits, after long study and progress. They began to construct buildings or houses of their own which were good for human lives.

All the cultural activities of human beings are restricted by the environment. Factors like geography and climate always play an important role in regional cultures. They have even more direct and significant impacts on architectural cultures. We can even say that buildings grow out of specific geographical space and climate. It is true with ancient buildings, as with buildings today, which are still restricted by geographical conditions and climate to a large degree. Thus, buildings in the north and in the south, of the inland and coastal areas, are apparently different. The core idea of the theory of organic architecture, proposed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, is “Taoism reflects the natural laws” of Lao Tzu. Architects should act in accordance with laws revealed by nature, and these laws include local geographical conditions and climate, as nature is organic and growing.[14]Accordingly, Charles Correa, the Indian architect, put forward “architectural pattern follows local climate,” and confirmed that climatic conditions determine culture and means of expression, customs and etiquette. In the sense of origin, climate is the source of myth.[15]This idea is fully and perfectly reflected in the buildings of the ancient Ba people. Their buildings are just naturally organic, “following climate and geography.”

West Hubei, East Sichuan and Northeast Sichuan, where Ba people dwelled, are subtropical, humid, monsoon regions with abundant rainfall and high temperature. There is a severe shortage of sunshine due to hazy mist. There are high mountains with obstacles everywhere, and a horizon of valleys as soon as you open the window. Stilt architectural culture, preferred by the Ba people, was formed with a reflection of climate and geographical conditions.

There are records about stilt house in the ancient classical writings, and it is mostly related to southern minorities. Du You, a great historian of the Tang Dynasty, mentioned several times, “The north of Nanping bordered on Fuzhou, and there were more than 4,000 families in the tribes. There were poisonous weeds growing, and chiggers, and adders living in the mountains. People climbed ladders to get into the buildings, where they dwelled. It was calledGanlan.”[16]It also records in the same book, “Liao is another tribe of southern barbarians, originating from Liang and Yi, and reached Qiongzuo in the mid Han Dynasty. They dwelled everywhere in the mountains and valleys…They accumulated wood by attaching to the trees, and dwelled on the wood. It was namedGanlan. The size ofGanlanvaried with the number of family members. Usually a chief was recommended, however, he could not exercise control over a large area. After the death of the father, his son inherited his privileges, which was like the members of the same clan.” There is similar record in theBook of Tang.[17]We can obtain the following information from these records, first, the hosts of stilt houses were southern barbarians and Liao ethnic groups; second, they were distributed in the southparticularly Fuzhou, Yuzhou, Liang and Yi; third, there were poisonous weeds growing, and chiggers, and adders living and malaria in the mountains; fourth, there were two layers of stilt buildings, people living upstairs and climbing the ladders to get in. Clearly, this building life was designed to adapt to the specific geography and climate, to avoid the wet malaria and the attack of venomous serpents and wild beasts.

Ganlan is a house built on a wood (bamboo) column frame.

Ganlanis a house built on a wood (bamboo) column frame, also known asGaolan,GelanandMalan. Some scholars believe that “ganlan” comes from transliteration of the Zhuang language, “gan”for “above,” and “l(fā)an” for “house,” so it means“house above” jointly. Its meaning matches “they accumulated wood by attaching to the trees, and dwelled on the wood. It was namedGanlanin literature records.[18]The stilt buildings have an ancient history, and they maybe a derivative form of human’s living in trees. Han Feitz said,“In ancient times, there were few people and a substantial number of birds and beasts, and people suffered a lot from birds, beasts, insects and snakes. Therefore, a saint constructed a nest of wood to avoid being attacked. The people were happy with his creation.[19]InTai Ping Huan Yu Ji, it records, “People usually built nests of wood to avoid malaria.”[20]Zhang Hua stated directly inNatural History, “Nanyue people dwelled in nests, while Beishuo people dwelled in pits, for the purpose to escape cold and heat.” According to archaeological discoveries, the initial stilt buildings dated back 7,000 years, in the ruins of the Hemudu Site in Yuyao. Later, pottery stilt model buildings were discoveredin places like Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan and so on. In the typical stilt buildings, people live upstairs with captive animals reared downstairs. The archaeologist An Zhimin concluded that stilt building is the indigenous architectural type of the Yangtze River Valley and its southern region, and it appeared as early as the late Neolithic period.[21]

Despite the fact that stilt buildings are not original with the Ba people, they were perfected by them, and stilt buildings with distinct characters, are formed. This architectural style, with Ba people’s affection, differs completely from the Linpan architectural style of the Western Sichuan Plain.

The regions of the Ba people’s activities, as mentioned earlier, are of mountains, rivers and fog. They are humid with little sunshine. It becomes the first factor to be considered for buildings in Bashan Mountain to avoid humid air and prevent a variety of diseases (particularly rheumatism) and snakes and insects. The stilt buildings of the Ba people are usually situated at the foot of a hill and beside a stream. One side of the building is constructed on the ground along a mountain slope or platform terrain, and the other side is supported by bamboo suspended in midair. This half ground half air architectural style provides residents with multiple psychological comforts in addition to simplicity and practicality. On one hand, it brings a sense of security by being on the ground. On the other hand, it brings a sense of superiority by being suspended in the air. The Ba people found the subtlest equilibrium point between utility and aesthetics, achieving true harmony between human beings and nature. This cultural temperament of the union of heaven and human and natural laws is fully expressed in the respects of buildings, clothing, and means of traveling as well as life and death rites of the simple ancient Ba culture. Zhang Dainian carried out careful analysis on the understanding of the union of nature and humans.[22]There are mainly two implications for the union of nature and humans in Chinese philosophy, first, humans were an integral part of nature originally; and second, humans should be an integral part of nature. There are two statements for the first meaning, that is, heaven and humans are interlinked, and there are similarities between the two. The first statement, that nature and humans are interlinked, can be understood in two aspects. In the first aspect, it is believed that nature and humans should be regarded together rather than independent and separate, and there is no distinct division. In the second aspect, nature is the origin of ethnic morality. To understand the first aspect, humans are the origin as well as one integral party of nature, however, to understand the second aspect, the so–called human nature refers to humans’difference from non–humans. The shared part between humans and non–humans is also the origin but is exclusive from human nature. So to speak, it is true that humans developed on the foundation of nature, while human and nature is special and was generated later, instead of general natural laws. As for the union of heaven and humans, seemingly, natural law is regarded as human nature; but in fact it is the other way around, that is, the truth of human relations is regarded as the dominant principle of the universe. This is a mistake of personification. The significance of the similarity of nature and humans can be understood in two regards. First, they are similar in forms, which is an attached statement. Second, they are similar in nature, which resembles the statement of the union of nature and humans, and ethnic morality is regarded as natural law.

The stilt buildings of the Ba people stand upright between sky and earth, running through the air with adequate lighting.

The stilt buildings of the Ba people stand upright between sky and earth, running through the air with adequate lighting. People make the best use of the advantages of nature and bypass the disadvantages. The buildings are well designed structures, with a sense of propriety. Dwelling in the stilt buildings, people can live on a balcony looking into the distance, and see a setting rosy sun, lonely ducks, a fascinating autumn or spring comes into view and are of the same hidden virtues and the same commonplace sights. It is a wonderful feeling. The writer Shen Congwen’s favorite is stilt buildings in his hometown. He wrote about these charming and sentimental stilt buildings, “Half is landed and half is in water. The stilt buildings can be found everywhere due to and despite and restriction.”[23]He is talking about buildings in west Hunan, so are the buildings of the Ba people in Daba Mountain, particularly the stilt buildings in the misty rain, which are of infinite implications despite the restricted land.

(Translator:Ding Xiaohua; Editor: Yan Yuting)

This paper has been translated and reprinted with the permission ofForum on Chinese Culture, No.12, 2016.

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*Xiang Yixian, associate professor, Sichuan University.