Guizhou Dong Drum Tower Guiyang Dongzhai Drum Tower Dongzu Drum Tower Construction Project Miao Minority Diaojiaolou Dong Drum Tower Pictures Dongzhai Drum Tower is magnificent, rigorous in structure, exquisite in craftsmanship, and is a concentrated expression of Dong's architectural skills. It looks like a polyhedron pagoda. Generally more than 20 meters high, from the first floor to the top, all supported by 16 fir columns. The heart of the building is wide and flat, about 10 square meters square, with a fire pit built in the middle of the stone, a wooden railing around, and a long wooden bench for rest. At the spire of the building, a treasure gourd or a thousand-year-old crane is built, symbolizing the auspicious and safe zhaizi. The corner of the eaves is prominently raised, giving people exquisite elegance. Gulou is a distinctive symbol of the Dong village, a representative of the Dong cultural system and a symbol of the Dong civilization. The Drum Tower is not used for living, but it is a majestic, gorgeous village, often a building that consumes the economy and energy of the Dong people. Whether it's the village of Yibapingchuan or the cottage surrounded by green mountains, the beautiful Drum Tower always rises above the village. Generally speaking, there will be a family or clan branch under an ancient building. The predecessor of Drum Tower was called "card room", and the Dong family called it "tang card" or "tang tile". "Tang" means place, "card" or "tile" means everyone. The literal translation of "Tangka" and "Tangwa" is "the place where everyone talks or discusses". Today's Drum Tower, along the Chejiang River in the Rongjiang River, is called "Hundred", and it is called "Gathering Hall" in Qian Ji. An ancient building contains many functions: rest and entertainment, gathering public affairs, drumming newspapers, welcoming guests, stepping down the temple to worship ancestors, etc. are all solved here. The changes of the times have also endowed ancient buildings with various social functions, and they have been inherited from generation to generation, gradually enriching the connotation of Gulou, making it an indispensable icon in the daily production and life of Dong villages. The Drum Tower has a variety of hall styles, dry fence styles, and dense eaves styles. No matter what kind of drum tower, there are generally three parts: upper, middle and lower. The upper part is the apex, with a wooden post or iron post about 3 meters long standing in the center of the top cover, and covered with 5 to 7 ceramic orbs from large to small, making the top part into a gourd shape, just like the spire. Standing in the sky. The roof is a colorful roof, mostly umbrella-shaped. The top cover has four corners, six corners or eight corners. The herringbone fighting arch under the top cover is like a honeycomb hundred-hole window, and the wooden statues around it have bird's nest and mud spots. The craftsmanship is exquisite and the shape is unique. In the middle is a cascading building, shaped like a pagoda. The eaves are generally hexagonal, with simple four corners or complicated octagonal corners. Each eaves angle is a warped angle, stacked one upon the other, with the eaves upward. From top to bottom, one layer is bigger than the other. The main body of the building is four thick and straight long firs, which leads from the ground to the top of the building, which is extremely spectacular. Inside the building, sculptures or paintings, fish, insects, birds and beasts come to life. The Drum Tower was invested by the villagers to raise funds for construction, and was designed and built by the Dong artisans. There are no drawings for the entire building, and the dimensions of hundreds of thousands of beams, beams, and columns are all calculated in mind. This kind of skillful craftsmen is all over Dong Township, especially in Guizhou Liping and Congjiang.
