Tibetan Houses

Tibetan traditional houses, like other cultural forms in Tibet, have their own distinctive characteristics. There are various types of Tibetan houses, including castle-like houses in the southern valleys, tents in the northern pastoral areas, wooden buildings in the forested areas of the Yarlung Zangbo River Valley, and cave dwellings on the Ngari Plateau. Each type reflects the ethnic and regional characteristics of its surroundings.

While providing protection against cold, wind, and earthquakes, Tibetan houses also incorporate features such as ventilation openings, light wells, and skylights to reduce the effects of the harsh climate and geography and improve ventilation and heat retention.

Types of Tibetan Houses

There are two main types of traditional Tibetan dwellings: castle-like houses and tents. In agricultural and pastoral areas, settlements are often centered around monasteries, with houses scattered across the surrounding landscape rather than arranged in dense communities.

Castle-like Houses

The most representative dwellings of Tibetans are castle-like houses. They are called tnkhar or rdzong-mkhar in Tibetan, terms that originally referred to forts. These houses are often built on steep slopes or rocky terrain, with their elevated positions making them easy to defend and difficult to attack. The houses are mostly built of stone and wood, with a dignified and stable appearance as well as a simple and rough style. The outer walls taper upward, but the inner walls of those built against the hill are still vertical. Castle-like houses are solid and stable, with compact structures and clean, straight lines, which is not only good for preventing wind and cold but also for defending against theft.

Castle-like houses are generally two-story structures. The upper floor is used as living space, while the ground floor is used for livestock and storage. Small windows and narrow doors are commonly used to help keep out the wind and cold. If there is a third floor, it will be used as a sutra hall and terrace.

Colorful decorative paintings adorn the walls and beams of the house. The rooftop of the castle-like house is basically flat. The roof is first covered with naturally formed, semi-calcified clay mixed with lime. Then adding water and beating for a long time, it's smeared with ghee or elm sap. After drying, it's hard as stone and smooth as glass.

Tents

Tents are the main form of residence for people in pastoral areas such as Nagqu and Ngari. Tibetan tents are a special architectural form to adapt to the nomadic lifestyle in pastoral areas, for settling down in places with adequate grass and water.

It is common for herders to use yak hair tents as their shelter. The herdsmen first spin threads from yak hair, then weave them into a thick cloth, about two or three millimeters thick, and then sew the cloth into a square or rectangular tent. The tent is supported by wooden poles, about 2 meters high. All around this tent, it is attached with yak hair ropes and fixed to the ground. On the main ridge of the tent, there's a slit about 15 cm wide and 1.5 meters long to let out smoke and heat and provide ventilation; when covered, it helps protect the tent from wind and rain.

The interior of the tent is built with low walls all around, 40-50 cm high, with grass mud or adobe, on which barley, butter bags, and cow dung are piled. The furnishings in the tent are simple, with a fire stove in the middle, with a Buddha image enshrined behind the stove and sheepskin rugs spread around the tent for sitting and sleeping. The tent is easy to set up, dismantle and carry away by one or two yaks.

Tibetan Houses in Regions

Over time, Tibetan dwellings evolved to adapt to the plateau's climate and geography while reflecting local living habits and cultural traditions. The result is an architectural style that makes practical use of locally available materials.

Wooden Buildings of Southeast Tibet

Southeast Tibet generally refers to the regions of Lhoka and Nyingchi. Traditional houses in the forested areas of Southeast Tibet have a distinctive style. Wooden buildings and bamboo buildings with wooden frame structures are mostly used. For the wooden buildings, the entire wall structure, floor surface, and roof are all made of wood as building materials. Wooden stairs on the veranda provide access between floors. The roof is densely covered with wooden shingles and pressed with stones to stabilize it. The space under the wooden building is open for tethering livestock. The upper floors contain living rooms and storage areas. The living room in the center is connected to the external veranda through a small vestibule, and there are warehouses on both sides of the living room.

Cave Dwellings of Northwest Tibet

Northwest Tibet mainly refers to the Ngari region. The climate in this area is relatively harsh, and common building materials such as stone and timber are scarce. Historically, the residential buildings in this area developed slowly and were very rudimentary. In the Zanda and Purang areas, people made use of the region's distinctive soil and geological formations to create cave dwellings. On the basis of the cave dwellings, they later developed houses and cave-combined dwellings. In the valley or the surrounding area where commodity trade is more developed, due to relatively abundant resources, there are also some castle-like houses. Most are two-story buildings. Cave dwellings in Ngari were traditionally built into mountain slopes. On the one hand, the soil quality of the forest is more suitable for digging caves; on the other hand, the terrain is sloping and more defensive, which is good for resisting the harsh winter weather and staying safe. The point is that there're gales on the plateau. Choosing a mountainous area is more conducive to avoiding the cold wind and getting better sunshine.

The floor plans of cave houses are square, round, rectangular, and other shapes, and most of them are 4m×4m square shapes. The cave houses are 2 to 2.2 meters high and have flat-topped arches. On the Tibetan Plateau, caves are a relatively rare type of dwelling.

Tents in Pastoral Area of Northern Tibet

Northern Tibet mainly refers to the Qiangtang region of Nagqu, a vast highland area in northern Tibet. The region has a high elevation and a harsh climate, with an average annual temperature below zero degrees Celsius. As a result, the ecological environment of this area is very fragile. The fragile grasslands are difficult to maintain under such harsh conditions, so herders traditionally move between pastures according to the seasons. In the process of changing seasons and constant migration, the relocatable yak tent has become the most suitable way of living.

Castle-like houses in Pastoral Areas

Tibetan communities also live in Qinghai, Gansu, and western Sichuan. In order to adapt to the climate and environment on the Tibetan Plateau, most traditional Tibetan dwellings are castle-like houses, since the past fort buildings have a great influence on the formation and development of Tibetan dwellings, eg., earth and stone structures, flat roof style, etc. The current Tibetan dwellings have evolved on the basis of castle-like houses. The colors of the castle-like houses are simple and coordinated, basically using the natural colors of the materials and painting the wood parts with dark red. The walls of the entire building are thick at the bottom and thin at the top, and the shape is large at the bottom and small at the top.

Due to the different natural conditions in various regions, the style of Tibetan houses varies by region, but most are castle-like houses. Houses in farming and pastoral areas are first built with mud walls and then partitioned with wooden boards to form many rooms. The ground floor of the house is generally for raising livestock and collecting forage, cow dung, and other things. The second floor contains living spaces such as the kitchen and bedrooms, along with areas for furniture and household belongings. The third floor of the house is mostly a sutra-chanting hall, which is neat and clean. It is often used as a reception room for distinguished guests, reflecting the owner's respect for them, though most poor people have only two floors.