Located in the Ban Gioc Waterfall Tourist Area, Khuoi Ky stone village with its unique stone stilt houses is an attractive destination for tourists when coming to explore Cao Bang.
Origin of the stone village
The custom of building stone houses comes from the Tay people’s belief in worshipping the stone god, a god who protects their peaceful life. They consider stone to be the source of life and the center of the universe, humans are born from stone and when they die, they will turn into stone.
Another reason why the Tay ethnic group prefer to build stone houses is because they live in the remote area where many wild animals and robberies often occur, so the Tay people have created the structure of stone stilt houses. They hope that members living in stone houses will avoid risks.
According to the history researches, these stone stilt houses have existed for a long time, around 1594 – 1677, when the Mac Dynasty came to Cao Bang to build a citadel to protect the country. The village has 14 stone stilt houses spread over an area of about 10,000m², leaning against the rocky mountain, in front of the Khuoi Ky stream.
Unique architecture of Khuoi Ky Stone Village
The unique and ancient architecture of this village is completely different from the usual villages of the Tay and Nung ethnic groups in the Northeast.
To build a stone house, the Tay people have to spend a lot of effort. From the time they intend to build a house, they have to prepare materials several years in advance. The most important material for building a house is hard, beautiful stones. The solid walls are arranged from tens of thousands of large and small stones with a glue mixed with lime and sand.
Then, it takes about 2-3 years to build a stone house. Each house is usually 5-7m high, with 2 floors. The lower floor is made of wooden pillars firmly built on a stone foundation. The roof is covered with yin-yang tiles. Therefore, stone houses are always cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
The choice of location to build a house is also carefully considered. The place to build a house is usually high, with the foot of the mountain as a support point, facing the direction of the open natural landscape, convenient for working and living.
The architecture of the house in Khuoi Ky stone village has three main rooms, each room is separated by a wooden plank frame for convenient living, the house foundation is made of boulders and the column base is also made of reprocessed stone. For the Tay people in Trung Khanh, the stilt house is a sacred place, where the unique characteristics of life through many generations are preserved.
Stone in Khuoi Ky is present everywhere, not only for building houses but also for making daily household items such as mills, stoves, fences, dams, etc. Therefore, the Tay community in Cao Bang always sets aside certain days to worship and thank the stone god.
Stone mills
A set of stone table and chairs
In 2008, Khuoi Ky stone village was recognized as a “Typical traditional cultural village of ethnic minority communities”. Since 2016, thanks to investment, local people have been willing to learn about community tourism, and up to now, Khuoi Ky has 14 households participating in tourism. Despite the changes, people still remind each other to preserve their national identity, which is the core attraction of the stone village in the border region.
Source: collected by An
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