Homes for Sale in Taklimakan

September 27, 2019, was a historic day for the residents of the riverside village of Kerry County, Hotan Prefecture. At the behest of the Chinese government, dozens of trucks have completed the task of relocating the last 114 homeless villagers along the riverbank, relocating all 362 homeless Uighur families who have lived in the interior of the Taklimakan Desert for thousands of years to a completely new settlement.

The village of Daryaboyi is located in the north of the Kerry County Oasis, in the interior of the Great Desert, 365 km long from south to north and 96 km wide from east to west. With a population of just over 1,300, the area is very sparsely populated and scattered. They answer. In fact, what they say is "there" is a distance of 30-40 km, which would take 2-3 hours on foot.

For centuries, river dwellers have been accustomed to this form of dispersal settlement, and the whole village has been mainly engaged in pastoralism. In the process, the seamen formed their own unique cultural features, from which we can find ancient cultural relics, dusty customs, and sand-covered artifacts of history that China is trying to eradicate. The unique linguistic customs, food culture and interpersonal perspectives of the people living in the area are valuable materials to be studied in terms of linguistics, anthropology and sociology. However, with the opening of the village of Daryaboyi to the outside world by the Chinese government, activities aimed at creating economic value for the Chinese mainland have come to an end with the visits of explorers and tourists from the Chinese provinces. For example, the construction of highways, the development of oilfields and the excavation of valuable medicinal plants such as rabbits, chrysanthemums, and the hunting of wildlife such as deer have caused the ecological balance to be severely disrupted. 

As a result of these disruptions, the peaceful balance of life of the riverbanks has been disrupted and lifestyle habits have begun to change. For example, the construction of highways, the development of oilfields and the excavation of valuable medicinal plants such as rabbits, chrysanthemums, and the hunting of wildlife such as deer have caused the ecological balance to be severely disrupted. As a result of these disruptions, the peaceful balance of life of the riverbanks has been disrupted and the habits of life have begun to change. For example, the construction of highways, the development of oilfields and the excavation of valuable medicinal plants such as rabbits, chrysanthemums, and the hunting of wildlife such as deer have caused the ecological balance to be severely disrupted. As a result of these disruptions, the peaceful balance of life of the riverbanks has been disrupted and the habits of life have begun to change.

The people of Daryaboy, for centuries, have been the heroic people who, in the midst of the sandstorms of Taklimakan against natural disasters, have created a genealogy of bravery and, as the guardians of traditional Uyghur culture, have given hope to the heartbroken.

This ancient village resembles an open-air folklore museum in the desert, and for us, the sound of cooling means a piece of golden soil that has not yet lost its magic and is a true national identity.

An important factor that has kept the riverbanks in their history for thousands of years is their homes. We are amazed that the structure of the ancient ruins, which dates back to the historical period 3-4,000 years ago, found in the Tarim Valley, is similar to the residential structures of the peoples living along the river in later times. According to the analysis of bora, wool, wood and lime found in the ruined houses, the pillars of the huts at that time were made of flat cucumbers and the roof was covered with reeds. The one-story house was divided into two hangers, with the first floor being covered with bora and selenium, and the top with a felt. A stove is placed in the center of the house. Some houses have 3-4 doors, and in all houses boiler rooms have a special place. Boiler houses were mainly used to store stocked fish and smoked ducks. Comparing this type of housing structure to the housing structure of today’s river dwellers, all of the river dwellers are basically living in for sale houses and double houses. Homes for sale are divided into three types: fall, summer, and winter. 

All sales are covered with yarn or reeds. Four pillars are placed on the four corners of the house, and the roof is made of solid wood, and the roof is covered with flat, thick branches, and reeds, and no mud is pasted. Indoors, ovens, platforms, air, shade, hangers, shelves, etc. will be arranged. The area in the middle of the house is engraved and the fire is lit all year round. Homes for sale are divided into three types: fall, summer, and winter. All sales are covered with yarn or reeds. Four pillars are placed on the four corners of the house, and the roof is made of solid wood, and the roof is covered with flat, thick branches, and reeds, and no mud is pasted. Indoors, ovens, platforms, air, shade, hangers, shelves, etc. will be arranged. The area in the middle of the house is engraved and the fire is lit all year round. Homes for sale are divided into three types: fall, summer, and winter. All sales are covered with yarn or reeds. Four pillars are placed on the four corners of the house, and the roof is made of solid wood, and the roof is covered with flat, thick branches, and reeds, and no mud is pasted. Indoors, ovens, platforms, air, shade, hangers, shelves, etc. will be arranged. The area in the middle of the house is engraved and the fire is lit all year round.

Sven Hedin

The so-called Lopnur people in the Lop area, located in the Tarim, Konchi and Cherchen River valleys, but in the habit of those who call themselves "Loptuks", there are three types of houses: wall houses, adjoining houses, and reed houses. The adhesive house is made entirely of reeds and the interior and exterior of the house are soaked in straw clay. The torus and doors are made entirely of reeds.

The main wildflowers in the riverbank area are reeds, cannabis, logs, and oats, and the people of the riverbank have used these plants for housing, fuel, clothing, and fishing. In the Reed-Lopnur area there is an important plant in the life of the people, and the local loafers call the reed "reed."

Swedish archaeologist Sven Hedin published his four-volume book, Scientific Proceedings of a Central Asian Journey, in 1902, based on his expedition to Central Asia from 1899 to 1902. Parts of the book, entitled "Lopnur" and "The Tarim River," detail how Sven Hedin explored and explored the area in 1899 among the sand dunes known as the present-day River District. At the time, Sven Hedin commented on the sale of Uighurs living in the villages of "Chigalik House", "Alkatik Cheke", and "Yurt Chapkan". He also included photographs of local residents among his Taklimakan paintings. These materials provide us with first-hand resources in the study of Uyghur ethnography.

Hungarian-born British archaeologist Aurel Stein also left Calcutta, India, and arrived in the village of Daryaboy in 1901. He is thought to have been involved in a search of the ancient city of Kara Dong and the ruins of Niya, along the Kyrenia River, led by Uyghur leaders. Avril Stein pointed out that some of the carpets and palaces found in the ruins were exactly the same size as carpets placed on the porches of East Turkestan houses.

Sven Hedin's expedition notes that in addition to the reeds, the wood is used in the construction of the house for sale, in the local language the corner of the house is "fox", the roof beams are "barrage", the timbers on it are "belts", the narrow timbers parallel to it, the "narrow" timber We can get information that wood is called "shield" and smaller wood is called "wood". Sven Hedin also detailed and described the ownership of the house in the sale house a century and a half ago: The "stove" is dug up and built in the middle of the house, surrounded by a barrier with wood, and these barriers are called "stoves"; Instead of fixing the windows and windows to prevent the smoke from coming out of the furnace, they make a "hole" by digging a hole in the torus; It does not put carpets or felt directly on the ground, and it is called a "pistachio" made of reeds and carpets on the top of a wolf's head. Next to the wall is a wooden box called "hammer" about a meter and a half high, which is used to store clothes and blankets. In addition to the "boat", there is also a fishing net called "Golma". The boat is called a "hug". Among the highlights and accessories in the family are the following:

Sven Hedin, who surveyed the cemetery, stressed that the ruined and decorated houses in the ruined Croran country are exactly the same as the porch-yard architecture of today’s East Turkestans. He also pointed out that from the point of view of the structure of the houses in the ruins, the construction of the whole city is still similar to the layout of the houses in the villages and towns of East Turkestan. That is, the location of the houses at that time was the same as in the 19th century, with courtyards, caravanserais and markets separated by gardens, flower beds or farmland. At the time, the houses built for sale were woven in a similar way to the ones that are now being bulldozed in the narrow streets of the East Turkestan market or the ones that are put under the rug.

Selling houses in Taklimakan is the most vibrant window that connects the Uyghurs with the distant past and the present living environment. Selling houses, in turn, is an indisputable fact that the Uyghur people have historically lived in the orchards around the Taklimakan Desert where the mysteries of world culture have been buried for generations. In the ancient ruins of the Tarim Valley, the still unexplored residences and their construction techniques have continued to this day, and its elegance, usability and convenience show the vitality of Uyghur home culture and the art of architecture.

Source : rfa