Dong drum towers: Timeless cultural symbols of Guizhou

Wooden drum towers symbolize the wisdom and culture of the Dong people. [Photo provided to eguizhou.gov.cn]

Zhaoxing Dong Village in Liping county, Southwest China's Guizhou province, has been a testament to human ingenuity since the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). Known as China's largest Dong ethnic settlement, its soul resides in five towering drum pavilions. These structures are so ingeniously designed that locals liken the riverside village to a "timber ark," with the pavilions marking its prow, sails, and stern.

At the village's "stern" rises the Xintuan Drum Tower, a 24-meter masterpiece crowned with 11 tiers of upturned eaves. Adorned with carvings of farmers tending terraced fields and singers harmonizing with mountain echoes, the tower once doubled as an ancient communication hub, its height amplifying drumbeats to warn of danger.

Such marvels owe their existence to Zhangmoshi (Dong master carpenters), whose crafts are recognized as a national intangible heritage. Lu Dehuai is one such carpenter. Armed only with a bamboo ink marker, a ruler, and a lifetime of ancestral wisdom, he conjures blueprints in his mind, translating them into thousands of interlocking beams, pillars, and rafters, all joined without nails or glue.

Across Liping county, 429 drum towers now rise like timber sentinels. Once symbols of communal unity, they've evolved into emblems of cultural revival. As tourists marvel at their fractal-like eaves, these structures pulse with dual vitality – honoring the past while anchoring the Dong people's future.