Traditional Houses of Four Regions: Northern Delta Three-Bay House, Hue Rường House, Central Highlands Rông House, Northwest Stilt House

Why do the four regions have different house types?

These four traditional house types grew out of differing natural conditions, social organisation and beliefs. The northern three-bay house and the Hue rường house belong to delta regions, where people build on the ground, use timber as the main material and organise space around the patrilineal family. The Central Highlands rông house and the Northwest stilt house belong to hill and mountain regions, where people build elevated stilt houses to avoid damp and wild animals, and where the house is tied to the community life of the buôn làng or bản mường.

The reference sources used for this article do not cover all four cases fully. Sources on the Hue rường house, the Central Highlands rông house and the Northwest Thái stilt house are fairly detailed. For the northern three-bay house, the collected sources contain no in-depth article, so the presentation below on this case relies only on general knowledge of northern delta residential architecture, without a specific citation. Where sources differ, the article will say so.

Common points among the four house types

All four use local natural materials: timber, bamboo, nứa, thatch or tranh grass. A load-bearing timber frame of columns and rafters is common to all four, though the names of parts and methods of assembly differ. Each house type has an area for worship or spiritual activity, and the position of that area reflects ideas about hierarchy within the family or the community.

The basic difference lies in who the house is for. The northern three-bay house and the Hue rường house are houses of one family, while the Central Highlands rông house is the house of an entire village. The Northwest stilt house is both a family dwelling and carries conventions about male and female roles in living space.

The northern three-bay house

The three-bay house is a common dwelling type of the northern delta, usually built on the ground with a timber frame, a thatch or tile roof, a yard in front and often a garden or pond. The name "three bays" refers to dividing space by rows of columns into three parts: the central bay and two side bays. The central bay is the most formal, holding the ancestor altar and receiving guests. The two side bays serve daily activities and sleeping places for family members. Some houses add lean-tos at the two gable ends, creating the three-bay two-lean-to type.

The sources collected for this article contain no in-depth writing on the northern three-bay house, so details about dimensions, house orientation and building rites are not verified by a specific source. Readers should consult additional material on northern delta residential architecture if exact figures are needed.

The Hue rường house

According to researcher Nguyễn Đắc Xuân, the Hue rường house originated in Quảng Trị. When Lord Nguyễn Hoàng entered Hue around the 17th century, he brought rường houses with him, and by this account many rường houses in Hue were later bought in Quảng Trị and reassembled there. The name "rường" comes from the house having many rường columns, rường rafters and mè, with layouts in the shape of the characters Đinh, Khẩu or Công.

The number of bays in a rường house is defined by rows of columns. The two lean-tos at the two ends are separated from the central bays by partitions. Usable space is usually divided into four parts: the central bay for receiving guests at the front and worshipping deities, Buddhas and ancestors at the back; the east chamber for the male household head; the west chamber for his mother or wife, a woman; and the rear section running from east to west called the hậu liêu, used as a bedroom for children or as a storeroom.

According to an article in Nhân Dân newspaper, the Hue rường house shows Chinese architectural influence in feng shui elements and in fine carvings on columns, đòn giông, altars, parallel sentences, horizontal panels and decorative details. But a rường house is not merely a timber house; it is tied to a garden. The whole garden house is planned by feng shui principles: a screen in front on the main axis of the central bay, two symmetrical symbols of dragon and crouching tiger on either side of the yard, and a minh đường as a water element, which may be a dry basin in the yard or a lotus pond behind a rockery.

The article also quotes cultural researcher Chu Sơn: "Kings and lords lived in rường houses. Royal relatives lived in rường houses. Mandarins lived in rường houses. The rich lived in rường houses. Buddhas and Saints lived in rường houses. Ghosts and demons also lived in rường houses. Ancestors lived in rường houses. Descendants also lived in rường houses." This way of speaking shows the rường house was tied to many social strata and many different activities in Hue culture.

One point to note: the article says rường houses also exist in many central provinces from Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị to Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi, even the Tây Nam Bộ, but when people mention rường houses they usually think immediately of Hue.

The Central Highlands rông house

According to an article in Nhân Dân newspaper, in the Central Highlands each ethnic group builds rông houses differently even though at a glance they look alike. The Giẻ Triêng rông house is small and low, the Xê Đăng rông house soars high, the Gia Rai rông house is slender like an axe blade turned upright into the blue sky, while the Ba Na rông house is soft like a mother hen standing in the middle with a brood of chicks as the surrounding stilt houses.

The article notes a fact: at the time of writing, rông houses remained only among ethnic groups of the northern Central Highlands, from Gia Lai outward to groups along the Trường Sơn range in Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên Huế and Quảng Nam. In the southern Central Highlands, from Đắk Lắk inward, among groups such as the Ê Đê and Mơ Nông, rông houses no longer exist and people build long houses instead, and the community meaning of the long house differs from that of the rông house.

To build a rông house, usually each village or the whole area has only a few people both gifted and trained in the craft, capable of directing villagers in construction. The house uses only thatch, bamboo and nứa leaves, entirely with axes and machetes, yet can withstand dry-season highland winds and rainy-season rain.

The rông house is both a gathering place for villagers, likened by the article to the "heart" of the village, and a response to essential needs: sleeping space, a hearth, a place for guests. Guests reaching the village are invited up to the rông house and treated as if at home; at mealtimes villagers bring food and the guest becomes everyone's guest. The rông house also has a place for villagers to meet, a wide floor to sit on, and a floor with gaps for sitting and drinking rượu cần. In some villages people build two rông houses: a female rông house for women and a male rông house for men.

Spiritually, according to the article, the rông house carries great meaning and governs the spiritual life of the village. The article compares it in one respect to the Vietnamese đình làng. The house expresses the strength of the village: the bigger the rông house, the stronger and more prosperous the village. The rông house is considered a sacred place, an intermediary between people and Yang, so all spiritual activities of the villagers take place there. Every rông house must have a place for sacred objects, and on the roof are decorative patterns and motifs imitating the sun and rau dớn.

In principle, the rông house always stands at the centre of the village. The article cites architectural opinion: with only their hands and estimating eyes, only knives and axes, Central Highlanders created the rông house with proportions judged harmonious. The floor of a traditional rông house is laid with le, leaving gaps so that when drinking from a ghè, spilled water falls straight through. The rông house belongs to the whole village but also to each person: unmarried young men and widowed men may sleep there nightly.

The article also presents differences between traditional rông houses and cultural rông houses built with state investment. According to the article, cultural rông houses are usually placed next to the commune office rather than at the village centre, have no place for sacred objects, use concrete or tight boards instead of a le floor with gaps, and are usually locked at night. The article raises the view that these are reasons some cultural rông houses are little used by the community.

The Northwest stilt house

According to an article by Trần Văn Hạc in Nhân Dân newspaper, the stilt house of the ancient Thái people in the Northwest is described as a "three-world" house, comprising the three elements of heaven, earth and people. Thái bản mường in the Northwest usually cluster by streams and at the foot of hills according to the principle of "sơn chầu thủy tụ".

As for the heaven element, ancient Northwest Thái people conceive of a three-tiered universe that is open and interconnected. The stilt house usually has two gable ends curving like a turtle shell called "tụp cống", linked to the legend of the turtle god "pua tấu" who taught the Thái how to build houses. On the ridgepole at the two gable ends are two crossed wooden bars in an X shape called khau cút. Depending on family circumstances and social status, khau cút are decorated differently from simple to complex, with patterns and motifs of crescent moon, lotus, guột shoot, and always with male and female flowers symbolising yin and yang and the wish for fertility.

Inside the stilt house there is always a sacred column, "sau hẹ". On the sacred column hangs a bamboo basket symbolising the sky called chóp nguôm, on which are hung a wooden turtle god figure, three rice ears, three thì là sprigs, a packet of cabbage seeds, wooden-carved male and female totems, and a sword. The article describes the sacred column as a bridge between earth and sky. On the ends of rafters and window sills are many geometric shapes and motifs imitating grasses, trees, flowers, leaves and animals, in symmetrical pairs according to the harmonious yin-yang principle, including a carving of two thuồng luồng facing each other.

In the ancient Northwest Thái stilt house there are two hearths, one reserved for men and one for women. As for the earth element, the house is made of good timber, bamboo and hóp, roofed with gianh, usually backed against hills and facing a river, stream or field according to the criterion "sơn chầu thủy tụ". When building, feng shui is emphasised to overcome weaknesses of the land and the householder's age. The Thái have a saying: "Làm ăn có tháng, làm nhà có ngày".

As for the human element, the stilt house structure expresses the role and position of each family member. The house always has two staircases: "tang chan" and "tang quản". The chan staircase is for women, usually with nine steps corresponding to "nine souls". The quản staircase is for men, usually with seven steps corresponding to "seven souls". In the stilt house, from the hearth on the quản side to the end of tang quản is the area for men and for worship. The bản mường structure of Northwest Thái people is organised in concentric circles: family, bản, small mường, large mường.

The article also notes that today, with social development, many modern materials are used in construction, but the most basic elements of traditional culture are still respected.

Comparison table of the four traditional house types

Why is the difference so great?

The cited sources explain the differences in several directions. For the Central Highlands rông house, the Nhân Dân article stresses the community role of the house: the rông house is a common living space, a place to receive guests, a place for spiritual activities, and its form expresses the strength of the village. For the Northwest stilt house, Trần Văn Hạc's article explains the difference through the three-tiered universe concept and the division of male and female roles in house space. For the Hue rường house, the article cites researcher Nguyễn Đắc Xuân's explanation of its origin in Quảng Trị and Chinese architectural influence in feng shui and carving.

The point to note is that these sources do not offer one common explanation for all four cases; each source focuses on one case. For the northern three-bay house, this article has no specific source, so it cannot offer a grounded explanation for that case.

Do all places within one region build houses the same way?

No. Within the Central Highlands alone, the article says each ethnic group builds rông houses differently. The Giẻ Triêng rông house is small and low, the Xê Đăng rông house soars high, the Gia Rai rông house is slender, the Ba Na rông house is soft. In the southern Central Highlands, groups such as the Ê Đê and Mơ Nông do not build rông houses but long houses; according to the article on the Ê Đê long house, the long house is where the extended family lives under a matrilineal system, is regularly extended each time a female member marries, and usually houses seven to nine married couples.

As for the rường house, the article also says this type exists in many central provinces and even the Tây Nam Bộ, but when people mention rường houses they usually think of Hue. This shows a house type can appear in many localities with different variants, with no single template for the whole region.

How have traditional houses changed today?

The sources all note change. The article on the Northwest stilt house says many modern materials are used in construction, but the basic elements of traditional culture are still respected. The article on the Ê Đê long house quotes village elder Ama Jeny of buôn Akŏ Dhŏng saying the shape of the long house today has changed considerably in width, length, staircase and interior arrangement compared with before. The article on the rông house notes the appearance of state-invested cultural rông houses alongside the village's traditional rông house.

These changes run in different directions in each region, and the sources do not offer a general judgment on whether such change is better or worse.

What should be kept in mind when studying traditional houses?

The first point is not to treat any one house type as a template for measuring others. Each house type formed in its own context and meets its own needs. The second is that within one region, ethnic groups and localities may have different variants, so the scope recorded by a source should be stated clearly. The third is that sources may not agree on some details, such as the origin or formation period of a house type; in that case, present the different explanations rather than choosing one and treating it as the only one.

This article relies mainly on four Nhân Dân newspaper articles about the Hue rường house, the Central Highlands rông house, the Northwest Thái stilt house and the Ê Đê long house. For the northern three-bay house, as noted above, there is no specific source in the collected material, so the presentation on this case lacks detailed grounding.