Environment
An average-sized Dong village has 200-300 homes, although the smallest ones have only 10-20 and the largest ones have more than 1,000 (Geary 2003:43). Dong villages typically have:
- Ganlan-style wooden houses (stilt houses)
- Ancient and sacred trees
- Covered ("Wind-and-rain") bridges
- Wayside pavilions with wooden or stone benches
- Bullfighting arenas, which are fields
- Wells surrounded by stone rims and usually dug near trees
- Fish-ponds, traditionally communally-owned
- Racks for drying grain and granaries
- Village entrances - to protect against intruders, and also are where "blocking the way" ceremonies are located
- Drum towers - usually found only in southern Dong areas today. Drum towers may be village towers or extended-family towers (Geary 2003:47).
- Altars to Sa Sui, the main deity of the Dong pantheon
Popular scenic spots in Dong-speaking territories are the Jiudong region, Liudong region, Chengyang village, Pingdeng region, and Yuping region.
Read more about this topic: Dong People
Famous quotes containing the word environment:
“We learn through experience and experiencing, and no one teaches anyone anything. This is as true for the infant moving from kicking to crawling to walking as it is for the scientist with his equations. If the environment permits it, anyone can learn whatever he chooses to learn; and if the individual permits it, the environment will teach him everything it has to teach.”
—Viola Spolin (b. 1911)
“A positive learning climate in a school for young children is a composite of many things. It is an attitude that respects children. It is a place where children receive guidance and encouragement from the responsible adults around them. It is an environment where children can experiment and try out new ideas without fear of failure. It is an atmosphere that builds children’s self-confidence so they dare to take risks. It is an environment that nurtures a love of learning.”
—Carol B. Hillman (20th century)
“For those parents from lower-class and minority communities ... [who] have had minimal experience in negotiating dominant, external institutions or have had negative and hostile contact with social service agencies, their initial approaches to the school are often overwhelming and difficult. Not only does the school feel like an alien environment with incomprehensible norms and structures, but the families often do not feel entitled to make demands or force disagreements.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)