Rock fencing – Distinct cultural feature of people in Phuc Sen, Quang Uyen

Rocks are used to make fences bordering the houses, garden, cash crops as a security wall of each family.  The fence is about 1.2-1.4 meter high, running along continuously with different shapes and sizes. If it is viewed from a long distance place, it will resemble a sketch with natural and vivid color gamut. It also reflects the creativeness of Nung An people, in which they have had to make use of limited cultivation area for agricultural production in hard conditions.

Ảnh 24: Hàng rào đá được xếp tỉ mỉ, khéo léo mà không cần  sự kết dính nào

 The rock fences of villages in Phuc Sen commune would amaze visitors when they have a close look at the fences because of technical difficulties and arts in arranging the rocks. At the first look, it seems that the fence is easy to collapse, but people might be surprised that it already existed for more than thousands of years a long with the cultural development of Nung An ethnic group. It will be more interesting if visitor come to visit and learn about rock fencing skills of local people here. People have to choose the reasonable size rocks for layering, consolidating, and locking to make best use of limited space but still stable. Rock fencing is mobilized for protection of houses, gardens, rice field, and access roads. Rocks are taken from mountains and their sizes and shapes are carefully selected for layering to create beautiful landscapes but still be helpful to the protection of private property and security means. The rock fence also reflects the tradition of living space that passed from previous generations. The durability of the rock fence has been proved by its stability against hard weathering conditions and through time the rocks becomes stronger connected to each other as if there was glue. Interestingly, the cattle like buffalos, cows or goats, which are on their way to seek for feed or on their way back to their cages, do not impact the rock fence. It is still unknown that when the rock culture started to be practiced by people here, but its existence and development has demonstrated the distinct culture and tradition of Nung An people, especially their a strong internal and great efforts. It has been said that this might derive from the love of their homeland together with their creativeness in production. Rock fences of Nung An people has shaped unique culture, which is linked to their livelihood, self-sufficient production, from cloth weaving, forging of knife, agricultural production equipments, yin – yang tile, etc. The existence of rock fences are one of the most visible evident of traditional culture linked to livelihood production.  Traditional culture features such as rock fence in Phuc Sen need to be sustained and preserved to enhance cultural identity of Cao Bang in general and Non nuoc Cao Bang UNESCO global geopark in particular.