Kang bed-stove

A Kang ( Chinese: Kang炕; Manchu: nahan; Tibetan: cachi ཚ་ཁྲི་ ) is a traditional brick oven bed for several people, as in the country, especially in Northeast China, in part but also west to Tibet to is now in use.

Method of construction

Through a system of tubes ( Kangdong炕洞) Kang the exhaust air is supplied by the fire pit and Kang so heated from below. Each located between the fireplace and the Kang and between Kang and the fireplace a collecting point for ashes, so that the tubes are not blocked. The surface temperature is usually kept at 40 ° C.

Today Kangs are often built out of concrete.

Use

Especially in winter, do not just sleep on the kang, but you stick during the day to him. For eating and for another purpose then a small table ( kàngjī炕 几or kàngzhuōzi炕桌 子) is placed on the Kang.

Traditionally, it was on the kang, a hierarchical sleeping arrangements. At the top of the hierarchy was the place where the fire pit was closest ( kàngtóu炕头). There slept the oldest man of the household, his wife beside him, followed by the rest of the family after generation, age and gender.

The Kang is also used for drying laundry ( Kangbu炕 布) and field crops, as well as used for hatching of eggs.