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Guting Barn

        Before the Japanese Colonial period, there weren’t any large silos built in Taiwan. During this time, the farmers of Changhua district commonly used the guting barn to store their grains. In fact it was an inseparable addition to a farmer’s house. One of the old Changhua farmers said, “When building a guting barn and when it’s completed you must worship the deity of heaven and earth, tidy up the place during new year and special holidays, paste the spring festival couplets of fortune and full on the door frames and put glutinous rice balls on the window sill and give thanks to the deity for taking the responsibility of storing and caring of the grains.

        The traditional guting barn in Taiwan was shaped like a bowl and used weaved bamboo as aggregate. Its inner and outer layers were rubbed with straws, husks, and mud mixed with ox manure. With the concrete board of the oxcart as base the outer surface is coated with cement and lime. The top of the guting barn was framed with bamboo and then covered with iron sheet and hay. A square window is reserved for easy access to the grain. The bottom of the barn is elevated with bricks to prevent soaking of grain and the distended shape of the barn prevented vermin from climbing up into the barn.

        Shunxing Automobile on Yuanlu Road, Fuxing Township has a perfectly preserved guting barn. The barn was covered by festive spring festival couplets which symbolized a prosperous harvest and also the gratitude of the farmer. Although, due to change in agricultural industry structure guting farms have gradually lost its function as grain storage, situated in the middle of countryside it attracted many tourists here. It is the best living material for educational school field trips. It also presented a different image of the countryside.
 

Festive spring festival couplets, symbolizing a prosperous harvest

[References]
Taiwan Literature, No. 23, Landmarks of Traditional Villages in Taiwan – Guting Barns