The painted houses of Bai people in Dali City are popular in Dali City and the surrounding Bai areas. The painted buildings of Bai people were created on the basis of certain decorative paintings by craftsmen in the process of building palaces and temples. The "Repairing Corridors and Curved Verandas" in "The Illustrated Biography of Nanzhao" shows that Nanzhao and Dali were the periods when painted buildings began to be widely used. After the development of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the content of Bai architectural painted buildings became richer and richer, and reached a mature stage in the 1930s and 1940s. Yan's Courtyard and Dong's Courtyard in Xizhou Town, Dali City are representative works of painted houses of Bai people. Modern painted houses of Bai people basically follow the traditional craftsmanship, but the materials used are more diversified. Most Bai buildings are civil structures, and blue bricks, white walls, gray tiles and architectural painted houses are coordinated and set off with each other, mainly black, white and gray, emphasizing the highlighting and embodying the main color of "white". Bai architecture requires "the house does not show the material and the wall does not show the shape", so the decorative role of painted houses is particularly important. Color paintings are often painted on the gates, screen walls, gables, waistlines, dragon and horse horns of folk houses. The main patterns include vanilla patterns (such as grass dragons, grass phoenixes, and curled grass patterns), Ruyi cloud patterns, Hui patterns (also known as Wanzi), and various auspicious patterns such as "fishermen, woodcutters, farmers, and readers", "chess, piano, calligraphy and painting", "fire dragons spitting water", "peony curled grass entangled", "flowing clouds and flying cranes", "four joys climbing plums", "one way (herons) rise continuously", "great fortune and heaven", "icing on the cake", "four seasons of peace", "a house full of gold and jade", etc. For thousands of years, the integration of Bai culture, Han culture and even Western culture has given folk house paintings a unique temperament. These Bai folk house paintings, while decorating with unique colors and patterns, highlight the different cultural tastes of the owners of the house, and are also given the functions of warding off evil spirits and educating future generations. Bai architectural paintings are not only used in ancestral halls, temples and large ancient building groups, but also widely used in Bai folk house buildings. While decorating houses with their unique colors and patterns, folk house paintings are also endowed with rich meanings such as exorcising evil spirits, avoiding disasters, and praying for good fortune. Folk house paintings are mostly a combination of carvings and paintings. Rich wood carvings and decorative paintings are made on the gates and eaves. Mud is used to make brackets and some reliefs on the screen walls. Paintings and carvings are coordinated and complement each other. The traditional Dali Bai folk house paintings are a great test of the painter's skills. The painting process is unique, and the most important thing is the primer process of the painting. Wooden structures are generally primed with pig blood ash made from pig blood, tung oil and lime; on mud brick walls, pure gypsum and white cotton paper are mixed to make "paper tendon ash" and apply it to the parts that need to be painted. If you are going to paint on this wall today, the painter will call the plasterer to complete the painting together: the plasterer will brush the "paper tendon ash" on the wall where the painting is to be done. The painter must grasp the time when the lime water dries, and at the most appropriate time, use the brush to make freehand landscapes or various texts on the wall. If it is done a little too early, the ink will be stained with the lime water; if it is done a little too late, the ink will have difficulty penetrating the wall. If the timing is good, the paintings on the Bai people's houses can be completely integrated with the lime on the wall, achieving a long-lasting effect without fading. The painting pigments are mostly mineral pigments. In June 2008, architectural painting (Bai people's house painting) was included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list by the State Council.