▁its ▁bed ▁design ▁from ▁earlier ▁develop ments ▁due ▁to ▁on going ▁cultural ▁changes ▁during ▁the ▁Southern ▁and ▁Northern ▁D ynast ies , ▁as ▁high ▁furn iture ▁and ▁ch airs ▁came ▁to ▁be ▁pre val ent , ▁over ▁the ▁earlier ▁style ▁of ▁floor - s itting ▁and ▁low - lying ▁furn iture ▁in ▁Chinese ▁culture . ▁ ▁Liter ary ▁evidence ▁from ▁the ▁Sh ui ▁J ing ▁Z hu ▁also ▁gives ▁evidence ▁of ▁he ated ▁flo ors ▁by ▁the ▁Northern ▁Wei ▁D ynast y , ▁though ▁it ▁was ▁not ▁explicitly ▁named ▁a ▁d ik ang : ▁ ▁Culture ▁Trad itional ▁Chinese ▁D well ings ▁( Z h ong gu o ▁ch u ant ong ▁min ju ) ▁( a ▁b iling ual ▁text ) ▁has ▁a ▁few ▁line ▁draw ings ▁of ▁k angs . ▁It ▁says ▁that ▁the ▁k ang ▁is ▁used ▁to ▁cook ▁me als ▁and ▁heat ▁the ▁room , ▁making ▁full ▁use ▁of ▁the ▁heat - ret aining ▁capacity ▁of ▁the ▁lo ess ▁[ so il ▁used ▁to ▁make ▁ad obe ]. ▁The ▁k ang ▁produces ▁radi ant ▁heat ▁to ▁heat ▁the ▁interior ▁space ▁indirect ly ▁in ▁addition ▁to ▁the ▁bed ▁mass ▁itself . ▁It ▁has ▁been ▁spec ulated ▁that ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁oldest ▁forms ▁of ▁Chinese ▁housing , ▁he ated ▁cave ▁dwell ings ▁known ▁as ▁ya od ong , ▁w ides p read ▁throughout ▁northern ▁China ▁would ▁have ▁been ▁un in hab itable ▁without ▁the ▁k ang . ▁ ▁The ▁K ang ▁was ▁also ▁an ▁important ▁feature ▁of ▁traditional ▁dwell ings ▁in