Dawanshiju——Shenzhen Pingshan castle-style Hakka enclosed house building

Dawanshiju is located in the Hakka Village southwest of Pinghuan Community, No. 33 Dawan Road, Pingshan District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province. It was built in the 56th year of Qianlong’s reign in the Qing Dynasty (1791) and is a castle-style Hakka enclosure. Longwu Building covers an area of ??25,000 square meters, with a construction area of ??16,600 square meters and more than 400 houses.

The internal layout of Dawanshiju is composed of nine streets, eighteen patios, eight building feet, plus the interconnected Zouma Tower on all sides. The streets and alleys of Dawanshiju extend in all directions and are symmetrical from north to south.

Judging from the layout of the residence, Dawanshiju is rectangular, with the ancestral hall, middle building and back building as the central axis. Two rows of hard-topped buildings with the same form, layout and size are symmetrically distributed on both sides. style house. The gate of Weilong House faces south, and there are four characters "Dawanshiju" on the gate tower. There is Heping and Yuechi in front of the gate, and Shadunpi behind it, which is a trinity of water storage, irrigation and flood control. The wall is more than six meters high, surrounded on four sides, with a circumference of about 500 meters. It is made of rammed earth and has a horse walkway on the top of the wall, known as the "Ten Pavilions Walking Horse Walk". There are also three-story high watchtowers distributed all around, and the bullet holes are widely spread.

It is surrounded by a courtyard wall about 80 centimeters thick. There is a moat outside the wall. There are watchtowers around the wall. There is a half-moon-shaped Feng Shui pond in front of the whole building. There are three gates on the front wall. The middle gate is an archway decorated with cornices and gray sculptures. The wooden components are beautifully carved. There are two gates on the left and right. There is a middle gate that leads to the courtyard through the gatehouse. The ancestral hall is in the middle. Generally speaking, the ancestral hall is a place to gather clan strength, strengthen clan unity, resist foreign invasion, and handle internal affairs. It is the political and cultural center of a clan. The ancestral hall is the centerpiece of the group architecture of Dawanshiju. The plaque on the ancestral hall reads "Duan Yi Gong Ancestral Hall". The ancestral hall is divided into three entrances, with wooden plaques reading "Guang Zong Yao Clan" and "Yan Yi Yimou" hung in the front hall. Three plaques are hung on the walls and main beams on both sides of the central hall to promote the noble integrity and high moral prestige of the tribe, such as: "Praise for political talent...", "Eager for success and good righteousness...". A shrine is set up in the middle of the back hall, with the "Zhuiyuan Hall" shrine engraved on it to enshrine the tablets of ancestors of the Zeng family.

Features of Dawanshiju

Dawanshiju inherited the architectural style of the Song Dynasty: "three buildings in the front, middle and back, and two attached houses on the left and right", also known as "three halls and two horizontals" ", is a typical Hakka architectural style. The architectural style reflects the traditional feudal etiquette of the Central Plains and the basic format of the Han and Jin manor-style forts, reflecting its historical origins. Therefore, Hakka architecture deeply contains the unique family system and hierarchical concepts of Confucian culture. For example, the ancestral hall is at the top with clear priorities. The ancestral hall is the central axis running through the whole, and the layout is symmetrical. The back wall of the entire building is built in a semi-circular arc shape, echoing the half-moon-shaped Feng pool in front. It is a typical Confucian concept of the balance of yin and yang, the round sky and the square earth, and the unity of heaven and man.

"Dawanshiju" not only reflects its profound cultural heritage of the Central Plains, but its practical social function is also relatively obvious.

Defensiveness

Dawanshiju only has three main gates for entry and exit. The main entrance building is a two-story building. During the day, there are people standing guard. At night, all three doors are closed, and there are people on duty in the attic. There are watchtowers more than ten meters high at the four corners of the entire building, and there are people watching day and night. There are also watchtowers on both sides of the middle building in the courtyard to prevent unexpected events. There are also many gun holes and cannon holes drilled into the main entrance building. Whenever there is a dispute with the outside world, as soon as the door is closed, guns and cannons are used to resist. This structure, in addition to protecting against enemies, is also used to defend against wild beasts. This defensive architecture fully embodies its cultural psychology of self-protection.

Enclosure

The entire building complex of Dawanshiju is self-contained. Since the surrounding buildings are completely enclosed, two open-air inner courtyards spread horizontally are developed in front and behind the three halls. , also known as Shangtian Street and Xiatian Street. Shangxiatian Street is a public activity place for the tribesmen to relax and play for children. It also has a public kitchen, toilets, warehouses and a complete drainage system. In addition to public wells, every household also has a well. The tribesmen farmed at sunrise and rested at sundown, leading a self-sufficient life.

Unity

Dawanshiju has a strong sense of “our group consciousness”.

There are about 400 large and small rooms in Dawanshiju, and each room is connected to each other. Two rows of houses are connected to each other through corridors and walls, and there are doors to connect the houses in the same row. The Hakka people have always valued unity. Until today, the Hakka people will treat the entire village as relatives. This has a lot to do with the history of the Hakka people migrating from the Central Plains to Lingnan after going through all kinds of hardships. Not only do they need the help of their tribesmen to overcome difficulties on the road, but when they settle in a new place, they will inevitably have conflicts and fights with the locals. They also need the tribesmen to unite and deal with the outside world. This tradition of not distinguishing between you and me is reflected in the architecture of the houses. , the defensive function is particularly prominent when escaping from outsiders.

Patriarchal system

The Hakka people were originally the Han people in the Central Plains. The patriarchal system in the history of the Han people has been reflected and preserved in the Hakka architecture and style. Rooms are allocated strictly according to the order of seniority and juniority. The houses on the central axis are for the legitimate children and grandchildren, while the concubines live in side houses according to their relatives. The Hakka people who have lived here for more than 200 years have consciously abided by this system of concubines inherited from their ancestors. Even if the family is full of children and grandchildren, the family will never be divided. If the house is not enough, new houses will be built in the courtyard. The roof ridges of buildings such as the ancestral hall and the middle building are made of tiles stacked vertically. According to the clan members, it was used to repair leaky houses in order to prevent future generations from losing their property. This shows that the ancestors had good intentions.

Dawanshiju is one of the larger-scale and well-preserved Hakka enclosed buildings in Shenzhen. It is where the Zeng family lives, lives and works. It retains the historical folk relics and cultural essence of the Hakka people. The architectural style of Dawanshiju reflects the traditional feudal etiquette of the Central Plains and the basic format of the Han and Jin manor-style forts, reflecting the historical origins of Dawanshiju. It reflects the social and cultural characteristics of various periods and the changes of Hakka people. It is of great historical and artistic value. It is also a living fossil for studying and experiencing the origin, folk customs, architectural art and water conservancy projects of Shenzhen Hakka people. It is also important for understanding the Hakka ethnic group, its origin and migration history. of great value. The ancestral motto of the Zeng family created the family tradition of "great benevolence and great love" in the Dawan Zeng family. "Dawan ancestor worship" not only reflects the strong clan concept of the Zeng family, but also reflects the culture of "filial piety and brotherhood" towards the sage Zeng Zi. The inheritance of the Zeng family tradition of "being prudent and pursuing the future" shows the strong atmosphere of harmonious coexistence of the Zeng family.