Characteristics of Hakka houses

Hakka earth building (residential house), also known as Fujian round building, is a pearl of Chinese civilization and a unique mythical mountain village residential building in the world.

[Hakka residence in Xinhai The ruins of the former residence of He Ziyuan]

It is a wonder of Chinese ancient architecture. It is independent of the world's residential architectural art with its long history, unique style, large scale, and exquisite structure. The characteristics of earth building dwellings and their construction characteristics are closely related to the history of the Hakka people. Everywhere Hakka people go, their family members always gather together. In addition, most of the Hakka people lived in remote mountainous areas or deep forests. At that time, not only were there a lack of building materials, but they were also noisy with wolves, tigers, leopards, and thieves. In addition, they were afraid of being harassed by locals. Therefore, the Hakka people built "defensive" castle-style residences. . This resulted in the unique architectural form of Hakka residences - earth buildings. Earth buildings are mainly distributed in Longyan, Zhangzhou and other areas of Fujian Province.

Edit this paragraph Tulou shape

Tulou are collective buildings built with earth as walls. They are round, semicircular, square, quadrangular, pentagonal, chair-shaped, and dustpan-shaped. Shapes, etc., each with its own characteristics. The earliest earth buildings were square, with palace-style, mansion-style, and different shapes. They were not only unique, but also full of mystery and solid. Food is stored and livestock are raised in the building. There is a well. If you need to defend against enemies, you only need to close the door and have a few young adults guard the door. The earth building is like a strong fortress, where women, children, old and young can sit back and relax. Because square earth buildings are directional, have darker corners, and have different ventilation and lighting, the Hakka people also designed round earth buildings with good ventilation and lighting, with neither beginning nor end. Among the existing earth buildings, the round ones are the most eye-catching, and are called round buildings or round villages by the locals, followed by the four-cornered ones, such as the Xinhai Site of the Revolution of 1911, the founder of modern education in China, and the main ally of Jiaying Prefecture of the Tongmenghui. He Ziyuan's former residence, etc.

[Beautiful Hakka houses]

Tulou is a collective building, and its biggest feature is its large shape. The single building is astonishing, its size is the largest among residential buildings. Among the earth buildings we visited, the round building, the most common, has a diameter of about 50 meters and a height of three or four stories. It has more than a hundred houses, which can accommodate three to forty families, and can accommodate two to three people. Hundreds of people. The large round building can reach 70 to 80 meters in diameter and is five to six stories high. It contains four to five hundred houses and can accommodate seven to eight hundred people. The residential building style of Congtulou reflects the folk customs of the Hakka people living together as a group.

From the perspective of historical and architectural research, the construction method of earth buildings is a self-defensive living style adopted for the safety of the ethnic group. At that time, there were Japanese pirate invasions and civil wars in China. The Hakka people who migrated traveled thousands of miles to other places. They chose a building method that was both conducive to family reunion and defense against wars and was adopted. . The descendants of the same ancestor formed an independent society in an earthen building, experiencing prosperity and disgrace. Therefore, staying outside and concentrating inside is probably the most appropriate summary of Tulou.

The walls of earth buildings are thicker at the bottom and thinner at the top, with some parts as thick as 1.5 meters. When tamping the wall, first dig a deep and large wall trench at the base of the wall, ram it firmly, bury large stones as the base, and then use stones and mortar to build the wall base. Then use sandwich panels to ram the walls. The raw material of the earth wall is mainly local clayey red soil, mixed with an appropriate amount of small stones and lime, and is repeatedly pounded and mixed to make what is commonly known as "cooked soil". An appropriate amount of glutinous rice and brown sugar should also be added to some key parts to increase its stickiness. When ramming, fir branches or bamboo pieces should be buried in the middle of the earth wall as "wall bones" to increase its pulling force. In this way, after repeated tamping, an earth wall like steel concrete was built, and a layer of lime was applied on the outside to prevent weather and erosion, so it is extremely strong and has good windproof and earthquake resistance. According to the "Yongding County Chronicle", a major earthquake occurred in 1918. During the day, there was a sound for 20 minutes. It continued to shake at night, but the earth building always stood upright and intact.

Edit this section of Hakka folk houses "Tulou in Western Fujian through the eyes"

It is located in Yongding Tulou Folk Culture Village, which is Hongkeng Village. There are more than 30 earth buildings in the village, among which Fuyu Building, Zhencheng Building and Kuiju Building are national key cultural relics protection units. There is also the smallest earth building in Yongding, Rusheng Building. In the 1980s, Americans used satellites to discover "Chinese missile launch bases and nuclear reactors" in Yongding in western Fujian, and these are earth buildings. The following is a report about Yongding Tulou:

With the changes of the times and the updating of people's life concepts, Tulou tourism has become the yearning of more and more urbanites. When traveling to "Tulou", both foreigners and domestic people can feel the roughness, boldness and hospitality of the Tulou Hakka people. They are as thick and simple as red earth.

There are countless earth buildings in Yongding, including Chengqi Building, which is known as the "King of Earth Buildings", Zhencheng Building, which is the "Prince of Earth Buildings", Kuiju Building, which is like a "tiger", and the majestic building surrounded by mountains and rivers. The spectacular Wufeng Tower - Fuyu Tower.

As for Fuyu Tower, the entire roof is painted in colorful colors and carved with patterns of auspicious animals such as peacocks and phoenixes, as well as flowers and plants. Looking up at the roof, it looks like a phoenix spreading its wings and about to fly. The building structure is based on three halls as the central axis, with balanced and symmetrical wing rooms on the left and right. There are three halls and two horizontal styles, three halls and four horizontal styles, three halls and six horizontal styles, etc.

The nine-ridge roof of Fuyu Tower is gentle and simple in style, yet extraordinary in its momentum. The roof ridge decoration is even more elegant and exquisite. The two ends are turned into the shape of horns or phoenix tails, and the exterior walls are painted with white lime. Fuyu's floors are stacked on top of each other, like a spectacular mansion or palace, and the decoration inside the building is quite exquisite. Some Chinese and foreign architectural experts were amazed when they saw the structural shape of Fuyu Building. It is the unique structure of this building that attracts a lot of Chinese and foreign tourists, bringing a strong interest to the tourists, and also brings considerable economic income to the Tulou residents.

Travel has become fashionable

With the changes in modern families, the traditional family model of three generations and four generations under one roof is relatively weak. The concepts of the younger generation are changing with each passing day, and people’s lives As the pace speeds up, it seems harder for the younger generation to find time to enjoy family affection with their elders. Elderly people living in modern society feel the rareness of family affection and the value of filial piety. Filial piety tourism, as a way of filial piety, is gradually gaining popularity in cities. The author saw a tourist from Fuzhou in Fuyu Tower a few days ago. His daughter and daughter-in-law were vying to buy some rural local products for the old man. A happy smile appeared on the old man's face. The daughter was telling her mother the history of the Tulou introduced by the tour guide in a tone of voice. So gentle and sincere, as if she was confiding her feelings of separation to her mother. This kind of filial piety tourism is the most concrete and fashionable expression of caring about the quality of life of the elderly.

With the improvement of people's cultural quality, a new and civilized way of ceremonial consumption - treating guests to tourist tulou, has gradually emerged in the city. Recently, the author met a group of tourists from Zhejiang. Because two of them were students admitted to key universities, their good friends asked them to "treat" them, so they made a host and invited their good friends to visit the "Tulou" and enjoy the nature. In the middle of the trip, you can enjoy mountains and rivers, cultivate your sentiments, and make your friends very satisfied. This kind of "treating guests to visit Tulou" is a new fashion for urban people. People will have more opportunities to appreciate the splendid culture and beautiful scenery contained in Tulou. [1]

Edit this paragraph Round Building

The round building is the most distinctive building among the local earth buildings. Generally, it starts from a center of a circle and builds layers one by one according to different radii. Spreading out, like water waves in a lake, they are surrounded by each other, which is very spectacular. The center is the family ancestral hall, and outwards are the ancestral hall, the corridor, and the outermost ring of people. The rooms in the entire earth building are the same size, with an area of ??about ten square meters, and use different stairs. There is no secret to each family's style.

There are many types of earth building structures. One of them is a three-chamber system with upper, middle and lower halls arranged vertically along the central axis. In such earth buildings, the lower hall is generally the entrance and exit. It is at the front; the middle hall is in the center, where the family gathers and welcomes guests; the upper hall is at the innermost place, where ancestors' tablets are enshrined.

In addition to its unique structure, the internal window sills, porches, eaves, etc. of the earth building are also extremely gorgeous and exquisite, making it truly a wonder among Chinese residential buildings.

There are 360 ??round buildings and more than 4,000 square buildings in Yongding County. In particular, the peculiar circular earth building is the most rich in traditional Hakka color and the most shocking.

The round earth building is a model of Hakka residence and can be called the best building in the world. It is like a "mushroom" emerging from the ground, like a "flying saucer" falling from the sky.

This kind of round building is composed of two or three circles, from the inside to the outside, and the outer circle is more than ten meters high. It has four floors with one to two hundred rooms, and the first floor is the kitchen. and restaurant, the second floor is a warehouse, the third and fourth floors are bedrooms; the second floor has thirty to fifty rooms, usually guest rooms, and the middle room is the ancestral hall, where hundreds of people live in the building for weddings, funerals, and A public place for joy and celebration. There are also facilities such as wells, bathrooms, and mills in the building. The earth building is built with local raw soil and does not require reinforced concrete. The base of the wall is up to three meters wide, and the bottom wall is 1.5 meters thick, which gradually shrinks upwards. The top wall is no less than 1 meter thick. Then along the circular outer wall, wooden boards are used to divide it into numerous rooms, with corridors on the inside.

In addition to the unique function of defending against enemies, earth buildings also have the characteristics of earthquake resistance, fire protection, anti-theft and good ventilation and lighting. Due to the thick thickness of the earthen wall, it is insulated and kept warm in winter and cool in summer.

The Hakka earth buildings shine with the wisdom of the Hakka people, and the magnificence of the earth buildings is awe-inspiring. The Hakka folk customs are even more intoxicating. The Hakka people have passed down from generation to generation, living together day and night, uniting and loving each other, and living in harmony. The unique way of life of the big family, the folk customs of simplicity, honesty, kindness and hospitality, and hard work; the traditional culture is visible and tangible. , it can be seen that it attracts great interest from many tourists.

Zhangzhou Earth Buildings are scattered throughout Zhangzhou City’s Nanjing, Hua’an, Pinghe, Zhao’an, Yunxiao, Zhangpu and other mountainous areas. It is known as "mythical mountain architecture" for its strange shape and unique style.

The predecessors of Tulou are barracks, castles and cottage buildings when Chen Yuanguang opened Zhangzhou in the Tang Dynasty. They are the product of the special social environment in southern Fujian where "foreign invaders come and go, and thieves fight within." Zhangzhou Tulou uses raw earth as the main material, glutinous rice and egg white as binders, and bamboo slices and wooden strips as ribs to build an earth building with a wall thickness of 1 meter and a height of more than 15 meters. It is generally three to five stories high. The first floor is the kitchen, the second floor is the warehouse, and the third floor is the living room. It can accommodate 200 to 700 people. It has the functions of group living, anti-theft, earthquake-proof, animal-proof, fire-proof, moisture-proof, and ventilation. Features include lighting, warmth in winter and coolness in summer.

Edit this paragraph Tianluokeng Tulou

The Tianluokeng Tulou Group consists of 1 square, 3 round and 1 oval and 5 earth buildings. The Yun Tower and the circular Hechang Tower on the upper right were built in the first year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1796). Later, Zhenchang Tower, Ruiyun Tower and Wenchang Tower were built in the surrounding area. The five earth buildings are scattered and arranged according to the mountains. Surrounded by the mountains, overlooking from a high place, they look like a blooming plum blossom dotted on the earth, or like a flying saucer falling from the sky, forming a wonderful scene that is ingeniously created by humanities and the natural environment. It is breathtaking and a wonderful flower in the garden of residential buildings. In May 2001, it was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

Edit this paragraph Yuchang Tower

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, built in 1350, is world-famous. It is famous for leaning but not falling. For more than 600 years, the tower has been tilting slowly toward the south. In the past century, the tilt seems to have accelerated. Especially after the 1972 earthquake, its slope has now reached 8 degrees. The tilt of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is the tilt of the tower as a whole. Judging from the tower body alone, every structure is horizontally, vertically, and quite regular.

In Nanjing County, Fujian, China, there is an ancient building that can rival the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is the Yuchang Tower, known as the "Standing Tower". Yuchang Tower is a round earth building built in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, only a dozen years later than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Yuchang Building has five floors and 270 rooms. Starting from the third floor, the wooden columns of the corridor in the building slope from left to right, with a maximum slope of 15 degrees. The wooden columns of the corridor on the fourth floor also slope at the same angle. It tilted in the opposite direction from right to left, and the two-story wooden pillars looked topsy-turvy. Although it is skewed, if the wooden column corridors from the first to the fifth floors are considered as a whole, the bottom wooden column and the top wooden column are kept on the same axis. The slope of the Yuchang Building is the slope of the local structure, just like today's new CCTV building.

Edit this paragraph Hegui Tower

Hegui Tower is located in Pushan Village, Meilin Town, Nanjing County, 53 kilometers away from Nanjing County. Built in the 10th year of Yongzheng reign in the Qing Dynasty, it covers an area of ??1,547 square meters and is the tallest earth building in Nanjing. This earth building was built on swamp land with more than 200 pine wood pilings and paving. It is still strong, stable and well-preserved after more than 200 years. In May 2001, it was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

Edit this section Hekeng Tulou

The Hekeng Tulou Group is located in Hekeng Natural Village, Dianjiang Village, Shuyang Town, 58 kilometers away from Nanjing County. It includes 6 square earth buildings including Chaoshui Building, Yangzhao Building, Yongsheng Building, Shengqing Building, Yongrong Building and Yonggui Building, Yuchang Building, Chungui Building, Dongsheng Building, Xiaochun Building, Yongqing Building and Yuxing Building. There are 6 round earth buildings and 13 pentagonal Nanxun buildings. Among them, the earliest Chaoshui Tower was built in 1549. The Hekeng Tulou Group includes the Fairy Mountain Pavilion and the Big Dipper.

Edit this paragraph Qiyun Tower

There are many earth buildings in Zhangzhou, with more than 800 in total. The first earth building listed as a national cultural relic is Eryi Building in Xiandu, Hua'an. It is known as the "King of Earth Buildings" and is an outstanding masterpiece among earth buildings. It is large in scale and well-preserved. There are "King of Round Buildings", The reputation of "National Treasure".

The oldest one is the "Qiyun Tower" in Shajian Town, Hua'an County. It is the oldest earth building with an exact date discovered so far. It was built in the fourth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1371); The largest earth building is the "Zaitian Building" in Gongpi Township, Zhao'an County, with a diameter of 94.5 meters. It is known as the "Super Earth Building"; the earth building has various shapes, including round, elliptical, half-moon, armchair, umbrella, windmill, Bagua, etc. The most peculiar shape is the earth building in Tianluokeng, Shuyang Township, Nanjing County. It is composed of five earth buildings with one square, one oval and three circles. It is majestic and shocking.

Hakka houses with unique characteristics

Hakka houses are architectural wonders in the mountainous areas of southern China. Its unique style has attracted many Chinese and foreign scholars, tourists and even American military experts.

The article first briefly introduces the characteristics, location and environment of Hakka dwellings, as well as its status among the world's dwellings: its style is "round house or earth building", and "embellished" indicates that it is located in a remote mountainous area , "Wonderful Folk Houses in the World" uses metaphors and comparisons to illustrate the status of Hakka folk houses among the world's folk houses. Then, the text introduces in detail the outstanding characteristics of Hakka houses: the camp-style houses and the reasons and functions of such construction. The author uses examples, data, and metaphors to vividly explain the characteristics of the building materials, appearance, and overall layout of the fortress-style residence. Then write about the arrangement of the circular houses according to the Bagua layout and their symbolic meaning. Finally, write about the internal structural characteristics of the round house and the folk cultural characteristics reflected in it.

Edit the historical significance of this paragraph

At the 32nd World Heritage Conference held in Quebec City, Canada, experts from various countries went through intense and heated deliberations and discussions, and finally, including China The 21 member states unanimously approved the official inclusion of China's Fujian Tulou on the World Cultural Heritage List.

Fujian Tulou is a unique large-scale residential building in the world, with unique shape, large scale and ingenious structure. It is characterized by rich cultural connotation, unique living style, reasonable layout and site selection that integrates with the natural environment. The concept has attracted the attention of the world. In 1999, the application process for Fujian Earth Buildings to become a World Heritage Site was launched.

In April 2000, the Fujian Provincial Government officially determined that 46 earth buildings from the "six groups and four buildings" in Yongding, Nanjing, and Hua'an counties were officially declared as world cultural heritage projects in the name of "Fujian Earth Buildings". In 2004, Fujian Earth Buildings were included in the preliminary list of World Cultural Heritage. In October last year, the International Council on Monuments and Sites conducted an on-site assessment and inspection of the Fujian Tulou heritage application project. In the first half of this year, Fujian Tulou successfully passed the formal evaluation and became one of the 47 world heritage projects submitted to the 32nd World Heritage Conference for review and voting. This was also the only cultural heritage review project that my country participated in in 2008.