Why are Kaiping Diaolou tilted?

Why are Kaiping watchtowers slanted

In Nanxing Village, Chunyi Village Committee, Xianggang Town, Kaiping City, a famous hometown of overseas Chinese in Guangdong, there is a slanted watchtower that has stood firm through the vicissitudes of life. . It is understood that the building has an inclination angle of 15 degrees, and the center line of the building deviates by more than 2 meters. The degree of inclination far exceeds that of the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. Surprisingly, this watchtower tilts toward the southeast. The closer you get, the more it tilts. When you get to the watchtower, you feel as if it is about to collapse. Although the sloping watchtower was built a hundred years ago and has experienced typhoons and earthquakes, it is still safe and has no risk of collapse.

This 7-story watchtower named "Biancaizhulou" is one of the many unique watchtowers in Kaiping. According to historical records, during the late Qing Dynasty, Chun Village was located at the junction of Banggang Town and Sanba Town, Taishan City, where thieves were rampant. In order to prevent thieves from robbing the village, the villagers raised funds by themselves in 1903, the 29th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. Three Z-shaped watchtowers in the north, south and middle were built next to the village to prevent thieves. When building the north building, they encountered problems of insufficient funds and soft foundation. Huang, who was in charge of the construction at that time, had to wait slowly while the villagers raised funds for construction, which caused the project to be intermittent. It took more than two years to complete the building. To commemorate this difficult journey, after the watchtower was completed, the villagers named the building Biancaizhulou.

Due to the soft foundation of the southeast ditch during the construction of the Biancaizhu Building, Huang dug the foundation of the entire watchtower to a depth of 3 meters and reinforced the foundation with large rocks and concrete. However, when the third floor was built, the entire building still tilted 10 centimeters to the southeast, and an anxious Huang rushed workers to make repairs. But it was no use at this time, and the watchtower continued to tilt. When it reached the fifth floor, it had tilted by more than 20 centimeters. As the foundation continued to sink, the watchtower tilted more and more toward the southeast. The watchman who moved into the building shortly after its completion had to use two bricks to raise the southeast corner of his bed before he could sleep.

So far, the center line of the watchtower has deviated more than 2 meters to the southeast, with an inclination angle of 15 degrees. Someone has calculated that the tilt of this watchtower exceeds that of the Leaning Tower of Pisa after it was "uprighted", and the phenomenon of "tilting without leaning" can be called a miracle in the history of architecture. Although this watchtower appears to be crumbling on the surface, it has remained unharmed regardless of whether it was hit by major earthquakes or strong typhoons over the past hundred years. A strong typhoon of level 12 in the 1960s caused the surrounding watchtowers to collapse. The villagers thought that the side building would be destroyed this time. However, after the typhoon, people were surprised to find that it once again "stood up" unexpectedly. "Come over. What is amazing is that the building continues to tilt toward the southeast at a rate of 2 centimeters per year. Although it has never been repaired, it has always tilted tenaciously and stood firm at the north gate of the village. Now, as people are more and more interested in Kaiping Diaolou, it has become a tourist attraction. Photographers come from time to time to leave "beautiful images" of it, and many tourists also come to visit it. Why are there Kaiping Diaolou

Kaiping Diaolou

Kaiping Diaolou and villages have outstanding historical, artistic and scientific value: 1. It is a historical witness of the active acceptance of foreign culture in Chinese villages. Distribution of rammed earth buildings In the hilly areas, Chishui Town and Longsheng Town are the most common. This kind of watchtower is often called "mud tower" or "yellow mud tower" in the local area. Although it has been eroded by wind and rain for decades, it is still very strong. There are 100 watchtowers in existence, accounting for 5.5% of the total number of watchtowers. The era of large-scale construction of Kaiping Diaolou was the transition stage from traditional Chinese society to modern society. Foreign culture impacts traditional culture in different ways. Western-style buildings in some domestic coastal cities are mainly imported products that have been passively accepted; while the watchtowers centered in Kaiping are Chinese rural people's active acceptance of Western architectural art and their integration with it. The product of the fusion of local architectural art fully reflects their confident, open and inclusive mentality when facing advanced foreign culture. They integrated what they saw and heard, as well as their own aesthetic taste, into the watchtower, turning it into a spiritual watchtower left in their homeland. Different places of residence and different aesthetics have created various forms of Kaiping Diaolou. 2. It is a concentrated display of foreign architectural art transplanted into rural China. Kaiping architecture brings together foreign architectural art of different periods and styles. Ancient Greek colonnades, ancient Roman columns, arches and vaults, European medieval Gothic pointed arches and ***-style arches, European castle components, arcades in Portuguese architecture, Renaissance and 17th century European Baroque styles Buildings can be seen everywhere in Kaiping. These architectural elements of different styles and genres and different religious categories show great inclusiveness in Kaiping. They converge harmoniously in one place, forming a new and highly comprehensive architectural type, showing unique artistic charm. . 3. It is an outstanding representative of overseas Chinese culture in China. Overseas Chinese are the disseminators of culture. The blending and collision of various cultures at home and abroad is an inevitable product of the development of overseas Chinese culture. The cultural conflict it brings has widely touched all aspects and all strata of traditional Chinese society. This is also the unique law of immigrant culture in the world. This kind of cultural conflict and integration is extremely externalized in Kaiping. If you walk to any watchtower or house, you can see the traces of the blending of Chinese and foreign cultures. Therefore, Kaiping watchtowers and folk houses very prominently reflect the profoundness and universality of Chinese overseas Chinese culture.

4. It embodies the traditional environmental awareness of the Chinese people and is the perfect combination of man and nature. The watchtowers are mainly distributed at the back of the village. Together with the surrounding bamboo forest, the pond in front of the village, and the banyan tree at the entrance of the village, they form a deep-rooted, luxuriant, safe and wealth-gathering environment. A harmonious environment where culture thrives. In front of the dot-shaped watchtowers are clusters of low-rise residential buildings, which act like a backing for the whole village in the plain area, satisfying the villagers' need for safety and protection. Kaiping Diaolou has become an important means for overseas Chinese to build a harmonious living environment. Kaiping Diaolou

Mainly distributed in Chikan Town, Tangkou Town, Baihe Town, Xianggang Town, Chishui Town and other places! Welcome to Kaiping!

You can take a look here: kptour./bbs/index.asp?action=frameon Introduction to Kaiping Diaolou

Kaiping Diaolou is located in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province Kaiping City, under the jurisdiction of the city, is a special type of Chinese vernacular architecture. It is a multi-story tower-style building that integrates defense, residence and Chinese and Western architectural arts. It is characterized by a combination of Chinese and Western folk houses, including ancient Greece, ancient Rome and *** Various styles.

On June 25, 2001, it was approved by the State Council to be included in the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

On June 28, 2007, the application for the World Cultural Heritage Project of "Kaiping Diaolou and Ancient Villages" was approved at the 31st World Heritage Conference in New Zealand, and was officially included in the "World Heritage List", becoming China's first With 35 world heritage sites, China has given birth to its first overseas Chinese culture world heritage project. Where to stay when going to Kaiping Diaolou Kaiping Diaolou Tourist Accommodation Guide

It is recommended to stay in Kaiping City, and you can take a bus to the next group of Diaolou the next day. Although there are places to stay in the towns below, the conditions are difficult. Introduction to Kaiping Diaolou PPT

If time is not so tight, I can help you do it without any problem. Not only PPT, but also autoware can be used. It is no problem. I am too busy now. I am from Kaiping. Haha. Free. Not for nearly a week. jimsir520@163. How to get to Kaiping Diaolou

Just take a bus from the station near you to Kaiping Yici Station, then transfer to the No. 6 local bus to Chikan. There are diaolou in Liyuan Tourist Area. From Foshan to Kaiping Diaolou

You can drive there by taking the Foshan Expressway (Kaiyang Expressway)-Tangkou Exit (or Shuikou Exit-G325), which is relatively easy. Kaiping Diaolou is a world cultural heritage, and now It’s still a good idea to go and take a look. Booking tickets for Kaiping Diaolou in the summer on Tongcheng.com also offers special discounts for family tours and student tickets. Family tours are 20% off, which can save about 80, and student tickets can also visit five attractions. It costs 75 yuan. It's pretty good, the scenic environment is good, and it is called the most beautiful countryside in the world by experts from the United Nations. You can also rent bicycles in Kaiping Diaolou and ride around the Diaolou. It feels good. The culture of Kaiping Diaolou

Kaiping Diaolou is a special type of Chinese vernacular architecture. It is a multi-story tower-style building that integrates defense, residence and Chinese and Western architectural art.

According to existing evidence, the Kaiping Diaolou came into being in the late Ming Dynasty (16th century) at the latest. By the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, it developed into a unique representation of the history, social form and cultural traditions of overseas Chinese in China. Group architectural image. This type of building complex is large in scale, diverse in variety, and unique in shape, and is distributed in the countryside of Kaiping City.

The history of Kaiping Diaolou

The rise of Kaiping Diaolou is closely related to Kaiping’s geographical environment and past social security. Kaiping is a low-lying city with a dense network of rivers. However, in the past, the water conservancy system was in disrepair, and there were often worries about flooding every time there were typhoons or rains. In addition, the territory under its jurisdiction was originally the remote junction of Xinhui, Taishan, Enping and Xinxing counties. It has always been known as the "four no matter", and the social order is relatively chaotic. Therefore, in the early Qing Dynasty, villagers built watchtowers to prevent floods and bandits. After the Opium War, the rule of the Qing Dynasty became even more decadent. The people in Kaiping, forced to make a living, began to go abroad in large numbers to make a living. After one or even several generations of hard work, they gradually gained some wealth. In the Republic of China, wars became more frequent and banditry was particularly rampant. Kaiping was a place where mountains and rivers blended together, land and water transportation was convenient, and the families of overseas Chinese and returned overseas Chinese lived relatively well-to-do, so bandits concentrated in Kaiping to commit crimes. At that time, the larger bandits in the county included Zhang Shao, Zhu Bing, Hu Nan, Hou Wan, Tan Qin, Wu Jinfa, Zhang Zhan, and Huang Bao. They robbed everywhere and caused countless tragedies. According to rough statistics, between 1912 and 1930, there were about 71 major banditry incidents in Kaiping, killing more than 100 people, capturing more than 210 cattle, and plundering countless other properties. Cangcheng, the county seat at the time, was captured three times, and Lian County was The elder Zhu Jianzhang was also taken prisoner. At the slightest sign of trouble, people would pack up their gold, silver, and soft goods and hide in all directions. They would often be frightened overnight and sleepless all night. When overseas Chinese return to their hometowns, they often dare not stay at home, but go to market towns or relatives' homes. They often change their accommodation locations, otherwise they risk losing their families and their families.

In the 14 years from the first year of the Republic of China (1912) to the 15th year of the Republic of China (1926), bandits robbed schools eight times and abducted more than a hundred teachers and students. Among them, in December of the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922), when gangsters robbed Kaiping Middle School in Chikan area, they were illuminated by the searchlights of the Yingcun watchtower. Four township groups promptly intercepted and intercepted the principal and 17 students.

This incident caused a sensation in the whole county. Overseas Chinese were also very surprised when they heard the news. They felt that the watchtowers played a role in preventing banditry. Therefore, they scrimped on food and clothing and raised funds to build watchtowers back home. Later, some overseas Chinese built various watchtower-style buildings when they returned to their hometowns to build new houses for the safety of their families and property. In this way, the numerous watchtowers have gradually become a major feature of Kaiping, the hometown of overseas Chinese. At most, there were more than 3,000 watchtowers, and 1,833 of them exist now.

At present, Kaiping Diaolou’s application for world cultural heritage has been officially accepted by the United Nations World Heritage Committee and included in the preliminary list.

Shape

The lower parts of the watchtowers are all roughly the same, with only differences in size and height. For large watchtowers, each floor is equivalent to three bays or larger; for small watchtowers, each floor is only equivalent to half a bay. The tallest watchtower is the South Tower in Chikan Township, which is seven stories high, while the shorter watchtowers are only three stories, not much higher than ordinary buildings.

The main changes in the shape of the watchtowers are at the top of the towers. Judging from the more than 1,400 existing buildings in Kaiping, the roof building styles can be summarized into one hundred types, but the more beautiful ones include Chinese-style roofs, mixed Chinese and Western roofs, ancient Roman pediments, domes, and American roofs. Castle-style roofs, European and American villa-style roofs, courtyard-style balcony roofs, etc.

Characteristics

Kaiping Diaolou rarely embodies the extensive exchanges between Chinese and Western culture in rural China in modern times; it combines the unique architectural art of traditional Chinese rural architectural culture and Western architectural culture and has become a symbol of Chinese overseas Chinese. It is a cultural monument and the most convincing historical witness of the mutual influence and integration between Chinese immigrant culture and the cultures of different ethnic groups during that historical period, promoting the common development of mankind. It also prominently reflects the process of Chinese overseas Chinese and people actively accepting Western culture. At the same time, the rich and varied architectural styles of Kaiping Diaolou have condensed architectural groups from many countries and regions in different periods in the history of Western architecture, becoming a unique architectural art form that has greatly enriched the content of the world's vernacular architectural history and changed the the local cultural and natural landscape. Kaiping City is dotted with watchtowers in both urban and rural areas, with as many as a dozen per village and as few as two or three per village. From Shuikou to Lily, and from Tangkou to Xianggang and Chishui, it stretches for tens of kilometers and is a magnificent sight. These watchtowers are witnesses of the political, economic and cultural development of Kaiping. They not only reflect the history of the overseas Chinese people’s hard work and defense of their homeland, but are also a living museum of modern architecture and a unique art corridor. . It can be said that Kaiping is the hometown of overseas Chinese, the hometown of architecture and the hometown of art, and her characteristics are clearly reflected in the watchtowers. The protection and excavation of watchtower resources are of great positive significance for the study of overseas Chinese history and architectural art, the development of tourism resources and the development of collectivism, patriotism and socialist education.