Xiamen,Fujian Province 26th-30th Oct 2010 - Hakka Houses

Xiamen
Fujian's "earthern buildings " ( Hakka houses) in Yongding and Najing were declared World Heritage sites in 2008. Together with 22 Hakka family members,we took a trip to to our ancestors' birthplace to visit some of the Tulous.

MAS flies directly to Xiamen, the main city of Fujian ( Hokkien ) province in 4 hrs. Xiamen,a city of only 2.5 million people is the 5th most important city in China after Bejing,Shanghai,Shenzen and Guangzhou. It is a very well planned city with hardly any cyclist or motorcycles on the road because the public transport is good and the roads are actually free of traffic jams. A very livable city with good air and tree- lined streets and beautiful landscaped gardens.

Hakka tulous
In total, there are at least 30,000 tulous spread out in Yongding,Nanjing and Hua'an. Tulous are large farmhouses where an entire clan live together - homes particularly noted for their defensive function. With their earth walls ( 2 metres thick), wooden beams & posts, these large homes are at least 2 storey high and they close out the surrounding area. The southwestern Fujian villages with Tulous are located in the region where Fujian,Jiangxi and Guangdong meet. Perched high in the mountains, they have excellent feng shui with mountains as a backdrop and flowing rivers beside the tulous.

Most of the tulous are circular, square or phoenix shaped. Of all the shapes, the circular one is without doubt the strangest and most mysterious.

Hegui place, Pushan Village, Meilin town,Nanjing county.  

Hegui place. The square tulou is highest at 5 storeys. Built on swampy  land.

Another view of  the Hegui complex seen through the padi fields

Yuchang Building, Xiaban Village,Shuyang town, Nanjing County. 500 yrs old.The building posts are inclined but it still stands erect. Unfortunately,the building is spoilt by the commercial activity on the ground floor which is distracting.

Exterior of Yuchang building.

The earliest tulou was constructed in 769 during the Tang dynasty. Quite a few were also constructed during the Song & Yuan dynasties. Those built during the Ming dynasty can be seen everywhere. Most,however, date from the late 17th century to the 1970s. They were built by the Hakkas who fled to the south from the war torn Central Plains. As they settled in the south and their population grew rapidly and they amassed more wealth, they were concerned about living  and working in peace and contentment. They wanted not only for the entire clan to have a secure home that will shield them from the elements; they were also interested in the entire clan having a home where people can live together and where their spirits would be inspired.

From various readings, there were 3 preconditions for the tulous coming into existence. First, the mighty cohesive strength of the clan; secondly a relatively peaceful living environment and thirdly considerable financial resources.

Tianluokeng Group Tuluos,Shangban village,Shuyang town,Nanjing County. The complex comprises 4 circular buildings and one square one. The placement is precise and tasteful. From the top,the cluster  looks the petals of a flower.  

Another view of  the Tianluokeng cluster. Belong to one clan.

Zhenfu building in Nanxi village,Hukeng town,Yongding county.

The mountain is behind it and a river beside it. Built in 1913, it adheres to the 8 Trigrams design.

When you enter a Tulou, you sense first that this is a large clan city and only later,do you notice that it consists of many single families. So a tulou is an extended family and it is also a small kingdom.

It occupies more than 4000 metres of land and has 3 halls & 96 rooms. A lot of stone and tile was used in the interior.It is the sister building to the Zhencheng building 4 kms away.

Another view of the Zhenfu building

Typical interior of a tulou. On entering the main entrance, you see the hall which also serves as the public lounge or leads into another courtyard where there is an  ancestral worship area setup. Generally, long wooden benches are placed on either side of the room where the residents can sit and chat with one another. In many halls, you see hullers for rice & other grains and mortars for pounding cooked glutinous rice into paste.

There are 2 passageways; one on either side of the hall as if they are the 2 long arms gathering all of the rooms ( which are  of the same size and shape) into a circle. The courtyard has at least one well where women wash vegetables and do the laundry.

If it is a large circular building,sometimes there is also a ancestral temple in the center of the courtyard. The temple is square with 2 large halls,each having rooms on both sides. It serves as both a family temple and a clan "council" and it can also serve as a school.

Zhenfu building. . Each Tulou has its own name recorded in the clan history or to commemorate ancestors. On either side of the building entrance is a couplet. Most of these are moral maxims containing the building name. Almost every circular building has only one main entrance and when it is closed, the interior is a world of its own, sheltered from everything on the outside. The 2 door  leaves of the entrance are thick and tall and generally covered with sheet iron like 2 armored warriors standing guard.

Zhengcheng building,Hongkeng village,Hukeng town,Yongding county. 

Passage way on the top floor

Zhencheng building, Hongkeng village,Hukeng town, Yongding county. This earthern building, with an inner and an outer ring shaped like the 8 trigrams, occupies 5000 metres of land. The 4 storey outer ring is 16 metres high with 184 rooms. The 2 storey inner ring has 32 rooms. The outer ring is separated into 8 equal sections. A staircase to each section leads from the 1st to the 4th level.

Mountain at the back and river beside the building. Typical setting for a tulou.

Square tulou. The round tulous came about because the square tulos do not offer good lightning to all  the rooms.

Courtyard in foreground in a square tulou.

Square tulou in the Chengqi luo complex,Gaobei village,Gaotou town,Yongding county.

This Chengqi building has a history of 300 years.The building consists of 4 storeys with 4 circles of buildings with altogether 400 rooms, with smaller circles inside bigger cirlces and small rings inside bigger rings.

Another view of the Chengqi building,Gaobei hamlet, Gaotou town. Work started during the Chongzhen period ( 1627-1644 of the Ming dynasty) but only completed 3 generations later in 1709. Occupying 5376 metres, it is 73 metres in diameter. Perimeter of outer wall is 229 metres. The main building has 3 rings. The 4 storey outer ring has 72 rooms on each floor. The 2 storey second ring has 40 rooms on each floor. The third ring is single storey with 32 rooms. The ancestral hall is in the center.

Chengqi building. The 1st tulou that we visited.Note the windows are only on the last 2 floors of hte building for protection. Usually the kitchen and bathrooms ( out houses are situated away from the building) are on the ground level while food storage is on the 1st floor. The sleeping and living quarters are on the last 2 floors.