The Hakka earth buildings of Fujian

Strewn across the hills where the three provinces of Fujian Jiangxi and Guangdong merge, the colossal Hakka earth buildings (Kejia tulou) are a mesmerising picture of an ancient but slowly disappearing way of life.

The Hakka are a ethnic group from the North belonging to the Han Chinese. They are today spread over the whole of Southern China, concentrated mostly in the mountainous regions and have migrated further into many other countries.

The Hakka (in Mandarin: Kejia, meaning ‘guest people’) - who live in scattered pockets across south China and speak their own dialect - originally migrated from a central region of China around 1500 years ago. The name ‘guest people’ suggests a tribe on the move, which was once the case, as the Hakka were continually displaced by war, persecution or famine

During the last two thousand years mass migration has been evident in China, as the Han Chinese influence spread towards the South, especially towards the then thinly populated and "wild" South / Southwest China.

Clan cohesion was a important factor in the controlling of all activities - political, religious and economical. This cohesion meant greater stability for the clan and the individual 

In the fourteenth and fifteenth century there were many migrants from north China, including many Hakka. As relatively late arrivals they were forced to inhabit mountainous and less fertile land such as the Wuyi mountains.  Through the centuries there were many family feuds and conflicts between ethnic groups. The Hakkas were often involved in these conflicts.

The ruling power was centred far away, in distant Peking, so that disputes had to be solved locally. Consensus was not always reached. This resulted in far more feuding than is found elsewhere in China, and that is the reason why the tulou was also a fortification, with outer walls of stamped clay up to 1.5 metres thick and 18 metres high, an iron-clad portal, weapon slits under the eaves of the large overhanging roof, and a connecting gallery that enabled rapid movement of people and weaponry.

In times of need, the Chinese frequently intone 'A nearby neighbour is better than a distant relative'. The earth-building-living Hakka have the best of both worlds, as neighbours are also relatives, as is the case in many traditional villages across China.

Essentially castles or fortified villages The multi-storey earth buildings were erected with a mixture of earth, sand, lime, glutinous rice, bamboo and

wood chips. Stoutly tamped into coffee-coloured walls up to two metres thick. Each stronghold could shelter hundreds of people If danger approached, the iron-sheeted solid wooden doors would be swiftly bolted shut and weapons

distributed among the men. Food would be stockpiled in advance and water drawn from wells within the building, so sieges could be

drawn-out affairs. Sometimes called roundhouses, not all earth buildings are doughnut-shaped some are oval, square,

rectangular or - more poetically - ‘five-phoenix’, and tens of thousands lie scattered across the region. Some earth buildings bunch up in picturesque clusters such as at Tianluokeng, Hekeng and Chuxi, but

many stand alone. Old earth buildings may date to the 12th century but the youngest were only built in the 20th century. In a typical earth building - such as Zhencheng Lou not far from the town of Hukeng in Yongding country

Families live in rooms leading off from wooden galleries arranged over three to five levels in a ring-like formation, which face onto a circular central courtyard.

Kitchens are all downstairs with living quarters and windows upstairs. The courtyard - itself open to the sky and rain, sunshine and starlight Further concentric rings and corridors contained ancestral shrines and halls, tucked away beneath tiled

roofs. The bulky walls keep the earth buildings warm in winter and cool in summer

At harvest time, persimmons are everywhere, drying in the sun.

The floor plan of Chengqilou in Yongding county built in 1709, which used to house 80 families, totaling more than 600 people

The floor plan of Chengqilou in Yongding county built in 1709,which used to house 80 families, totaling more than 600 people

  The thick outer wall of a tulou separates two distinct worlds: Behind the main gate there is normally only a single portal. The tulou is dense and compact, with up to 250 small uniform rooms, constructed in two- or

three-story wooden structures. These are placed around the buildings periphery and ordered symmetrically around the tulou's

central axis. Through identical galleries all of the rooms look out onto the open courtyard, as is normally the

case in most Chinese homes. The courtyard is used for drying clothes and rice, for communal activities, and for children's play. It may be empty or filled with one- or two-story buildings. These buildings may be stables, guest rooms, toilets or, for use in the summer, an outdoor

kitchen. It is also in the courtyard that the ancestral altar is situated. The larger the courtyard the less influence these lower buildings have on light and air. This may

explain why the circular tulou often have many additional low buildings while the smaller, rectangular tulou often have empty courtyards. 

 

Ancestral altars 

A rectangular tulou has the ancestral altar set into the building's peripheral range of rooms facing the courtyard while in the case of the circular tulou it is a detached one-story building in the courtyard.

The ancestral altar is where the founding members of the clan are honoured and guests are received.

On the wall hangs a picture of the founding father of the clan - perhaps next to it a crane symbolising a desire for long life. By the wall is a long narrow table on which is placed an incense burner or a vase with flowers. It is in this chamber that the boys of the clan were taught reading and writing etc.

In South China success in life is guided by supernatural forces, and this has consequences for the building's orientation. The supernatural forces are to be channeled into the ancestral altar, which therefore lies on the central axis opposite the entrance.

 The living quarters

In China, as elsewhere, a family home is divided into zones, from the open and accessible entrance and courtyard to the total privacy of the bedroom.

In the tulou guests have access to the ancestral altar and the family’s living quarters, while access to the rooms along the gallery is restricted to the inhabitants.

The rooms of a tulou are shared among its inhabitants in such a way that a single family unit uses two or three rooms on each floor, in a vertical segment of the building.

One room on the ground floor is the kitchen and another is used for eating and daily living. The stove in the kitchen is vented to the outside through small openings in the outer wall. Steep

stairs lead to the verandas that ring the upper three levels. The sleeping quarters are on the first and second floor and food, clothes and valuables are stored

on the top floor, although in other yuanlou such as Zhenchenglou bedrooms are found on the upper floors.

The preparation of meat and vegetables is done in the courtyard immediately in front of the kitchen where the oven and firewood is to be found.

 The tulou as a fortification

  The ruling power was centred far away, in distant Peking, so that disputes had to be solved

locally. Consensus was not always reached. This resulted in far more feuding than is found elsewhere in China, That is the reason why the tulou was also a fortification,

o With outer walls of stamped clay up to 1.5 metres thick and 18 metres high , o An iron-clad portal, o Weapon slits under the eaves of the large overhanging roof, o A connecting gallery that enabled rapid movement of people and weaponry.

The portal is the most vulnerable point of attack and is therefore protected by an ingenious fire-dowsing system with an internal gutter above which is connected to a water tank situated on the second floor.

The animal pens, a water well and food stockpiles in the courtyard provided for a lengthy conflict. The tulou is probably the largest, and defensively most advanced, village residences known.

 

The Circular tulou

  The circular tulou are something of a riddle, for apart from a few temples there are no other

examples of circular buildings to be found in China. Some maintain that the shape was known in Fujian in watch towers and fortified villages, and that

these have simply developed into residences. Others suggest that, they were the last stage of a long development, starting with more complex

forms and consolidating into the simpler rectangle and finally evolving into the circular form. The circular form has several advantages: 1. Technically a circular form is easier to build because of the identical cross-section throughout and without the need for complex roof and wall corner construction. See also the section "Construction" 2. The circular form allows more economic use of material. Wood is more expensive to obtain, transport and work than clay. For each jian (building module) the outer rim of clay is longer than that of wood, which faces the courtyard. Further, a given amount of material gives a 41 % larger courtyard and approximately a 13 % larger building area in the circular than in the rectangular tulou. 3. A circular building has greater static stability.

Analysis of the outer wall alone indicates that a cylindrical shell is more stable (ring and restraining moments).

The cylindrical shell is further strengthened considerably by the rigid, horizontal and circular decks of each floor (membrane forces).

If additional vertical elements are built, such as fire walls (as illustrated in the case of the Zhenchenglou) the rigidity and strength is further improved, as the cylinder surfaces are fixed in all four directions.

 4.The circular tulou has a more uniform room division - As the main source of light is from the courtyard, a corner room would be poorly lit and without adequate ventilation.   5. Local superstition holds that evil spirits are everywhere, especially along roads and in brooks, streams

and mountain passes. Every corner in a rectangular building is an opportunity for evil spirits to enter the building as the circular tulou have no corners, spirits are more likely to pass by No contemporary sources explain why circular tulou were built. Most counties in China have ‘local gazetteers’ spanning hundreds of years but very few contain information regarding local building costums. The local history for this part of the country does not contain any interesting information regarding the locality’s architecture and house form  

SOURCE: Jens Aaberg-Jørgensen

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