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| Yongding Earthen Houses |
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Earthen houses represent a vernacular architecture specific to Jiangxi,
Fujian and Guangdong provinces following the flow of the Hakka people
from central China to the South. As most Hakka resided in mountains,
communal houses made of compacted earth were built to provide protection
against bandits and wild animals. The older examples of this style
of construction consist of interior buildings enclosed by huge peripheral
ones holding hundreds of rooms and dwellers. With all the halls, storehouses,
wells and bedrooms inside, the huge towerlike building functions almost
as a small fortified city. Earthen houses are made of earth, stone,
bamboo and wood, all readily available materials. After constructing
the walls with rammed earth, branches, strips of wood and bamboo chips
were laid in the wall as "bones" to reinforce it. The end
result is a well lit, well-ventilated, windproof, quakeproof building
that is warm in winter and cool in summer.
Over twenty thousand of these houses still stand today, ten of
which are over 600 years old. The oldest one, "Fu Xing Lou"
in Hu Le town, was constructed over 1,200 years ago and is regarded
as a "living fossil" of the construction style of central
China. The tulou located at the border of Yongding County and Nanjing
County is the perfect example of this style of construction and
it is here that there are most earthen houses. Most of the nominated
properties are located in this area.
The Earth Tower of Hakka has a long history. As early as one thousand years ago, some of the original Hakka migrated and settled at the sparse Yongding area. In order to protect themselves against bandits and wild beasts, they used local materials to build tall, multi-storey circular earthen buildings where a whole family or clan could live in. These are the earth towers that we see today.
These buildings were constructed using fire-resistive material and therefore practically impregnable. They are spacious and they are made up of different shapes like square, rectangular, semi-circular and round.
The formation of the Earth buildings amplify the wisdom and creativeness of the ancestors of the Hakkas settlers in Yongding County. It closes the gaps between Chinese architecture history and the world architecture history and is regarded as a miraculous wonder by thousands of experts, scholars and tourists who have been enchanted by its beauty. |
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