The traditional Hakka dwellings, represented by the earth buildings, the perimeter dragon houses and the hall-type houses, are of different types and styles. However, their solidity, safety, closure, as well as the clan living together, is their outstanding **** the same characteristics.
1. Solidity
The round and square earth buildings in Fujian and Guangdong have a history of 200-300 years or even 500-600 years. They have withstood wind and rain, strong earthquakes and typhoons, but still safe and sound, standing tall in the mountains.
Such strong dwellings are attributed to the careful selection of sites, scientific design, materials and construction methods. Now only from the building materials and construction methods of the earth building to make some explanations.
The walls of the earth building, the lower thick on the thin, thick place some even up to 1.5 meters. Ramming, first in the base of the wall dug out a deep and large wall ditch, rammed in, buried boulders for the base, and then with stone and mortar masonry wall base. Then, the wall was built with stone and mortar. The wall was then rammed with a wall board. The raw material of the earth wall is mainly local clay red soil, mixed with the appropriate amount of small stones and lime, after repeated pounding, mixing, and made into what is commonly known as "cooked soil". Some key parts are also mixed with an appropriate amount of glutinous rice, brown sugar, to increase its viscosity. When tamping, a cedar branch or a piece of bamboo is buried in the middle of the wall to increase its tensile strength. In this way, after repeated tamping, the earth wall is built up like steel and concrete, plus a layer of lime is smeared on the outside to prevent the weather from eroding, so it is exceptionally strong and has good windproof and earthquake-resistant ability. According to "Yongding County Records", in 1918, there was a big earthquake, which was heard for 20 minutes during the daytime and continued to shake at night, but the Tulou remained intact.
2. Security
Historically, the Hakka were originally Han Chinese from the Central Plains, and after they moved south to the mountainous areas of the Fujian-Guangdong-Ganxi border region, in order to prevent robberies by the natives and bandits, as well as attacks by ferocious beasts, they constructed the earthen buildings and enclosures, all of which were heavily guarded and very safe.
For example, like the ancient castle-like earth building, the first and second floors do not have outward-facing windows, or only open the long, thin stone window like a gun's eye, the third and fourth floors and every room has a large outward-facing window, not only for light, circulation of air, but also become a lookout for the enemy and shooting out of the gun hole. The door frame and threshold of the gate of the Tulou building are all stones, and the door plate is about 10 centimeters thick. Some of the gates are dug diagonally with a few holes embedded with bamboo tubes, so that if bandits attack the gate, they can shoot down and pour boiling water. Some of the Tulou gate also installed a fireproof water closet, water tank, if the enemy set fire to the door, as long as a press switch, the water will be down the door to extinguish the fire to protect the door. Tulou was already exceptionally strong, but as a precautionary measure, some Tulou also rammed the walls. In case the outer wall is blown away by artillery fire, the earth building will still be supported by the interlayer wall and will be safe and sound. Inside the building, there are all kinds of living facilities: the deep well in the patio is the water source when it is besieged, and there are hullers, pestles and other equipment for processing grain. All this makes the bandit enemy can not be attacked for a long time. As for those four corners of the towering towers built "four points of gold", is to lead the bandits are discouraged.
3. Closed
Hakka dwellings, whether Tulou or roundhouse, five-feng building, every room inside, halls, patios, are to corridors, alleys, stairways connected to the residents to live conveniently. However, they are completely closed to the outside world. Generally, Tulou has only one main door and one back door, or one main door and two side doors, and all the cross-houses and half-ring huts of the Wai Lung Houses are equipped with doorways. In case of robberies, just close the door and it will be closed tightly.
4. Hakka Tulou, Weilongya, Wufenglou, etc., are generally large-scale. The Yongding "Chengqilou" has more than 300 rooms and an area of 5376 square meters. The "Legacy Building" has five floors, an area of 10,336 square meters, and 51 halls alone. It is no wonder that a Japanese professor of architecture, after seeing the Yongding Tulou, wrote: "This moving Hakka Tulou is more like a small city than a huge house".
Such a huge residence, it is to adapt to the characteristics of living together. At its peak, the "Chengqilou" housed 80 families and more than 600 people. Hometown Luo Wei Long House, there are more than 300 rooms, for the Luo 50 families, 350 people live in ****. Although there are many households, but because of the rooms, halls and patios are also many, can be halls and patios and a number of rooms to form a small living unit, but also to make the households each have their own place, seemingly elegant, comfortable.
It is worth mentioning the Ancestral Hall, which is the "heart" of Tulou and Wai Yuen. This is the place where the head of the clan gathers and discusses with the parents of each family. During festivals, every family brings offerings to the ancestral hall to pay tribute to their ancestors. When a man marries, he pays homage to heaven and earth, kowtows to his ancestors, and feasts at the ancestral hall. When a daughter gets married, she bids farewell to her ancestors before putting on her head covering and leaving the house with a big round tablet symbolizing reunion. When an old man passes away, the shrine becomes a funeral hall. In this way, an ancestral hall will be a harmonious cohesion of the family together, *** enjoy the joy of family.