On the Characteristic Beauty of Tulou

1. Architectural features: Hakka Tulou Hakka Tulou is a collective building built with soil as the wall, which is round, semi-circular, square, quadrilateral, pentagonal, chair-shaped and dustpan-shaped. , and each has its own characteristics, of which the round one is the most eye-catching, and the locals call it round building or round village. Hakka earth building is a kind of collective building, and its biggest feature is its large shape. No matter from a distance or in front of us, the earth building is shocking with its huge single building, and its volume is the largest among residential buildings. The most common round building in the earth building we visited is about 50 meters in diameter and three or four stories high. There are more than 100 houses, which can accommodate 30 to 40 families and 200 to 300 people. The Dayuan Building can reach 70-80 meters in diameter, with five or six floors and four or five hundred houses, which can accommodate seven or eight hundred people. Earth buildings and residential buildings reflect the folk customs of Hakka people living in compact communities.

The circular building is the most distinctive building in the local earth building. Generally speaking, it starts from a center and spreads out layer by layer according to different radii, just like water waves in a lake, which is very spectacular. Its center is family ancestral temple, followed by ancestral halls, verandahs and people living in the outermost ring. The whole earth building is the same size, with an area of about 10 square meter. The same staircase, no family has secrets.

2. Reason: The characteristics of Tulou dwellings living in groups according to caste and their architectural features are closely related to the history of Hakka people. Hakkas, originally Han Chinese in the Central Plains, were forced to move south due to war, famine and other reasons. By the Southern Song Dynasty, they had traveled to Wan Li for nearly a thousand years and formed a Hakka clan in the border area of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi. In the process of being forced to leave their homes and migrate, they have experienced many hardships, and they all have a deep understanding. Whether they are displaced after a long journey, or they are new to a strange place, many difficulties must be solved by their own solidarity and Qi Xin's concerted efforts. Therefore, wherever they go, their surnames always live together. In this way, the unique architectural form of Hakka dwellings-tulou was formed. Because most of the Hakkas lived in remote mountainous areas or Mishan, at that time, not only building materials were scarce, wolves, tigers, leopards and thieves were noisy, but also they were afraid of being harassed by local people, so Hakkas built a "defensive" castle-style building house-Tulou.

3. Hot and humid environment, light environment and cultural connotation.

Complete economy

The main building materials of Hakka earth buildings are loess and Chinese fir soil. In the border area of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi where Hakka people live in compact communities, these two materials are inexhaustible. Loess, in particular, is taken from the hillside, so there is no problem of destroying cultivated land. If the old building needs to be demolished and rebuilt, the wall soil can be reused or used as crop fertilizer, and it will not produce a lot of construction waste like modern stone-turning or concrete houses. Generally speaking, due to the smooth ventilation of the roof truss, the wooden components will not be seriously attacked by termites or rotted by moisture, and the old materials can be reused, so the construction technology of the earth building is easy to master, and it can be completely operated by manpower without special equipment. Usually the construction time is arranged in dry and rainy winter. At this time, during the slack season, people can participate in the project in large quantities, which greatly reduces the cost of building the army.

Good firmness

Hakka earth buildings, especially round villages, have the best firmness. The cylindrical structure can uniformly transmit all kinds of loads, and at the same time, the bottom of the outer wall is the thickest, gradually thinning upward and slightly inward, forming an excellent prestressed centripetal state. Under the action of general earthquake or uneven settlement of foundation, the whole earth building will not be destructively deformed. However, due to the horizontal tie rods such as bamboo strips and wooden strips buried in the soil wall, even if cracks occur due to excessive temporary stress, the overall structure is not dangerous.

One of the biggest dangers of earth buildings is water hammer, but most of them are built with pebbles, and the height is designed above the highest flood line. An earth wall is rammed above the stone foundation, and a roof with a height of about 3 meters is set at the top of the wall to ensure that rainwater is thrown out of the wall.

Wonderful physics

The wall thickness of Hakka earth building is about 1.5 meters, so hot weather can prevent the summer heat from entering, and cold weather can isolate the wind, forming a microclimate in the building, which is cool in summer and warm in winter. Surprisingly, the thick earth wall has a hidden function that other walls can't match. In the border areas of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces, the annual rainfall is as high as 1800 mm, and there are often sudden sunny showers, and the outdoor dry humidity changes too much.

In this climate, the thick soil keeps the humidity suitable for human body, and when the environment is too dry, it can naturally release water; When the environment is too humid, it absorbs water, which is obviously very beneficial to the health of residents. Today's architects often talk about the control of indoor noise. Indeed, due to the strong introversion, Hakka earth buildings, especially round villages, are prone to noise focusing effect, which is a big drawback for most modern people who hate noise. However, we must understand that in the Hakka living environment in the past, the sound in the building is a comforting life atmosphere.

Excellent defense

The thick wall of Hakka earth building is one of the most important features, which is the extreme expression of the introversion of traditional houses in China. Take the common four-story earth building as an example. There are no external windows on the first and second floors. There is a narrow slit on the third floor, four big windows, and sometimes a platform is added on the fourth floor. The weak point of the earth wall is the entrance, and the reinforcement measures are to wrap iron sheets on the heavy hardwood door, fix it with a horizontal bar behind the door, and install a fire-proof water tank on the door. These are all for defense needs. The border of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces used to be a wild land, but until the early 1920s, there were still many virgin forests, infested with insects and snakes, and many wild animals. For a long time in history, this place was not only "the sky is high and the emperor is far away", but also beyond the reach of North Korea. Even the provincial capitals of Fuzhou, Guangzhou and Nanchang have no choice but to get along because of the extreme and dangerous roads. In addition to being frequently attacked by aborigines with strong folk customs, Hakkas also migrated to different families with different surnames, and there were constant life-and-death struggles. The harsh living environment forces Hakkas to attach great importance to defense, and they build their houses into fortified cities that are easy to defend but difficult to attack, and live in groups. In the era of primary firearms such as wells, granaries and barns in Tulou, Tulou provided enough security for Hakkas. Among the Hakkas, there are many stories about "no lamb in the building" after the enemy can't attack for a long time.

Unique art

The artistry of Hakka earth buildings is mainly reflected in the overall shape. In this respect, all three modes have their own characteristics. The Wufeng Pagoda is generally located in a sunny place at the foot of the mountain. On the central axis of its facade, the heights of Xiatang, nave and Shangtang are increasing, with Shangtang as the main body. The horizontal houses on the two wings of the axis gradually rise in response to it, and the overlapping triangular mountains are opposite to each other, forming a very neat and orderly composition. Although we don't pay attention to detail carving, nine scattered ridges are located on the mountain, which is full of the charm of Gu Zhuo. The modeling features of the square building are similar to those of Wufeng Building, but the outer walls of the lower hall and the horizontal house are thicker and higher, forming a more spectacular whole. Yuanzhai is the most attractive of the three typical plastic arts. Among the mountains, it appears in a seamless pure form, just like the Egyptian pyramids in the vast desert, which is memorable. The circle echoes the sky, and the natural loess wall is closely connected with the earth. As the light approaches at any time, countless irregular cracks appear on the earth wall, which is more vigorous and powerful. It is natural and shocking that Yuancun has worked so hard. In today's booming tulou tourism fever, round village has the strongest attraction. Zoumalou evolved from a square building. This kind of building is mainly composed of two floors. The first floor is a bedroom and a warehouse. It has a * * * same feature: a cantilever corridor is erected with wood outside the second floor. This earth building was built by the Hakkas in Yongding during their southward migration, which absorbed the advantages of the southern indigenous "Gan Lan" houses and creatively used the advanced rammed earth technology in the Central Plains. It can adapt to the complex terrain and rainy and humid climate in mountainous areas, and is simple and easy to operate, saving labor and materials. The other is a zigzag earth building built on the mountain. There are turning walls on the front and left and right sides of the building, and the gate is located on one side of the fence. The whole building looks like a lock, so it is called "lock-head building".