Fujian Tulou is so famous. What is the development history of Tulou?
Fujian earth buildings are a pearl of oriental civilization. Most of them were built by Hakka people in Fujian, so they are also called "Hakka earth buildings". It is famous for its long history, wide variety, grand scale, ingenious structure, complete functions and rich connotation. It has extremely high historical, artistic and scientific value. It is known as "Oriental Ancient Castle", "World Architectural Wonder", "World's Wonderful Architecture" Unique and fabulous mountain architectural pattern”.
Tulou houses with unique styles are scattered in Yongding, Wuping, Shanghang in western Fujian and Nanjing, Pinghe, Hua'an and Zhangpu in southwestern Fujian. The most famous one is the Hakka earth building in Yongding. Its shape, decoration and construction craftsmanship are rare in the world. The earth building is commonly known as "raw earth building". It is made of raw soil as the main building material, mixed with fine sand, lime, bamboo chips, wooden strips, etc., and is constructed by repeatedly kneading, pounding and pressing. The roof is covered with fire-heated tiles and will not be damaged for a long time. The earth building can be up to five or six stories high, allowing three or four generations to live together in the same building.
The 46 Fujian earth buildings that have become world cultural heritage are composed of six groups with four floors. Fujian Yongding County occupies three groups with two floors, Nanjing County and Hua'an County occupy three groups of buildings, including the early ones distributed in Yongding County. Xi Tulou Group, Hongkeng Tulou Group, Nanjing County Tianluokeng Tulou Group, Hekeng Tulou Group, Huaan County Dadi Tulou Group, etc. are mainly distributed in the high mountains in western and southern Fujian, with their unique architectural style and long history. Its history and culture are world-famous. It is not only the most common round earth building, but also includes square earth building, chair-shaped earth building, etc., covering the complete architectural style of earth building group.
Fujian Tulou is a unique large-scale rammed earth residential building in mountainous areas in the world, a creative masterpiece of earthen architectural art. Fujian earth buildings originated in the Song and Yuan Dynasties and matured in the late Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. The oldest and youngest earth buildings among the World Heritage Earth Buildings are both in the Chuxi Earth Building Group. The Jiqing Building with a diameter of 66 meters is over 600 years old, and the Shanqing Building with a diameter of 31 meters is only 30 years old.
The formation of Fujian earth buildings is related to several famous migrations of Han people in the Central Plains in history. During the Yongjia period of the Western Jin Dynasty, that is, the 4th century AD, there were frequent wars and natural disasters in the north. Local people migrated southward in large numbers, which kicked off the continuous migration of Han people from the Central Plains to Fujian for thousands of years. The immigrants from the Central Plains who entered southern Fujian merged with the local residents, forming the Hokki ethnic group characterized by the southern Fujian dialect; the Han people from the Central Plains who migrated through Ganzhou, Jiangxi and entered the mountainous areas of western Fujian formed another important ethnic group in Fujian, the Hakka. Hakka ethnic group characterized by dialect.
The mountainous area in southwestern Fujian where the Fujian Tulou is located is the intersection of the Hokki and Hakka ethnic groups. The terrain is steep and sparsely populated. Once upon a time, wild animals were infested and bandits were everywhere. Living together as a group is not only a requirement of the deep-rooted traditional Confucian concepts in the Central Plains, but also a practical need to gather strength and defend against foreign enemies. Fujian earth buildings are located on the mountain and have a reasonable layout. They absorb the "Feng Shui" concept of traditional Chinese architectural planning, adapt to the requirements of living and defense among ethnic groups, and skillfully make use of the narrow flat land in the mountains and local raw soil, wood, and Cobblestone and other building materials are a self-contained system of raw earth high-rise buildings that are economical, sturdy, highly defensive, and highly aesthetic. These unique mountain residential buildings push the time-honored earth ramming technology to its extreme.