WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPE ATLAS -
FUJIAN TULOU
YONGDING&NANJING&HUAAN COUNTY, FUJIAN PROVINCE, CHINA
PARID Research and International Documentation for Landscape - Dept. of Architecture, Built environment and Construction engineering, POLITECNICO DI MILANO Head: Prof. Lionella Scazzosi WRITTEN BY YUTONG DENG
Abstract: Fujian Tulou is a serial property of world cultural heritage. It’s composed of 10 specific Chinese antient historic building clusters. This report will focus on rural lanscape of villages that these clusters located in, analysing productive activities, elements and system of these historic villages. Fujian Tulou Villages have created a mountainous residence with unique local characteristics while living in harmony with a specific natural environment. The poetic field and quaint rural landscape are the embodiment of the superb wisdom and rich experience that how human utilized nature. Key words: Tulou, World Cultural Heritage, Rural Landscape
1.Designation of the UNESCO Property The official name of property is Fujian Tulou.
2.Location
1: Chuxi Tulou Cluster 2: Hongkeng Tulou Cluster 3: Gaobei Tulou Cluster 4: Yanxiang Lou 5: Zhenfu Lou 6: Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster 7: Hekeng Tulou Cluster 8: Huaiyuan Lou 9: Hegui Lou 10: Dadi Tulou Cluster
Yongding County, Nanjing County and Hua’an County in Fujian Province, The People’s Republic of China.
3.World Rural Landscape (WRL) Classification This kind of rural landscape is classified as Settlement Landscpae / Traditional Village Landscape.
Fig.1 Location (Nomination File 1113) -1-
Fig.2 Scene of Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster (www.sohu.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019)
4.History Developments in Southeast China were closely associated with the mass migration of northern people. During 307-312 A.D., due to the consecutive wars and serious drought rarely seen, a large number of people from central China began to migrate southward.In the 7th and 8th century, people in central China once again moved southward in a big scale in attempt to escape the wars. During 1127-1279, the attack and governance of northern China by Jin ethnic people forced many people in central China to move southward. They brought the language and culture of central China and formed the Hakka group speaking the Hakka dialect after a long-term mixing with local culture. Overwhelmed by the new living environment and also guided by their own traditional concepts, they had to gather together to make a living. Thus within a narrow and limited space, they built a large communal house, Tulou, by using the readily available rammed earth. Most of the houses were circular, enclosed and multi-storeyed. Continuous innovation was made along with development of local economy, society and culture. Fig.3 Migration History of Hakka People (Drew by Yutong Deng, Information from: http://bbs.mzsky.cc,thread-1786729-1.html, 1 August 2019) -2-
5.Natural and Environment Analysis 5.1 Climate
Fig.4 Monthly Average Temperature and Rainfall Data of 2018 in Zhangzhou City(Tulou Cluster 6-10) and Longyan City(Tulou Cluster 1-5) (www.worlddata.info;www.worldweatheronline.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019)
Fig.5 Yearly Average Data Zhangzhou City(Tulou Cluster 6-10) and Longyan City(Tulou Cluster 1-5)(www.worldweatheronline.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019)
Fujian Province is located between 23°31′-28°18’ north latitude and close to the Tropic of Cancer. It is a typical subtropical climate. The subtropical climate is characterized by a dry climate and high temperatures. The Wuyi Mountains in the northwest block the cold air intrusion in the north. The warm and humid air currents of the oceans are continuously exported to the land, which makes most areas of Fujian not too cold in winter also not too hot in summer. Rainfall is abundant, forming a humid and warm subtropical marine monsoon climate. 5.2 Soil The representative soils of Fujian province are red soil and Yellow soil.Tulou buildings used soil as the load-bearing wall, and requires a large amount of soil. The quality of the soil is directly related to the durability and strength of the wall.It is necessary to select local yellow soil contained with some sand to construct Tulou.
Fig.6 Soil Map of Fujian Province (http://soil. geodata.cn, Accessed on 1 August 2019,Translated by Yutong Deng) -3-
5.3 Hydrology and Terrain
Fig.7 Hydrologic and Topographic Map of South Fujian Province (Information from: http:// qiuxiami.com, www.arcgis.com, Drew by Yutong Deng, 1 August 2019)
Fujian Province possesses rich water resources due to the warm and humid air currents from ocean and its mountainous terrain. Villages where the Tulou clusters are located are usually in the mountain basin area with river tributaries or streams flowing through, so that the water supply can meet the living and productive requirments. 5.4 Flora and Fauna
Fig.8 Vegetation of Fujian Province (Map from: www.osgeo.cn, Translated by Yutong Deng, 1 August 2019)
Fig.9 National Protected Animals in Fujian Province (Photos from: museum.ioz.ac.cn;www.boqii.com; dp.pconline.com.cn;m.wsm.cn;sc.chinaz.com; daily.zhihu.com;m.tooopen. com; baike.baidu.com; ttgchina.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019) -4-
Due to the subtropic climate, Vegation in Fujian province includes subtropical ,tropical, evergreen, deciduous,broad-leaved, coniferous forests. In the property area, there are mainly evergreen broad-leaved forests combined with agricultural vegetation such as rice. The wild animals in Fujian Province mainly belong to the fauna of the Eastern Ocean. There are thousands of wild animals in the province, 130 species of vertebrates; 540 species of birds; 115 species of reptiles; 44 species of amphibians; insects More than 5000 types.
6. Rural Activities and Productive Processes 6.1 In The Past Parts of the Tulou buildings are results of massive wealth possessed by one specific big family due to their tobacco trade, such as Hongkeng Tulou Cluster (Lin’s family), Yanxiang Lou(Su’s family), Dadi Tulou Cluster. For that reason, during 19’s, at Hongkeng Tulou Cluster or neighborhood people planted tobacco and set some cegarette cutter plants. Their productions would be seen at every ports of Yangtze river, and also abroad like southeast Asia. At Chuxi Tulou Cluster(Xu’s family), in 14’s people hunted in forests. After 1419, they had paper making industry here. Cultivation has supported people’s routine life at every village.
Fig.10 Rural Activities in the Past (Drew by Yutong Deng, 1 August 2019) -5-
6.2 Current Situation The most prominent change at present is that tea economy has become the dominative industry at some villages, such as Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster. Tea trees became the main cash crop in the village. Huge area tea gardens are around villages or on hills. For the limitation of heritage area landuse, local people move the tea processing inside Tulou building. They also plant banana and tabacco as two of cash crops. For the dailly comsume, they keep the cultivation of rice, vegetables and fruits, and breed livestock in Tulou.
Fig.11 Rural Activities at Present (Drew by Yutong Deng, 1 August 2019) -6-
7.Tangible Components 7.1 Village Most of the ancient villages in the Tulou are surrounded by mountains and waters, passing through the mountains.The houses are arranged along the direction in which the streams extend, or they are arranged in accordance with the terrain.It is not only easy to take water, but also has good ventilation effect and can enjoy sufficient sunshine.
Fig.12 I.Hongkeng Tulou Cluster II.Chuxi Tulou Cluster III.Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster IV. Dadi Tulou Cluster (m.tujia. com; www.backpackers.com.tw; zh.wikipedia.org;www.tulou123.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019) I. Water Nearby Tendence Most of the villages are built on the waterfront, and the streams pass through the village, making it easy to release water from the village.Since the villages are mostly located on slopes along the stream, the higher terrain is conducive to the discharge of sewage. In the agricultural history, water for production and living is basically derived from natural water sources, so the distribution of water sources is an important factor affecting the layout of the village.
Hekeng Dadi Chuxi Hongkeng Fig.13 Relationship between Nominated Villages and Water (Drew by Yaling Gao, April 2012) II. Feng Shui Thoughts “Feng Shui” is a theory on location selection of residence, village, and urban environments in ancient China. It embodies in: emphasize “back to negativeness and face to positiveness, collecting wind and gathering fortune”; focus on harmony with the natural environment; express Chinese pursuit on harmony between sky, earth and human. The general mode of village location according to Feng Shui is locating in front of mountains and face to water.
Fig.14 Location of Villages and Constructions (Drowings from Qixiang Wang, Jan. 2004; Hongkeng Tulou Cluster Photo from: www.ly.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019) -7-
7.1.1 Tulou Tulou is a large-scale residential building with a shovel-bearing wall and a large ethnic group live in it together. It is widely distributed in some areas of Fujian, Guangdong and Fujian provinces. Purposes to construct Tulou are: 1.defense. Hakka people migrated here, far away from hometown.They needed to settle together and cooperated to defend invasion from other groups of human and wild animals; 2. lack of sufficient building area; 3.use local materials. The basic materials of Tulou are available in the local mountains, such as stones, wood, clay, and bamboo. • Morphological Category 1. According to Internal Structure: inner gallery / unit Inner gallery: more public space.There are only four evenly distributed stairs to the upper level, each with a common corridor to any room on the same floor. Unit: inner space more closed. There are four evenly distributed staircases to the upper level, each with a common corridor to any room on the same floor. These four stairs and corridors are shared passages.
Unit: Eryi Lou (Dadi Tulou Cluster)
Inner Gallery: Ruiyun Lou (Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster)
Fig.15 2 Types of Tulou (Drowings from Nomination File 1113; Photos from: news.cctv.com;www.qtulou.com;blog.sina. com.cn; www.0951njl.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019) 2. According to shape: Wufenglou type / square / round Fujian Tulou is transformed from Wufenglou type into square type, and then square transformed into round one. Wufenglou is the traditional residence of central China, where Hakka people came from. In the very beginning Tulou has been constructed into Wufenglou type.
Wufenglou type: Fuyu Lou (Hongkeng Tulou Cluster)
Square: Xiqing Lou (Chuxi Tulou Cluster)
Round: Nanyang Lou (Dadi Tulou Cluster)
Fig.16 3 Types of Tulou (fj.sina.com.cn; http://www.tulou123.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019) -8-
• Inner Function Usually, people use the yard and 1st floor to breed livestocks and small animal like rabbits. Ktchens, bathrooms, ancestral hall are located at 1st floor. As the tourism develops, residents in Tulou use some rooms and yard area as stall to sell goods for tourists. 2nd floor has been used as storage area. 3rd floor and above are living area. Fig.17 Inner Function of Yanxiang Lou (Drawing from Nomination File 1113, Text from Yutong Deng) • Decoration 1. Plaques and couplets :In the traditional Chinese architectures, the plaque and the couplet are very characteristic architectural decorations. Nearly every Tulou has its name, and a plaque with the name on it is hung at the gate. The couplet concentrated in the ancestral hall and the study of the Tulou. The content is usually about family glory and educatoin to descendants.
Fig.18 Plaques and Couplets (amuseum.cdstm.cn; baike.so.com; http://blog.sina.com.cn; www.mafengwo.cn; wemedia. ifeng.com;www.baike.com; www.52hrtt.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019) 2. Murals and reliefs :Some Tulou have painted carvings on the beams and columns, especially the beams on the ancestral halls are exquisite and vivid.
Fig.19 Murals and reliefs in Eryi Lou, Dadi Tulou Cluster (http://www.qtulou.com; usa.fjsen.com; www.sohu.com; www. fjtv.net; touch.travel.qunar.com Accessed on 1 August 2019) -9-
7.1.2 Other Buildings • Houses As population in one big family grew, some descendants built houses near their elders’ Tulou to reside in, and came back to Tulou to join clan events and conferences.
Fig 20.Houses in Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster (soso.huitu.com; blog.sina.com.cn, Accessed on 1 August 2019) • Family Temple If descendants of a clan had gotten some remarkable achievements, they would build family temple hometown to demonstrate glories of their family and encourage their next generation. Descendants would hold ritual activities to commemorate their ancestors there. For instance, Zhang Temple at Taxia village, Zhang’s descendants set a serial of tagpoles as monuments of their successful people. In front of buildings there is a semi-circle pond according to Feng Shui thought.
Fig 21.Zhang Temple (www.jianshu.com; travel.qunar.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019) • Drama Stage At one village, in order to meet the entertainment needs people set drama stage to perform local drama like Budai Puppet show.
Fig 22. Drama Stage (www.zonglanxinwen.com; www.sohu.com;www.cyw.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019) 7.1.3 Pathes • Roads Roads in villages were covered by stones or sand as usual. Some are also bank protection along stream.
Fig 23. Roads (Yalin Gao; itw01.com; travel.qunar.com; soso.huitu.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019) - 10 -
• Bridges and Stepstones Materials of bridges include wood and stone. Weirs on some streams are used as stepstones.
Fig 24. Bridges and Stepstones (soso.huitu.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019) 7.1.4 Water Chanels and Ditches • River or Streams
Fig 25. Streams and Ditches (soso.huitu.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019)
7.2 Forests On mountains surrounding village, people have kept natural forests to conserve water resources. At some parts, there has been artificial forests called Feng Shui woods. People planted or transformed self-born woods according to Feng Shui thought, in order to gather fortune.
Fig 26. Natural woods and Feng Shui woods (Jianlong Lai; Yalin Gao)
7.3 Crop Fields Villages are dominated by agricultural production. After hundreds years work, the paddy fields distributed around the village, support daily life of people there.
Fig 27. Paddy Terraces around Gaobei Tulou Cluster (blog.sina.com.cn; www.360tulou.com; culture.dwnews.com,Accessed on 1 August 2019)
- 11 -
8.Rural landscape system analysis
- 12 -
Fig 28. Rural Landscape System ( Photos from: www.baike.com; bbs.photofans.cn;www.xmlxw.com;www.gdcyts.com, Drew by Yutong Deng, on 1 August 2019) - 13 -
Generally, villages located in basin area among mountains, a river or main stream flowing passing by. On mountains behind, people conserved forests for ecological purpose. On slope near village, there would be terraces or fields to cultivate. Cropland also located in the basin or in village sometimes.
Fig 29. General Section of Village (Drew by Yutong Deng, on 1 August 2019)
9. Intangible Components and Social Structure 9.1 Kinship-based Ethics Ancient Chinese people attached great importance to the cohesiveness of the clan, especially Hakka people. They migrated from the Central Plains, and in order to survive in strange places people from one family must be more united. In each Tulou, there is an ancestral hall. Descendants would hold ancestral worshiping and major conferences there. As the clan population increases, some of the descendants built houses in the vicinity of the Tulou, but they would return to the Tulou to participate in clan activities. After the Second World War, the clan population decreased. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the population increased. However, due to the implementation of the production team system at that time, party members from government managed local communities, thus diluting the power of the family. Now, the economic situation changing have put an impact on the traditional rituals in the Tulou. Most young people go to work in cities or other places, and the emphasis on clan activities is weakened. Although the power of the clan has been weakened, Tulou settlement model still plays a role of unity and condensing residents. It can be seen that this form of inhabited architecture can cause people to rely on Tulou psychologically.
Fig 30. Hakka People Worship Ancestors in Tulou (www.eleefeed.com; www.wehakka.com; www.chinesefolklore.org. cn; www.qtulou.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019) - 14 -
9.2 Cultivation and Study Culture In the past, Chinese social hierarchy from top to bottom was: officials, farmers, artisans, and businessmen. Officials were the most respected roles, and if one person became an officer he would be seen as a success symbol of whole clan. If a person from civilian class wanted to be an official he must only pass the strict imperial examinations held by the government and obtain a superior ranking. In order to glory in whole family, many long-established clans through farming to support next generations to study hard for preparing the imperial examinations. For example, the memorial flagpole which symbolize clan honor in front of the Zhang family temple. From 1772 to 1904, a total of 14 stone dragon flag poles were erected in front of the Zhang family temple. The poles were raised to memorize these outstanding people: scholars (excellent candidates in the imperial examination), county Zheng, Daotai (officials), and dean of the college.
Fig 31. Cultivation and Study (blog.sina.com.cn; www.nipic.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019) 9.3 Business Tradition Fujian Tulou, a huge architecture, is difficult to build without economic strength. For example, Fuyu Lou, which lasted for five years, was built by Lin Shangjian, a landlord with two million yuan of silver. Similarly, Lin Hongchao spent 20,000 silver and completed Zhencheng Lou in five years. Lin’s two Tulou buildings cost a total of 10,000 silver. In the traditional Chinese concept, no matter how much money a businessman earned at other places, the first thing that comes to mind is to build a house in his hometown and buy land, so that the next generation can possess an excellent environment to study and gain fame. 9.4 Local Opera and Songs Local operas in the Hakka area include ancient Han opera, puppet shows, Caicha opera and new emerging mountain songs oprea. Han opera belongs to the yellow plate cavity. It has been impacted by folk minors, tossing music, folk songs and Buddhist songs of Hakka culture, and has become a unique Hakka local drama. The puppet body of puppet show is large and rough, and its size is like a child. The actor uses two hands to manipulate two or three kilograms of puppets on the stage, plus dozens of lines. Caicha opera originate from tea-picking. It has more than 60 repertory. The mountain song oprea is composed of folk songs, minors, folk songs, dances, and folk art.
Han Opera
Puppet Shows
Caicha Opera
Mountain Song Opera
Fig 32. Local Opera (wz.vshouyu.com; www.sohu.com;www.qtulou.com; www.lytv.net.cn, Accessed on 1 August 2019) - 15 -
9.5 Local Opera and Songs Most of the residents in the Yongding county believe in Mazu, so the “Tianhou Palace” built for Mazu can be seen everywhere. Mazu, the god of the sea god centered on the southeastern coast of China, also known as Tianhou, is a god that is shared by the calendar, modern shipmen, seafarers, tourists, merchants and fishermen. In addition, due to the respect for nature, it also tends to form a cult of the natural analog avatar. For example, Zhenfu Lou relies on the mountain, and the mountain is covered with water.
Fig 33. Tianhou Palace in Yongding County (www.sohu.com; touch.travel.qunar.com;blog.sina.com.cn; www.sohu.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019)
9.6 Festivals and Activities Festivals of Hakka people are as the same as Han nationality (biggest Chinese ethnic). Their special activities are: 1. ”Going to the Ancients” is a grand carnival of Hakka village folks in the end of Spring Festival. People often dress like roles in legendary stories, operas, and real-life characters or plots, onboard or walk on roads; 2.Zuodafu. Zuodafu is the most important folk worship ceremony for the Tulou people. It aims to pray for good weather, good harvest, and peace. Most of festival activities are related to ancestor and god worships.
Fig 34. Festivals (Drew by Yutong Deng, Photos from: www.qtulou.com; www.520tulou.com; www.xiamenyiriyou. com; www.sohu.com; m.91ddcc.com ; m.xinhuanet.com;www.sohu.com; 555999000.com; www.flickr.com;mobile.newskj.com; zhuanlan.zhihu.com, Accessed on 1 August 2019) - 16 -
9.7 Social Structure in the Past & Nowadays In the past (from 1636-1962, Qing dynasty), Yongding county( Tulou Cluster 1-5) belonged to Tingzhou Fu (equal to city), managed by Futongzhi (equal to mayor). Nanjing county (Tulou Cluster6-9) and Huaan county(Tulou Cluster 10) belonged to Zhangzhou Fu. At every village, main manager is called Lizheng (equal to village head). For every clan, there would be one respectable person to be leader of clan, to manage affairs among clan members. Now, Yongding county belongs to Longyan city, and Nanjing, Huaan county belong to Zhangzhou city. Administrative official of county is county magistrate, for city is mayor, and for village is village head. Leader of clan still exists, but since impacts of clan had been weakened, this identity is not as binding on people as it used to be.
Fig 35. Social Structure (Drew by Yutong Deng, 1 August 2019)
10. Threats 10.1 Environmental pressures Fujian Tulou are mainly located at typical highlands.There is beautiful natural ecological environment and fresh air without any industry development project or other large scale construction project. Therefore, the environmental pressure is very low. Years of environmental monitoring within the area has provided the following facts: surface water, air quality, acid rain, climate. 10.2 Visitor/Tourism Pressures At least 500,000 people visited Tulou each year between 2001 and 2005. The opening of more scenic spots will attract more travelers. However, too many visitors will accelerate the damages on structures, affecting the original life style and the traditional culture, and also for landscape of the heritages. - 17 -
Local governments have drawn up their tourism protection plans for Tulou, in which the tracel volume and the establishment of the tourism facilities are limited, the tourism routes are properly designed, the management on tourists’ behaviors are strengthened, and the control of the environment and hygiene are intensified.
Fig 36. Tourism Pressures in public holidays (Drew by Yutong Deng, Photos from: freewechat.com; www.510hr.com , 1 August 2019)
10.3 Population decline and lifestyle changing As the economic structure of scociety changed, lots of younge people pursuit better job oppotunities in urban area. Laborforce outflew. The elderly stayed at villages can not afford to maintain Tulou facilities. On the other hand, the new generation have built villas or new house with better installation and take the elderly out of Tulou, so that some Tulou get abandoned. Some abandoned Tulou(especially out of nominated area) which didn’t call people’s attension due to little historic value finally collapse.
Fig 37. Abandoned Tulou (www.1008610086.com; k.sina.com.cn; blog.sina.com.cn; www.weibo.com;3rd.mafengwo.cn , 1 August 2019) - 18 -
11. Conclusion Fujian Tulou possess variety of contents in tangible and intangible elements, and also in landscape system. They demonstrate culture and life style of the clan settlement mode. People worked hard at both rural productive activities and trade to other places , in order to create a better life for the whole clan. Nostalgia stayed deeply in Hakka people’s hearts, so that they conserved Han culture of their ancestors very well and would like to construct Tulou in hometown for descendants of clan when they got success in bigger world. In the process of doing this work, the difficulty is that the nomination file just concentrated on Tulou building, giving very little words to mention the rural landscape and cultures. In the nomination file, there are few drawings and photos related to words. Drawings only followed and used previous scholars’ surveys results. However there are plenty of information on internet and excellent articles. Appreciation for those documents.
Sources Books: • State Administration of Cultural Heritage of People’s Republic of China, Nomination File 1113,2008 (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1113/documents/); Articles: • Yalin Gao, On Landscape Protection of Earthen Buildings of Ancient Villages in Fujian-Taking Hongkeng Folk Culture Village as an Example, Graduation Thesis of Master Degree, 2012.04; • Ye Ping, A Village Cultural Landscape Changed from Time to Day--A Case Study of Fujian Tulou,China Cultural Heritage, 2009.06; • Zhao Yang, The study on the protection and development of rural earth buildings is based on Dalingxia Village, Yongding District, Longyan City, Rural Technology, 2018.09; • Lai Jianlong, Entering the Kingdom of Nanjing Tulou, Safety and health, 2009(8); • Yi Yu, Local Peitian, Map, 2010.01; Websites: • whc.unesco.org/en/list/1113 • www.qtulou.com • www.520tulou.com - 19 -