USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Travel
Home / Travel / Travel

Behind these walls

By Zhang Zixuan | China Daily | Updated: 2013-09-04 10:40

Home sweet home

Around 20 households still live within these walls. It is not uncommon to see a resident making the local Hakka snack tang pi, a kind of cracker made with milled rice and Chinese chives.

Li Manyu, 95, sits in the yard and enjoys the sunshine. She has been living in this enclosed house since 1949, after marrying into the Xu family.

Li says the house was not big enough for the whole family so her children moved out. But she refused.

Behind these walls

Residents are busy around a well in the Wushi Enclosed House in Longnan.[Photo/Provided to China Daily]

"I have gotten used to the comfort of living here," says the elderly woman. "Although it rains a lot in Guanxi, the house never floods."

"The enclosed houses in the Qing Dynasty were well designed before construction," says Lai Jianqing, a local Hakka culture expert. "But in earlier periods there were houses first, then the fence wall."

The Liyuan Enclosed House in Liren township constructed during the Ming Dynasty is the biggest in Longnan county - six times bigger than the Guanxi enclosed house.

The unusual shape of its outer wall indicates that it was added after the houses were built. It was constructed for defense purposes, Lai says.

The three front doors indicate the house belonged to an official's family. The central door was only used by the landlord and honored guests.

Behind the doors and main rooms is a maze-like area composed of 64 alleys, which was also built for security.

"This enclosed house reflects traditional Chinese culture in the form of architecture," Lai says.

Behind these walls

In 2008, the Hakka tulou (earthen buildings) of Fujian province, was declared a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. Their international fame has overshadowed enclosed houses, leading many to believe they are all the same.

"The enclosed houses and tulou are both representative dwellings of the Hakka people, but they are different," Lai says, who has been studying Hakka culture and enclosed houses for more than 20 years.

Although both were constructed from the mid-Ming Dynasty, Lai says, the enclosed houses stopped being built during the period of the Republic of China (1912-1949), while tulou continued being constructed until the 1980s. That explains why there are tens of thousands of tulou, but only about 600 enclosed houses, each with a history of more than a century.

Secondly, tulou is built by rammed earth, while enclosed houses are built from masonry.

Thirdly, tulou is usually co-constructed and shared by several families, but every enclosed house is one man's work. Hence, many enclosed houses were named after the builders' surname.

The Xie Family's Enclosed House in Lintang township is the only circular house among all the enclosed houses in Longnan county.

Xie Liangnan, 47, is a third-generation descendant of the man who originally built the house. He has been living in the building since he was born.

"There has never been outsiders living here, only my family members," Xie says.

"Tulou are for commoners and enclosed houses are for the rich," Lai says.

The enclosed houses also have more distinguished military defense capability, Lai says.

They have fewer doors than tulou, and each one has three-layers of wooden doors wrapped in iron sheets.

Most importantly, there are four high fire turrets at each corner of the rectangular wall. Hence "there is no military dead angle".

"No matter if used as a home, a place of ancestor worship or a fortress, the enclosed houses function much better than tulou," Lai says.

Behind these walls

Behind these walls


Jet boat thrills along Tianjin coast 

Castles and palaces on two continents find common ground 

Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 精品国产一区二区三区久久影院 | 国产在线高清理伦片a电影| 国产三香港三韩国三级不卡 | 最近最好的中文字幕2019免费| 欧美成人免费全部| 日本动漫打扑克动画片樱花动漫 | 婷婷开心深爱五月天播播| 国产精品亚洲综合| 国产一起色一起爱| 免费无毒片在线观看| 国产免费色视频| 偷偷做久久久久网站| 亚洲av之男人的天堂| 三上悠亚在线电影| www.人人干| 精品一区二区久久久久久久网站| 精品1州区2区3区4区产品乱码| 男国少年梦电影| 日本在线观看中文| 天天干天天做天天操| 国产午夜精品久久久久免费视| 动漫成人在线观看| 亚洲欧美国产国产综合一区| 久久久精品久久久久久96| 91短视频在线高清hd| 色噜噜狠狠一区二区三区果冻| 精品久久久BBBB人妻| 樱桃视频直播在线观看免费| 女人与大拘交口述| 国产乱子伦精品视频| 亚洲日本久久一区二区va| 一区二区在线免费视频| 国产四虎免费精品视频| 欧美综合人人做人人爱| 成人av在线一区二区三区| 国产成社区在线视频观看| 伊人这里只有精品| 中文字幕亚洲区| 亚洲娇小性色xxxx| 波多野结衣cesd—819高清| 成人一级片在线观看|