Raoping Tulou

Raoping Tulou

Raoping Tulou, located in the northern mountainous area of Raoping County, Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province, was built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Raoping earth building is divided into two types: building and bungalow. The shapes are round, square, octagonal, back chair, crab and so on. Earth building has many advantages, such as good ventilation and lighting, heat insulation and so on. It adapts to the mountainous environment and has distinctive local architectural characteristics.

Raoping earth building is made of unique materials. The walls of the high building are made of raw soil, sand and stone, wood and bamboo strips. After repeated kneading and rolling, they are rammed layer by layer. There is only one gate for each Tulou, two for individual Tulou and three for crab shaped Tulou, which is called Zhaimen. Each building village is embedded with an elegant name, and some of the buildings have been restored to form a unique architectural style of building in building and door in door.

In 2002, Raoping Tulou (zhenfulou, runfenglou, xincailou, nanyanglou, daoyunlou) was listed as the fourth batch of key cultural relics protection units in Guangdong Province.

Historical evolution

Most of the villagers in Raoping Tulou are Hakkas. After they moved from Fujian to Raoping in the Yuan Dynasty or early Ming Dynasty, they lived in caoliniao between the mountains at the junction of Fujian and Guangdong. They often suffered from soldiers and bandits, and were also harmed by Wolf tigers. In order to survive and multiply, Hakkas have to gather together to build this kind of earth round building with high earth walls.

Raoping earth building Nanyang building was built in the second year of Jianwen (1400);

Zhenfulou was built in 1413, the 11th year of Yongle in Ming Dynasty;

Daoyun building was built in the 15th year of Wanli (1587);

Xincailou was built in the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty (1573-1619);

Runfeng building was built in Daoguang period of Qing Dynasty (1821-1850).

In the history of Raoping County, most of the earth buildings were more than three or four hundred years old. At that time, their main functions were to guard against theft and animals, and to avoid being hurt by the fighting caused by clan disputes. By the end of the 20th century, with the improvement of the living conditions of the villagers, the drawbacks of living conditions and environmental sanitation of the original Tulou were more and more obvious, and the houses were gradually aging, so more and more villagers moved away, leaving a century old village gradually deserted.

Architectural features

Raoping Tulou is divided into two types: building and bungalow. The shapes are round, square, octagonal, back chair, crab, etc. each Tulou has only one entrance. Individual Tulou has two doors, while crab shaped Tulou has three doors, which is called Zhaimen. In the center of the building is Guangcheng. There are two wells on both sides of the building, some only one. They are used as public wells in the whole building. Each family also has private wells for their own use. There are also ancestral halls, warehouses, public toilets and other living facilities in the building. Each building village is embedded with an elegant name, and some buildings are restored, which constitutes a peculiar architectural style of building in building and door in door.

Raoping Tulou is not difficult to design and construct, easy to draw materials, less land occupation than exclusive bungalows, and low cost. It is not only strong and durable, but also can defend the enemy. This kind of building not only has many advantages such as good ventilation and lighting, heat insulation, warm in winter and cool in summer, anti shock, moisture-proof and fire prevention, but also adapts to the mountainous environment and has distinctive local characteristics.

Cultural relics

overview

Raoping Tulou mainly includes Zhenfu building, Runfeng building, Xincai building, Nanyang building and Daoyun building.

According to the results of the third national cultural relics survey held from June 2007 to December 2011, there are 217 Tulou registered in Raoping, and 86 Tulou listed as cultural relics, including one national key cultural relics protection unit, nine provincial cultural relics protection units and nine county-level cultural relics protection units.

Zhenfulou

Zhenfulou, located in Makeng village, Shangrao Town, Raoping County, was built in 1413, the 11th year of Yongle in Ming Dynasty. Sit West to East, oval, covering a total area of about 9451 square meters. Three into the enclosed house, the front is a bungalow, the middle is a two-story building, and the back is a three-and-a-half-story building. There are 66 rooms in the center, with their own stairs leading to the second and third floors. One well, one pond in front of the gate, stone gate building and gate forehead. "Zhenfulou" is engraved on the forehead of the gate. The stone wall foundation and walls are rammed with yellow soil and have gray tile roofs. The exterior wall of the building is provided with gun holes, and underground ditches and culverts are built.

Nanyang building

Nanyang building is located in Yongshan village, Shangrao Town, Raoping County. It was built in 1400, the second year of Jianwen in Ming Dynasty. Sitting south to north, it is round, 44.6 meters in diameter, covering an area of 1562 square meters. Two into the enclosed house, the front is a bungalow, and the back is a three-story building. There is a Neicheng in the center. There are 26 rooms in the building, with their own stairs leading to the second and third floors. One well, stone wall foundation, stone gate tower and gate forehead. The three characters "Nanyang building" are engraved on the top of the door. The walls are rammed with yellow soil and the roof is made of grey tiles. The exterior walls of the building are equipped with gun holes and gun holes, and underground ditches and culverts are built. On the third floor of the hall, there are four plaques inscribed by government and county officials, such as "Jing Ming Xing Xiu" and "Kingdom Chu Zhen".

New color building

Located in Chitang village, Raoyang Town, Raoping County, xincailou was built in the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty (1573-1619). Sitting in the northwest to the southeast, it is round, 59.4 meters in diameter, covering a total area of about 4269 square meters. There are 32 rooms in the building, with their own stairs leading to the second and third floors. There are 2 wells and 1 pond in front of the gate. Stone wall foundation, stone gate building, no gate building name, the walls are rammed with yellow soil, the interior wall is plastered, and the roof is grey tile. 2、 The corridor on the third floor leads to all around, and the rooms on the fourth floor are connected by doors. The building is magnificent and well preserved.

Runfeng building

Runfenglou is located in louzijiao natural village, Fenglian village, Xinfeng Town, Raoping County. It was built in Daoguang period of Qing Dynasty (1821-1850). Sitting north to south, it is round, 48.5 meters in diameter, covering a total area of 2248 square meters. There are 29 rooms in the building, with their own stairs leading to the second and third floors. One well and one pond in front of the gate. The stone gate tower and gate forehead are engraved with "Runfeng tower". The stone wall foundation and wall are rammed with yellow soil, the interior wall is plastered and the roof is grey tile. Outside the building, there are Sima Di, Ru Lin Di, Guang Ye Xuan and Diao Qin Zhai. The building is small and compact.

Rhyme building

Daoyun building is located in Nanlian village, Sanrao Town, Raoping County. It was built in 1587 and completed after three generations of construction. Facing north and south, it is octagonal, 38.5 meters long on the outside, 16.4 meters long on the inside, 328 meters long on the outside, 135 meters long on the inside, 11.5 meters high, 1.6 meters thick, covering an area of about 10000 square meters. Three into the enclosure, the total depth of 29 meters, the first two into the enclosure for bungalows, after the three storey building, there are two small patios in the middle. Each household has its own way, with stairs leading to its own upstairs. The whole building has 56 main rooms, 16 corner rooms, a total of 72 rooms; a total of 360 rooms, 112 stairs; 56 doors, doors are not symmetrical. In the center of the building is a square paved with pebbles and covered with loess. There is a north facing hall directly opposite the gate. There are two public wells on both sides of the hall, and another 30 private wells are set under the boundary wall of the main house. There is a pond in front of the gate, a stone gate tower and a gate forehead. The door is engraved with "daoyunlou" and the inscription "Fuyuan brocade book, Dinghai autumn moon auspicious day", which is the title of Huang brocade book of Nanjing Ministry of rites in Ming Dynasty. Lime sand wall foundation, the rest of the wall are rammed with yellow soil, gray tile roof.

The building is a castle style building with gun holes and gun holes on the exterior wall and a water injection culvert on the top of the door. It has eight functions of preventing war, country fighting, burglary, animal damage, drought, fire, cold and heat, and earthquake. There are also carved beams and painted buildings, murals, clay wall, flower and wood windows and other decorations in the building.

Cultural relic value

Raoping Tulou was built in Ming Dynasty at the earliest and in modern times at the latest. It was once listed as one of the top ten important discoveries of Guangdong Province in 2009 by Guangdong Provincial census office, and was also listed as an important discovery by the State Administration of cultural relics.

The Daoyun building in Raoping is the largest octagonal one in China, which highlights the characteristics of "ancient, big, strange and beautiful". The whole building is well preserved and has high historical and artistic value.

The unique architectural style and shape of Tulou is not only a rare historical relic in Raoping and even Eastern Guangdong, but also a precious treasure of ancient architecture.

History and culture

Raoping is located in the east of Guangdong Province, bordering the south of Fujian Province. It also controls the main traffic routes between Fujian and Guangdong. It is known as the first county in Guangdong Province. It is the first landing point for the Han people in the Central Plains to move southward from the East Road to Guangdong. As early as 35 million years ago in the Neolithic age, Raoping ancestors lived in this land, creating a representative culture of the southeast coast of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties - "Fubin type culture".

Most of the inhabitants of Raoping Tulou came from Fujian and have been assimilated into Chaoshan people who speak Chaoshan dialect, listen to Chaozhou Opera and drink kungfu tea.

Both Chaozhou people and Hakkas claimed that they moved out of the Central Plains in the late Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties. Chaozhou people arrived in eastern Guangdong earlier and occupied the coastal plain. Hakkas moved into eastern Guangdong on a large scale after Ming Dynasty. At that time, the coastal plain was full of Chaozhou people, so they had to live in the hilly area.

After arriving in eastern Guangdong, Chaozhou people and Hakkas, due to the turbulence

Chinese PinYin : Rao Ping Tu Lou