Calyx building

Lianfeng calyx building

synonym

Calyx building (calyx building, Dadong Town, Dapu County, Guangdong Province) generally refers to Lianfeng calyx building

Lianfeng calyx building, also known as calyx building, is located in Lianfeng village, Dadong Town, Dapu County, Guangdong Province,

It was built in the 36th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1608), with a history of nearly 400 years. Because the round building looks like a calyx, and takes the meaning of love between brothers and neighbors in the countryside, it is named "calyx building".

Lianfeng calyx building covers an area of 2300 square meters, with a construction area of 2286 square meters. It is a circular building with civil structure, with a total of three rings. There are 30 rooms on the first floor of the inner ring, 60 rooms on the second floor of the second ring and 120 rooms on the third floor of the outer ring, with a height of 11.9 meters.

Lianfeng calyx building is exquisitely designed and has a unique structure, which shows the Hakka people's life philosophy of completeness, unity, average and equality. It is of certain significance for the study of ancient Hakka residential architecture art and Hakka folk custom.

In July 2002, Lianfeng calyx building was listed in the fourth batch of Guangdong provincial cultural relics protection units.

On October 7, 2019, Lianfeng calyx building was approved as the eighth batch of national key cultural relics protection units of ancient architecture by the State Council.

Historical evolution

During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Lin Yuanyu, the fifth generation ancestor of the surname Lin, was poor in family and clothes. In order to shelter himself from the wind and rain, he boarded in a stone cave on Shitou mountain and traveled to Fujian, Jiangxi and Rao all the year round, living on salt and lime. It is said that Lin Yuanyu accidentally got three large pots of silver in front of Guanyin temple on shitoushan nearby.

In 1608, Lin Yuanyu began to build Lianfeng calyx building. After Lin Yuanyu built Tuwei building, he took over all the villagers who had no house to live in. Because the round building was shaped like a calyx, it was also named "calyx building" because of the love between brothers and neighbors in the countryside.

In 2001, Lianfeng calyx building and Tai'an building in Tai'an, tai'pu declared world cultural heritage together.

In 2002, Lianfeng calyx building collapsed in a large area. Then, the people's Government of Dapu County invited Xu Songsheng, the representative inheritor of Hakka Earth Building construction skills, a national intangible cultural heritage project, to repair Lianfeng calyx building.

In 2015, the people's Government of Dapu county invested more than 15 million yuan in the renovation of Lianfeng calyx building, Tai'an building, zhonghandi building, Gongchen building and other characteristic dwellings and celebrity houses.

In 2016, Meizhou municipal Party committee and municipal government raised 14 million yuan for the city's cultural relics protection and maintenance. Tai'an building, Lianfeng calyx building, rongludi, enyuandi, Shizhai Tulou, former residence of Xie Jinyuan, former residence of Zhang Bishi, Meizhou academy, Xingning academy and other units in Dapu have been repaired to restore their historical features.

Architectural features

The architecture of Lianfeng calyx building draws lessons from the architectural style of Beijing siheyuan. Lianfeng calyx building is in the shape of eight trigrams. The overall structure is like a peeled orange, big outside and small inside, with double rings. Lianfeng calyx building covers an area of 2300 square meters, with a construction area of 2286 square meters. It is a circular building with civil structure. There are three rings and 210 rooms. The inner ring has 30 rooms on the first floor, the second ring has 60 rooms on the second floor, and the outer ring has 120 rooms on the third floor. The height of the building is 11.9 meters. The wall of the building is rammed with raw soil. The bottom floor is 2 meters wide and the top floor is 1.3 meters wide. The top of the building is made of wooden beams and grey tiles. The inner and outer rings cover each other, the inner is low and the outer is high.

There are no windows on the first floor of Lianfeng calyx building. On the walls of the second and third floors, there are small holes inside and large triangular holes outside. The whole building has only one gate for access. The gate frame is made of thick and wide granite slabs, and the gate plates are nailed with thick iron sheets. These doors and windows are specially designed to resist the invasion of outsiders.

The whole earth building has reasonable layout, ventilation and lighting, warm in winter and cool in summer.

The internal structure of Lianfeng calyx building is "one staircase and one household", each household is divided into three floors, and each household is connected through the corridor on the third floor. Like most earth buildings, Lianfeng calyx building did not adopt the basic lighting and ventilation design of traditional residential buildings, but focused on self-protection.

Cultural relics

The gate of Lianfeng calyx building is arched, with two lanterns hanging above. In the middle of the two lanterns, the words "calyx building" are written in blue ink. On the left and right sides, there is a pair of couplets with black characters on a red background, which says: the flowers are blooming and the calyx is blue. In ancient times, "brothers both Xi, that calyx phase Hui, brothers Lianfang, that Tangdi Jingxiu.". The name of calyx means brother's blind date and neighbor's love.

In Lianfeng calyx building, there is a round patio with an area of 283.4 square meters, which is paved with cobbles of different sizes. In the center is decorated with an ancient coin pattern with a diameter of 3 meters, implying people's desire to have enough food and clothing. There is an old well on one side of the patio, which is used for fire prevention and daily life. The center of the patio is decorated with an ancient coin pattern with a diameter of 3 meters. The pattern and the drainage ditch in the patio form a "Nine" figure, implying that water is the source of life, and the water inlet and the drainage ditch form a "Nine" figure, which symbolizes a long and endless life. There are also rice hulls, pestles and other common living facilities in the building.

Cultural Activity

Legend allusion

According to legend, Lianfeng calyx building was built by Lin Yuanyu, the fifth generation ancestor of the surname Lin. At that time, Lin Yuanyu's family was poor, and he lived in a cave on Shitou mountain for shelter from the wind and rain. He traveled to Fujian, Jiangxi and Rao all the year round, living on salt and lime. Yuanyu is honest and honest, upright and forthright. Although his family is poor, he often helps those who are even poorer, which has won the reputation of his neighbors.

It is said that one day, Yuanyu took lime to Raoping and went home. He was so tired that he went to sleep without eating. Yuanyugong dreamed that goddess Guanyin was sitting in the lotus seat, driving Xiangyun and leading three white horses to him. After waking up, yuanyugong went to look around the cave and found that there were three big jars of silver. Yuanyu used the silver to build Tuwei building, and took all the villagers who had no house to live in. Because the round building looked like calyx, it was named huacalyx building because it meant brothers and neighbors loved each other.

Later, people said that this is the merciful goddess Guanyin, who sympathizes with the suffering of the human world and has built this house for them. In order to feel his kindness, the lotus statue of Goddess Guanyin is also worshipped in the stone cave on Shitou mountain. People of the surname Lin will pay homage to her every Spring Festival.

Activity construction

In December 1992, CCTV produced the literary and artistic program "Chinese people make Lantern Festival" in Lianfeng calyx building.

In April 1993, Guangzhou TV station made the special film "Hakka people" in Lianfeng calyx building.

In January 1999, CCTV and China National Film and Television Corporation produced an eight episode TV series "sister in law" in huacalyx building of Lianfeng.

In October 2000, the tea party of Hakka Tulou was held in Lianfeng calyx building.

In 2004, the film crew of Guangdong satellite TV's 2004 Spring Festival Gala program "foreign daughter-in-law local Lang" and the film crew of CCTV and Pearl River Film Studio "waiting for Lang Mei" went to Lianfeng calyx building to shoot feature films and TV series.

At the beginning of each year, Lianfeng calyx building also carries out blessing activities. Lianfeng calyx building has a long history of praying for blessings. Praying at the beginning of each year and returning blessings at the end of each year is a constant tradition in the village. Every year on the third day of the first month, villagers of Lianfeng village in Dadong town hold a "welcome Guanyin" activity in Lianfeng calyx building. More than ten tables of eight immortals are placed in two rows in the round building, on which are the offerings of fasting fruits from every family. The God welcoming team welcomed Guanyin out of the house to "make a pilgrimage". After bypassing every house in the village, they were carried back to the building. Then they waited for the goddess of Guanyin to sit down and "kowtow". They began to pour tea, toast and pray to the statue of Guanyin.

Cultural relic value

Lianfeng calyx building is one of the most representative Hakka residential buildings in Dapu. It is the largest, most exquisitely designed and best preserved ancient residential building in Tuwei building in Guangdong. It is a wonder of the world's residential buildings. The architectural technology and style of Lianfeng calyx building, originated from the ancient residential buildings in Central Plains, inherits and innovates the traditional earth building technology, but also inherits the essence of Hakka traditional culture, which is the witness of the traditional culture of living together. Lianfeng calyx building is exquisitely designed and has a unique structure, which shows the Hakka people's life philosophy of completeness, unity, average and equality.

protective measures

In July 2002, Lianfeng calyx building was listed in the fourth batch of Guangdong provincial cultural relics protection units.

In April 2008, with the consent of Guangdong Provincial People's government, Meizhou Municipal People's government announced the implementation of the protection plan of calyx building, a cultural relic protection unit in Guangdong Province (2018-2035).

On October 7, 2019, Lianfeng calyx building was approved as the eighth batch of national key cultural relics protection units of ancient architecture by the State Council.

Tourism information

address

Lianfeng calyx building is located in the north of 151xiang Road, Lianfeng village, Dadong Town, Dapu County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province.

admission ticket

10 yuan / person

traffic

Self driving to Lianfeng calyx Tower: starting from Meizhou Meixian airport, the distance is about 116.7 km, about 2 hours. Starting from Meizhou station, the distance is about 117.2 km, and the time is about 2 hours.

Address: No.15, Dapu County, Meizhou City

Chinese PinYin : Hua E Lou