Hakka Castle-Like Dwellings 2008-5-29 15:16:55
The Hakka people inhabiting southeast China are known for the distinctive style of their dwellings in a variety of castle-like designs. They are round or square, and there are also those in the style of big mansions or in the shape of the Eight Diagrams.
These castle-like dwellings go back a long way in history. The Hakkas, who had moved from central China and settled in the south after the Western Jin Dynasty, developed this unique style of house construction, but it was not until after the Qing that their dwellings began to grow in height and size to function as fortifications. A mixture of clay, ash and bran was the major construction material for these dwellings, which are reinforced with bamboo and timber. A typical Hakka dwelling is a 10-metre-high structure with three to five floors, and the walls, more than one metre in thickness, were built of earth repeated rammed until they became sturdy enough against earthquake and intruders. Each dwelling covers an area of over 1,000 square metres, with 30 or so houses on each floor.
Thus a dwelling with more than 100 rooms is large enough to accommodate 100-300 people. Access to such a dwelling is by a single gate, and a well was dug inside it to supply drinking water. Some Hakka dwellings are fashioned in the shape of a palace richly decorated with carved beams and lacquered pillars. Most phenomenal of all the Hakka dwellings are a kind of round castle, in which houses are arranged in three mutually containing circles. In some places a single castle-like Hakka dwelling is seen atop a mountain, or several or a dozen such dwellings are clustered in a tiny basin. They are evocative of ancient Roman castles, yet each looks distinctive in its Hakka architectural style.
The term "Hakka" means "outsiders"--the Hakka people were settlers from north. That is why elements of central Chinese architecture, such as symmetry and a clear distinction between the centrepiece and the ancillary structures, are palpable in their dwellings. As newcomers small in number and meagre in strength, they were in dire need of a kind of dwelling that could ward them off invaders and allow them to live in a compact community and rally their strength against any possible invasion.
The castle-like dwellings in Yongding, Fujian Province, are definitely the finest examples of Hakka architecture, which attract a constant stream of visitors from at home and abroad.
