Dingnan Walled Houses

Dingnan Walled Houses

Dingnan Walled Houses are protected cultural heritage sites under the jurisdiction of Jiangxi Province.

Dingnan Walled Houses (including Chebu Tiger-shaped Walled House [with the Fang Family Private School], Mingyuan Di Walled House, and Taigong Octagonal Walled House [with the Zheng Family Private School])

Dingnan Walled Houses are part of the Hakka walled houses in southern Jiangxi. They are distributed across Dingnan County in Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, where over 200 various types of Hakka walled houses are preserved. In the Dingnan area, the use of “walled houses” as residences first appeared in the early Qing Dynasty. The large-scale emergence and development of walled houses in southern Jiangxi occurred during the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty. After the Republic of China period, the construction of Dingnan Walled Houses declined significantly.

Dingnan Walled Houses include the Chebu Tiger-shaped Walled House, Mingyuan Di Walled House, and Taigong Octagonal Walled House. Unlike the Hakka walled houses in Yongding, western Fujian, those in Dingnan emphasize the “head,” using the tiger’s head as the facade. Hence, they are called Tiger Head Walled Houses or Tiger-shaped Houses. These structures embody the diligence and wisdom of the Hakka people and are one of the distinctive traditional architectural forms in China, symbolizing Hakka culture.

On March 7, 2019, Dingnan Walled Houses (including Chebu Tiger-shaped Walled House, Mingyuan Di Walled House, and Taigong Octagonal Walled House) were listed as part of the sixth batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units.

Nearly every township in Dingnan County has walled houses, which are often built with rammed earth walls, and their roofs are mostly of the hanging gable style — a feature rarely seen in other counties. Dingnan’s walled houses usually have rammed earth walls, and their roofs are predominantly of the hanging gable type. The outer walls of the walled houses commonly use the “gold-wrapped-in-silver” masonry technique: the outer third is made of brick or stone, while the inner two-thirds consist of earthen adobe or rammed earth. This design is primarily intended to reinforce the structure and serve defensive purposes.

Unlike the Hakka walled houses in Yongding, western Fujian, Dingnan’s walled houses emphasize the “head,” using the tiger’s head as the facade. Hence, they are called Tiger Head Walled Houses or Tiger-shaped Houses. Dingnan’s “Tiger-shaped Walled Houses” are the only ones among the many Hakka walled houses in southern Jiangxi that adopt zoomorphic design concepts, making them a highly typical example of southern Jiangxi Hakka architectural culture. All Hakka walled houses in southern Jiangxi have a water pond in front, mainly serving the purposes of purifying wastewater and providing emergency firefighting.

Mingyuan Di Walled House was first built in the 26th year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1846). It is a southern Jiangxi Hakka walled house integrating the functions of home, fortress, ancestral hall, inner courtyard, and front yard. The structure has a rectangular layout, measuring 62.85 meters in width and 37.54 meters in depth, covering a total area of 2,359.39 square meters. The interior features symmetrical main constructions arranged across three sections, three halls, and two courtyards, comprising a total of 168 housing units that can accommodate over 200 people.

Chebu Tiger-shaped Walled House is located in Fangwu Pai, Chebu Village, Lishi Town, Dingnan County. It was first built in the 51st year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1786). The Tiger-shaped Walled House is square-shaped, facing southeast and situated northwest. It is 40 meters wide at the front and 33 meters deep. Backed by verdant mountains along the Tiger-shaped Dragon Vein, the building is designed in the shape of a tiger sitting upright and gazing forward, with the gate crafted in the likeness of a tiger’s head — hence the name. The architectural design of the Tiger-shaped Walled House carries dual meanings: internally, it symbolizes vitality and invincibility for the house’s owners; externally, it projects awe-inspiring majesty and an air of inviolability.

Taigong Octagonal Walled House is an eight-watchtower walled compound, located in Xinwuduan, Taigong Village, Lishi Town, Dingnan County. It was constructed in the 8th year of the Xianfeng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1858) by Wan Zuo, an ancestor of the Zheng family from Taigong Village, along with his son. The Taigong Octagonal Walled House faces west and measures 60 meters in width and 31.7 meters in depth, covering an area of 1,902 square meters. It has a rectangular layout and adopts a mixed structure of brick-wood, stone-wood, and earth-wood. This walled house integrates the functions of home, fortress, ancestral hall, and front yard. Its exterior features high brick-and-earth composite walls. Due to limitations posed by the mountain behind and the farmland in front, the walled house could only expand to the left and right. Therefore, four watchtowers stand on the main façade, and another four on the rear façade — all three stories high, with second-floor eaves supported by corbelled brickwork and hipped roofs with four sloping sides. The entire walled house has only one main gate at the front, with two smaller side gates on each side, offering strong defensive capabilities. Along the central axis inside the walled house, there are three halls: upper, middle, and lower. The upper hall serves as a place for ancestor worship, featuring six wooden pillars with drum-shaped stone bases and carved beams, as well as several decorative wooden windows adorned with auspicious patterns. On both sides of the hall are 136 housing units that can accommodate over 220 clan members.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units