Shizhai Tulou

Shizhai Tulou

Shizhai Tulou is a Guangdong Provincial Cultural Heritage Site.

Shizhai Tulou (Square Tulou, Shude Tulou, and the Guo Ancestral Hall) is located in Shizhai Village, Nanqi Town, Jiaoling County, and was listed as a provincial-level cultural heritage site by the People's Government of Guangdong Province in 2002.

The Square Tulou was built by the fifth-generation ancestor of the Guo clan in the village during the Ming Dynasty’s Jiajing era in 1522, and completed in 1567 during the Longqing era—taking 45 years to construct, and is now over 490 years old. It faces northwest from the southeast. At the eastern and western corners, there are watchtowers (commonly called fire towers), each about 2 meters taller than the main structure. The total width is 33.8 meters, the depth is 26.3 meters, with a total of 71 rooms, covering a land area of approximately 889 square meters and a building area of 3,060 square meters. It features a pyramidal roof, gray tiles, stone and lime-soil foundations, and rammed earth walls.

Shude Tulou was built by the tenth-generation ancestor of the Guo clan in the village during the Ming Dynasty’s Tianqi era in 1622, and completed in 1723 during the Qing Dynasty’s Yongzheng era—taking 101 years to build, and is now over 390 years old. It underwent partial restoration in 2006 and 2007 according to its original appearance. It faces west from the east. The structure is a three-story square tulou layout, with watchtowers (commonly called fire towers) at the southwestern and northeastern corners. The total width is 25.60 meters, the depth is 28.80 meters, with a total of 58 rooms, covering a land area of approximately 738 square meters and a building area of about 1,786 square meters. The annex building—Yiyu Building—and the meeting hall cover an area of approximately 1,065 square meters. It features a pyramidal roof, gray tiles, stone and lime-soil foundations, and rammed earth walls.

The Square Tulou and Shude Tulou are 100 meters apart. Both are three-story square tulou layouts, with a square exterior shape, standing 13 meters tall. The three-story earthen structures are built with walls made of rammed earth, using locally sourced materials such as mountain stones, yellow clay, fir wood, lime, sand, and blue tiles. The load-bearing walls of the tulou are up to one meter thick, the roof beams are up to seven meters long, and each roof tile is as wide as one foot. The overall layout is unique, the design is distinctive, the structure is solid, and after three to four hundred years, they still stand firmly.

The Guo Ancestral Hall was built in the 51st year of the Kangxi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1712). It faces southwest from the northeast, covering a land area of approximately 2,178 square meters and a building area of 633 square meters. It is a Hakka enclosed house built with a sand-lime structure of earth and timber, consisting of one courtyard, four rows, and one ancestral hall. It has an overall layout of one hall, four wings, and one encircling dragon. It is a single-entry, three-bay structure, with a total width of 46.4 meters, a depth of 55.6 meters, a total of 50 rooms, covering a land area of approximately 2,580 square meters and a building area of about 1,760 square meters. It features a hanging gable roof, gray tiles, stone wall bases, and rammed earth walls.

Shizhai Tulou is a classic example of ancient Hakka residential architecture with distinct local characteristics. It fully demonstrates the Hakka people’s tradition of clan-based communal living and their spirit of hard work and pioneering. It holds significant reference and research value in the history of civil engineering and architecture.

On July 17, 2002, it was included in the fourth batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Heritage Sites.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Heritage Sites