Chengqi Building

　　Situated in the northwest of Gaobei Village, Gaotou Township. According to the family genealogy, the building was first built during the Chongzhen era of the Ming Dynasty (1628–1644), followed by the construction of the second, third, and fourth rings, and was completed in the 48th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1709). It is a circular earthen building facing south and covering an area of 5,376.17 square meters. During the ramming of the outer ring’s earthen wall, favorable weather prevented the wall from being eroded by rain, hence it is also known as the “Heaven-Helped Building.”

　　The entire structure consists of four concentric rings of circular buildings, featuring double-sloped tiled roofs, a mixed wooden frame of through-tenon and post-and-lintel construction, and an interior corridor system (see Figures 39, 40, 41 in 7.a-1 and Photos 36, 37 in 7.a-2).

　　The outer ring is the main building, with an earth-and-timber structure, four stories high, and a diameter of 73 meters. The walls of the ground floor are 1.5 meters thick, tapering to 0.9 meters on the fourth floor. No windows are found on the ground and second floors. The ground floor houses kitchens, the second floor grain storage, and the third and fourth floors bedrooms. Each floor has 72 rooms, including entrance halls and stairwells. Except for the outer walls and the walls of the entrance halls and stairwells, which are made of rammed earth, the partition walls of the kitchens and bedrooms are built with adobe bricks. The inner corridor on the ground floor is 1.65 meters wide. On the upper floors, the cantilevered beams extend about one meter toward the center, forming eaves slightly lower than the railings. Under the eaves, cedar boards divide the space into small storage rooms according to the number of rooms; the eaves are covered with blue tiles, providing a surface for drying crops. There are two staircases each on the east and west sides. The front and south sides feature a large door with a stone lintel. In addition to the building name engraved above the door, a couplet is carved on both sides: “Uphold the virtues of diligence and thrift from our ancestors; inspire descendants to pursue both scholarship and farming.” Smaller side doors are located on the east and west sides of the outer ring. The second ring is two stories high with a brick-and-timber structure, featuring 40 rooms per floor. Except for one room on the front and one each on the east and west sides serving as passages, the other rooms form small courtyards with small front yards and brick partitions. The hall of each courtyard serves as a living room or dining room on the ground floor of the second ring, with bedrooms upstairs. Each courtyard has its own door connecting to the inner corridor at the rear of the third ring. Behind the courtyards are the kitchens of the outer ring, while opposite the dining area are bathrooms, toilets, and storage rooms built with blue bricks, about 1.8 meters high. These facilities are separated from the outer ring by a small courtyard paved with cobblestones, with access via pathways laid with large, square bluestones. The third ring is a single-story, brick-and-timber structure with 32 rooms. In ancient times, the building’s owners valued education but did not allow women to study in schools outside with men, so they established a private school here, which also served as a study room for female members.

　　The fourth ring is the ancestral hall, a single-story structure slightly lower than the third ring, giving the entire building a tiered appearance with higher outer rings and lower inner ones. It covers an area of 33.83 square meters. The rear hall and the arcaded corridors on both sides of the front form a single-story circular structure with a central courtyard. The ancestral hall features a hip-and-gable roof, intricately carved beams and painted rafters, facing the main gate of the building. The facade is adorned with paintings and exquisite brick carvings. The hall connects to the east-west corridor running through the building and the two side doors on the east and west sides of the outer ring via small doors on its east and west sides. Hanging from the ceiling at the back and under the eaves at the front are plaques gifted to the building by notable figures from the Qing Dynasty to the 1980s. Two pairs of stone pillars on the sides bear couplets that caution future generations: “Though born of one lineage, there are few degrees of kinship—why draw too sharp a line between you and me? Living together in one building, seeing each other daily, we must uphold familial ethics.” “The three realms of heaven, earth, and humanity hold infinite mysteries; bring joy to people and benefit the world for ten thousand years.” These inscriptions reflect the founding generations’ philosophies on family and life, as well as their former glory (see Photos 37 and 38 in 7.a-2). During major festivals, a giant folding screen is displayed in the ancestral hall—the birthday screen gifted for the 71st birthday of the 16th-generation ancestor, Jiang Xinxuan. Comprising 12 panels, it stands 2.72 meters high, with the middle eight panels each 0.46 meters wide and the side panels 0.47 meters wide. The screen is exquisitely carved and gilded, vividly depicting ancient figures, most notably the widely known “Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars.” The lower half of the front of the screen features the “Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars,” based on stories of ancient filial children, rendered in fine brushwork with lifelike images, illustrations, and profound meanings, embodying the Hakka people’s traditional virtues of ancestor reverence and filial piety. The upper half of the front depicts Emperor Guo Ziyi paying respects at a birthday celebration, while the back features birthday congratulatory messages from six ministries of the Qing court and relatives of the building’s owners, including praise and words of caution for future generations. Additionally, the screen is carved with many rare birds and flowers. For the building’s owners, this screen, displayed repeatedly during major celebrations, serves not only as a work of art to share with the clan but also as a means to re-educate everyone on traditional virtues. The rings of the building are separated by courtyards paved with cobblestones and connected by stone corridors or paths. On the central axis and the east and west sides of the second and third rings, four rooms each are left open as breaks; the main passageway allows the three outer doors to lead directly to the ancestral hall, while other directions have multiple narrower passages of about one meter wide, accessible only by walking along the corridor under the eaves and through the main passageway to reach each ring or gate. Thus, many describe the building as a maze—easy to enter, hard to exit. Between the second and third rings, a pair of wells, commonly called the Yin-Yang Wells, are located in the courtyards to the east and southwest, representing yin and yang respectively, differing in size, depth, water temperature, and water quality.

　　The entire building is laid out according to the Eight Trigrams of the *I Ching*, with the outer, second, and third rings each divided into eight trigrams. The boundaries between the trigrams of the outer ring are the most distinct, with the inner corridor of the ground floor separated by arched brick walls, featuring exquisite designs and an antique charm.

　　Outside the building is a stone-paved plaza. Behind the building are two-tiered stone retaining walls, 5 meters high, with the terrace serving as an east-west village road. The schoolhouse is located northeast of the building, about 20 meters from the outer ring, two stories high, rectangular, with an earth-and-timber structure, covering an area of about 300 square meters.

　　The building has produced many talented individuals. Since its completion, over 40 people have passed imperial examinations as jinshi, juren, or gongsheng, and more than 80 individuals have become doctors, university graduates, scientists, professors, or writers, including one family that produced 10 doctors.

　　This is the circular earthen building with the most rings and the largest scale among the Hakka people. At its peak, it housed over 800 people, and still has around 300 residents today.

　　In 1981, the building was included in the *Dictionary of Scenic Spots in China*. In April 1986, when the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the People’s Republic of China issued a set of stamps featuring Chinese residential architecture, the one-yuan stamp titled “Fujian Residence” featured this building.