Fujian Tulou

　　   Hakka Tulou, also known as Fujian Roundhouses, are a jewel of Chinese civilization and a unique, mythical type of mountain village dwelling. They are a remarkable gem among ancient Chinese architecture, standing out in the global residential architectural landscape for their long history, distinctive style, grand scale, and ingenious structure.

　　   The communal living and construction features of Tulou dwellings are closely tied to the history of the Hakka people. Wherever they settled, members of the same clan always lived together. Moreover, the Hakka mostly resided in remote mountainous or densely forested areas. At the time, not only were building materials scarce, but they also faced threats from beasts like wolves and tigers, bandits, and feared attacks from local inhabitants. As a result, the Hakka built “defensive” castle-like residential structures.

　　   This gave rise to the unique architectural form of Hakka dwellings — the Tulou. Tulou are mainly distributed in Fujian Province, particularly in Longyan and Zhangzhou.

　　   Fujian Tulou originated during the Song and Yuan dynasties. They developed further in the early and mid-Ming Dynasty, and gradually matured in the late Ming, Qing, and Republican periods, continuing to this day.

　　   Fujian Tulou are a unique, large-scale rammed-earth residential architecture in the mountainous regions of the world, and a masterpiece of creative earthen architecture. Built along the contours of the mountains with logical layouts, Fujian Tulou incorporate the traditional Chinese architectural concept of "feng shui" (see Dong Bin's *Modern Feng Shui Analysis*), meeting the needs of communal living and defense. Ingeniously utilizing the limited flat land in the mountains and local materials such as rammed earth, timber, and pebbles, they form a self-contained system. These towering earthen buildings are economical, sturdy, highly defensive, and richly aesthetic.

　　   In the 1980s, Americans mistook the Tulou in Nanjing County, Zhangzhou City, and Yongding County, Longyan City, Fujian Province, for mushroom-shaped nuclear facilities. Little did they know that these unique, large-scale rammed-earth dwellings, which had been built since the Song and Yuan dynasties, had stood for centuries on over 600 square kilometers of land in southwestern Fujian long before the first atomic bomb mushroom cloud appeared. On July 6, 2008, during the 32nd session of the World Heritage Committee held in Quebec City, Canada, China’s “Fujian Tulou” were officially inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.