Hanmin Huang Fujian’s Tulou A Treasure of Chinese Traditional Civilian Residence ’ Tulou Fujian s Hanmin Huang ’ Tulou Fujian s A Treasure of Chinese Traditional Civilian Residence 123 HanminHuang Fujian Provincial Institute of Architect Fuzhou,Fujian,China Translated byYan Yang ISBN978-981-13-7927-7 ISBN978-981-13-7928-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7928-4 JointlypublishedwithSDXJointPublishing The print edition is not for sale in China. Customers from China please order the print book from: SDX Joint Publishing. ©SDXJointPublishingCompany2020 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartofthematerialis concerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. 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Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:152BeachRoad,#21-01/04GatewayEast,Singapore189721,Singapore Foreword AsanativeofFujianProvince,HanminHuangcompletedhismaster’sdegreethesisonFujian civilianresidencein1982,addingcontributionsinthefieldofarchitecture.Hehastraveledin FujianProvincefrequentlyandhashadmanyresearchpublishedsincethen.Ioncevisitedhim in Fuzhou 10 years ago. He showed me a pile of research documents. I remember very well howhetalkedaboutthelocalfeaturesofcivilianresidenceinFujian.Recently,Ireceivedfrom him a manuscript with the title Fujian’s Tulou: A Treasure of Chinese Traditional Civilian Residence.Iendedupfinishingitatonesitting.Itisthemostdetailed,themostcompletedand themostprofoundbookontulouatpresent.Itisnotonlyavaluableachievementforresearch on Chinese civilian residence but for the Chinese architectural study as well. I was so enthralled with it that I decided to write a few words for the book at right away. Itisabookofvastinvestigation,visit,andresearcheffort.HowdidHanminHuangmanage it? As the head and architect in chief of Fujian Provincial Research Institute of Architectural Designforseveralyears,heisresponsibleforbothadministrationanddesign,aswellasmany other incredible trifles. Howcouldhedohisacademicstudysoscrupulously,foritwouldbeexhaustiveenoughas both an administrative head and an architect. Hanmin Huang is a person of efficient and unhurried manner. Always neatly dressed and holding himself upright, he talks calmly and has a smile on his face whenever you see him. Huang Yongsong, art director of the magazine, Voice of Han, and famous artist in book design, told me that he accompanied Hanmin Huang to do some investigation of tulou. They ran up and down in the buildings to take photographs. He got mud on his face and wrinkled clothes, while Huang Hanmin, entering and coming out of the kitchens, toilets, pigsties and thatkindofplacesfordrawingpictures,wasabletostayspotlesswithneatclothes,andclean and tidy hair. HanminHuangisacarefulandmethodicalperson.FriendsinarchitecturefieldfromHong KongandTaiwanallknowofapersonnamedHanminHuanginFujian.Whenevertheygoto visitthere,theyaretreatedwarmlyandconsiderately;sometimestheywouldbeaccompanied byhimpersonally.WemadethreeresearchsubjectsinFujianallintroducedbyhim.Hefound theproperpersonstotakegoodcareofourfood,hotel,andtraffic,andoftengaveusacallto inquireaboutanydetails.OncewehiredafarmvehicleandwentbacktoFuzhouinordernot tobotherhim,buthesaidseriouslywhenheheardofitlater:whydidyounottellmetosenda carforyou?Ifyouhadranintoanytroublewiththefarmvehicle,howcouldIjustifymyself? InYong’anCounty,wedidnotcallhimforfearofbotheringhim,butheunexpectedlyarrived attherailwaystationinFuzhouearlyinthemorning,waitingforusattheexit.Healsomadea detailed schedule for that day and sent us to the airport on time, whereas he himself actually had to fly to Hong Kong in the afternoon. He traveled everywhere in the countryside of Fujian Province, conducting down-to-earth surveys that had proven to be of great academic value. It certainly has to do with his enthusiasm and belief in the academic work. Hanmin Huang’s wife has not been in a good health, but he always continues his work for several hours in the office after the hours every day.Hewashospitalizedseveraltimesduringthelate1990sbecauseofoverwork.Hisillness v vi Foreword weighted heavily on us because we were worried about not only his health, but also the continuation of his research work. The various and characteristic buildings in Fujian are rare even among Chinese civilian residence, and although they have been well protected they are disappearingrapidly.InhisbookFujian’sTulou:ATreasureofChinese TraditionalCivilian Residence,thereisachapter“FujianTulou:ahistoryofitsrediscovery.”Henevermentioned how hard he had worked, but just recalled with interests how he had ridden by bike twenty years ago to find two typical tulou in Shuyang Town of Nanjing county, which were not yet known among researchers. I went to see the two buildings with him in the winter of the year before last. I was sure that he did not go there all the way by bike; instead, he must have mostly to wheel his bike up and down the sloppy way. HanminHuanghasfinishedthebookonFujiantulou.Wemaynotknowhowmanynights and weekends it had cost him, but can only acknowledge the book’s high level of research value on tulou. It is a thorough study with width and depth, stretching from the micro and macro, from the scientific to folk, from the technical to cultural, and from physical to psy- chological studies. The most difficult thing in writing the book is not the static description of tulou, but to answeraseriesofquestionsonthecharacteristicsoftulou,onitsorigin,development,andrise toprominence,whichHanminHuangcallsthe“mystery.”Tryingtoexplainthemysteryinthe book at a great length is, as he said, like “uncovering a mystery.” To do this, he questions strongly the simplified idea of single factor, and analyzes synthetically the factors from the historical, geographical, economical, military, social, cultural, and psychological aspects. His analysisisbasedondocuments,historicalmaterials,surveys,andobjectcomparison,etc.,and is so convincible that it is almost impossible to rebut. For instance, his judgment on circular tulou’s origin in Zhangzhou has been proven and has an important academic value. HanminHuanghassentthemanuscripttomeandtoldmeonthephonethatheispreparing to draw some illustrations. His free hand drawings illustrated in his master degree thesis twenty years ago were the first class and have been used as teaching materials for as many years.HuangYongsonglikeshisdrawingsverymuchandsaidtousagainandagainwhyyou never made drawings like Hanmin Huang. We answered in desperation that we could not make that kind of drawings because our drawings are made with the help of computer. Although quite efficient, computerized drawings are always rather rigid. Those precise and lively free hand drawings by Hanmin Huang might never be seen again. Ihave greaterexpectations forHanmin Huang: maybe he could one day complete another book on the civilian residence in every area in Fujian Province. Beijing, China Chen Zhihua At the eve of the year of snake, February 2002 Preface TulouallacrossthemountainousareasinsouthernFujianProvincewerecreatedbytheHakka and the other peoples of southern Fujian, and are constructed with rammed earth, quite a peculiar feather for they are gigantic buildings. Although not built for show, people all over the world wonder at their shape. A UNESCO consultant highly praised it as “a unique fabulousruralmountainousarchitectureexampleintheworld!”Itisalsoknownas“adazzling pearl of Eastern civilization.” This “legend in Southern mountains of China” attracts many Japanese and European scholars and tourists to come over for a visit from far away. People whotakeaninterestinitarenotonlyarchitects,photographers,orpainters,butalsospecialists in the field of history, geography, anthropology, and folklore. Fujian tulou has been the focus of my life for more than twenty years. Accompanied by a lotoffriends,specialistsandscholarsathomeandabroadIhavevisiteditagainandagain,and gone through all the villages where marvelous tulou are located. I often wonder at and think aboutthecharmsofFujiantulou,aboutwhatcouldhavealluredsomanypeople.Isitbecause of its unique architectural form or scale? Is it because of its superb craftsmanship in archi- tecturaltechniquesorart?Or,isitthatbecauseofitsrichembodimentofprofoundcivilization of the Chinese nation? FujiantulouwasformallylistedasaWorldHeritagesiteinJuly2008;sincethenthetulou tour has boomed, and tulou research has steadily intensified. Many experts have come to explore and study the Fujian tulou. No one could help from being overwhelmed by being standing in front of a tulou that has endured for centuries. It seems as of one was hearing an old man telling him a story about a world of changes, joys and sorrows. It is an awesome feeling to enter a tulou; such a peculiar building! Made out of the most primitive and the simplest having materials but having sheltered the human beings and protected them from enemies for hundreds of or a thousand years, they are still standing high, even though many times destroyed by fire or damaged by thunder. Such splendid magnificence! It is beyond one’s wildest imagination. Many tourists are so impressed by tulou that they praise it as “a masterpiece in Chinese ancient architecture,” or “a cultural treasure to both Chinese people and thepeople all overtheworld.”Theyhope toknowmore about the mystery oftheFujian tulou, and how so peculiar types of dwelling building came into being. This book attempts to present a complete picture on the various types of Fujian tulou and their specialties by exemplifying typical Fujian tulou and their settlement, by showing the peoplelivingareallifeintheworldtheWorldHeritageSite,byexcavatingChinesefolkand cultural precious “living fossil,” and by approaching the way of living in a compact com- munity, its defensive system, constructing techniques,specialfeatures, folklore andhistorical causes. It is to reveal the in-depth meanings of the unique architectural culture, Fujian tulou. vii viii Preface TulouclusteratHekengVillageofShuyangTown,NanjingCounty,FujianProvince.Itiswellknownas“auniqueandmysticalarchitectural modeinmountainousareas.”(ThephotosinthebookarealltakenbyHanminHuangunlessotherwiseindicated.) TulouclusteratTianluokengVillageofShuyangTown,NanjingCounty,FujianProvince.ProfessorKeiiqiroMogiofTokyoNationalUniversity of Fine Arts and Music describes it as UFO’s flying down from the Heaven and “mushrooms” rising up from the earth. No matter how it is described,itisbesttoseeforoneself,toexperiencetherealwonder.(PhotobyZhuangWenguo) Preface ix TheinnercourtyardinErYiLouatDadiVillageofXianduTown,Hua’anCounty,FujianProvince.Itisthefirstofitskindtobeprotectedasa majorhistoricalandculturalsiteatthenationallevel Theornamentalclaysculpture,“lion’sheadwithaswordinthemouth”onthewallinWuShiLouatGuzhuTownofYongdingCounty.Isthis ornamentusedforprotectionagainsttheevilorfengshuiprinciples?MysticFujiantulouiswaitingforyoutosolvenumerousmysteries x Preface Thecassavaharvestseason,withwomeninErYiLoubusydryingandairingthecassavapowder.Itshowsalivelylifesceneintulou.(Photoby HuangYongsong)