The Fujian tulou (simplified Chinese: 福建土楼; traditional Chinese: 福建土樓; pinyin: Fújiàn tǔlóu; meaning "Fujian earthen buildings") are special homes built by the Hakka people in the mountainous areas of southeastern Fujian, China. These buildings were mostly constructed between the 12th and 20th centuries.

A tulou is typically a large, enclosed, and strongly built structure made of earth. It is often rectangular or circular in shape, with thick walls made by pressing earth tightly. These walls can be three to five stories high and can house up to 800 people. Smaller buildings inside, such as halls, storage rooms, and living spaces, are often surrounded by these large outer walls. The entire structure looks like a small, protected city.

The outer walls are made by mixing earth with stones, bamboo, wood, and other materials found nearby. Branches, bamboo strips, and wood pieces are sometimes added to strengthen the walls. These buildings are designed to be bright, well-ventilated, and strong against wind, earthquakes, and extreme weather. They stay warm in winter and cool in summer. Most tulou have only one main entrance, protected by thick wooden doors covered in iron. The top floors often have small openings for defense.

Most tulou (except the Dadi tulou cluster in Hua'an County) are located in a small area near the borders of Yongding, Nanjing, and Pinghe counties in Fujian Province. Some are also found in Guangdong Province, such as in eastern Dabu County of Meizhou. These sites are grouped together as the Nanjing Tulou Scenic Area, with an entrance in Shuyang Township, Nanjing County, Zhangzhou. Tours of this area usually include visits to famous tulou groups in both "Yongding" (such as Gaobei, Hongkeng, and Chuxi clusters, as well as Zhenfulou and Yanxianglou) and "Nanjing" (such as Tianluokeng, Hekeng, and Heguilou clusters, along with Huaiyuanlou and Hegui Lou).

In 2008, 46 Fujian tulou sites were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They were recognized as "exceptional examples of a building tradition and function that show a unique way of communal living and defense, in harmony with their environment." The listed sites include Chuxi, Tianluokeng, Hekeng, Gaobei, Dadi, Hongkeng, Yangxian Lou, Huiyuan Lou, Zhengfu Lou, and Hegui Lou.

Terminology

Since the 1980s, the Fujian Tulou has been called by many names, including "Hakka tulou," "earth dwelling," "round stronghouse," or simply "Tulou." The word "Tulou" (土樓) means "earth building" in Chinese. "Fujian Tulou" translates to "Fujian earthen structures." Recently, experts in Chinese architecture have agreed to use the term "Fujian Tulou" as the official name for these buildings.

Early writings about tulou, which first appeared in a journal from Nanjing Institute of Technology in 1957, described them as homes for the Hakka people, mainly in Yongding County in southwestern Fujian. By the 1980s, more research focused on tulou built by the Hakka’s neighbors, the Minnan people, who live in southeastern Fujian. These tulou are found in areas like Nanjing County and Pinghe County, east of Yongding.

Some Hakka tulou are part of the Fujian Tulou group. However, all tulou in southern Fujian are part of the Fujian Tulou category, even though they are not called "Hakka tulou." The term "Fujian Tulou" is not the same as "tulou" but refers to a specific type within the larger group. There are more than 20,000 tulou in Fujian, but only about 3,000 are classified as "Fujian Tulou" in southwestern Fujian. UNESCO officially uses "Fujian Tulou" to describe all buildings of this kind.

The words "tu" (土) and "lou" (樓) mean "earth" and "building," respectively. This might suggest that "tulou" refers to any building made with earth walls. However, this is not accurate, as similar earth buildings exist throughout China. Instead, in Fujian, a tulou is defined as a large building with strong earth walls and used by a community of families as a home. This definition separates tulou from buildings that use earth only around wooden frames and from smaller homes for single families.

According to Huang Hanmin, a scholar of traditional Chinese architecture, only certain types of earth buildings in specific regions can be called "tulou" in Chinese. These include:

• "Guangdong tulou": buildings like weilongwu (圍龍屋) in northern Guangdong and weiwu (圍屋) in northeastern Guangdong.
• "Jiangxi tulou": buildings called tuweizi (土圍子) in southern Jiangxi.
• "Fujian tulou": several types of tulou in southern Fujian.

The tulou in Guangdong and Jiangxi are linked to the Hakka people. In Fujian, some tulou styles are associated with the Hakka, while others are connected to the Minnan people.

For Fujian Tulou specifically, Huang Hanmin defines them as "large, multi-story buildings in the mountainous areas of southeast Fujian. These buildings are used by communities for living and protection. They are made with strong earth walls and wooden frames."

Notable Fujian tulou

The Chuxi Tulou cluster (初溪土樓群) is located in Yongding County, Xiayang Township, Chuxi Village. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the number 1113-001.

• Jiqinglou is the largest and oldest round tulou in this cluster. It was built in 1419 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty. The tulou has two rings inside each other. The outer ring is four stories tall, with 53 rooms on each level. The outer ring has 72 staircases. The inner ring is one story tall.

Zhenchenglou (振成樓), nicknamed "the prince of tulou," is part of the Hongkeng Tulou cluster. It is located in Hongkeng Village, Hukeng Township, Yongding County, and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the number 1113-002. It was built in 1912 by descendants of a wealthy tobacco merchant. Zhenchenglou is a double-ring tulou. The outer ring is four stories tall and has 184 rooms. The inner ring is two stories tall and has 32 rooms. The outer ring is divided into four parts based on the Bagua concept from Fengshui. Greek-style columns and wrought iron railings are visible in the ancestral hall and on the second-level corridor.

Chengqilou (承啟楼), nicknamed "the king of tulou," is part of the Gaobei Tulou cluster (高北土楼群) in Gaobei Village, Gaotou Township, Yongding County. It was built in 1709 and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the number 1113-003. Chengqilou is a large round tulou with four rings inside each other, surrounding an ancestral hall at the center. The outer ring is 62.6 meters in diameter and four stories tall, with 288 rooms total (72 rooms on each level). A circular corridor connects the second to fourth floors, and four staircases at the cardinal points link the ground floor to the top floors. A large roof covers the main ring. The ground floor rooms are used as kitchens, the second floor stores grain, and the third and fourth floors have living quarters and bedrooms. The second ring has 80 rooms over two stories, the third ring is a community library with 32 rooms, and the fourth ring is a circular corridor around the ancestral hall. There are 370 rooms in total. Chengqilou has two main gates and two side gates. The 15th-generation Jiang clan, with 57 families and 300 people, lives here. At its peak, more than 80 family branches lived in Chengqilou.

Other buildings in this cluster include: a three-ring Shenyuanlou with an outer ring 70 meters in diameter, a Wujiaolou (pentagon) with an irregular pentagonal shape, and a rectangular tulou called Shi-Ze Lou.

The Tianluokeng Tulou cluster (田螺坑土楼群) is a group of five tulou located in Fujian Province, Zhangzhou City, Nanjing County, Shuyang Township, Tian Luo Keng Village ("Snail Pit" Village). It is about four hours by car from Xiamen, through winding mountain roads. The cluster includes five tulou arranged in a pattern called "four dishes and a soup" (四菜一湯): a square tulou called Buyunlou at the center, surrounded by three round tulou and one oval tulou.

• Buyunlou (Reaching the Cloud building) was the first tulou built in 1796. It is three stories tall, with 26 rooms on each level, four staircases, and a corridor in front of each room. It was burned down in 1936 and rebuilt in 1953.
• Hechang building: a three-story round tulou.
• Zhenchang building: a three-story round tulou with 26 rooms on each level, built in 1930.
• Ruiyun building: a three-story tulou with 26 rooms on each level, built in 1936.
• Wenchang building: an oval-shaped tulou with 32 rooms on each of its three levels, built in 1966.

Yuchanglou (裕昌樓) is a five-story tulou located in Nanjing County, Shuyang Town, Xiabanliao Village. It was built in 1308 during the Yuan dynasty by the Liu family. It is one of the oldest and tallest tulou in China. Yuchanglou is nicknamed the "zigzag building" because its wooden posts are not straight but zigzag. This design was due to a mistake in measuring materials, but the tulou has stood for 700 years despite natural and social challenges. Yuchanglou has an outer ring 36 meters in diameter, with 50 rooms on each of its five levels (270 rooms total).

Each of the 25 kitchens on the ground floor has a private water well near its stove. This is the only tulou in Fujian with such a water supply.

A one-story inner ring surrounded the ancestral hall until 2003. This part of the building remained intact for nearly 700 years before being removed.

Eryilou (二宜樓) is part of the Dadi Tulou cluster in Zhangzhou City, Hua'an County, Xiandu Township, Dadi Village. Built in 1770, it has a four-story outer ring and a one-story inner ring. The outer ring is 71 meters in diameter, with 48 rooms on each level. Eryilou has a back corridor near the wall instead of a circular corridor in front of each upper level. The outer ring rooms are divided into separate households, each with its own staircases. Some sections have three rooms in width, others have four. The inner ring is connected to the outer ring via covered verandas.

The Nanxi Tulou cluster (南溪土楼群) refers to a section of the Nanxi ("South Creek") Valley in Hukeng Town, Yongding County. This area is almost entirely covered with tulou for several kilometers. Some authors call it the "Tulou Great Wall" (土楼长城). One tulou in this cluster, Yanxiang Lou (衍香楼), is listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site 1113-004.

Heguilou is the largest rectangular tulou. It covers 3,000 square meters, is 21.5 meters tall, and has five stories. It was built on swampy land and is the tallest rectangular tulou.

Architecture

The design of Fujian tulou buildings followed the Chinese tradition of "closed outside, open inside." This means that the buildings had a surrounding wall with living areas around the outside and a central courtyard. A small building at the center had an open front and was used for ancestor worship, festivals, meetings, weddings, funerals, and other special events. The ground floor had different shapes, including circles, semicircles, ovals, squares, rectangles, and irregular five-sided shapes.

The foundation of tulou buildings was built on packed earth with layers of paved stones on top. A circular drain was placed around the top layer to keep rainwater from damaging the walls.

Most tulou buildings had two parts in their outer walls. The lower part was made of cut stones or river rocks held together with a mix of lime, sand, and clay. This part was about one to two meters high, depending on local flood levels. Above this, a wall made of packed earth mixed with sticky rice was built. This wall was strengthened with horizontal bamboo sticks, a method first described in the Song dynasty building guide called Yingzao Fashi.

The walls were built to lean slightly toward the center. This design used gravity to help hold the walls together. This technique was also used in the construction of the Pagoda at Fogong Temple. The walls became thinner as they went higher, as described in Yingzao Fashi. The bottom two floors had no windows or gun holes because they were used for storage. Windows were added on the third to fifth floors, which were living areas.

The rooftops were covered with baked clay tiles arranged in a circle. A special tile shape was used at regular intervals to help cover the larger outer edges. This allowed the tiles to be laid in a circle without gaps, using the same size tiles at the top and bottom.

The eaves, or the overhanging edges of the roof, extended about two meters. This helped protect the earth walls from rainwater dripping off the roof.

The wooden frame supporting the roof did not include dougong elements, which are common in traditional Chinese buildings.

Circular corridors on the second floor and above were made of wooden boards placed on horizontal beams. One end of the beams was inserted into the earth wall. The corridors were protected by wooden railings.

Stairwells were placed evenly around the corridors, usually in groups of four. Each stairwell connected the ground floor to the top floor.

Public water wells were often placed in groups of two or three in the central courtyard. Wealthier tulou buildings had individual water wells in each family’s kitchen on the ground floor. Most tulou buildings had built-in water pipes to protect the upper wooden floors from fire.

The Chengqi Lou in Yongding county was once considered the largest tulou, with a diameter of 62.5 meters. However, Huang Hanmin found that the Shunyu Lou in Nanjing county is larger, with a diameter of 74.1 meters. Shunyu Lou was built in 1933 and has four floors, a 15-meter-high outer wall that is 1.6 meters thick, and 64 rooms around its perimeter. It has one main entrance and two side doors. The largest tulou, however, is Fusheng Lou, built from 1968 to 1981. It has a diameter of 77.42 meters and is located in Chendong village, Yongding county.

The smallest tulou is Cuilin Lou in Nanjing county, with a diameter of 14 meters. It is a three-story building built in 1617.

The oldest tulou is the elliptic-shaped Qiyun Lou in Shajian village, Hua An county. It was built in 1371.

Housing for a community of equals

Fujian Tulou buildings differ from other homes worldwide, which often show differences in social classes. Instead, Tulou buildings are designed to show how people lived together equally. All rooms were the same size, made with the same materials, had the same outside decoration, and similar window and door styles. There were no special rooms for higher social groups. A small family might own a set of rooms from the bottom floor to the top floor, while a larger family would own two or three sets.

Tulou buildings were usually home to one large family with many generations living together. Some larger Tulou buildings housed more than one family. In addition to the buildings, shared areas like water wells, ceremonial halls, bathrooms, washrooms, and weapons storage were owned by all residents. The land around the buildings, including farmland and fruit trees, was also shared. People living in Tulou farmed together. This way of living continued into the 1960s during the people’s commune period, when one Tulou often housed an entire production team from a commune. Each small family had its own private items, and each family branch had its own private space behind closed doors.

In the past, housing was assigned based on male family branches. Each son was considered one branch. Public duties, such as organizing festivals, cleaning shared areas, and controlling the main gate, were also assigned to family branches in turn.

All parts of a family shared the same roof, showing unity and protection within the clan. Family homes faced the central ancestral hall, showing respect for ancestors and family unity. When a family grew larger, the housing expanded outward by adding another ring of rooms or building a new Tulou nearby, forming clusters to keep the family together.

As modern homes with better facilities became available in rural China, many Tulou residents moved out or relocated to cities for jobs. However, some former residents still keep their ancestral Tulou homes locked, using them only when returning for family events during festivals.

Defense

From the 12th century to the 19th century, armed bandits caused problems in southern China. People in southern Fujian built strongholds on top of mountains to protect themselves. These early strongholds later became Fujian Tulou.

The thick outer walls of tulou were strong enough to stop arrows and gunfire. The bottom part of the wall, which was one to two meters high, was sometimes made of granite blocks or large river stones. These stones were placed with their smaller ends facing outward, making it hard for attackers to dig them out. The wall also extended deep underground more than one meter, so digging tunnels under it was not possible.

The earth walls were made by packing dirt mixed with lime, sand, and clay. Bamboo strips were added to hold the walls together, making them as strong as walls in Western castles. In 1934, peasants in Yongding County used a tulou to fight off an army attack. The army fired 19 cannon shots at the tulou, but the walls only had a small dent.

The weakest part of a walled building is usually the gate. The gate of Fujian tulou was built for defense. The door frame was made of a large block of granite. The double doors were made of thick, fire-resistant wood covered with iron plates. Strong wooden posts were locked into the granite frame to block the gate. Some doors had water tanks on top to help put out fires started by enemies.

Fujian Tulou residents used guns to defend themselves, shooting enemies from openings at the top of the buildings. Some tulou had circular walkways along the inside walls to help people and weapons move quickly.

Research

The word "tulou" first appeared in a record from Zhangzhou county in 1573 during the Ming dynasty. This record explained that because of growing bandits, many villagers built strong, walled homes called tulous to protect themselves. Families often lived together in these strongholds, and multiple tulous connected together. People stayed awake to watch for danger, and loud drums and gongs were used to warn others if bandits or enemies approached. Because the people living in tulou worked together so closely, even large groups of bandits with thousands of members avoided attacking them.

The term "tulou" also appeared in some poems. However, tulou was not widely discussed in books or writings before 1956, except for a few poems.

In 1956, Professor Liu Dun-zhen, who studied Chinese homes, became the first person to research Fujian tulou. His book, History of Ancient Chinese Architecture, published in 1964, described two specific tulou: Chengqi Lou and Yihuai Lou.

In April 1957, an article titled Dwellings of the Hakka in Yongding County of Fujian Province was published in the Journal of Nanjing Institute of Technology. The article was written by Zhang Buqian, Zhu Mingquan, and Hu Zhanlie.

In 1980, Chengqi tulou was included in a book called History of Ancient Chinese Architecture. After this, many scholars from China, Taiwan, Japan, Europe, and America visited Fujian’s Zhangzhou and Yongding areas to study tulou. This helped tulou become known worldwide. A Chinese scholar named Huang Hanmin, who now leads the Fujian Architecture Design Institute, spent over 20 years studying Fujian tulou. His master’s thesis, The Tradition Characteristics and Regional Style of Fujian Civilian Residence, was completed in 1982 and published in the Architect magazine. A Japanese scholar later wrote a report titled Study on Chinese Civilian Housing—The Square Tulou and Round Tulou, which included a photo exhibition in Japan and a book published in 1989. In 1997, Dutch architect Herman Hertzberger visited Fujian tulou. In 1999, Dr. Neville Agnew from the Getty Conservation Institute examined three tulou: Tianluokeng, Yuchanglou, and Heguilou.

A book titled Fujian Tulou, written by Huang Hanmin, was first published in Taiwan in 1994 and later revised and republished in China in 2003. This book is one of the most accurate studies about Fujian tulou. It includes the history of tulou, its features, where it is found, and stories about it. The book has hundreds of color pictures and drawings. However, there are no English books about tulou yet.

Transportation

The Fujian tulou buildings are found in the mountainous southeastern part of Fujian province.

The tulous in Nanjing County are linked to Shancheng Town, the county seat (marked as "Nanjing County" on many maps), by winding mountain roads. The main road in the area, County Route 562 (X562), has been improved recently. Shancheng Town is easily reached from the Zhanglong highway, which connects Zhangzhou City and Longyan City. This highway connects the region to the rest of China's highway system. A car ride from Xiamen to Shancheng Town takes about 2 hours.

Commuter buses travel from Xiamen and Fuzhou to Longyan or Zhangzhou, with each trip taking about 4 hours.

There are no railways in the central area of "tulou country," which includes western Nanjing County, eastern Yongding County, and western Pinghe County. The closest railway station to most tulou sites in Yongding County is Yongding Station. However, this station offers very limited passenger service, such as the daily train from Xiamen to Guangzhou.

Since the high-speed Longyan–Xiamen Railway opened in June 2012, travelers can now reach Longyan from Xiamen in 45 minutes. Direct service is also available from Fuzhou and Shanghai. This railway includes an intermediate station called Nanjing, which serves eastern Nanjing County. However, the station is not close to the tulou sites. To honor the tulou heritage of the county, the new station building in Nanjing was designed to look like three round tulous.

In popular culture

The term "Digimon Tulou building" describes a building that appears in the Digimon Adventure anime series. This building is where the characters Mat (Yamato) and Takeru train with Piximon in episode 18. It is modeled after the traditional Fujian Tulou, which are strong buildings where people live together in Fujian, China.

The Fujian tulou also appear in the manga titled Seraphim 266613336Wings.

The main character of the 2020 live-action film Mulan comes from a Fujian tulou.