Zhenfu Lon
Zhenfu Lou is located in the Xipian Village of Hukeng Town,Yongding County.It was built
in 1 9 1 3 by Su Zhentai who started his business in the tobacco industry.Facing south.the circular
building occupies an area of 4,000 square meters.Just like Zhencheng Lou,it represents the
outstanding work combining Western-style and the Hakka architectural art in the early 20th century.
Accompanied by the mountains and streams,the Tulou faces a clear and wandering stream and
stands among the bamboos,extending its paths of blue stones to every place.
It consists of two ring constructions.The 3一storeys outer ring in earth and wood framework is
43.5 meters in diameter and in an Eight Trigrams pattern depicted in The Book of Changes.Holding
three halls and 96 rooms.it is in the tabular surface of inner-ring-corridor style.with a hip and gable
roof and in the combined column and tie construction and post and lintel construction.
The first floor without windows serves as the kitchen and dining room.The second floor is barn
and the third floor bedroom.The passage of the first floor is covered by cobblestones and the first
floor is paved by blue bricks;the second and third floors are paved by blue bricks.The stairways are
built on the east and west in strict symmetry.Located on the north.the back hall is on the central
axis together with the front gate and ancestral hall.It is accompanied with wing arches made by blue
bricks and linked with the corridors of outer ring.Two granite columns are erected at two sides of
the gate;with a patio on the front.the back hall links with the corridors on two sides and ancestral
hall to form a courtyard.
The outer ring has a front gate on the south and a side gate on the west.both of which are
covered with stone doorframes and iron board.The name of this building is written on the lintel of
the front gate,on both sides of which a couplet is inscribed,"Embodying exemplary conduct and
nobility of character.having good fortune in the ten-thousand years to come"with the horizontal
scroll"Blessed with happiness".The arches made by bricks stand respectively on the converging
point of entrance hall and corridor of the first floor.There are letters"Chu Xiao''and"Ru Ti''on
the lintels of the arches.The entrance hall paved by cobblestones has a podium building on both
sides respectively,each of which covers an area of two regular rooms and opens a door towards the
entrance hall.One is used for storing the completed tobacco products.so as to rationally allocate
the products to tobacco stores in other places;and the other is used as the office for sales and
management personnel.Facing the entrance hall are two gates opened.The entrance hall and the front gate of inner ring link together to form an
independent courtyard,in which there is a patio paved by granite.
The inner ring is a single-storey construction in brick and wood framework,with a hip and gable
roof and in the combined column and tie construction and post and lintel construction.The ancestral
hall,which is two zhangs(1 zhang=3.3333 meters)high and 2.2 zhangs wide,stands at the back
(the North)of inner ring.It is more spacious than the entrance hall and the back hall.With carved
beams,painted pillars and glazed eaves-tiles,the hall looks magnificent.There are respectively two
front-oriented and back-oriented circular granite columns in Western style.
The couplet on the front-oriented columns standing in the ancestral hall means："Bring the honor
to the ancestor''and"Happiness lies in giving help to others".
The loose-leaf door,which has been destroyed,is carved with the decoration of people,flowers
and birds on the back-oriented place of the ancestral hall.The arches built by bricks stand at two
sides of the loose-leaf door and link with the front-oriented corridor of the back hall.In front of the
ancestral hall,there is a circular patio paved by granite plates.On two sides of the patio stand the
arc-shaped podium buildings.Without separation wall,the podium building is one-step lower than
the ancestral hall in terms of the floor and links with it.The podium building has three arches facing
the patio.There are some place names on the lintel of the arches,such as"Jidu","Yingdu","Linzi",
"Daliang"."Yangzhai''and"Handan".All fully demonstrate that the building owner profoundly
cherishes the ancestors and native land.
The front-oriented door of inner ring is commonly referred to as the Inner Gate.With carved
beams and painted pillars,the Inner Gate is covered by glazed tiles and with the couplets on the
stone doorframe,meaning prosperity and happiness forever.The window lattices made by caved
bricks are at the two sides of the door.
A cobblestone-paved patio separates the outer and inner rings.The single-storey restroom and
bathroom built by bricks stand on the East and West.TwO wells.which are called"Yin-and-Yang
well",are excavated in the back-oriented place at the two sides respectively.
Covering a large place,the ground before the front gate is paved by cobblestones.A stone
enclosing wall circles around the whole Tulou and links with the outer front gate.Facing the
Southeast,the outer front gate is decorated with iron-grille door leaf and stone doorframe.
In April 1999,the Tulou was announced as a historic site under the protection at the county
level.The Tulou stands intact for the time being.
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