In the mountainous areas in the western part of Fujian, there are numbers of earth buildings, either round or square. The architectural structure, carvings, pillar couplets of these dwelling houses reflect the wisdom and creativeness of the Hakkas. When you visit the unique buildings of the world, you can hardly tear yourself away from them.

The Hakkas were people who settled in Fujian from the Central Plains of China. After more than 1,000 years of struggle they formed their original folk customs in their residential buildings such as their food, drink, dressing, education and religion. These are the main components of Hakkas culture, of which the most unique is the earth buildings.

The earth buildings were built with the combination of good points of various kinds of Chinese residential buildings as well as the wisdom and creativeness of the ancestors of the Hakkas settlers in Yongding. They are like brilliant pearls amongst the architectural beauties in the world. According to the early settlers’ philosophy of heaven and earth, which held that the heaven was round and the earth was square, earth buildings in Yongding include varieties of square and round houses combined together. Thousands of these buildings were built in the Qing Dynasty, with thick walls, ingenious structures and various functions such as protection against high winds, earthquakes and hot and cold weather. They also served as a guard against enemies. All these buildings were furnished for living, storage and cooking and can accommodate a clan of hundreds of family members to live a happy life together.

Within the buildings, there are several pillar couplets, carvings, examples of ancient calligraphy, and other cultural treasures, which reflect the Hakkas spirit of hard work, thrift, creativeness and their emphasis on education and deep patriotism.

Zhencheng Building—the most magnificent round building
振成楼—最富丽堂皇的圆楼

Among all the earth buildings, Zhencheng Building is the most magnificent. With the combination of various round buildings into one, it is regarded as a miraculous wonder by thousands of experts, scholars and tourists who have been enchanted by its beauty.

Built in 1912, at the cost of 80,000 silver dollars, the overall design of the building is a combination of the traditional style of local residential buildings and that of typical Beijing and Western architecture.

Central hall of Zhencheng Building

The main building is composed of an inside round building, an outside round building and a central hall. The outside ring has four stories, which are divided into eight components according to China’s traditional Eight Diagrams (八卦), with each diagram forming a separate courtyard. Various courtyards are connected by corridors, but each diagram is separated by a fire wall.

On both sides of the main building, there are two two-storied houses in the shape of a crescent. One was used as a school and the other was resided by odd-job men. The overall external shape of the building looks like a black gauze cap (乌纱帽) worn by feudal officials in ancient times, which implies that the owner hoped that his offspring could be so remarkable as to become officials.

Chengqi Building—the king of round buildings
承启楼—土楼之王

Like a city with many ring roads, the four-storied Chengqi Building has four rings of 400 houses. It enjoys a history of more than 300 years. The population of the building once reached over 600 at the most. Nearly one hundred families lived and worked together in the building and formed a history of the development of the Hakkas settlers in Yongding. It was acclaimed as the peak of perfection by tourists both at home and abroad. In 1981, it was enlisted in China’s Dictionary of Historical sites. In 1986, a stamp entitled “Fujian's Residential Buildings”, with its design based on this building, was chosen as one of the best stamps in the world.

An indoor scene of Huanji Building

Huanji Building—the most mysterious round building
环极楼—最神秘的土楼

Huanji Building was built in the year of the rein of Guangxu, Qing Dynasty. In 1940, the wall of the building was torn about 20×300 cm apart by a severe earthquake, which destroyed many square earth buildings. But Huanji Building remained there and the crack was renovated gradually after the earthquake. All you can see now are only some small cracks.

Yijing Building—the tallest square building
遗经楼— 最高大的方楼

Yijing Building, which is five stories and 17 meters high, is the tallest earth building in Yongding. Covering an area of 5 hectares, it has 267 rooms. According to the local residents, if one begins to open the windows at sunrise, have a rest at lunch time and start to close the windows afterwards, it would be sunset when the last window is finally closed. In 1931, a guard unit inside the building had a fight against a well-equipped army. Despite the strong gunfire, the building remained safe and sound. In the end the army outside the building had to retreat.

There are one or two wells in every earth building