A study of Chinese dwellings

This is an analysis of communal houses rectangular and circular plans of the Hakka People of Fujien District, part of a serial study of Chinese dwellings. The Hakka People, coming from the Han People, settled in the various parts of the South China after having migrated southward through generation to generation. In settling they chose mountainous areas in order to avoid conflicts with former residents. To cooperate each other in the defense as well as in labor, they maintained the big family system which as a result brought about the characteristic huge dwelling system and helped the people preserve their traditional culture. The Hakka dwelling, inheriting Si-he-yuen, a typical courtyard House in China, and influenced by the Fujien dwelling, is a unique composition of houses in the world. In this paper, it is our aim to show forms of the Hakka dwelling with data obtained from actual measurements on site, and to clarify its uniqueness and differences from other Chinese dwellings. 1. To clarify historical background of the Hakka People; how they immigrated, where they were settled, what their family system is, how their culture and habits have been formed and changed. 2. To carry out a comparative study of the Fujien dwelling with the Hakka dwelling, with a focus on a group of dwelling on plains. 3. To show some types of the Hakka dwelling, with their plans showing how they look and how they are used, such examples as three-tung two-wings type, rectangular and circular towers, a dwelling on a slope. All the Hakka dwellings are communal houses for big families, with a function of fortress. It should be noted that the uniqueness and the hugeness of the Hakka dwelling is a product of mixed composition of wooden architecture and earthen architecture. 4. To analyze composition of life and space. A special remark is made on “Fung-Shui”, a fundamental principle in planning the Hakka dwelling. Today in China “Fung-Shui” is excluded as a superstition, but has had a significant function as a traditional Chinese divination and physiognomy in architecture of the South China. Some tangible examples showing how “Fung-Shui” affected the Hakka dwelling should be pointed. 5. To explain technological aspects of constructing earthen towers in detail, including material and method. Finally, assessment of the Hakka dwelling was discussed, and a prospective of the future study was pursued. Various plans with actual measurements are attached to eight examples of the Hakka dwelling.