History and anecdotes of Kaiping Diaolou

Historical evolution and anecdotes: Since the Ming Dynasty (1368- 1644), Kaiping, located between Xinhui, Taishan, Enping and Xinxing counties, is a land of "four noes", where bandits are rampant, social security is chaotic and there are many rivers. Whenever typhoons and rainstorms and floods occur frequently, local people are forced to build blockhouses in the village.

In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen in the late Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1644), the society was in turmoil and bandits often harassed the people. Guan Zirui, the fourth son of Lu 'an Gong, built Ruiyun Building in Jingtouli Village to protect the safety of villagers. This building is very strong and has two functions: flood control and theft prevention. When floods break out or thieves harass, villagers in Jingtouli Village and neighboring Sanmenli Village will take refuge in Ruiyun Building.

1884, Tanjiang River was flooded, and many houses nearby were flooded. The villagers in Sanmenli, Chikan, Kaiping all survived because they boarded the watchtower in time.

19 12, Stuart built the south building to prevent thieves. The 7-story building is 19 meters high and covers an area of 29 square meters. It is a reinforced concrete structure, with rectangular holes on each floor, and a lookout on the sixth floor with machine guns and searchlights.

In the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922), when many bandits robbed Kaiping Middle School in Chikan area, they were illuminated by the searchlights of Yingcun Diaolou, and four township groups stopped them in time, intercepting the principals and students 17.

This incident caused a sensation in the county, and overseas Chinese were very surprised when they heard the news. They think the watchtower has played a role in preventing bandits. So they scrimped and saved, asked people to design the blueprint of the watchtower in the host country, brought it back to their hometown to build it, and remitted money to their hometown to build the watchtower.

Extended data:

Historical evolution:

The rise of Kaiping Diaolou is closely related to Kaiping's geographical environment and past social security. Kaiping is low-lying with dense river networks. In the past, the water conservancy was in disrepair for a long time, and every time there was a typhoon and rainstorm, there was always the worry of being flooded. In addition, the territory under its jurisdiction used to be the remote border of Xinhui, Taishan, Enping and Xinxing counties, which has always been known as "caring for the four" and the social order is chaotic.

Therefore, in the early Qing Dynasty, villagers built watchtowers to prevent floods and bandits. After the Opium War, the rule of the Qing government became more decadent, and Kaiping people began to go abroad to make a living because of their livelihood.

After the efforts of one generation or even several generations, some industries have gradually developed. By the time of the Republic of China, wars were more frequent and bandits were particularly rampant. Because of the blend of mountains and rivers, convenient land and water transportation in Kaiping, and the relatively comfortable life of overseas Chinese and returned overseas Chinese, bandits concentrated in Kaiping area to commit crimes.

At that time, Shao Zhang, Zhu Bing, Hu Nan, Hou Wan, Tan Qin, Wu Jinfa, Zhang Zhan and Huang Bao were big bandits in the county. They plundered everywhere, causing countless tragedies. According to rough statistics, from 19 12 to 1930, about 7 1 occurred in Kaiping, killing more than 100 people, capturing more than 2 10 cows and plundering countless other properties. At that time, the county town of Cangcheng was captured three times, and even the county magistrate Zhu was captured.

At the slightest sign of trouble, people gather up their gold and silver and hide everywhere, often with a few surprises at night and sleepless nights. When overseas Chinese return home, they often dare not stay at home, but go to market towns or relatives' homes, and often change their accommodation places, otherwise they will be in danger of losing their families.

Baidu encyclopedia-Kaiping bunker