An essay about Heyuan Hakka customs

Hakka houses In the villages where Hakka people live together in the Lingnan Mountains, people can see many unique, simple and elegant Hakka houses everywhere: Weilong House, Zouma Tower, Four Corner House, etc., among which the Hakka Weilong House has the largest number of existing buildings and is also the most famous. It is called one of the buildings with the most Chinese residential characteristics by Chinese and foreign architectural circles.

Weilongwu was first built in the Tang and Song Dynasties and became popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Hakka people use the most advanced techniques of lifting beams and passing buckets among the construction techniques of the Han people in the Central Plains to build dragon-enclosed houses in hilly areas or slopes. The main structure is "one entrance, three halls, two rooms and one enclosure". Ordinary Weilong houses occupy 8 or 10 acres, while larger ones occupy more than 30 acres. A dragon-walled house is a huge Hakka fortress. The house is fully equipped with bedrooms, kitchens, large and small halls, wells, pig pens, chicken coops, toilets, warehouses and other living facilities. It is a typical epitome of China's feudal self-sufficient life. Different from many round dragon houses, the dragon houses in Heyuan are square and are called "mansion style" and "corner tower". Its shape is close to the traditional "siheyuan" in the north, and its cultural connotation is deeper. Around Xiantangwei Town, Dongyuan County, on the outskirts of the city, there are more than 30 well-preserved Hakka houses. Now this residence, which has been turned into a Hakka folk custom museum for tourists to visit, is a typical representative of the Weilong House in Heyuan. According to records, it was built in the 17th year of Qianlong's reign (1749). It was later restored and expanded by the owner to include 66 rooms, 24 halls, and 12 patios. This makes this residence 250 years old. .

The dragon-enclosed house in Xiantang is large in scale, complex in structure and exquisite in layout. There are not only bedrooms, bathhouses, study rooms, kitchens, but also a four-story pavilion. When you come to the pavilion, if you pay attention, you can notice that there are small square windows on the four walls of each floor. Some people may have doubts, isn't it too stingy for lighting from such a small window? What I want to tell you here is that it is mainly a lookout hole and a shooting hole to defend against the invasion of foreign enemies, and it is convenient to use weapons such as guns, cannons, bows and arrows to fight against invading enemies. The design of the Weilong House has a lot to do with the situation of the Hakka people at that time: the Hakka people moved south to remote mountainous areas and were squeezed out and bullied by the local people. In order to unite with the outside world, they had to live in groups and build defensive buildings. Functional castle-style residence.

The most puzzling thing about this residence is that there are so many patios and halls. Although this is a deep compound, the light coming from several patios makes every corner much brighter. The hall is divided into upper, middle and lower halls. It is said that the upper hall is a place for the elderly to rest when they return to their 100th birthday; the middle hall is a place for worshiping ancestors and discussing affairs. Among them, the upper, middle and lower halls are separated by two screens. Generally, the screens in the lower hall are opened when a wedding is held, and the screens in the two halls are opened when a centenarian passes away. Friends, do you know? Many scenes in the first 10 episodes of the TV series "Hong Kong Story" broadcast by CCTV to welcome Hong Kong's return last year were shot in this Hakka "Grand View Garden".

Regardless of whether it is round or square, the Weilong House has its own unique characteristics in architecture: with the north and south meridian as the central axis, symmetry from east to west, low in front and high in back, with clear priorities and a clear location. Orderly and neatly laid out. There are dozens or hundreds of living units in the center of the hall and patio, which are suitable for dozens, hundreds or even hundreds of people to live in one room. It is really breathtaking. Nowadays, most of the Hakka houses have been reformed, and most of them are single-family houses with reinforced concrete structures. They no longer build dragon houses, so the remaining dragon houses are particularly precious. The design and architecture of Weilong House have both the ancient heritage of the Central Plains and the characteristics of the southern mountainous areas. It integrates scientificity, practicality and ornamental value, showing the outstanding talents and superb skills of the Hakka ancestors. Weilong House, together with courtyards in Beijing, cave dwellings in Shaanxi, "balustrade style" in Guangxi, and "a seal" in Yunnan, has been praised by Chinese and foreign architectural circles as the five most distinctive residential buildings in China. Now Weilongwu has stepped out of the closed mountains and into the vast world. It has become a historical relic and a strange landscape. The exquisite structure, wonderful layout and rich connotation of Weilong House will leave a deep impression on people. After being accustomed to seeing modern high-rise buildings, looking at antique Hakka houses is not only a wonderful enjoyment, but also increases knowledge.