Geographical Map

About the house

The vernacular dwellings of Kejia/Hakka people is located in the southern China, such as in the Fujian and Guangdong province. The most notably is in the Fujian Province.

The circular house form

Boyd, Andrew, Chinese Architecture

The Courtyard

Sacred Spaces : Hakka Round Earth Dwellings, Fujian, China : International Studies on Vernacular Architecture

History of the people

Fujian
There has been some debate about the origins of Hakka people whether they belong to Han people or the minority of 'Xiongnu'. But from the evidence, it can be concluded that these people are likely the 'Han'. Hakka people are originated from the central China living in Shanxi, Henan and Hebei. During 200 to 300 years after the 3rd century, there were constant wars in the Northern China because of the continuous changing of the rules. The Northern Han who cannot stand longer flee to the south.
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1. Entrance 2. Entrance Hall 3. Kitchen 4. Well 5. Patio 6. Ancestral Hall 7. Reception Hall 8. Bedroom 9. Storeroom 10. Open corridor
Qijun, Wang, Ancient Chinese Architecture www.hakkaweb.com

Classical Chinese Architecture in essence symbolized many levels of meaning. Before building a house, the Hakka people would first invite a geomancer in to choose fengshui the location of a house supposedly to bring good luck to inhabitants. After the site was chosen, a circle was drawn on the ground and then earthen walls were put up.

According to the viewpoint of Zhou Yi, the origin of the universes was a circular embryo, that is T ai Ji. Both yin and yang are moving in cycles, being of mutual causality. Their best relation is a circle showing the opposite poles complementing each other. Some of the resources said that the circular house is modeled on bagua, the eight trigrams [eight combinations of the three whole or broken lines formerly used in divination.

Despite the hierarchical family relationship, harmony in the family [also based on the Confucian philosophy] was considered the primary source of happiness of one's life. Therefore the courtyard served as balance. It brought all superior / inferior inhabitants into a synchronic coexistence, for mutual awareness, mutual help and care.

Their beliefs
Chinese culture was largely secular because it was not dominated by any typically religious thought and institutions. There were 3 main traditions of thought and practice : Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Buddhism was the only 'proper' religion, but was secondary and complementary to the main thought and ideology. Confucianism, which had greatest influence, was essentially an ethic-socio-political doctrine, deeply internalized into all levels of society. It emphasized on the importance of education and family relationship including ancestor-worship. Confucianism also has influenced to the importance of hierarchy in the family as well as in the state, because it teaches to follow a model of example. And the example is the educated man and the emperor as the son of Heaven. Taoism is again hardly a 'religion' in the sense that Christianity and Islam are. It was a combination of philosophy, religion, 'proto'science and magic. The word 'Tao' means 'the way'. It is the key concept of Taoism, but in this context, it is the WAY of NATURE, a much broader and more metaphysical notion than the worldly way of Confucius. . The attainment of the Way is essentially the attainment of harmony between man and man, man and nature. The symbol for the concept of harmony in Taoism is yin yang. It symbolizes how the two opposite elements [dualism : black and white, day and night, etc.] in harmony. Buddhism, incorporated directly from India in the 3rd and 4th century, was a 'religion' in that it had a strict hierarchical form in thought and practice : a cosmology, a whole range of deities, authoritarian texts, a priesthood, a monastic order, a set of ritual practice, etc. It was largely peacefully incorporated and developed within the secular Chinese cultural practice. It was also a process of 'culturalisation' into wider and non-religious domains of life.

Hierarchy

Ancestral Shrine

Qijun, Wang, Ancient Chinese Architecture

1. Entrance 2. Entrance Hall

3. Kitchen 4. Well

5. Patio 6. Ancestral Hall

7. Reception Hall 8. Bedroom

9. Storeroom 10. Open corridor

This round type building can be divided into three classes, small, medium and big. The small ones are usually 2 to 3 stories tall with a single ring. The medium dwelling is usually 3 to 4 stories tall with a large inner open space (single ring) or double rings. The large round building is usually 4 to 5 stories tall consisting of as many as three rings. The very small round building has about 12 to 18 rooms, the small ones have 21 to 28 rooms, the medium ones have about 30 to 40 rooms, the large ones have about 42 to 58 rooms, and the super large round buildings have about 60 to 72 rooms. Two-third of the round building are 3 stories high and hold roughly 20 families or 100 people. The round earth building is a "group-oriented" residence, usually with one main entrance. Its wall is usually around 1 meter thick.
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Confucianism as an ethics emphasized on the hierarchical order of social relations [father/son, husband/wife, elder brother/younger brother]. The major principles which influenced the house plan are reflection of the Confucian ethics code of patriarchal family structure. Within the hierarchy of the family, it was the older generation which ruled. According to filial piety, also based on Confucian doctrine, the children and descendants were obedient to the oldest generation of the family. Depth created unequal positions and socio-spatial hierarchy of family members: the deeper areas were accessible to the superior categories [father/son, inhabitant/visitor]. Within the enclosed domain, among all the inhabitants, the superior categories in the deeper areas, with the help of visibility from the deeper areas, asserted a natural inspection and control of the courtyard and the main entry.

Qijun, Wang, Ancient Chinese Architecture

The ancestral hall is the heart of a house. It is located in the main axis or in the central of circular house. The ancestral hall/shrine is a symbolic landscape of family ethics and Confucius philosophy of ancestral worship, of family relationship and hierarchy, of respect and gratitude of the younger to older generations. On festivals, families make sacrificial offerings to their ancestors. Anyone from the family who comes home from far away or is going to marry must go to the ancestral hall to pay respects to their forefathers. So do girls who are going to marry in another place or members of the family who are leaving home. It also serves as a mourning hall if one of the family elders dies.

Symmetry and Axis

Harmony

Hierarchy

Qijun, Wang, Ancient Chinese Architecture Qijun, Wang, Ancient Chinese Architecture

The main entrance door is padded with iron sheet and is locked by 2 horizontal wood bars. The wooden bars retract into the walls in order to open the door. In the event the wood bars are sawed through, the locking mechanism is still intact. Inside the entrance is a huge central courtyard where all the doors of the rooms and inner windows are open to.
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The system of symmetry and axis expressed order, subordination and obedience. It is the permanent theme based upon Confucian philosophy of values : the permanent 'right way' of rite, performance, behaviour and all social actions. The axis provided principle guiding lines for the positive/negative operation and practice.

'Heaven and earth gave birth to the li. Through rites, Heaven and Earth join in harmony, the sun and moon shine, the four seasons proceed in order, the stars and constellations march, the rivers flow and all things flourish, men's likes and dislikes are regulated and their joys and hates made appropriate.

Bibliography Oliver, Paul ed., Shelter, Sign and Symbol, Barrie and Jenkins Ltd., London, 1975 Oliver, Paul, Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World Dawson, Raymond, Confucius [part masters series], Oxford University Press, 1981 Knapp, Ronald G., China's Traditional Rural Architecture, University of Hawaii Press, 1986 Knapp, Ronald G., China's Old Dwellings, University of Hawaii Press, 2000 Liu, Lawrence G., Chinese Architecture, London, 1989 Boyd, Andrew, Chinese Architecture, Alec Tiranti Ltd., London 1962 Qijun, Wang, Ancient Chinese Architecture : Vernacular Dwellings, Springer-V erlag/Wien, New York, 2000 www.taopage.com www.buddhanet.net www.bodymindharmony.com www.asiawind.com