Hakka and Round Earthen Buildings in Southeastern Fujian

Many large scale round earthen buildings are found in the southwestern part of Fujian and the easternmost part of Guangdong. They are very unique collective dwellings with a round-shape plan and thick earthen walls. Round buildings, because of their extraordinary scale and shape, have attracted the attention of many specialists in architecture and folk culture since 1980s. Because these areas of south China are also known as a homeland of Hakka, the round-shape earthen building is usually called \u27kejia tulou\u27(Hakka earthen building) or \u27kejia yuanlou\u27(Hakka round building) and treated as a visible evidence of the uniqueness of Hakka culture. The cultural tradition of Hakka is often believed to be very different from other sub-groups of Han Chinese. It is especially among Hakka scholars that the Hakka origin of this style of architecture is emphasized. But in recent years, some scholars have raised a very different view that this type of architecture had its origin in the local tradition of Zhangzhou people who speak the Minnan dialect. Although these two views are controversial to each other, they stand on the same ground in that both believe the ethnic boundary between Hakka and Minnan has not been changed throughout the long history and cultural traits such as the architectural style always belong to the tradition of a specific sub-group. In this article, I attempt to show more flexible view on the origin of the round-shape earthen building by tracing the process in which this type of building became popular among the Hakka lineages in the southwestern Fujian and by examining how the round building came to be recognized as a part of the \u27cultural tradition\u27 of Hakka.論文Articl