Diaolou () are fortified multi-storey
watchtower
A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...
s in rural villages, generally made of
reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...
. These towers are located mainly in the
Kaiping
Kaiping (), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Hoiping, is a county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. It is located ín the western section of the Pearl River Delta and administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen. ...
() county of
Jiangmen
Jiangmen (), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Kongmoon, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province in southern China. As of the 2020 census, its three urban districts, plus Heshan City being conurbated, with 2,657,662 inhabitants a ...
prefecture in
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
province, China.
In 2007, UNESCO designated the ''Kaiping Diaolou and Villages'' () a World Heritage Site, which covers four separate Kaiping village areas: Sanmenli (), Zilicun (), Jinjiangli (), and Majianglong village cluster (). These areas demonstrate a unique fusion of 19th and 20th-century Chinese and Western architectural styles.
History
Diaolou structures were built from the time of the
Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
to the early 20th century, reaching a peak during the
Warlord Era in the 1920s and 1930s, with the financial aid of
overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese.
Terminology
() or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...
, when there were more than three thousand of these structures. Today, approximately 1,800 diaolou remain standing, and mostly abandoned, in the village countryside of
Kaiping
Kaiping (), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Hoiping, is a county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. It is located ín the western section of the Pearl River Delta and administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen. ...
,
and approximately 500 in neighboring
Taishan __NOTOC__
Taishan may refer to:
*Mount Tai or Taishan (), Shandong, China
* Taishan District, Tai'an (), named after the Mount Tai, a district in Tai'an, Shandong, China
*Taishan, Guangdong (), a county-level city of Jiangmen, Guangdong, China
** G ...
. They can also occasionally be found in several other areas of
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
, such as
Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
and
Dongguan
Dongguan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the s ...
.
The earliest standing diaolou in Kaiping is
Yinglong Lou () in the village of Sanmenli (Chikan township), built by the
Guan
Guan may refer to:
* Guan (surname), several similar Chinese surnames
** Guān, Chinese surname
* Guan (state), ancient Chinese city-state
* Guan (bird), any of a number of bird species of the family Cracidae, of South and Central America
* Guan ( ...
lineage during the
Jiajing era of the Ming dynasty (1522–1566). It was a massive three-storey rectangular fortress with one-meter thick walls, with little resemblance with the high tower diaolous built four centuries later. Yinglong Lou was renovated in 1919 and is 11.4 meters high.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, because of poverty and social instabilities,
Kaiping was a region of major
emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
abroad, one of the "pre-eminent sending area" of overseas Chinese.
Diaolous built during the chaotic early 20th century were most numerous around the centers of emigration. Monies from emigrants wanting to ensure the security of their families, villages, or clan lineages were used to fund the diaolou.
Although the diaolous were built mainly as protection against forays by bandits, many of them also served as living quarters. Some of them were built by a single family, some by several families together or by entire village communities. Kaiping became also a
melting pot
The melting pot is a monocultural metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" with a common culture; an alternative being a homogeneous society becoming more heterogeneous throug ...
of ideas and trends brought back by overseas Chinese.
As a result, the villagers built their diaolou to incorporate architectural features from China and from the West.
It wasn't until after 1949 when an administrative system that extended down to the small villages was created that the diaolou lost their defensive purpose and were then abandoned or converted.
Still, they stand as a tribute to overseas Chinese culture and the perseverance of the peasants of Kaiping.
In 2007,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
named the Kaiping Diaolou and Villages () a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. UNESCO wrote, "''...the Diaolou ... display a complex and flamboyant fusion of Chinese and Western structural and decorative forms. They reflect the significant role of émigré Kaiping people in the development of several countries in South Asia, Australasia, and North America, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the close links between overseas Kaiping and their ancestral homes. The property inscribed here consists of four groups of Diaolou, totaling some 1,800 tower houses in their village settings.''" The four restored groups of Kaiping diaolou are in: Zilicun village () of Tangkou township (), Sanmenli village () of
Chikan township (), Majianglong cluster () of Baihe township (), and Jinjiangli village () of Xiangang township ().
The Kaiping diaolou was the location for parts of the filming of 2010 movie ''
Let the Bullets Fly
''Let the Bullets Fly'' is a 2010 Chinese action comedy film written and directed by Jiang Wen, based on a story by Ma Shitu. The film is set in Sichuan during the 1920s when the bandit Zhang (Jiang Wen) descends upon a town posing as its new gove ...
'' ().
Examples
Yinglong Lou (), located in the village of Sanmenli (Chikan township), was built by the Guan () lineage during the Jiajing era of the Ming dynasty (1522–1566). As the oldest preserved diaolou in Kaiping, it retains the primitive model of a watchtower with traditional square structure and is not influenced by western architectural styles.
Jinjiangli Diaolou Cluster (), situated behind Jinjiangli Village (Xiangang Township) of the Huang () family, includes three exquisite diaolous: Ruishi Lou, Shengfeng Lou, and Jinjiang Lou. Ruishi Diaolou, constructed in 1921, has nine floors and is the tallest diaolou in Kaiping. It features a Byzantine style roof and a Roman dome.
Majianglong Diaolou cluster () is spread across five villages (Baihe township) in a bamboo forest: Yong'an and Nan'an Villages of the Huang () family; Hedong, Qinglin, and Longjiang Villages of the Guan () family. Tianlu Lou (Tower of Heavenly Success), located in Yong'an Village, was built in 1922 and is seven storey tall plus a roof top floor.
Zilicun Diaolou Cluster (), located in Zilicun Village (Tangkou township), includes nine diaolous, the largest number among the four Kaiping villages designated by UNESCO. They feature the fusion of Chinese and various Western architectural styles and rise up surrealistically over the rice paddy fields.
Fangshi Denglou – Built in 1920 after contributions from villagers, this denglou is five stories high. It is referred to as the "Light Tower" because of an enormous searchlight with a brightness much like that of a lighthouse.
Li Garden, in Beiyi Xiang, was constructed in 1936 by Mr. Xie Weili, a Chinese emigrant to the United States.
Bianchouzhu Lou (The Leaning Tower), located in Nanxing Village () in Xiangang township, was constructed in 1903. It has seven floors and overlooks a pond.
Gallery
File:KaipingDiaolou.jpg, Diaolou cluster in Zilicun
File:Kaiping diaolou zili village 2012 01.jpg, Kaiping diaolou in Zilicun
File:Rui Shi Lou.jpg, Ruishi Lou in Jinjiangli
Majianglong Diaolou.jpg, Majianglong Diaolou
File:南樓.JPG, Nan Lou in Chikan
See also
*
Cantonese architecture
Lingnan architecture (), or Cantonese architecture, refers to the characteristic architectural style(s) of the Lingnan region – the Southern Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi. Usually, it is referring to the architecture associated ...
*
Chikan, Kaiping
Chikan () is a town in Kaiping (), Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, China. It is officially designated as a ''National Historic and Cultural Town of China'' (). Historically it was a regional maritime hub, center for emigration, emigrant market town ...
*
Kaiping
Kaiping (), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Hoiping, is a county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. It is located ín the western section of the Pearl River Delta and administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen. ...
*
Himalayan Towers
References
External links
Information about the diaolouKaiping Diaolou and Villages - UNESCO World Heritage CentreUNESCO World Heritage Convention: Kaiping Diaolou and Villages{{World Heritage Sites in China
Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Guangdong
Architecture in China
World Heritage Sites in China
Kaiping
Lingnan architecture
Enping
Taishan, Guangdong