Tulou: communal rammed-earth fortress dwelling
Tulou: fortaleza residencial colectiva de tierra apisonada
- Date
- c. 1450 · confidence low
- Place
- Yongding, Longyan, Fujian, China
- Credited to
- Hakka and Fujian communities
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A round or square building of up to four or five storeys, with rammed-earth walls over a metre thick reinforced with bamboo and timber strips and housing dozens of families around a courtyard. It combines defence, thermal insulation and seismic resistance.
Origin is disputed: some trace it to the Song dynasty (12th-13th centuries) and most surviving examples date from the 17th-20th centuries (Chengqi Lou, 1709). The c. 1450 date marks its spread in the Ming.
What it led to
- defensive communal housing in the mountains of southern China
- rammed-earth walls with plant reinforcement
- UNESCO heritage for communal architecture