Fortified houses for the rich in South China - Kaiping Diaolou and Villages 1112; Yueju opera 00203
What and Why
Diaolou (Chinese: 碉楼) are fortified buildings made of reinforced concrete, with the intention for security against banditry and burglary. While the idea of residential fortification against burglary goes back to as early as 15th century CE, this idea reached a heyday during the late 19th century and early 20th century CE, because of severe poverty and social instabilities in Kaiping (开平). This led to major emigration abroad, and became one of the emigration starting point of overseas Chinese. As these migrants got rich after they earned money abroad, they sent back money to their home to ensure their family's security, and started the residential fortification. Because of the large number of emigration, there is a saying in Kaiping that there are two Kaipings in the world!
These diaolou display various unique features:
They are strong as their intention was security.
Usually they are tall so they also served as a watchtower. Moreover they are at least multi-storeyed as the area is prone to monsoon flooding.
They are largely residential mostly built by a single family, some by several families together or by entire village communities.
They incorporate architectural elements from China and the West to demonstrate their vogue of westernised thoughts.
They are mostly luxurious, in a bid to show off their wealth within the community.
Most of these buildings have been abandoned after the 1940s CE and lost their significance. However they stand as a tribute to overseas Chinese culture and the perseverance of the peasants of Kaiping. There are currently 1,833 standing diaolou in Kaiping area.
Toponymy
Kaiping means open and flat in Chinese, representative of its flat terrain of paddy fields. Kaiping is a county-level town within the city of Jiangmen (江门). Jiangmen means the river mouth, referring to its location at the confluence of the Xi River (西江, xijiang), meaning the west river and Pengjiang (蓬江), the river of wild grass.
See
Chikan (赤坎)
Chikan (赤坎) means a red lowland and was the regional maritime and hence emigration hub. Chikan was originally largely run by two clans, the Situ (司徒) and the Guan (关).
This line of terrace is famous for its qilou (騎樓) design: the pedestrian terrace on the ground floor along the building terrace, and is attributed to have started in Kaiping.
Along the main street one finds a tower Jinghuilou (景辉楼), a former clinic. The most prominent is Nanlou (南樓), south building which is a watchtower and is famous for being part of the defence against the Japanese invasion. Seven Situ clan members fought against the Japanese atop Nanlou for seven consecutive days. They were only captured and killed after the invading Japanese fired poison gas. A monument was built in their memory.
Yinglonglou (迎龙楼), the building welcoming the dragon, is one of the earliest diaolou in Kaiping, was built by the Guan clan in the 16th century CE. Unlike the other diaolou, Yinglonglou is a massive three-storey rectangular fortress with thick walls and is not influenced by western architectural styles.
Jinjiangli (锦江里)
This cluster represents the latest of all diaolou and are very elaborate, occidental and posh. The main watchtower even features Islamic domes.
One of the best protected of all clusters, one of the towers has become a big museum with a very good roof for a panoramic view of the area.
Majianglong (马降龙)
This is a vast village spread across an extensive area and includes a bamboo forest. This is where the famous 2010 movie Let the Bullets Fly (让子弹飞, Rangzhidanfei) was shot.
A village with an impressive watchtower.
This area is still resided by the Huang (黄) family and there are some provincial activities like food drying around.
Liyuan (立园)
The main picture above. The garden complex was constructed in 1936 CE by Xie Weili (谢维立), a Chinese emigrant to America. Clearly he had made quite a fortune and this garden is very posh. The complex is well preserved but renovated a bit too much. It hosts a museum about the Xie family.
Zhilicun (自力村)
The site with the most diaolou, the area features the fusion of Chinese and Western architectural styles and rise up over a beautiful rice paddy fields. The main photospot. The name means a village that works hard by the people themselves.
The site overlooks the paddy field.
Buy and Do
Yueju (粤剧)
Having been brought up in Hong Kong (Cantonese: 香港, Hēunggóng), one could definitely not escape from the sounds (or noises), lights and actions of Cantonese operas (粤剧, yueju). Cantonese operas have a history since the Song (宋) dynasty and had been the entertainment mainstay for centuries, but it really came into prominence during the Cultural Revolution (文化大革命, Wenhuadajiaming) when refugee-artists escaped to Hong Kong. These artists not only prospered and popularised the operas but also brought them into international spotlight, especially to Malaysia and Singapore. However its popularity declined with the advent of television but regained some attention recently, due to the government's push. Nowadays it has reestablished itself as a major performing arts in Southern China, especially Guangdong (广东), due to the fact that it is now an ICH, and there are a number of these theatres in Jiangmen.
Cantonese operas feature lots of singing, martial arts, acrobatics, but most importantly exaggerated makeups and elaborate costumes, especially the headwear, as above. Especially applying makeup for Cantonese opera is a long and specialised process, many taking more that two or three hours. The makeups are also used to denote the characters the actors or actresses are playing.
As I grew up in the region and anyone would have at least either seen it on television, opera theatres or a temporary platform made by scaffoldings, called jupeng (戏棚) along the streets. In fact this was my first real, or surreal, encounter with Cantonese opera. I have to admit I never quite enjoyed the opera as it is very noisy and the plays are quite lengthy, usually two to three hours long. When I was young I remember seeing a huge jupeng theatre and artistes were performing in front of a just a handful of elderly spectators, and then the first few rows of seats were conspicuously empty! I asked my late grandmother what was going on and she just mumbled to me some nonsense but I then affirmed these operas must have been quite unpopular. Turned out that these operas were not performed to real people but were actually there to entertain the nearby deities, ghosts and spirits, and the empty rows of seats were 'reserved' for them! This is called shengongxi (神功戏), literally the operas for the deities, and are usually conducted during various traditional festivals. The opera that I saw might have been extremely popular, just that I could not sense it!
This is one of the earliest inscribed ICH, and I am glad that my sister's daughter had chosen to perpetuate this culture by being a keen participant in the art, as a male impersonator (女文武生, nüwenwusheng).
Eat and Drink
Goose (鵝)
Echeng (鵝城), meaning goose city is a place which is highly recommended and only serves goose in various forms. Clearly goosemeat is the main feature, but you can find all sorts of stuffs in the restaurant, and nothing goes to waste literally. The place looks like a castle.
The entrance to the restaurant.
Getting There and Around
The few diaolou clusters can be quite far apart to walk, but within each one, each area can be explored on foot easily. The train station is quite far from the monuments and hence we drove around and spent three days in the city. The combined entry fee to all the diaolou is CNY 180¥.
UNESCO Inscriptions
Kaiping Diaolou and Villages feature the Diaolou, multi-storeyed defensive village houses in Kaiping, which 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. There are four groups of Diaolou and twenty of the most symbolic ones are inscribed on the List. These buildings take three forms: communal towers built by several families and used as temporary refuge, residential towers built by individual rich families and used as fortified residences, and watch towers. Built of stone, pise , brick or concrete, these buildings represent a complex and confident fusion between Chinese and Western architectural styles. Retaining a harmonious relationship with the surrounding landscape, the Diaolou testify to the final flowering of local building traditions that started in the Ming period in response to local banditry.
The Chinese tradition of Yueju opera combines Mandarin operatic traditions and Cantonese dialect. Rooted in the Cantonese-speaking provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi in south-eastern China, Yueju opera is characterized by a combination of string and percussion instruments, with elaborate costumes and face painting. It also incorporates stunts and fights using real weapons and drawing on the Shaolin martial arts, as illustrated by the central Wenwusheng role that demands proficiency in both singing and fighting. It has developed a rich repertoire of stories ranging from historical epics to more realistic descriptions of daily life. An important form of recreation, the opera is also, in some rural communities, combined with ceremonial, religious and sacrificial elements into a spiritual amalgam of art and custom known as Shengongxi. Yueju opera is popular throughout China and provides a cultural bond among Cantonese speakers in the country and abroad. They view its success around the world as a point of pride, regarding the opera as an important means by which foreigners come to understand their culture. Today, the tradition is passed to new artists through both drama schools and apprenticeship programmes.
References
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