開平碉樓Kaiping Diaolou (the Watchtower-like Houses)

[概況]

開平市位于珠江三角洲西南部，東北距離廣州110公里。開平市是著名的華僑之鄉(xiāng)，更是聞名遐邇的碉樓之鄉(xiāng)。中國人歷來具有強烈的思想情緒，很多華僑將自己的積蓄匯回家鄉(xiāng)，或者親自回國操辦“三件事” ：買土地、建房子、娶老婆。由于開平僑眷、歸僑生活比較富裕，當時的社會較為混亂，經常惹來匪患。同時因為開平地勢低，經常發(fā)生洪澇。所以，明末清初就有鄉(xiāng)民建筑碉樓，用來防澇防匪。

[Introduction of Kaiping Diaolou]

Kaiping is a small city in Guangdong Province, about 100 kilometers to the southwest of Guangzhou, with an area of 1659 square kilometers and a population of 680 thousand. It has long been known as the native land of a great many overseas Chinese, the number totting up to or even more than its domestic population. The Chinese, you know, are a nostalgic people having a strong feeling of wistful longing for home, so the overseas Chinese from Kaiping, no matter how long they had been away and how far they were away from home, would come back to buy a piece of land to build their house and to get married. Those houses built by the returned overseas Chinese during the late 19th and early 20th centuries are all watchtower-like, with thick solid walls, small and narrow iron doors and windows, and even with embrasures on the walls and an observation tower on the top.

You may wonder why these returned overseas Chinese had their houses built into a structure of a watchtower. Well, the reasons are clear. First, public order at that time was bad and banditry was a real headache and the better-off returned overseas Chinese families naturally became targets for robbery; second, the Kaiping area is a stretch of low-lying land and folds were a frequent occurrence. So, these solid and high-rise buildings were good both for defense against bandits and for refuge from the floods.

So, “Kaiping Diaolou” is a proper name of the multi-storied defensive country houses of the returned overseas Chinese in Kaiping City. Built of stone, brick or concrete, these buildings display a fusion of Chinese and foreign architectural and decorative forms, and reflect the significant role these emigrant Kaiping people had played in the development of the countries they resided, in South Asia, Australasia, North America and other regions of the world.

開平碉樓是集防衛(wèi)、居住和中西建筑藝術于一體的建筑群體，被譽為“華僑文化的典范之作” 、“世界建筑藝術博物館” 。開平碉樓在鼎盛時期達3300多座。目前，登記在冊的有1833座。開平碉樓是國務院公布的國家重點文物保護單位。目前開平碉樓已申報世界文化遺產。從功能上，有用作家族居住的居樓、村人共同集資興建的眾樓以及主要用于打更放哨的更樓三大類。在20世紀二三十年代，開平碉樓更成為共產黨的地下活動場所。

Kaiping Diaolou is listed by the Chinese State Council as a key cultural relic protected by the state. Its total number amounted to 3, 300 in the peak years and now the registered number is 1833, and twenty of the better ones are inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO. Org (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). These buildings take three forms: communal tower jointly built by. Several families for use as temporary refuge, residential tower built by individual rich family and used as fortified residence, and watch tower for guarding against bandits. In the 1940s during the war of resistance against Japan, some of these towers became strongholds for people’s militia.

[自力村碉樓群]

自力村碉樓群是開平最精美、保存最完好的碉樓群，它位于開平市塘口鎮(zhèn)，東距開平市區(qū)12公里。自力村現(xiàn)存15座，全部是全國重點文物保護單位，其中最精美的碉樓是銘石樓，建于1925年，是鋼筋混凝土結構的居樓。樓高5層，頂部種種有一中西合璧的六角形瞭望亭，第五層四角均建有角堡(又名“燕子窩”)。銘石樓樓身寬大，外形壯觀，有厚重的鐵門和堅固的鐵窗，內部陳設豪華，生活設施齊全。

除銘石樓碉樓外，還有登記在冊的碉樓1833座，而其中最有名的除上面講到的銘石樓外，還有赤坎鎮(zhèn)迎龍樓碉樓、蜆岡鎮(zhèn)瑞石樓碉樓，塘囗鎮(zhèn)方氏燈樓，他們由于建筑年代不同或因不同的家族建造，所以建筑風格各異。其中迎龍樓碉樓是開平最早的碉樓，建于明朝嘉靖年間(1522-1566年)，是開平沒有受外來建筑風格影響，最古老的碉樓。瑞石樓碉樓是開平最高，最豪華的碉樓，樓高25米，9層，樓內設施布局典雅，具有中國傳統(tǒng)格調，是開平碉樓第一樓。屬鋼筋混凝土結構。方氏燈樓是開平最具代表性的碉樓，建于1920年，樓內的警用發(fā)電機，探照燈，機械一應俱全，選地視野開闊，是典型的防守更樓，屬鋼筋混凝土結構。

[The Diaolou Structures in Zili Village]

The Diaolou structures in Zili Village, 12 kilometers away from the Kaiping city center, are the most magnificent and best preserved. There are 15 in all, which are all listed as key cultural relics protected by the state. Among them the Mingshilou is the best of all. Built in 1925, it is a 5-storeyed reinforced concrete structure, with an hexagon observation pavilion on the top and a blockhouse built on the outside walls at each of the four corners on the fifth floor. This huge and imposing tower is installed with heavy iron doors and strong iron windows, and is luxuriously decorated and well furnished.

Other well-known Diaolou structures are the Yinglonglou in Chikan Town, the Ruishilou in Yan’gang Town and the Fangshe Denglou in Tangkou Town. They were built in different years by different families and so are different in architectural style. The Yinglonglou, built during the Jiajing Reign of the Ming Dynasty in the middle of the 16th century (1522 - 1566), is the oldest Diaolou structure and is free from foreign influence in architectural style. The Ruishilou, a 9 – storied 25-meter high reinforced concrete structure, is the most luxury and is laid out and furnished in the traditional Chinese pattern. The Fangshi Denglou, a reinforced concrete structure built in 1920 by the Fang family, is typical of the Diaolou structure as a watchtower for it was located in an open land and was provided with electric generator,searchlights and guns.

[開平立園]

開平立園，位于廣東省僑鄉(xiāng)開平市塘口鎮(zhèn)北義鄉(xiāng)，立園結合了中西園林的風格與情調，與1936年建成的花園別墅。在高大圓拱形門上書寫“立園”二字。園內有別墅區(qū)、大花園區(qū)和小花園區(qū)。建筑有“立園”大牌坊、“修身立本”大牌樓和四個橋亭，以及古羅馬式的建筑—“鳥巢”、“花藤亭”。而鑲刻期間的名家書法對聯(lián)更使立園散發(fā)出濃厚的傳統(tǒng)文化氣息。

立園的最大特色是有意開鑿一些運河，把園內的別墅區(qū)、大花園區(qū)和小花園區(qū)聯(lián)起來，運河之上布置了長長的回廊、小橋和亭臺樓榭。穿過大約100米的彩畫回廊，就進入了立園的別墅區(qū)。其中以“泮立”與“泮文” 兩幢別墅最為壯觀。

別墅的樓頂按照中國宮殿式的建筑風格;而樓身卻采用了西式建筑風格，樓內的樓梯和地面、墻壁裝飾也是中西結合。如西式壁爐、吊燈，意大利瓷磚、中式的酸枝家具，民間故事壁畫，涂金木雕。立園不僅建筑藝術精湛，傳統(tǒng)文化氛圍也非常濃厚。立園的主人認為處世興家的根本在于自身修養(yǎng)，所以他既注意莊重的德行，也提倡休息游覽。

[The Li Garden]

Another tourist attraction in Kaiping City is the Li Garden. It was a private residential garden built in 1926 – 1936 by an American Chinese, Xie Wei Li by name. The garden’s name “Li” was derived from the name of its owner and it gives expression to the meaning of a Chinese idiom Xiu Shen Li Ben, which is written on an archway in the garden, meaning that cultivating one’s moral and character is the key to success in one’s life and work. This idea of the owner’s is also embodied in many other inscriptions and couplets written in the garden.

The Li Garden is laid out in the way of traditional Chinese gardening but many of its structures are built in Western styles, such as the two Roman-styled structures popularly known as the Bird’s Nest and the Flower & Rattan Pavilion. The garden covers an area of 19, 600 square meters, with a man-made stream running through and cutting it into two parts, which are connected by arch-bridges. Along the stream are pavilions, a hundred-meter-long corridor, archways, residential houses and other structures.

The residential buildings in the villa area are also combinations of Chinese and Western architectural elements. While their main structures are foreign-styled, some are roofed like a Chinese palace, and inside they are decorated and furnished with both Chinese and foreign artifacts: Western fireplace and pendent lamps, Italian ceramic tiles, Chinese wooden furniture, wall paintings depicting Chinese folk stories, Chinese gilded wood-carvings etc.The Li Garden is indeed a paragon of harmonious combination of the Chinese and foreign cultures.