Hegui Lou

Hegui Lou, also named as Shanjiao Lou (means the dwelling at the foot of the hill), is a five-storey square dwelling locates in Pushan Village, Meilin Town, Nanjing County. This dwelling was built in 1732 (the tenth year under Emperor Yongzheng’s reign in the Qing Dynasty). It sits west and faces to east. It covers an area of 1947.3 square meters, with a height of 17.95 meters. It is the highest square dwelling among the earth buildings (Tulou) in Fujian. The wall is rammed with mud. The bottom wall is 1.4 meters thick and shrinks layer by layer. The total height of the wall is 17.95 meters and the ratio of height-to-thickness reaches 13:1. The soil wall of Hegui Lou has a high academic value for architectural research. There was a private school in this dwelling and forms the unique layout of “house surrounded by dwelling and dwelling surrounded by house”. There are two wells in the dwelling. Although they are close to each other, the water qualities are completely different. They are called “Yin and Yang Wells”. Hegui Lou, the square dwelling that resembles a castle is built on a 3,000-square-meter marshland, looks like an ark on land. Till now, it has survived for more than 200 years. In 2001, it was included into the fifth group of major cultural heritage sites protected at the national level.