This document is a student's oral presentation on Tulou, traditional circular dwellings found in Fujian Province, China. It describes several notable Tulou structures, provides historical background on Fujian, and explains the structural design and defensive advantages of Tulou. Tulou were constructed between the 11th-16th centuries by the Hakka people, and used local materials like stone, wood, and clay. They housed up to 800 people in a circular fortified structure centered around an ancestor hall. UNESCO recognized Tulou as a World Heritage site.

1. NAME: LOH WEI LING
STUDENT ID: 0319225
MODULE: ORAL PRESENTATION
SUBJECT CODE: COM 30103
LECTURER: PERSIS RODRIGUES
TITLE: TRADITIONAL DWELLINGS AROUND
THE WORLD (TULOU)

2. TU LOU ( 土楼 )
• Chuxi Tulou cluster
• Zhengcheng lou
("prince of tu lou")
• Tianluokeng Tulou
cluster
• Chengqi lou ("king
of tu lou")
• Yuchang lou
• Eri lou

3. ABOUT TULOU
• "Hakka tulou", "earth dwelling"
• Develop from the 11th to 16th century
• Found in Zhangzhou ( 漳州 )
• Ming Dynasty
• 800 people
• Chinese traditional architectural designs
• UNESCO's World Heritage

4. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
THE COUNTRY

A province on the southeast
coast of mainland China.
 Area of traders and
seafarers.
 Population is chiefly of Han
origin.
 Neolithic Age by the middle
of the 6th millennium BC
 20,000 Tulous.

5. STRUCTURE
FIGURE 1.0: LAYOUT
FIGURE1.2: STRUCTURE OF
TULOU

Ancestor hall located
at the center.

7. 
Round structure
- Fengshui
- Temperature control

Few windows

8. 
Vertical beams inside
this Tulou is erracted at
a 15 degree angle.

Door and beam column
form a triangle called
"tripartite balance".

9. 
The highest and
lowest part of the
beam is verticle and
center is slanted.

Rooms are same
size and using the
standard materials,
decoration.

A family unit
owns a vertical
set of rooms.

10. TYPE OF MATERIAL USED
INNER STRUCTURE

Inner structure is
build with wood
from fir trees.
BASE

Large rounded stones from
the local river, filled out with
smaller stone as foundation.

11. 
Mixture of lime,
clay, soil, glutonus
rice and brown
sugar are then
reinforce with
bamboo strips to
build the wall.
WALL 
Wooden pegs are used to
fastened the floor and singed
in hot sand.
FLOOR
ROOF

Downward-curving
cladding of grey tiles are
used.

13. TYPES OF ORNAMENTATION USED

Red lanterns

Curtains

Couplet

14. ADVANTAGES OF TULOU
• Housing for a Community of Equals
• Effective Strongholds for Defense :
- wild animals
- bandits
- fire and earthquake resistant
- arrows, gunfire and cannon.

Practical

15. REFERENCES
http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/221639/Fujian/712
68/History
http://english.cntv.cn/english/special/news/20100928/102669.sht
ml
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/07/photogalleries/
UNESCO-heritagelist-photos/

16. THANK YOU