开平碉楼与村落:人类文化视野的新名片

KAIPING DIAOLOU and Villages:A New Representative of Human Cultural Vision

据说历史时期开平有3000多座碉楼,现存还有1833座,集中分布在潭江冲积平原的塘口、百合、赤坎、蚬冈、长沙五镇。开平也因此成为当之无愧的“中国碉楼之乡”。碉楼建造的最初是因当地民众防匪防洪的需求而兴起,后来又成为一种攀比炫耀的工具。从建筑材料来看,碉楼可以分为石楼、夯土楼、砖楼、钢筋混凝土楼四大类、在使用功能上,又有众楼、居楼和更楼之分。碉楼的兴衰同时也反映了当地华人华侨的兴衰,是本地乡土建筑和外国文化互相吸收、融合的结果。在开平村落中,中西合璧的碉楼不仅仅是守护家园的防御设施,也成为村民优化环境景观的“工具”。在平原地区的很多村落,它高高耸立的楼体被借用为“靠山”,以实现“背山面水”的理想格局,同时,向上发展的碉楼与低矮的民居结合,还使村落的天际轮廓线高低错落,起伏变化,节奏缓急交错,有张有弛,富有韵律感。碉楼是形成开平村落立面生动活泼的关键要素,是开平村落的聚焦点。开平碉楼与村落作为中国申报世界文化遗产项目,三门里村落、自力村村落与方氏灯楼、锦江里村落、马降龙村落群等四个提名地,经历了八年艰辛的申遗之路．

It is said there used to be over 3,000 Diaolou in Kaiping and now there are 1,833 left.The most typical Diaolou are mostly seen in Tangkou,Baihe,Chikan,Xiangang and Changsha Township in the central plain.Hence Kaiping also enjoys the reputation of“A kingdom of Diaolou”. The construction of Diaolou was orginally built to prevent both floods and bandits.Then it served as the tool for showing off and comparing unrealistically with each other.In terms of building materials, Diaolou fall into four major categories:stone towers,lime-sand-clay towers,brick towers and steel reinforced concrete towers.From the perspective of its function,the Kaiping Diaolou can be classified into three types:Communal Towers,Dwelling Towers and Night Towers.The rise and decline of the building also witnesses the course of overseas Chinese and it reflects the combination of Chinese and foreign architecture culture. Kaiping Diaolou,a perfect combination of chinese and western cultures in architecture,not only serve as defense facilities but also contribute to aesthetic values.With upright Diaolou as background,many villages in the plain were designed to form the ideal layout of“facing water with the background of mountains”.Many multi-layer tower buildings with different shapes and wonderful designs are built up in the villages of Kaiping with the village boundary as the immediate surrounding landscape.High-rise Diaolou as well as law residential houses make up a lively image of the village with Diaolou as the key focus of the layout. Corresponding organizations have applied to UNESCO for nominating Kaiping Diaolou into the World Heritage list.The site,a serial nomination of four village units:Sanmenli Village,Zili Village and the Fang Clan Night towers,Jinjiangli Village as well as Majianglong Village Cluster,has experienced 8-year arduous application for world cultural heritage.