Zhang Xianyao
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Zhang Xianyao, Male, Han, from Nanjing, Fujian, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Kejiatulou Building Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-28). The tradition is documented in Nanjing, Fujian. Within the regional tradition and school record of Kejiatulou Building Craftsmanship in Nanjing, Fujian: The Tulou construction craft ingeniously makes use of the terrain of the mountainous area and local building materials such as raw earth, timber, and mountain stone; it is extremely economical, exceptionally solid, strongly defensive, and richly beautiful. The formation of the Tulou earthen buildings in Nanjing County is directly tied to the migration route of the Hakka people as they entered Fujian. Batch after batch, the scholar-official clans of the Central Plains moved south into the mountainous region of southern Fujian. The dual demands of clan co-residence and defensive security brought the long-inherited rammed-earth construction methods of the Central Plains to these red-soil slopes, where they merged with the local fir timber and mountain stone and evolved into the established practice of rammed-earth wall construction. Tulou walls are built with the ancient tools of rammed-earth wall construction, chiefly formwork boards, ramming pestles, shovels, and large and small patting boards as auxiliary tools. Rammed-earth wall construction follows strict rules at every stage—from soil selection, proportional mixing, soil pile treatment, and mastery of moisture content, through the ramming procedure to wall repair—and each step directly affects whether the wall will later crack: poorly chosen soil, uneven mixing, or improper moisture will inevitably produce fissures once the wall is built. Within Nanjing County there are more than 15,000 Tulou of various kinds, of which over 1,300 are large square or round forms, earning it the name "Kingdom of Tulou." Thousands upon thousands of earthen buildings dot the land of Nanjing, forming a superb scenic line that has been praised as "a unique, myth-like model of mountain-village architecture found nowhere else in the world." This assessment holds not merely in appearance: the construction method using raw earth, timber, and mountain stone is extremely economical, exceptionally solid, strongly defensive, and richly beautiful, genuinely uniting utility and aesthetics in a single place.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Zhang Xianyao is anchored in the documented technical standards of Kejiatulou Building Craftsmanship in Nanjing, Fujian. Within the documented technical tradition of Kejiatulou Building Craftsmanship in Nanjing, Fujian: Nanjing County in Fujian is home to more than 15,000 Tulou of various kinds, of which over 1,300 are large square or round forms, rightly called the "Kingdom of Tulou." It gathers the tallest, largest, smallest, most unusual, oldest, and most spectacular earthen buildings, among which the Tianluokeng Tulou cluster, the Hekeng Tulou cluster, the Huaiyuan Building, and the Hegui Building stand as exemplary models of Tulou architecture. Thousands upon thousands of earthen buildings, like "flying saucers dropped from the sky" or "mushrooms growing from the earth," dot the beautiful land of Nanjing and form a superb scenic line, acclaimed as "a unique, myth-like model of mountain-village architecture found nowhere else in the world." The siting and construction of the Hua'an Tulou follow the principles of family prosperity and security, laid out according to traditional Chinese feng shui concepts. Their architectural design and floor plan pay great attention to scientific rigor, rationality, practicality, and systematic order, embodying a modern sense of domestic living. Tulou walls are built with the ancient tools of rammed-earth wall construction, chiefly formwork boards, ramming pestles, shovels, and large and small patting boards as auxiliary tools. Rammed-earth wall construction follows strict rules at every stage—from soil selection, proportional mixing, soil pile treatment, and mastery of moisture content, through the ramming procedure to wall repair. Carpenters design and process the beam frames. Especially in round buildings, rooms are divided roughly evenly along the circumference (taking a dustpan-like shape), and carpenters adapt the beam frames to this form, which requires considerable skill. The ancient rammed-earth wall technique is the crystallized result of millennia of accumulated refinement of the Central Plains' rammed-earth construction technology; it is the physical embodiment of the highest achievement of rammed-earth civilization and may truly be called a singular wonder of architecture. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Selecting earth and blending proportions": Rammed walls begin with choosing suitable earth and blending it to a ratio that is adhesive yet breathable; a wrong mix guarantees cracking later. "Beating between boards with a pestle": Earth is laid between boards and beaten with pestles and paddles layer by layer; a wall rammed all at once stratifies and fails under load. "Judging moisture and repairing cracks": Moisture is judged by touch: too wet and the wall slumps as it dries, too dry and it will not bond; cracks are re-rammed, making tulou building a long contest with rain. "Dividing a round house like a dustpan": Rooms in a round tulou divide the circumference like a dustpan, and the carpenter frames beams to follow the curve — the most demanding work in the craft.
Selecting earth and blending proportions
Rammed walls begin with choosing suitable earth and blending it to a ratio that is adhesive yet breathable; a wrong mix guarantees cracking later.
Beating between boards with a pestle
Earth is laid between boards and beaten with pestles and paddles layer by layer; a wall rammed all at once stratifies and fails under load.
Judging moisture and repairing cracks
Moisture is judged by touch: too wet and the wall slumps as it dries, too dry and it will not bond; cracks are re-rammed, making tulou building a long contest with rain.
Dividing a round house like a dustpan
Rooms in a round tulou divide the circumference like a dustpan, and the carpenter frames beams to follow the curve — the most demanding work in the craft.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Zhang Xianyao was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Kejiatulou Building Craftsmanship, with Nanjing, Fujian as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Kejiatulou Building Craftsmanship in Nanjing, Fujian: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2011 (batch 3), with Nanjing, Fujian as its declared area, and Nanjing County Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Transmission Zhanyan Center as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
The formation of the Tulou earthen buildings in Nanjing County is directly tied to the migration route of the Hakka people as they entered Fujian. Batch after batch, the scholar-official clans of the Central Plains moved south into the mountainous region of southern Fujian. The dual demands of clan co-residence and defensive security brought the long-inherited rammed-earth construction methods of the Central Plains to these red-soil slopes, where they merged with the local fir timber and mountain stone and evolved into the established practice of rammed-earth wall construction. Tulou walls are built with the ancient tools of rammed-earth wall construction, chiefly formwork boards, ramming pestles, shovels, and large and small patting boards as auxiliary tools. Rammed-earth wall construction follows strict rules at every stage—from soil selection, proportional mixing, soil pile treatment, and mastery of moisture content, through the ramming procedure to wall repair—and each step directly affects whether the wall will later crack: poorly chosen soil, uneven mixing, or improper moisture will inevitably produce fissures once the wall is built.
05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage
National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xu Songsheng | Longyan, Fujian | 01-0148 | Other regional school |
| Zhong Yanpeng | Longnan, Jiangxi | 05-2741 | Other regional school |
| Zhang Xianyao | Nanjing, Fujian | — | This page |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。