As we explore the different dimensions of life, we find that understanding our multicultural background brings context and shapes our language throughout life and works. Today we share a little about our Hakka Chinese ancestry & architecture developed by our ancestors.

Origin, History & Culture

What sparked this post was finding the records of our jia-pu (family tree) in our mother’s office in Brazil. The records start in the year 26 of Emperor Hong Wu’s Ming Dynasty, 1393 A.D.

Our homeland is in Lam Hang, Fui Yong (Nangang, Huiyang) Guangdong, 南崗, 惠陽,廣東.

In 1948 our grandfather left China fleeing Mao Zedong’s communist regime, and migrated from Guangdong to Suriname, a small country on the northeastern coast of South America, which is defined by vast swaths of tropical rainforest, Dutch colonial architecture, and a melting-pot culture.

There, our surname 李 ([lì]; pinyin: Lǐ) was translated using Dutch phonetics, becoming Lie.

We are Hakka Han Chinese, kejia 客家漢人.

(You can hear the Yin & Yang all over this video with the soothing sounds of chimes along with someone moving stuff around the house, a glimpse of the Lie Alonso household)

The Hakka (客家), sometimes referred to as Hakka Han, are Han Chinese people whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhejiang, Hainan, and Guizhou. The Chinese characters for Hakka (客家) literally mean “guest families”. Unlike other Han Chinese groups, the Hakkas are not named after a geographical region, e.g. a province, county or city, in China. Modern day Hakka are generally identified by different degrees of Hakka ancestry and usually speak the Hakka language.

“The Hakkas are thought to have originated from the lands bordering the Yellow River (the modern northern Chinese provinces of Shanxi, Henan, and Hubei). In a series of migrations, the Hakkas moved and settled in their present areas in Southern China, and from there, substantial numbers migrated overseas to various countries throughout the world. As the most diasporic among the Chinese community groups, the worldwide population of Hakkas is about 75 million to 120 million. The Hakkas moved from northern China into southern China at a time when the Han Chinese people who already lived there had developed distinctive cultural identities and languages from their northern Han Chinese counterparts.” (Wikipedia 2018)

Cultural Tradition

Our grandfather used to perform the Qi-lin dance. It is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers mimic the qilin’s movements in a qilin costume to bring good luck and fortune.

Despite never seeing our grandfather perform it, as he passed away before we were born, we grew up seeing annual performances at the Yau Man Kung Fu academy in our hometown in Brazil, founded by our uncle by kinship, Master Lee Woon Wah, who is also Hakka Chinese.

(Qi-lin performance at the Yau-Man academy in Brazil in 2022. The gong sounds are being played by our uncle by kinship, Master Lee Woon Wah, who is also Hakka Chinese.)

“According to Chinese traditions, before Creation, the Universe was like an egg. When the shell finally broke, chaos spread in all directions. Eighteen thousand years it took P’an-ku, the first man, to create the Universe out of chaos. Each day with a hammer and chisel, he gradually condensed light and darkness and the five elements.
In his work he was helped by the four animals of fortune: the dragon, the tortoise, the phoenix and the unicorn. When P’an-ku died, each animal sought a territory for itself. The dragon swam towards the seas. The turtle crawled into the swamps. The phoenix flew to the dry lands. And the unicorn, who is known in China as Qi-lin, galloped into the green woods.
These animals are only shown occasionally. The unicorn does so at two special times: when the ruler is good and just and times peaceful and prosperous, the Qi-lin appears luminous as a symbol of good fortune. But when the great leader is about to die, the Qi-lin appears as an omen of loss. The unicorn is, therefore, in China the animal that represents duality, both the beginning and the end of the eras of peace, prosperity and wisdom. A fact that is reflected in its own name, Qi, which is masculine, and lin, which is feminine, the yin and yang principles.” (Yau Man Kung Fu Academy)

Hakka Tulou

Mysterious Earthen Castles

Remarkable pieces of heritage from Hakka architecture are unique buildings called Tulou (‘Earth Buildings’ 土楼 Tǔlóu /too-loh/) which are usually round, sometimes square, fort-like buildings built in mountainous regions. These rare buildings were designed by the circumspect Hakka minority as large fortresses and apartment buildings in one, and were inscribed by UNESCO as a cluster of World Cultural Heritage Sites in 2008, noting the historic, cultural and architectural value of these structures. 

Constructed from the 12th century up through the 20th, these buildings housed up to 800 people each, allowing clans to live together as big families. A city within a city that provided its inhabitants with safety, shelter and community.  Also known as Fujian Tulou, there are 20,000 of these structures across the Fujian province of China, a large section of coastal China across the sea from Taiwan.

Aesthetically, these buildings capture the spirit and beauty of rural China.  Their occupants share a sense of community and hard work for the greater good, where the tasks of daily life are managed collectively, not alone.  Visually, these structures are decidedly Chinese in nature, with clay tiled roofs, wooden framing, stone walkways and often rammed earth walls, material which we like to use in our projects at Lie Alonso for its natural and sustainable properties.

It is said that the buildings were constructed in accordance with the ideology of the Bāguà 八卦, the Eight Diagrams used in traditional divination. In Feng Shui, the Bāguà is used as a map to identify aspects to be harmonized in a building’s plan.

Sustainability & Community

For those interested in learning more, the documentary film, History Made for Tomorrow: Hakka Tulou was released by History Channel International. This film is an in-depth study on the green building techniques and sustainable lifestyle of the Hakka people of Southern China with a focus on the ancient Tulou rammed earth structures. The television program follows West Virginia University research professor, Ruifeng Liang, as he initiates scientific studies to back claims that the rammed earth Tulou structures are “the greenest buildings in the world”, and Canadian architect, Jorg Ostrowski, of Autonomous Sustainable Housing Inc., who has been researching the ecological footprint of Hakka communities since August 2007, to promote them as “eco-villages” of best practices for planet Earth’s sustainability.

Heritage inspires the future

Learning from our Hakka Chinese ancestry & architecture heritage inspires us to think differently when we develop our projects. From creating balance through the elements and the environment to conceiving spaces of community, strength, and endurance.

While we are able to get nothing but a glimpse of the past, the connection is always present. Understanding where we come from, ever so slightly, can deeply influence our thoughts and actions towards the future. For us, this brings us a sense of reverence for history, appreciation for where we are, and insight into whom we aspire to become. Our wish is to bring ease of living, beauty, and wonder – creating transcendental spaces, experiences & pieces that delight the senses and ignite the soul.

To view our Architectural projects visit: Architecture