### id237870431 tulou were single-structure village forts > Fujian *Tulou* is a property of 46 buildings constructed between the 15th and 20th centuries over 120 km in south-west of Fujian province, inland from the Taiwan Strait. Set amongst rice, tea and tobacco fields the Tulou are earthen houses. Several storeys high, they are built along an inward-looking, circular or square floor plan as housing for up to 800 people each. They were built for defence purposes around a central open courtyard with only one entrance and windows to the outside only above the first floor. Housing a whole clan, the houses functioned as village units and were known as “a little kingdom for the family” or “bustling small city.” They feature tall fortified mud walls capped by tiled roofs with wide over-hanging eaves. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fhxtqd8hfepw2hp8r8njs3gm) - [[Fujian Tulou via UNESCO#id237870431 tulou were single-structure village forts|View in Vault]] - [n] It would be interesting to compare and contrast these with something like the arcologies of _Oath of Fealty_ by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle. [[Backwards Mapping Fiction]]. - [?] How does this compare to a Medieval castle?