福建，位于中国东南沿海，三面封闭重山，纵横独流之水奔腾向东入海。隋唐伊始，福建泉州便同浙江宁波、广东广州一道成为世界上最重要的港口城市。瓷器、丝绸、茶叶从泉州港起航，经过绵延千万里的“海上丝绸之路”，将古老中国的文明送达世界各地。
如今，在中国“一带一路”的倡议下，沿线国家建立了文化包容的命运共同体。福建不仅是纵贯南北的“中欧班列”通达亚欧 12 个国家的重要节点，也是“21 世纪海上丝绸之路”的核心区。福建，再次站在了中国文化传播的起点。
福建受山水阻隔，不得不“向海而生”，包容敢闯的性格又使福建“因海而兴”。在漫长的历史画卷中，丰富的自然生态环境和多元的文化体系，共同绘就了福建最浪漫而独特的色彩。
丰富的自然地理
福建大地上，遍布着山地、丘陵，森林覆盖率居全国首位。以武夷山脉为主的闽西大山带与中部的闽中大山带纵贯东北至西南，成为支撑起福建的骨架。
泉水、瀑布自山间孕育，又一路汇聚成河寻路东去。它们编织了福建纵横的水系网络，也促使河谷、盆地和冲积平原等多元地貌的形成，其中最长、最大的河流便是从福州入海的闽江。
独特的海洋生态
福建拥有约 3300 千米的海岸线，约等于北京到拉萨的距离。它的海域面积宽达 13.6 万平方千米，超过陆地面积 1.5 万平方千米。临海的 1400 多个大大小小的岛屿中，平潭岛和东山岛均位居中国大面积岛屿之列。
多元的文化体系
丰富的自然地理、生态环境是福建的典型特色。历代的人口迁徙则进一步造就了福建多元的文化体系。
西晋、唐宋时期，北方多次战乱促使“衣冠南渡”。中原士庶几经辗转，迁至江南地区，大量人口也随之源源不断地迁入福建，这是早期自北向南至闽的战争移民。他们翻山越岭，跨过江河、海洋，克服了山水之难，不断适应着福建多元的自然地理环境，建立起靠山、近水、临海等多样的传统聚落群。同时，在不同民族信仰及现实环境影响下，各聚落群形成了独具特色、迥然不同的生产生活方式、建筑形态、非遗民俗和文化信仰等。
这些共同造就了福建的“福建土楼” “中国丹霞”“武夷山”“鼓浪屿”四项世界文化、自然遗产，以及“妈祖信俗”“南音”“中国传统木结构建筑营造技艺（闽南传统民居营造技艺）”“福建木偶戏”“中国水密隔舱福船制造技艺”“中国木拱桥传统营造技艺”“中国剪纸”七项世界非物质文化遗产。
2012 年至今，福建共有 494 个村落被纳入《中国传统村落名录》。这些村落形成年代较早，蕴藏着丰富的自然生态资源，保留着大量的历史文化信息，记录了福建的根基和传统。它们散布在福建省下辖的福州、漳州、泉州、三明、莆田、南平、龙岩、宁德、平潭，形成了福建丰富的传统文化遗产聚落群，是福建优秀传统文化的发源地和留存地。
平潭的青峰村，三面临海，为了生存，人们世代以海洋捕捞为业。为躲避海洋暴风雨侵袭，他们就地取材，建造起了座座石头厝。
宁德福安的廉村，穆阳溪款款流过，孕育了肥沃的土地，也造就了村落独一无二的枢纽位置。人们在这里安居乐业、读圣贤书，也在这里创造了商贸重镇的辉煌时代。
南平邵武和平村，处于闽赣关隘，商贸交易频繁。但因其地势平坦，人们不得不建造巨型城堡以避匪患，守护村落财富安全。
漳州南靖田螺坑村，山腰的密林间建起了五座如今的世界文化遗产——福建客家土楼。这满足了辗转入闽的客家人对家族团结、防患山匪的需求。
三明沧海畲族村，是大山深处隐秘的少数民族村寨。历史上，他们一路北上入闽，仍延续着凤凰信仰和民族融合后的生活习惯。
千百年来，中原先民与福建本土闽越人在不断融合中，创造了辉煌灿烂的多元文化。明清时期，随着闽南人“下南洋”浪潮的掀起，福建的文化则变得更为绚烂多彩。
明清时期，福建厦门、漳州、泉州的闽南人开始大规模漂洋过海，纷纷赴东南亚经商，这是后期福建自内而外的经济移民。荣归故里的闽商“叶落归根”，他们引入了先进的生产生活方式、文化理念，也带回了新的建筑风格。
泉州泉港涂坑村，临海而居，村民们曾大规模从事海上贸易，使这里成了海上丝绸之路的港市。座座红砖大厝，色彩亮丽、蔚为壮观，昭示了这里曾经的繁华景象。
泉州晋江塘东村，一座中西合璧的番仔楼见证了菲律宾“糖王”蔡本油的南洋故事；安溪南岩村，深山中的红砖古厝，翘尾飞檐间诉说着清代海运大茶商广博的见识；莆田荔城后黄村，60 多幢具有南洋风格的华侨老宅也是几代人漂泊海外打拼而后归乡造就的建筑文化融合典范。
历经千百年，福建多元的文化以物质及非物质文化形态镌刻沉淀在了八闽大地上的传统村落中，始终为后人传承着、延续着。它们代表了多元的福建，也构成了多元的中国。
《走近福建传统村落》画册遴选了福建下辖市县最具地域文化代表性的 50 个传统村落，并对其进行价值提炼，引导人们由远及近，重新认识、探究体会传统村落的韵味和丰富多元的价值。画册中的村落所处的自然地理环境丰富多样，包括山居村落、临水村落、河谷村落、海岛村落、平原村落和世界遗产所在地村落。这些村落在历史文化、建筑风格、民俗非遗、民间信仰等方面各具地域特色，且在传统村落保护、发展工作中也取得了积极成果。
希望这些传统村落能让您领略福建大地的多彩，带您发现福建、认识福建、读懂中国。
Fujian, a coastal province, lies on the southeastern China. It is surrounded on three sides by imposing mountain ranges and overlooks a mighty river that ffows eastward to the sea. Together with Zhejiang's Ningbo and Guangdong's Guangzhou, Quanzhou, a prefecture-level city of Fujian, has already been among the most important port cities across the globe since the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Starting from the Quanzhou Port, one end of the long Maritime Silk Road, an array of products representing the ancient Chinese civilization, such as porcelain, silk, and tea, were delivered to every corner of the world.
Today, the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has ensured the emergence of a community with a shared future that encourages cultural inclusion among the Belt and Road countries. As a critical hub for the China-Europe Freight Trains running north and south to reach 12 Eurasian countries, Fujian also serves as the core area of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the sea route part of the BRI. Once again, the province stands as a starting point to spread Chinese culture.
Separated by mountains and waters, Fujian has to develop by exploring what the sea has to offer, and it is the open-minded, pioneering people that make the province thrive. In the long course of history, a blend of abundant natural resources and diverse culture has helped develop Fujian into a uniquely romantic place.
A Rich Natural Landscape
Home to the mountainous and hilly terrain, Fujian tops the country in terms of forest coverage. The western Fujian mountain belt that centers on the Mount Wuyi and the central Fujian mountain belt that runs from northeast to southwest form the backbone of the province's landscape.
Springs and waterfalls originate from mountains and join a mighty river surging to the east. This is how Fujian is blessed with an extensive network of waterways, coupled with river valleys, basins, and ffood plains. Among all those rivers, the longest and largest is the Min River, the lower reaches of which center in Fuzhou, Fujian's capital city.
A Distinct Marine Ecosystem
Fujian boasts about 3,300 kilometers of coastline, equivalent to the approximate distance from Beijing to Lhasa. It administers a sea area of 136,000 square kilometers, 15,000 square kilometers more than the land area it covers. Of over 1,400 islands in Fujian, Pingtan Island and Dongshan Island rank among the large islands in China.
A Diverse Cultural System
Endowed with rich natural landscape and ffourishing ecosystem, Fujian has created a diverse cultural system due to human migrations in Chinese history.
Due to wars, different waves of human migration from northern China to the south took place in the Western Jin, Tang, and Song Dynasties. After twists and turns, those Chinese, aristocratic or ordinary, from Zhongyuan, an area along the lower reaches of the Yellow River, had moved to Jiangnan, the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. And Fujian witnessed a constant inffux of migrants displaced by wars.
Having surmounted all difffculties along the way to Fujian and adapted themselves to its diverse natural landscape, these migrants managed to shape their communities in the mountains, by the riverside, or near the coast. And inffuenced by their own beliefs and the living environment, these settlers have created distinct ways of living and production, architectural styles, intangible cultural heritage, and cultural beliefs.
The achievements they together made include four world cultural and natural heritage sites, namely Fujian Tulou (a large, enclosed and fortiffed earthen building with thick, load-bearing and rammed-earth walls), Danxia Landform in China, the Mount Wuyi, and Kulangsu ( also named Gulangyu) Island, and seven items of world intangible cultural heritage, including Mazu belief and customs, Nanyin music (a style of Chinese classical music originating in Fujian), traditional architectural craftsmanship for dwellings in south Fujian (Minnan), Fujian puppetry, watertight-bulkhead technology of Chinese junks, traditional craftsmanship for building Chinese wooden arch bridges, and Chinese paper-cut.
Since 2012, a total of 494 villages in Fujian have been included in Traditional Chinese Villages Catalog. Boasting a long history, abundant natural resources, and a wealth of culture, they stand to see how Fujian developed from the start and how its traditions have been preserved. As they dot the cities of Fuzhou, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Sanming, Putian, Nanping, Longyan, Ningde, and Pingtan, clusters of traditional cultural heritage sites were formed, representing the cradles and preserving sites of ffne traditions and culture of Fujian.
Qingfeng Village is a community surrounded on three sides by water, and locals have ffshed for a living for generations. To guard against storms from the sea, they built stone cuos (ancient houses) by using local materials.
The Muyang Stream ffows through Liancun in Ningde, making the village fertile and geographically unique. Inspired by works of ancient sages, people there lived and worked in contentment and developed the village into a strategically important commercial hub.
Situated at the link between Fujian and Jiangxi, Heping Village in Shaowu County, Nanping City, saw a booming trade. However, since it stands on a piece of ffat land, dwellers had to construct a gigantic castle-style village to guard against bandits and ensure wealth and safety within.
Located in Nanjing County, Zhangzhou City, the mountainside village of Tianluokeng is home to ffve majestic Hakka Tulou, also a world cultural heritage site. For the Hakka people migrating to Fujian with twists and turns, these structures were well-positioned to unite their clansmen and ffght against gangsters.
Canghai She Ethnic Village represents a mountainside community of Sanming dominated by the She people. Historically, they moved to Fujian from the further south and have stayed committed to the worship of phoenix and the ethnic assimilation practices.
For centuries, the continued interaction between the forefathers in Zhongyuan and the Minyue people, Fujian's original inhabitants, has contributed to the splendid, diverse culture of Fujian. And the culture was taken to a new level as waves of Minnan people ventured to the Southeast Asia to seek fortune in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
At that time, a majority of the Minnan people from Xiamen, Zhangzhou, and Quanzhou crossed the ocean to engage in trade in Southeast Asia, which was the recent outffow of economic migrants of Fujian. Over years, they returned to their homeland prosperous, and with them came the advanced ways of living and production and new cultures and architectural styles.
As a seaside community in Quangang, a district of Quanzhou, Tukeng Village was a port along the Maritime Silk Road, with most locals engaging in maritime trade. Rows of magniffcently bright red-brick ancient cuos are just a testimony to the prosperity the place once enjoyed.
In Tangdong Village of Jinjiang, a countylevelcity of Quanzhou, stands a featured house of Chinese and Western styles, which justiffes how the villager Cai Benyou did business in the Philippines and emerged as a huge sugar supplier. And the red-brick ancient cuos decorated with featured cornices in remote mountains of Nanyan Village, Anxi County, revealed the extensive knowledge of the big tea merchants in the booming maritime trade in the Qing Dynasty. Situated in Licheng, a district of Putian, Houhuang Village is home to more than 60 historical houses of overseas Chinese, and their design has been a ffne example of the architectural and cultural blend made possible by generations of overseas Chinese.
For centuries, these traditional villages have never ceased to pass down the diverse culture, tangible or intangible, that Fujian has to offer. It is they that complete a culturally diverse Fujian and a culturally diverse China.
The photo album Traditional Villages in Fujian selects 50 traditional villages that best represent the local culture of cities and counties in the province and identiffes the value they can deliver, guiding people to re-understand and re-explore the unique charm and diverse values of traditional villages from far to near. Geographically diverse, these historical communities stand out in their own ways. Some are located in mountains and river valleys, or on sea islands and plains; some are known for their World Heritage sites; and others are featured by distinct history, culture, architectural styles, folk customs and beliefs. Different as they are, one thing they all share is the signiffcant progress in protecting and developing what has remained.
It is our hope that these traditional villages can provide a unique perspective into a colorful Fujian and a better understanding of the province and the country.