Origin

      The population in Lukang is large and they came from various places. With so many kinds of people, the social order problem in Lukang had been annoying the residents of the “no sky” street area very much. According to old documents, there were often aggros between those with different family names (mostly Shih, Huang, and Syu). In addition, Shihjiaoduan event occurred during the Guangshi period. The above events evidenced that the social order in Lukang had been bad. Furthermore, the immigrants from Ming or Yue who were doing business in the “no sky” street area aimed to make profit instead of having family and staying forever, so it was very important for them to protect the fortune they earned in sweat.

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Types of Block Gates

        In Lukang, we can still find the block gates like the images above. To solve the social order problem, Lukang merchants, i.e. so called “8 Jiaos”, not only set up regulations but also built a lot of block gates. It was regulated that the aggros between groups should never cross the block gates. This regulation is still a slang in Lukang. It shows that the block gates functioned to stop aggros from becoming bigger events. There were three types of block gates in Lukang. One type was defensive block gate. This type of block gates had military function and had a building for defenders to shoot at intruders. Another type is regular street block gate. This type and the former type of block gates were mostly built by bricks and had three gates. This type of block gates were the most common ones in Lukang. The other type of block gates are those located in the “no sky” street area. They were very different from the former two types of block gates.

Block Gates in No-Sky Street

        The block gates in the “no sky” street area were made of wood. Their height is a little bit lower than the roofs of the “no sky” street area. The structure of palisade enabled people inside to observe what was happening outside. It could be easily opened and facilitated the commercial behaviors. The five blocks in the Wufu Street including  were all equipped with this type of wood block gates.

        Comparing the block gates at that time, the Wufu’s differed from the other two types of block gates very much in that those in the “no sky” street area, unlike other areas, were not kin. Unlike people in other areas, who formed self-defensive organizations to protect their kin, those in the “no sky” street area formed block gate defensive circle based on mutual interests. Therefore, the five streets got along well in peace and the establishment of block gate is for defending robbers and protecting the residents’ life and properties. At nights, the existence of block gates also made the “no sky” street area have private space and enabled the residents to improve the bonding and intimacy between them.