Review Reports - Spatial Distribution Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Hakka Traditional Villages in Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi, China

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Basic hypothesis of Sustainability is missing. Even, the hypothesis has not been framed with the previous studies on Hakka Culture. Analysis is confined to simple description of Landscape attributes (slope, altitude, vegetation cover, etc.) not with the culture, and evolution of Hakka Culture. Old villages vs new settlements, spread of culture influenced by the landscape factors, etc.

Reorganization of first para. After Line 29 - A description of Hakka System is required in the beginning for global readers.

Author Response

>Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Basic hypothesis of Sustainability is missing. Even, the hypothesis has not been framed with the

previous studies on Hakka Culture. Analysis is confined to simple description of Landscape attributes

(slope, altitude, vegetation cover, etc.) not with the culture, and evolution of Hakka Culture. Old villages

vs new settlements, spread of culture influenced by the landscape factors, etc.

Reorganization of first para. After Line 29 - A description of Hakka System is required in the beginning

for global readers.

>Reply:

Thank you very much for your comments and suggestions, your suggestions have been a great inspiration

to us. We have revised the manuscript in accordance with your suggestions. Based on the revision, we would

like to add some notes that we hope will express us better.

>Point 1. Basic hypothesis of Sustainability is missing.

>Response 1: Since the development of traditional villages in ancient China relied heavily on the environment in

which the village was located, good or bad environments directly affected the production and lifestyle of the

inhabitants of that village, and the Hakka traditional villages were no exceptions. In our study, the site selection

culture was considered to be the endogenous driving force for the development of Hakka traditional villages.

A good base site is the material basis for the development of Hakka traditional villages, and the culture of site

selection is the cornerstone of Hakka traditional culture. The sustainable development of Hakka traditional

villages can only be achieved by truly focusing on both the preservation of Hakka traditional village base sites

and the preservation of Hakka traditional village site selection culture. The elimination of the site culture of the

Hakka traditional village will make the Hakka traditional village become an empty shell without a soul.

（We have added the corresponding points after line 29 of introduction.）

>Point 2. Hypothesis has not been framed with the previous studies on Hakka Culture.

>Response 2: The research of the previous people is very important and it helps me to learn more about Hakka.

At the same time it makes me understand more that my research is necessary, as stated in Maslow's hierarchy

of needs theory, human needs are divided into deficiency needs and growth needs. There have been studies

that included architectural styles, ethnic costumes, and poetry and songs that fall under the category of growth

needs. Their characteristics are tangible and can be visually seen and recorded. However, the research we are

performing is on the culture of site selection, which cannot only influence the foundation of a traditional Hakka

village, but also have a profound impact on the subsequent development of that village. Therefore, in ancient

China, Hakka people have always attached great importance to the location of their villages. The culture of site

selection is not visually visible through patterns or texts like in other cultures, and it is not even mentioned in

many village genealogies. Therefore, most of the previous studies on the site selection preferences of Hakka

traditional villages are summarized in short texts, and there are no data to support these views. Therefore, we

attempted to explore this issue from this point of view because we believe that since the culture of Hakka

traditional villages had gradually been cultivated from daily production life, it is necessary to unravel this latent

relationship to preserve this culture. It is not only necessary to let people know that the Hakka traditional village

has a corresponding culture, but also why the culture is the way it is. We argue that the surrounding environment

of Hakka traditional villages can be quantitatively analyzed by multiple influencing factors to disentangle the ones

that were most important to the Hakka people and what ranking they attached to these factors. The interaction of

multiple influencing factors can produce positive or negative effects. Clarifying these issues can provide guidelines

for understanding the culture of Hakka site selection. For future village planning and conservation, we may rely on

these ideas to discover the site culture of the village. For example, when we are engaged in the conservation of a

Hakka traditional village, we will give priority to observing the water system around that village, so that we can

preserve the symbiotic relationship between the village and the surrounding water system as much as possible.

In this way, the original culture of the village will not be lost due to the environmental damage due to potential design mistakes.

In a pre-study on planning and protection related to another Hakka traditional village, it was found that there was no

corresponding water system around the village, but the village had a rich vegetation and the villagers relied on

groundwater as water supply. Thus, the village was not chosen to be located near a waterfront area, but instead,

the rich vegetation resources of the village should be protected. （In the results section, we added the data

analysis corresponding to each impact factor and linked it to the Hakka site selection culture.）

>Point 3. Evolution of Hakka Culture. Old villages vs new settlements, spread of culture influenced by the landscape factors.

>Response 3: The main object of our research paper is research into the site selection philosophy of the

Hakka people, which has shaped the distribution of Hakka villages today. Our study investigates the

commonality of Hakka site selection culture. Moreover, Hakka culture has also integrated with the local

indigenous culture to varying degrees, which results in differences among Hakka villages in different regions.

This has led to some differences in the landscape presentation and cultural customs of Hakka villages.

However, this is the content of future research, and we need to analyze the evolutionary process and the

differences after the evolution on the basis of clarifying the cultural commonality of Hakka traditional villages.

Therefore, differences were not within the scope of this paper.

（In the conclusion section, we clarify that this is something that belongs to future research.）

Reviewer 2 Report

This research uses ArcGIS to extract and analyze the distribution characteristics of Hakka traditional villages in Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces. The six influencing factors of village distribution were analyzed and ranked superimposed and further tested. This is an interesting study, and it is of significance to the development and preservation of traditional Hakka villages. However, several modifications are needed to further improve the quality of present work:

1. The introduction section is well organized; however, it is better for you to explain the term Hakka traditional village and how it differs from traditional villages in general.

2. I suggest that a corresponding textual explanation of the framework diagram in Figure 1 in the text would be more helpful for understanding.

3. In the Materials and Methods section, an overview of the study area should be described, and it is better to show the location of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi in China in a Figure.

4. Meanwhile, in the Materials and Methods section, the sources of data and the processing of the data in the article should be described in more detail. For example, the selection criteria for traditional villages and the data sources for the analysis (in the first paragraph of 3.1.1) are more reasonably to be placed in the Materials and Methods section. Similarly, the water system data source (in the second paragraph of 3.2.3) should be placed in the Materials and Methods section.

5. In the results section, there is a lack of a summary of the data in each section.

6. I suggest an in-depth discussion of the results, and compared the results you obtained with the literature review.

7. Contributions should be more explicit.

8. Conclusions are clear. It is necessary to explicate better the novelty of the paper, and write more details about the future research direction.

Author Response

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Reply:

Thank you very much for recognizing the value of our research and providing the many detailed comments and constructive suggestions. Reading your comments, we realized that there were indeed many issues in the manuscript that have not been clearly stated, so we have adjusted the text accordingly. Our point-by-point responses are attached below.

Point 1. The introduction section is well organized; however, it is better for you to explain the term Hakka traditional village and how it differs from traditional villages in general.

Response 1: Based on your comments and suggestions, we have added the corresponding description in the first paragraph of the introduction. Hakka traditional villages are part of traditional villages in general. A characteristic of Hakka villages is that they are inhabited by Hakka people, who migrated in ancient times to escape from war. The latter is the reason why the native culture of Hakka people is well preserved. At the same time, because of the migratory nature of the Hakka, their site selection was not as good as that of the local indigenous inhabitants of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi, which meant that by the time the Hakka set foot on the land, most of the village environments with superior conditions had already been occupied by the local indigenous inhabitants. Only a few Hakka were able to find ideal sites to establish their foundations and reproduce. The majority of the Hakka had to make a choice when faced with a mixed environment of foundations. This selection process was one of the reasons to perform corresponding research.

Point 2. I suggest that a corresponding textual explanation of the framework diagram in Figure 1 in the text would be more helpful for understanding.

Response 2: We have added text to the framework section of Figure 1, and each of the six factors is identified in the corresponding chart.

Point 3. In the Materials and Methods section, an overview of the study area should be described, and it is better to show the location of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi in China in a Figure.

Response 3: We have added a drawing of the study area as suggested（In chapter 2.1.）.

Point 4. Meanwhile, in the Materials and Methods section, the sources of data and the processing of the data in the article should be described in more detail. For example, the selection criteria for traditional villages and the data sources for the analysis (in the first paragraph of 3.1.1) are more reasonably to be placed in the Materials and Methods section. Similarly, the water system data source (in the second paragraph of 3.2.3) should be placed in the Materials and Methods section.

Response 4: The structure of the article has been adjusted according to the suggestions. （We have added new chapters, 2.1study area and 2.2data resource, to the research methodology.）

Point 5. In the results section, there is a lack of a summary of the data in each section.

Response 5: A summary of the data in each section has been added.

Point 6. I suggest an in-depth discussion of the results, and compared the results you obtained with the literature review.

Response 6: We have added a discussion of the results and a comparison of some of the results with the literature.

Point 7. Contributions should be more explicit.

Response 7: The contribution structure has been adjusted.

Point 8. Conclusions are clear. It is necessary to explicate better the novelty of the paper, and write more details about the future research direction.

Response 8: The conclusion has been further adjusted on the basis of the original and future research directions.

Thank you again for your detailed suggestions, and we hope our adjustments solved your concerns.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Authors have modified manuscript as per suggestions.

Reviewer 2 Report

1. The introduction section is well organized; however, it is better for you to explain the term Hakka traditional village and how it differs from traditional villages in general. 2. I suggest that a corresponding textual explanation of the framework diagram in Figure 1 in the text would be more helpful for understanding. 3. In the Materials and Methods section, an overview of the study area should be described, and it is better to show the location of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi in China in a Figure. 4. Meanwhile, in the Materials and Methods section, the sources of data and the processing of the data in the article should be described in more detail. For example, the selection criteria for traditional villages and the data sources for the analysis (in the first paragraph of 3.1.1) are more reasonably to be placed in the Materials and Methods section. Similarly, the water system data source (in the second paragraph of 3.2.3) should be placed in the Materials and Methods section. 5. In the results section, there is a lack of a summary of the data in each section. 6. I suggest an in-depth discussion of the results, and compared the results you obtained with the literature review. 7. Contributions should be more explicit. 8. Conclusions are clear. It is necessary to explicate better the novelty of the paper, and write more details about the future research direction.