Search Results (8)

The “hand-waving sacrifice” is a large-scale sacrificial ceremony with more than 2000 years of history. It was passed down from ancient times by the Tujia ethnic group living in the Wuling Corridor of China, and it integrates religion, sacrifice, dance, drama, and other cultural forms. It primarily consists of two parts: ritual content (inviting gods, offering sacrifices to gods, dancing a hand-waving dance, etc.) and the architectural space that hosts the ritual (hand-waving hall), which together constitute Tujia’s most sacred ritual space and the most representative art and culture symbol. Nonetheless, in existing studies, the hand-waving sacrifice ritual, hand-waving hall architectural space, and hand-waving dance art are often separated as independent research objects, and little attention is paid to the coupling mechanism of the mutual construction of space and ritual in the process of historical development. Moreover, with the acceleration of modernization, the current survival context of the hand-waving sacrifice has undergone drastic changes. On the one hand, the intangible cultural heritage protection policy and the wave of tourism development have pushed it into the public eye and the cultural consumption system. On the other hand, the changes in the social structure of traditional villages have led to the dissolution of the sacredness of ritual space. Therefore, using the interaction of “space-ritual” as a prompt, this research first uses GIS technology to visualize the spatial geographical distribution characteristics and diachronic evolution process of hand-waving halls in six historical periods and then specifically analyzes the sacred construction of hand-waving hall architecture for the hand-waving sacrifice ritual space throughout history, as well as the changing mechanism of the continuous secularization of the hand-waving sacrifice space in contemporary society. Overall, this study reveals a unique path for non-literate ethnic groups to achieve the intergenerational transmission of cultural memory through the collusion of material symbols and physical art practices, as well as the possibility of embedding the hand-waving sacrifice ritual into contemporary spatial practice through symbolic translation and functional extension in the context of social function inheritance and variation. Finally, this study has specific inspirational and reference value for exploring how the traditional culture and art of ethnic minorities can maintain resilience against the tide of modernization. Full article

In 2005, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China introduced a strategic plan to advance the construction of a new socialist countryside, thereby providing a policy foundation for the robust development of rural tourism. Against this policy backdrop, the present study investigates the impact of rural tourism policies on the spatial evolution of ethnic minority villages in Yanbian Prefecture, utilizing data from the period 2004–2023. As a representative region in China where ethnic minorities coexist, Yanbian Prefecture exhibits distinctive cultural and spatial features in its Korean villages, making it a key pilot area for rural tourism development. This study utilizes the PMC index model, the coupled coordination degree model, and the vector autoregressive model to analyze the implementation effects of rural tourism policies and to establish an index system for rural spatial construction. By examining the spatial evolution of representative ethnic minority villages in Yanbian Prefecture, the research explores the dynamic interactions between tourism policies and rural construction, as well as the underlying causal mechanisms. The findings indicate that: (1) in ethnic minority villages, geographic characteristics and various constraints contribute to delayed initial policy effects, with negative fluctuations observed, highlighting a distinct lag effect in the policy implementation process; and (2) a significant Granger causality exists between tourism policies and rural spatial construction, with varying effects observed across different dimensions. The study centers on ethnic minority settlements, systematically analyzing the dynamic effects of tourism policies in the context of their spatial evolution characteristics. It offers sustainable development policy recommendations tailored to the unique attributes of ethnic minority villages. lt is suggested that the actual needs of village construction and long-term development goals should be fully considered when formulating and implementing policies to promote the sustainable development of ethnic minority areas. Full article

Understanding the spatial morphological characteristics and driving factors of rural settlements in ethnic minority areas is crucial for the conservation and tourism development of ethnic villages. Accordingly, this study employs Shuanglang Town, China as a case study, adopting an integrated approach that combines spatial syntax analysis, the optimal parameter geodetector model, and GIS spatial analysis techniques. This comprehensive methodology systematically investigates the spatial morphological features, differentiation characteristics, and influencing factors of ethnic villages. The findings reveal the logical lineage and formation mechanisms underlying the overall layout, street network, and public spaces of the villages. Specifically, the results demonstrate (1) a discernible gradation in spatial configurations, transitioning from compact “back mountain villages” in the northeast to more dispersed “seaside villages” in the southwest, with notable disparities in accessibility among different villages; (2) topography, water distribution, and water quality as the dominant factors shaping village spatial patterns; (3) the interactive and heterogeneous effects of multiple natural and anthropogenic factors, including topography, water resources, agricultural practices, and ethnic cultural traditions, significantly influencing the spatial morphology of villages; and (4) common principles governing the site selection of different ethnic village typologies, reflecting the villagers’ understanding and intelligent utilization of the natural environment. This study contributes to comprehending the spatial characteristics of rural settlements in ethnic minority areas and provides a theoretical and practical foundation for advancing analogous rural revitalization initiatives. The findings offer insights into the spatial logic and formation processes of ethnic villages, informing conservation efforts and sustainable tourism development strategies. Full article

Taking Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, a typical ethnic border area with rapid tourism development, as an example, this study uses a coupling coordination degree model to quantitatively analyze tourism and urbanization, two subsystems in Xishuangbanna, and measure the level of coordinated development between tourism and urbanization in Xishuangbanna. This study provides a theoretical basis for building famous tourist cities and for improving the urbanization efficiency and level in areas such as Xishuangbanna with abundant tourism resources but insufficient urbanization. The following results were obtained: (1) Xishuangbanna’s tourism plays a strong role in promoting urbanization, and its tourism urbanization response coefficient, tourism industry location entropy, and tourism urbanization level indicator all show clear upward trends; tourism has become a local advantage industry and has a significant positive correlation with urbanization. (2) In the evaluation system for tourism urbanization quality, the weights are ranked in the order of social indicators > economic indicators > population indicators > spatial indicators > eco-environmental indicators; over time, social indicators and economic indicators show clear fluctuating upward trends, population indicators fluctuate greatly, and spatial indicators and eco-environmental indicators fluctuate little. (3) The top five indicators influencing tourism urbanization are the number of the incoming individuals, the number of travel agencies, the number of corporate enterprises in the catering industry, the forest coverage rate, and the number of ethnic minority villages. (4) In the evaluation of the coupling coordination degree, the comprehensive evaluation indicator is low, resulting in an overall low coupling coordination degree of tourism urbanization quality in Xishuangbanna, and three types of coupling coordinated development (i.e., severe, moderate, and mild imbalances) are observed. Full article

The governance of ethnic communities is an important part of the national governance system. The development of tourism has changed the social basis of traditional ethnic-minority villages and has consequently effected a change in village community governance logic. Using Longjing Village as an example, this paper analyzes its governance logic from the perspective of diachronic and synchronic dimensions through non-participatory observation and in-depth interviews. The results show evolution processes from diachronic development, which involves the change of the governance subject, the material environment, and the minority culture; and synchronic development, which involves the process of government leading, market embedding, conscious resident participation, active tourist integration, etc. The study found that tourism development promoted reconstruction of the order of ethnic villages, generated local capital through minority culture, and provided an industrial basis for the governance of ethnic-minority villages. An effective way to realize the governance of ethnic-minority villages is by the means of distributing benefit reasonably between stakeholders, rationally constructing village public space, and shaping villages’ collective memory and cultural identity in tourist destinations. Full article

Since the COVID-19 outbreak at the end of 2019, there have been many studies on its impact on the tourism industry. However, research on the effects of this pandemic on ethnic tourism business households is minimal. This study explores how COVID-19 has affected ethnic minority tourism businesses and how they have responded to the crisis. Two ancient craft villages of the Cham people, which are popular destinations in Ninh Thuan province, were selected as case studies. Data were collected from late 2021 to early 2022 through fieldwork and in-depth interviews with 20 subjects who ran Cham-owned business households. A mini-survey of 52 Cham-owned tourism business households was also conducted as a qualitative method to supplement the statistical data. The findings of this study are: the Cham tourism business households have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but not significantly; and that the Cham business households have utilized their own advantages (such as a small business scale, utilization of available advantages, reasonable gender division of labor in the family, changing business strategies, and taking advantage of social media) to weather the crisis. This article contributes to the literature on the impact of disasters on tourism by focusing on how ethnic minorities use the business household model to overcome a crisis and by presenting evidence that ethnic tourism combined with business households is a sustainable model. Full article

In the process of development, traditional villages, as important tourism resources, have been impacted by external factors and lost their original authenticity. Looking for the important factors affecting its tourism development, in an attempt to assist the sustainable development of a rural destination, is Jiaju Tibetan Village in the Southwest of China. The sustainable evaluation index system divides the assessment criteria into five guideline layers: economic development, ethnic culture, management, sustainable development, and infrastructure and service facilities. The sub-criteria layer and the index layer under each of the guideline layers were refined, and matrices were constructed for various layers of indices, which calculate the weight of each indicator to produce a comprehensive score of the destination’s sustainability. The findings of this study are as follow: ➀ the Tibetan ethnic cultural life experience and the convenience of transportation are the most influential factors. ➁ Jiaju Tibetan Village is in a stage of basic sustainable development. ➂ The determinants of the indicators should be adjusted according to the tourist destination. ➃ Traditional villages should learn from each other’s tourism development experience. Finally, this study provides a reference for adjusting and formulating the tourism development strategy of ethnic traditional villages, and reasonable planning to use land, and plays an exemplary role for the development of traditional villages in concentrated ethnic minority areas. Full article

Ethnic minority villages are a vital part of tourism in certain destinations, often attracting many domestic and international visitors to experience unique local cultures and authentic lifestyles. However, much of the relevant literature has not examined tourist motivations, perceptions, and attitudes regarding ethnic minority village tourism. This exploratory qualitative research analyzed user-generated blogs uploaded by people sharing their ethnic minority village experiences in Guizhou Province, China. ROST Content Mining6 software was employed to identify motivations, perceptions, and attitudes toward minority village tourism. The findings indicated that tourist experience included natural aesthetic, cultural aesthetic, service and interaction, and entertainment. The main motivation was to experience unique cultural activities. The strongest perceptions were of the local villagers, Miao and Dong family life, and tourism services and environments. Tourist attitudes were mostly positive. Suggestions for better satisfying tourist needs and improving experiences were derived from the data. Full article