Research On The Cultural Expresssions Of Architectural Space In Rural Settlements Of Dong Villages In Six Dong Area In Southeast Of Guizhou

Cultural heritage is the treasure of all human beings. As the understandingdeepens,the concept of cultural heritage extends to cultural process from built heritage,and more attentions are paying to the local and ethnic culture expressed by theheritage-making process, which sets the background for the concept of Living Heritage.This research advances the theory of Living Rural Settlement, based on the livingheritage theory.Dong is one of the ethnic groups in Southwest of China, which has a more maturedculture and enriched built heritage compared with other groups, but with fewerresearches on it, especially in the area of fieldwork and timely recording. This researchwould focus on the typical villages in Six Dong, based on the in-site investigation andliterature work, which would contribute to the knowledge system of architecture,ethnology, cultural heritage conservation and other related studies.Six Dong is located in the core of Dong habitation area and the typical villageswould well express the Dong culture. The architectural space is an element of the Dongcultural system, which is the result of interation between the environment and thecommunity, and influented by other cultural elements, like the production mode, theconstruction technology, the community organizing and spiritual belief. The space couldbe divided into the functional and ceremonial, in which the former has a strong link withthe community’s daily life and witnesses the cultural history, and the latter relates morewith their spiritual need and expresses their cultural identity.As rural settlements, the Dong villages have the use, historic, aesthetic and culturalvalues, in which the use value is the basic and the cultural value is the core. Thecontinuity is vital as it is a living heritage, in which change is inevitable. The spacechanges with the cultural change by modernization. The life and thinking of the localcommunity is changing, which turns to a new demand and chanllenge to the heritage.However, different from other cases, the community organization in Six Dong areahelps in the continuity of cultural confidence, and the community participates in theheritage conservation and social development. The cultural consciousness, which isthe final aim of rural settlements conservation, directs them to the renaissance.