Study On Traditional Houses Of Tujia Minority Area In Western Hunan Based On Cultural Diffusion Theory

China is a vast nation, which composed of many nationalities. The national culture were exchanged and disseminated in a wide range.Tujia Nationality is one of China's ethnic minorities, mainly located in Wulingshan area, where is the adjoining area of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing and Guizhou provinces. Because of this geographically isolated and economically backward, it still maintained a strong national characteristic.Previous researches for the traditional houses of Tujia nationality are numerous, but the basic types of them only focus on the form and space, lacking of a comparison of the vertical and horizontal process.This paper is a borderline subject, which mixed study methods of history, cultural anthropology, sociology, folklore and cultural diffusion, etc. Cultural diffusion theory was used to group how culture diffused in Western Hunan, a territory of nationalities. The history of cultural diffusion and architectural changes are discussed in order to reveal the important role of cultural diffusion in the construction of cultural changes of Tujia residence, as well as to provide some recommendations for the study of the development of specific cultural groups in the new era of information dissemination.This article chooses Tujia minority areas of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hunan as study object. Tujia culture here is still retained completely and preserved the authenticity. The studies of residential areas have a certain universality and representation throughout the Tujia cultural changes.The composition of the full text is composed of seven chapters.The first chapter describes the meaning and purpose of this topic, reviews and sorts out the relevant researches, and introduces the research methods and ideas, such as the interdisciplinary research methods. In Chapter II, author discusses the backgrounds and conditions of cultural diffusion in Western Hunan at first. She pays attention to both the geographical environment background and social and cultural background. Chapter III is a theoretical study, which is the association research on cultural transmission and cultural changes of the building through analyzing the mecl(?)anism of cultural changes caused by cultural diffusion, the author analysis the mode of cultural transmission and means of cultural dissemination and the impact of integration, in order to give an theory-driven analysis for the exploring of the cultural changes of the Tujia residential. Chapter IV is a study of the historical evolution. Through analyzing the impact of changes of the various stages of cultural dissemination for the residential areas, this chapter focuses on how traditional houses of Tujia cultural exchange and interact in the inheritance and development. Chapter V is the research on the cultural integration of residential culture, exploring the process and performance of the changes of the vernacular houses and the integration of the culture of Han and Tujia nationality in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The different methods and mode of the Han cultural diffusion in Western Hunan have brought the difference spread power and lead the regional differences. Chapter VI mainly explores the connection of the ways of Han cultural diffusion and the distributing of the Residential houses which have a courtyard in Tujia minority area. Based on this, the author discusses the origin of the differences between the residences in traditional towns and villages.Because of the huge changes of the contemporary media and cultural diffusion mode, such as televisions, movies, internet and so on, there are many profound impacts and changes occurred on the traditional houses. The influence of the contemporary cultural diffusion is analyzed in final chapter. Also proposals are put forward to the continuation and protection of traditional houses.