Concerning The Impact Of Kinship On The Village Structure

This article focuses on the study of the world heritage Xidi and Hongcun,analyzing the impact of kinship on the structure in the growth process of ancient villages.The preface includes three parts.The first part expounds the historical geographical concept of the ancient villages in Huizhou,and introduces Xidi and Hongcun which is the typical representative of Huizhou ancient villages.Therefore an research of the two traditional villages is of great significance not only for the present but also for the future after Xidi and Hongcun was listed in World Heritage List.The following part retrospects the academic history of Xidi and Hongcun,which shows that most researches involve less village structure and the focus is on planning rather than cultural connotation.The third part summarizes the research methods which include the field research method,historical document method and cultural heritage method.This article aims to explain the impact of kinship on the village structure in the growth process of the village.Chapter 1 mainly discusses the impact of kinship on the village structure.Firstly,this chapter provides an overview of the relationship between the kinship and the original village.Village consists of a number of families with clan kinship,and their social way shaping the prototype of the space structure of rural settlements.It shows a basic commonality that blood groups from various regions and different culture building their settlements,such as the centripetal pattern,simple functional partition,the public areas(central square),defense equipment,and so on.Then on the basis of the commonality,villages develop continuously.Secondly,this chapter focus on the villages with clan kinship in China.The clan is a community with blood as a link.The new clan system plays an important role in rural society after the song dynasty,and it is also more obvious on the village structure.The remarkable feature of patriarchal village is that living space is divided according to the factions.For example,the clan kinship of Huizhou villages reflects in the pattern that dwellings center around the ancestral temple and respect for the seniority.Chapter 2 focuses on the structure of Xidi and Hongcun.Firstly,this chapter summarizes the natural,geographic,historical and cultural background.The historical and cultural background include Huizhou clan,Huizhou merchants and Huizhou culture.Xidi and Hongcun form under the clan power which is stronger than political organization.The construction of the two traditional villages relies on merchants'fund.Huizhou culture which progresses sharply at the same time effects the construction especially housing pattern in villages.Secondly,according to the record of the genealogy,it is feasible to reproduce the stage of population reproduction,and the process of population reproduction is also the one of the village development.In this part,the construction process of Xidi and Hongcun is divided into three stages including the foundation,advance and prime.The three stages correspond to the process of the clan.At the first stage,along with the unestablished ancestral temple,street network,business center and entertainment equipment,people basically settle in the foothills.At the second stage,the population is growing,and the ancestral temples,local-style dwellings and streets are built,then the centers of business and entertainment are set up.At the third stage,the village structure constantly improve.The three stages pay attention to several aspects referring to population,key figures,ancestral temple,dwellings,streets,business and entertainment.There is a conclusion that the structure of Xidi is "ancestral temple growth "pattern influenced by kinship,and the structure of Hongcun is "waterway growth "pattern leaded by kinship.Lastly,this chapter compares Xidi and Hongcun's structure.The structure of the two villages are influenced by blood factors.Xidi and Hongcun are in close geographical position,and there are daily dealings especially the marriage between them.It is inevitable that VI basis of the commonality,villages develop continuously.Secondly,this chapter focus on the villages with clan kinship in China.The clan is a community with blood as a link.The new clan system plays an important role in rural society after the song dynasty,and it is also more obvious on the village structure.The remarkable feature of patriarchal village is that living space is divided according to the factions.For example,the clan kinship of Huizhou villages reflects in the pattern that dwellings center around the ancestral temple and respect for the seniority.Chapter 2 focuses on the structure of Xidi and Hongcun.Firstly,this chapter summarizes the natural,geographic,historical and cultural background.The historical and cultural background include Huizhou clan,Huizhou merchants and Huizhou culture.Xidi and Hongcun form under the clan power which is stronger than political organization.The construction of the two traditional villages relies on merchants'fund.Huizhou culture which progresses sharply at the same time effects the construction especially housing pattern in villages.Secondly,according to the record of the genealogy,it is feasible to reproduce the stage of population reproduction,and the process of population reproduction is also the one of the village development.In this part,the construction process of Xidi and Hongcun is divided into three stages including the foundation,advance and prime.The three stages correspond to the process of the clan.At the first stage,along with the unestablished ancestral temple,street network,business center and entertainment equipment,people basically settle in the foothills.At the second stage,the population is growing,and the ancestral temples,local-style dwellings and streets are built,then the centers of business and entertainment are set up.At the third stage,the village structure constantly improve.The three stages pay attention to several aspects referring to population,key figures,ancestral temple,dwellings,streets,business and entertainment.There is a conclusion that the structure of Xidi is "ancestral temple growth "pattern influenced by kinship,and the structure of Hongcun is "waterway growth "pattern leaded by kinship.Lastly,this chapter compares Xidi and Hongcun's structure.The structure of the two villages are influenced by blood factors.Xidi and Hongcun are in close geographical position,and there are daily dealings especially the marriage between them.It is inevitable that the manner of construction is similar.Due to the limitation of terrain and the attitude towards development of water resources,the villages have different concerns in the process of construction so that they present different structures.Chapter 3 explains the significance of the research.Studying the structures of Xidi and Hongcun aims at a deeper understanding of the heritage value of the two traditional villages.In their buildings and street patterns,the two villages reflect the socio-economic structure of a long-lived settled period of Huizhou history in Ming and Qing dynasties.Xidi and Hongcun are,without a doubt,ideal carriers for contemporary society to seek its history,and to research traditional village culture.Several influence factors,such as Huizhou culture,the clan,Huizhou merchants and neo-confucianism,are materialized in the villages,which in turn contribute to our research about those factors.Finally,it is more conducive to our interpretation of the value of village heritage.The conclusion part summarizes the content of the above,and once again emphasis the heritage significance to research the village structure.This part also sums up the deficiency of this article,looking forward to the perfection of late.