Spatial And Temporal Distribution Characteristics And Influencing Factors Of Cultural Landscape Of Place Names Of Scenic Spots And Historic Sites In Hunan Province

The names of scenic spots and historical sites reflect the prosperity and development of Chinese civilization in different historical periods.The culture of place names is a valuable source of information for studying the social and cultural changes over time.Hunan Province,with its beautiful mountains and rivers,outstanding people and rich and diverse resources,has a wealth of scenic spots and historical sites with distinctive place names.In this study,we collected 9232 place names of scenic spots and historical sites from the second place name census in Hunan Province,and used mathematical statistics and GIS spatial analysis methods to explore their spatio-temporal distribution patterns and influencing factors,and provides some reference for the protection and tourism development of place name cultural landscape.Major contributions are as follow:(1)The number of scenic spots and historical sites in various cities in Hunan Province is uneven.Shaoyang City has the most place names,followed by Zhuzhou City,while Zhangjiajie City has the least.According to the different cultural landscape features reflected by these place names,more than half of them are religious cultural place names,while economic entities and school academies are relatively few.There are also significant differences in the naming methods of the scenic and historical sites that reflect different cultural landscape features.In terms of spatial distribution,the overall cultural landscape of scenic and historical sites in Hunan Province presents a spatial pattern of "dense in the east and sparse in the west,dense in the south and sparse in the north",and place names reflecting different cultural landscape types are all in a clustered state in space.The place names of each period showed a fluctuating upward trend in terms of quantity and frequency,indicating that more scenic spots and historical sites were named or renamed over time.The cultural landscape types expressed by the place names also became more diverse and complex in each period,reflecting the changes in social,political,religious and economic aspects of Hunan’s history.The spatial distribution of place names also evolved from being dispersed to aggregated to dispersed again in each period,and the distribution range expanded gradually.(2)The cultural landscape of place names of scenic spots and historical sites in Hunan Province has a spatial distribution that is influenced by both natural and human factors.A good natural environment is essential for the generation of place names.Most of the place names of scenic spots and historical sites are located in areas with low altitude,gentle terrain,warm climate,abundant water resources and high vegetation coverage.These areas also have better natural conditions for human activities.Human factors become more important for affecting the spatial distribution of place names in these areas.The tourism vitality,economic development level and population density of the region are the dominant human factors that shape the cultural landscape of place names.These factors interact with each other and have a synergistic effect on the inheritance and development of place names of scenic spots and historical sites.(3)We conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate the public awareness and perception of the culture within the place names of scenic spots and historical sites in Hunan Province.The survey results showed that the respondents had a certain level of understanding of the culture within the place names,but there were large differences in perception among different cities and different cultural landscape types.Based on these findings,we constructed a cultural value evaluation system for the place names of scenic spots and historical sites in Hunan Province.The system consisted of four aspects:historical value,cultural value,social popularity and naming rationality.We scored and graded the place names according to these aspects.We also proposed some strategies for protecting and inheriting the place name culture from several aspects such as top-level design,tourism development,classified protection and brand building.