People, house and village: the cultural construction of space among the Kam people in Gaobu

• Main Authors: Kung, Hsiang Fang, 宮相芳
• Other Authors: Holm, David
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/4y9h6x

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 民族學系 === 105 === The thesis mainly focuses on Kam in Gaobu village, which is located in Huaihua City, Hunan Province. Gaobu village is under the jurisdiction of Pingtan, Tongdao Dong Autonomous County and comprises three administrative villages: Gaosheng, Gaoshang, and Kezhong. Under the administrative villages, there are 6 natural villages: Yanzhai, Yangtian, Shangzhaitun, Longxing, and Gaoping. Gaobu village is surrounded by mountains. There is a river flowing through the area, which lives about 561 households and 2,410 people. Visitors are not often to see because of the inconvenient traffic. Kam villages are influenced by surrounding natural environment and reach a subtle balance. The spaces of Kam houses are highly related to their daily life. Interactions between villagers happen in public spaces, such as Gǔlóu (鼓樓) and Fēngyǔ Bridge (風雨橋); the production and life of people are composed of the fields, paths, ponds and rivers in the villages. Every space in Kam villages reflects the interaction between people and the environment. The purpose of this study is to discuss the relation between cultural context and the construction of space in Kam villages. In recent years, the rural tourism in ethnic minority areas has been fast-expanding. Tourism has become the main solution of economic development for villages. Meanwhile, people have gradually lost their traditional culture without consciousness. Therefore, this study takes Gaobu village as an example and attempts to talk about the culture of the construction of space of Kam people in Gaobu; analyze the cultural connotation within; observe how people interact with the natural environment and develop the unique way of inhabitation from houses and the whole village. In addition, this study explores that how Kam people in Gaobu bring back cultural values after the accommodation of their culture system, and the harmonizing of traditional culture and new things, when facing the drastic modernization. In response to the impact of modernization, this study aims to propose corresponding concepts and measures to preserve traditional culture instead of losing it.