Page 20 - JCAU-5-2

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Style evolution rules of Tibetan dwellings

Figure 1. Location of Jiuzhaigou Valley and Amdo Area. Source: Drawing by the authors

beauty and aesthetic value” (UNESCO, 2023). The dwellings
are a testament to the integration and transformation of
the Tibetan and Chinese peoples in the region, and have
been passed down to the present day, and are as unique and
historically valuable as the natural landscape (Meng & Chen,
2015). The relatively good state of preservation and the
large number of Tibetan dwellings in the Jiuzhaigou World
Heritage Site compared to other research subjects ensure
the diversity of the study sample. In 1984, Jiuzhaigou began
exploratory, small-scale, and rough tourism development,
and the villagers began a major renovation of new houses;
in 2000, cultural heritage tourism took off, and villagers
actively renovated old houses. On 8 August 2017, a 7.0
magnitude earthquake struck Jiuzhaigou Valley, causing Figure 2. Indigenous villagers at the Jiuzhaigou World Heritage Site.
massive damage to the local dwellings, and villagers began Source: Photo from Jiuzhaigou Valley Administration Bureau
a new round of large-scale dwelling restoration and new
construction. Thus, the dwellings in the Jiuzhaigou World were gradually abandoned, and four larger-scale living-
Heritage Site have witnessed the social changes that have type villages, namely Zaru, Shuzheng, Zezhawa, and Heye,
taken place in China since the reform and opening up of have now been formed. To fully clarify the types of local
the countryside; in addition, the modern appearance of the dwellings, in July 2018, the team entered the Jiuzhaigou
dwellings in the current context of rural revitalization is a Tibetan village, which was still under post-disaster
common problem faced by ethnic villages in the Tibetan areas reconstruction after being affected by the 7.0-magnitude
of Amdo, which further highlights the representativeness of earthquake, to investigate the evolution of the style of
the research sample (Figures 2-5). and damage to the dwelling architecture. In August
2019, based on the previous study and analysis, a more
2.2. Sample data source in-depth survey of the appearance of the dwellings in the
Field surveys were one of the primary methods of collecting four villages of Shuzheng, Heye, Zechawa, and Zaru was
basic data on dwellings. With the development of tourism, carried out. A total of 320 dwelling units were studied, and
the higher altitude and less accessible villages in Jiuzhaigou a list of household names and architectural drawings was

Volume 5 Issue 2 (2023) 3 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.0880