Structural Characteristics and Contemporary Value of Traditional Water Cultural Landscapes in Huizhou Region

Abstract

Water culture is one of the key issues in Water Ecological Civilization. China’s traditional water cultural landscape embodies rich water cultures, and have a significance in related research and protection practice. This paper proposes the concept of “water cultural landscape,” that is, the landscape formed through humans’ environmental alteration during water activities—including how people use, transform, and manage it. The traditional water cultural landscapes in Huizhou Region have developed over hundreds of years, reflecting the locals’ wisdom in sustainable water use. The water cultural landscape in Huizhou Region should be interpreted as a systematic notion, in which all landscape elements such as ponds, weirs, and shuikous are interdependent, composing the landscape components e.g. valleys, hills, and basins, and establishing water security patterns for cities, towns, villages, and for production. The traditional water cultural landscape in Huizhou Region requires local generations’ long-term maintenance and management, and in turn it is also vital to Huizhou people's life and Huizhou culture. Today, it acts as an ecological infrastructure for sponge countryside and sponge city construction, and an important resource for heritage protection and tourism development.

Keywords

Water Cultural Landscape / Huizhou Region / Pond–Weir–Shuikou / Structural Characteristics / Contemporary Value / Sponge Land

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