Study the influences of ethnic Han and ethnic Bai on Jidi village’s modern Tibetan dwellings in Shangri-La, China

Abstract

Chinese ethnic dwellings have recently undergone numerous changes under the influence of economic growth, thus provoking discussions on the relationship between traditional inhabitation and modernization. This paper aims to investigate the effects of modernization on Tibetan residences from the perspective of Shangri-La’s unique multi-ethnic cultural milieu. The research was undertaken in Jidi Village, a traditional Tibetan settlement where the Matsutake industry has enabled residents to reconstruct traditional Tibetan structures by upgrading the local economy. Floor plans and section maps were drawn and analyzed based on a survey of residential buildings in Jidi village. Variations in construction and living situations were confirmed after interviews with Jidi locals. The results indicate that the horizontal distributions of Tibetan residential houses gradually transformed into a courtyard style in the past decades. Furthermore, we concluded that ethnic Han affected contemporary construction materials of Tibetan, whereas ethnic Bai influenced the architectural layouts and designs of architectural components through artisans’ techniques. This study emphasizes the need to cultivate ethnic craftspeople, such as Tibetan artisans in the Shangri-La region, whose numbers are declining due to modernization.

Keywords

• jidi village’s tibetan dwellings
• modernization
• ethnic minority
• multi-ethnic cultures
• shangri-la
• tibetan dwellings