From Cultural Genes to Cultural Management An Exploration of the Inheritance Path of Traditional Vernacular Dwellings in the Jianghan Plain

Abstract

Traditional vernacular dwellings in the Jianghan Plain, as material embodiments of the long-term interaction among regional history, society, economy, and the natural environment, carry collective historical memory and cultural identity, forming distinctive and relatively stable cultural genes manifested in spatial adaptation, ritual order, decorative symbolism, and belief systems and craftsmanship traditions. However, under the pressures of globalization and rapid urbanization, both these dwellings and the cultural genes they embody are increasingly at risk of weakening and dissolution. In response, this study introduces the theoretical framework of cultural genes within a cultural management perspective to systematically examine their structural characteristics and transmission challenges, and to construct a multi-dimensional framework for heritage continuity. The study aims to promote a shift from form-oriented preservation to mechanism-oriented reconstruction, thereby providing theoretical support for mitigating the homogenization of regional architecture and enabling the contemporary expression and sustained transmission of cultural genes, while offering practical insights for rural revitalization and the reconstruction of cultural identity.