The Inheritance and Innovation of the ArchitecturalArt Form of Folk Houses with theBai Traditional Characteristics in the Erhai Lake Region

Zhang Fan

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1674-9391.2020.04.014Abstract：The new development concept， as a strategy to penetrate the practical problems and development orientation of society in the New Era of China， has a distinct problem in keeping with the pulse of the times. Looking back on the rich and colorful historical and cultural corridors of China with their five thousand years of history， traditional folk houses with their various ethnic characteristics are a bright pearl. They embody the profound history， culture， art and precious construction techniques， and their charm transcends time and space. Traditional folk houses with ethnic/local characteristics are a treasure of Chinese traditional culture and the wealth of the people all over the world. Due to the negative impacts caused by the period of “reform and opening up” and the invasion of western architectural art forms， the original traditional architectural art forms with local characteristics from different regions of China is disappearing. This has resulted in the appearance of the “cookiecutter phenomenon” which has begun to extend to the countryside. It has become the mission of the times to study， transmit， protect and creatively develop architectural art forms with local characteristics.

This article proposes starting from the five dimensions of the new development concept. Innovation is the driving force for the evolution of traditional Bai folk dwellings in the Erhai Lake region， and innovation has become the primary driving force for China? s economic and social development. Coordination is the core pillar for the cultural transmission and innovation of the characteristic traditional Bai folk houses in Erhai Lake. General Secretary Xi Jinping has likened coordinated development to “an important condition for victory”， and he has fully highlighted the role of coordination in China? s overall economic and social development. Green development helps to dissolve disharmonious cultural elements in the transformation of the old into the new in the traditional Bai folk dwellings in the Erhai Lake region.

The fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee incorporated green development into the new development concept. The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China （CPC） put forward a resolution to fight pollutionand both prevent and control it， from the “l(fā)ife community” of mountains， rivers， forests， fields， lakes and grasses， to the integration of the concept of green development into both production and life， and then to the positive interaction between economic development and ecological improvement. Based upon the concept of “green”， Xi Jinping， during his inspection of Erhai Lake in January 2018， put forward the important instruction that “Erhai Lake must be well protected”. He further said that opening to the outside world is conducive for spreading cultural confidence in the architectural remodeling of traditional Bai folk houses in the Erhai Lake region. In looking at China? s great achievements in opening up， General Secretary Xi Jinping has drawn an important conclusion： “As long as we actively follow world development trends， we will not only develop ourselves， but also lead the world? s development trends.” The transmission and innovation of national architectural modeling should adhere to the opening up strategy of “mutual benefits” and a “winwin” situation， and should attach equal importance to the global strategy of “bringing in and going out” while taking heritage transmission as the main trend. And， in doing so， form a new pattern of opening up for the transmission of tradition. Sharing contributes to the capitalization of the cultural confidence of the architectural modeling of the traditional Bai characteristic folk dwellings in Erhai Lake region. General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a comprehensive and profound explanation of the concept of sharing： “In terms of the coverage， it should be shared by all people; in terms of the content， it should be shared comprehensively; in terms of the way of implementation， it should be built together and shared together; and， in terms of advancing the process， it should be shared gradually.”（Xi， 2018）

Taking the different models of the oldnewrenovations of traditional Bai folk houses along the eastern and western edges of Erhai Lake as examples， and through a comparative study of the orientations of architectural modeling in the eastern and western sides of Erhai Lake， this article found that： the oldnew renovation model， which is characterized by traditional features with compatible innovation， not only promotes the heritage， protection and innovation of architectural modeling with ethnic characteristics，? but also activates economic attributes. Dali receives an average of 20 million tourists each year; its average annual income is 23 billion yuan; the average of stay of tourists is 2.33 days; and the average number of overseas visitors is more than 700 thousand per year. Research shows that more than 80 % of the more than 20 million tourists who come to Dali Prefecture were attracted by Erhai Lake and traditional folk houses. And， 95% of the 80% were attracted by the style of houses in the western Erhai Lake region， which?? is dominated by those which transmitted the traditional and characteristic Bai architecture， but which were also compatible with innovation as well. The model used for houses in the eastern side of Erhai Lake， which predominately used architectural models from western countries， attracted only about 10% of tourists from both home and abroad.

Key Words：Erhai Lake; traditional dwellings; oldnew transformation; architectural modeling;inheritance and innovation

References：

Xi Jinping. xijinping tan zhiguo lizheng [di yi juan]（Xi Jinping：The Governance of China[Vol.I]）.Beijing： waiwen chubanshe，2018.