• Geographical Research
  • Vol. 39, Issue 8, 1807 (2020)
Ping WANG1、2、3、* and Min LIU2
Author Affiliations
  • 1Center of Geopolitical and Strategic Studies, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
  • 2College of Geography, Taiyuan Normal University, Jinzhong 030619, Shanxi, China
  • 3School of Urban & Regional Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
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    DOI: 10.11821/dlyj020191072 Cite this Article
    Ping WANG, Min LIU. The spatial influence of geography on the inheritance of traditional intangible culture: A case study of intangible cultural heritage in Shanxi province[J]. Geographical Research, 2020, 39(8): 1807 Copy Citation Text show less

    Abstract

    Geographical environment exerts profound influence on the location of traditional intangible culture. Based on 1519 intangible cultural heritages (ICHs) and geographical environment information such as DEM, meteorology, rivers, population, economic level, ancient road and others of Shanxi province, the distribution pattern of ICH was visualized with ArcGIS 10.3 kernel density, and the attributes of Shanxi's natural conditions, socioeconomic development and historical geographical environment were given in more detail by means of terrain analysis, buffer analysis and time cost distance on ArcGIS10.3. After extracting geographic information of ICHs, we analyzed the correlation of the distribution of ICHs and its geographical environment by the density, location quotient and geographical detector of ICHs. The conclusions can be drawn as follows. (1) The natural geographical environment has a basic effect on the distribution of ICHs. ICHs were collected in the areas with high bearing capacity of natural environment (low or medium elevation, slope <5°, plain or basin, near river, annual accumulated temperature over 10℃ (aat10) ≥3000℃, annual average precipitation ≥500 mm). (2) Considering the impact of geographical environment on human geography, the distribution of ICHs is more responsive to traffic than to population and economic development at county/district level. Firstly, ICHs were almost located in the county center within 2 hours and the city center within 4 hours. Secondly, the scale structure of ICHs of counties was consistent with its population pyramid. And, more than 50% of Shanxi's ICHs were located in rural areas. Specifically, when the population of a district was more than 500,000 or the population of a county was less than 200,000, there were much more ICHs. The differences in the number of ICHs were mainly due to the differences among urban, suburban and rural areas, which tended to be smaller with the decrease of population size. Thirdly, the spatial distribution of ICHs was only weakly related to the output value of the primary industry. The political geography and economic geography in the historical period and local history also influence the location of ICHs. The cities with the largest number of ICHs in Shanxi were all important political or business centers in the ancient times. (3) The spatial distribution of ICHs is related to the joint effect of various regional geographical factors. What's more, at different spatial scales or at different geographical locations, the responses of ICHs to geographical factors and their intensity are different.
    Ping WANG, Min LIU. The spatial influence of geography on the inheritance of traditional intangible culture: A case study of intangible cultural heritage in Shanxi province[J]. Geographical Research, 2020, 39(8): 1807
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