Acta Geographica Sinica ›› 2017, Vol. 72 ›› Issue (6): 1118-1132.doi: 10.11821/dlxb201706013

• Transportation Logistics and Tourism Geography • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Characteristic and contribution factors of different types of ethnic cultural resources: A case study of Gesar cultural and ecological protection experiment area

He ZHU1,2(), Jiaming LIU1(), Ziwen SANG3, Wendong WEI4, Zongcai WEI5   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
    2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    3. Economic and Management College, Communication University of China, Beijing 100024, China
    4. Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
    5. School of Architecture, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
  • Received:2016-07-12 Revised:2017-02-25 Online:2017-06-25 Published:2017-06-25

Abstract:

Being a unique local cultural form derived from The Epic Gesar (human intangible cultural heritage), the Gesar culture remains primarily in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China. Due to its historical value, studying the classification, spatial distribution and contribution factors of Gesar culture is of great significance to explore the relationship between man and environment in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and protecting the Gesar human intangible cultural heritage. Guoluo, which boasts the richest Gesar cultural resources in China, is taken as a case in this study. Based on the definition and classification of Gesar cultural resources, this article examined the relationship between the spatial distribution characteristics of Gesar cultural resources and the physical geography factors (including elevation, water source, slope, aspect, and accessibility) in Guoluo. Subsequently, the influencing mechanisms of the above factors on the spatial distribution of cultural resources were further discussed. It was concluded that, (1) Gesar cultural resources can be divided into 4 categories, 11 sub-categories, and 60 small categories; (2) the distribution of Gesar cultural resources, especially the inheritors type, presented a pattern of cluster; the most concentrated spaces for 3 Gesar cultural resources types were identified; (3) the spatial distribution of Gesar cultural resources is closely related to the physical geography conditions. Specifically, most of them were concentrated in the proximity of water source with relatively low altitude. Moreover, the three types of Gesar cultural resources have been affected by different factors including slope, aspect, and accessibility.

Key words: Gesar culture, cultural resources, spatial distribution, contributing factor, Guoluo