Leadership Insights | Illustrated Lectures：Zhaoxing Dong Village: Preserving Tangible Heritage, Revitalizing Intangible Cultural Legacies

“We must conserve tangible villages, dwellings and distinctive architectural features, pass down intangible cultural heritage, and advance its creative transformation and innovative development.”

In 1160, the Dong ancestors settled in the valley, chiseled mountains to build their village, and channeled water to nurture farmland. Over more than 800 years ofefforts across generations, Zhaoxing Dong Village gradually took shape as an integrated settlement made up of five communal clusters symbolizing benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom andhonesty, respectively. As China’s largest and best-preserved original Dong settlement, it entirely retains the traditional living fabric and cultural roots of mountainous Dong villages.

Singing is an enduring part of everyday life for the Dong people. Whether working in the fields, going about daily routines, or gathering to chat in the villageafter dinner, they live with songs, with their voices resonating in harmony with nature. Their polyphonic choral singing—without written scores, instrumental accompaniment and conductor—springs from the wilderness and weaves itself into everyday life. In 2009, the grand song of the Dong ethnic group was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and UNESCO hailed it as “the voice of a people, and a culture of humanity.”

Clusters of drum towers, wind-and-rain bridges and wooden stilt houses scatter amid mountains and waters. The ancient mortise-and-tenon construction technique, without the use of any iron nails, embodies the Dong people’s wisdom of building dwellings in harmony with local natural surroundings. Time-honored folk customs including Sama worshipping rituals, wedding ceremonies, the Official-CarryingParade, and Yueye(meaning “collective visits”) have been handed down from generation to generation. Living traditions such as Dong brocade weaving, Dong indigo cloth making, silver ornament craftsmanship, and lusheng (a wind instrument) making together form a complete and vibrant Dong cultural ecosystem.

Over the years, Zhaoxing has upheld the principle of preserving heritage as old. It rigorously safeguards the old village’s alleyways, water systems and architectural fabric, carries out scientific restoration of historical buildings, retains indigenous residents, and preserves traditional lifestyles. This keeps the ancient village inhabited, alive with daily life, and rooted in cultural inheritance.

While safeguarding its original charm, local authorities keep promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of intangible cultural heritage. Leveraging digital audio-visual technology, grand song repertoires and folk ritualsof the Dong ethnic groups are preserved as cultural archives. Drawing on traditional totems and terrace-field patterns,ethnic cultural and creative products are developed.  Besides, age-old crafts have been transformed to adapt to modern life. Meanwhile,through exploring intangibleheritage study tours, immersive folk culture experiences and live cultural performances, village traditions are transformed into distinctive cultural tourism resources that can be experienced, shared and perpetuated.

Zhaoxing Dong Village vividly tells the world the story of living civilization among mountain villages in southwestern China.

Executive Producer:Yu Li

Creative Planner:Ding Suyun

Copywriter: Cai Bin

Produced by China Xi Theory Studio