Sustainable Mountain Village Construction Adapted to Livelihood, Topography, and Hydrology: A Case of Dong Villages in Southeast Guizhou, China

Abstract

A sustainable environment needs the effort and experience from both urban and rural areas. Some villages have achieved sustainability utilizing the concept of ecological stability. This paper takes the Dong villages in the Duliujiang River Basin in the Southeastern Guizhou as an example. Based on the anthropological “ethnographic text” and the morphological “village space information”, this paper analyzes the impact of the mountain rice livelihood model and different hydrological–topographic conditions on the spatial pattern of settlements, focusing on the sustainable construction wisdom. The findings are as follows: (1) Dong people’s migration follows the “River Valley–Mountain Valley–Mountain Slope” path, with maintenance of the rice livelihood model and, finally, derived from the “Mountain–Water–Forest–Paddy Field–Village” spatial pattern, the “Mountain–Water–(Pond)–Field–Forest–Village”, “Mountain–Water–Terrace–Forest–Village” settlement space patterns are formed. (2) The Dong’s settlements form a sustainable overall space. “Mountain–Water–Forest–Paddy Field” each play an ecological role and form an organic whole. Their management mechanism of utilizing limited natural resources has played an important management and supervision role. (3) The natural base of “Mountain–Water–Forest–Paddy Field–Village” is in accordance with their livelihood model and social culture, forming a unique ecosystem. It has become the basic environment for them to obtain survival sustenance, which still has prominent values today.