The Traditional Wisdom in Fire Prevention Embodied in the Layout of Ancient Villages: A Case Study of High Chair Village in Western Hunan, China

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to reveal the reasons for the survival of ancient villages in western Hunan in the face of a long-term high risk of fire, which has led to their heritage status. The study selected a representative ancient village in the western Hunan region, High chair village, as a case study to explain the siting and village layout. The fire risk of High chair village was investigated in terms of dwelling materials, structural forms, fire-related activities, and street dimensions. Monitoring instruments and fire dynamics simulator (FDS) were used to reveal the “survival design strategy” of village sites, layouts, and street patterns. The results revealed that the village layout of High chair Village, sheltered from the wind and gathering Qi, was conducive to the formation of a stable wind environment to reduce the risk of fire spread. Furthermore, the windspeed was weakened by the crooked streets and alleys and, in case of fire, this street environment was also conducive to slowing down the spread of fire. It is important to collect traditional knowledge of fire mitigation developed through a long history of disasters, so that mitigation methods can be applied in the development and conservation of modern traditional villages and further passed on to future generations.