Research on the Changes in Cultural Landscape of Tourist-Type Traditional Chinese Villages from the Perspective of Cultural Memory: Taking Anzhen Village in Chongqing as an Example

Abstract

With the development of rural tourism, rural culture in China has suffered from development problems. Existing studies focus more on how to protect rural culture, ignoring the dynamic changes in rural culture. Therefore, cultural memory offers an important perspective to review the dynamic process of cultural changes. This paper uses the concept of cultural landscape to explore the changes in rural culture from the perspective of cultural memory. The research methods of historical data analysis and field investigation are used. The change process of the cultural landscape in Anzhen Village is explored. Firstly, the clan-style group life in the traditional human–land relationship is the germination of cultural memory. Secondly, typical Chongqing residential mansions become ways of spatial expression of the local cultural landscape. Thirdly, the group interpretation of the settlement landscape becomes the continuation of local memory. Fourthly, the migration of living settlements in the dual influence of modern transportation and administrative divisions is the deconstruction of local memory. Fifthly, the touristic reconstruction of the traditional cultural landscape is summarized as memory reconstruction. In addition, the factors affecting the changes in the cultural landscape are analyzed from both internal and external aspects. The discussion on the dynamic changes in the cultural landscape provides a theoretical and practical basis for the analysis, protection, and inheritance of rural culture.

1. Introduction

J. Jafari et al., argue that tourism, as a cultural phenomenon, is a collection of tourists who leave their permanent residence, industries that meet the needs of tourists, and tourism destinations [1]. The constant social exchanges among the three bring comprehensive impacts to tourist destinations. After entering the 21st century, with the continuous improvement of Chinese people’s living standards, traditional Chinese villages with historical and cultural resources have gradually developed into tourism villages. It is hoped that through the development of rural tourism, the income of local villagers can be increased, the rural economy can be boosted, and the gap between urban and rural areas can be reduced. However, in the process of rural tourism development, there are many problems: the invasion of urban culture, the destruction of stable rural social relations, and the strong impact of various non-local factors on local cultures. These problems make rural cultures gradually decline.

Some scholars agree with the positive impact of rural tourism and believe that rural tourism is an effective means to revive social and economic development or save declining rural productivity [2]. Rural tourism has played an important role in recreating local landscapes [3], stimulating community participation [4], and repairing infrastructure [5]. Rural tourism has been shaped as a panacea for rural development. However, some scholars have negative attitudes toward rural tourism, as they believe that rural tourism will impact the structure of the rural cultural landscape [6]. In addition, the lack of grassroots governance capacity of local governments [7] may lead to a series of environmental and sustainability problems [8,9]. Therefore, because of the strong impacts on rural cultures, the core issue of the rural cultural landscape is discussed in depth.

Specifically, cultural landscapes are extended to different spatial scales for discussion. At the macro level, cultural landscapes, as the result of a social–ecological processes [10], have continued to evolve throughout history, forming sustainable systems with high value. In this sustainable system with a historical timeline, the past, present, and future [11] of cultural landscapes are all included in the discussion, involving administrative, political, economic, and cultural analysis [12]. In addition, these systematic discussions call for the development of innovative theories and methods related to cultural landscapes to better protect cultural landscapes and rural heritages. At the micro level, emerging technologies such as 360-degree panorama technology [13] and intelligent positioning technology [14] are widely used in the construction of virtual reality and real-time monitoring systems for various rural cultural landscapes. Furthermore, the exploration of the microscopic natural and spatial characteristics [15] of cultural landscapes has provided new directions and approaches for the restoration and protection of cultural landscapes in rural areas.

In many discussions, collective historical and cultural memory is one of the core focuses. German cultural scholar Jan Assmann proposed the theory of cultural memory [16], which explored the dialectical relationship between memory, identity, and cultural continuity. This theory expands the content of memory research to the category of culture and helps to clarify the continuation and change in the cultural landscape. Based on this theory, some scholars discuss the changes in the cultural landscape from the perspective of cultural memory. The reason why the study of cultural landscape has been focused on is that it is a cultural construct [17] mixed with senses of place and memories. The spirit and memory of rural cultural landscapes [18], including traditional festivals [19], represent the dynamic relationship between human beings, nature, and the built environment.

From the perspective of cultural memory, this research focuses on the evolution and changes in the cultural landscape of traditional Chinese villages, and takes Anzhen Village, a famous Chinese historical and cultural village in Chongqing, as an example to conduct analysis. Therefore, the following research questions are proposed: (1) How can the process of cultural landscape changes from the perspective of cultural memory be explored? (2) What factors have affected the changes in the cultural landscape?

2. Changes in Cultural Landscape

2.1. The Definition of Cultural Landscape

The concept of cultural landscape was put forward by German geographer F. Ratzel in the 19th century. He believes that a cultural landscape is created by human activities, which reflects the characteristics of the local cultural system and geographical characteristics [20]. F. Ratzel’s definition of cultural landscape expands the definition of landscape in space science, covering a wider range of cultural and geographic meanings. In the 1990s, cultural landscape was re-proposed by the World Heritage Center of the United Nations because of its systematic discussion of local culture. Then, cultural landscape was more widely included in theoretical system research and local practice by scholars from various countries. To be more specific, the concept of cultural landscape pays attention to both material and cultural components, which breaks the traditional binary division of material and culture and expands the connotation from hard material elements to soft social and cultural elements. In addition, both cultural landscape and space cover material elements and socio-cultural elements, which are the products of social practice (Figure 1).

2.2. Classification of Cultural Landscape

After cultural landscape was re-proposed by the World Heritage Committee (WHC), in the subsequent “Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention” promulgated by the WHC, cultural landscape was divided into designed landscapes, evolutionary landscape, and relevant landscape [21]. Since then, cultural landscape has been actively incorporated into the theoretical research and local practice of various regions and the classification of cultural landscape types has also been varied.

In many scholars’ discussions on the division of cultural landscapes, P. Saunders regards region, history, culture, and people as the four spatial forces that explain the changes in cultural landscapes [22]. He believes that the formation of and changes in cultural landscapes are mainly affected by natural forces and human activities, which are in the midst of long-term dynamic development. This research focuses on the dynamic development of and changes in the cultural landscapes of traditional villages. Therefore, Saunders’s classification method is adopted to put traditional Chinese villages in the analysis framework. On this basis, the evolution of and changes in cultural landscapes and the spatial dynamics hidden behind them are explored (Figure 2).

2.3. Changes in the Cultural Landscape of Traditional Chinese Villages in the Process of Tourism Transformation

In the long history of traditional Chinese villages, many collective memories have been formed. However, due to the intervention of modernity and the influence of strong urban cultures, people and resources in rural areas have gradually flowed to cities, which has resulted in the hollowing out of traditional villages. The cultural landscapes of these traditional villages have undergone tremendous changes. Various living spaces and cultural landscapes have changed with the advancement of history, which have been deposited as spatial memories. With the explosive growth of information flow and traffic flow, rural cultures have deviated from the original development track and gradually turned to regional relationships with blurred geographic boundaries. This new regional relationship is very different from the original interactive and trustworthy relationship in rural areas. The trust relationship among people in traditional villages is broken due to villagers’ migration to cities and the tourism transformation of villages, which severely affected the original stable population structure in Chinese villages.

Many traditional villages are transformed into tourism-oriented villages. In the process of tourism transformation, the local rural cultures have been severely impacted. Tourism has brought huge impacts on the rural regional cultural landscapes and the fragmentation of the traditional rural cultural landscape is serious. In addition, the contradiction between cultural landscape and tourism commercialization [23] is highlighted, leading to drastic changes in rural cultural landscapes.

3. Research Object and Research Methods

China’s rural tourism emerged after the millennium. With the continuous growth of China’s economy and the rapid development of cities, the urban–rural divide has gradually widened [24]. The fast pace of life and fierce social competition make rural tourism an important opportunity for urban residents to get close to nature. Traditional villages [25] with historical and cultural resources often become the focus of rural tourism development. The function of these traditional villages has gradually changed from the function of agricultural production to a complex form integrating multiple functions such as sightseeing, farming experience, agricultural production, education, and entertainment. However, the rapid development of China’s rural tourism also presents problems such as a lack of overall planning [26], destruction of local culture [27], and lack of tourism products [28].

Specifically, Chongqing’s rural tourism resources and types are relatively diverse, but they are distributed unevenly. Most of the rural tourism resources are concentrated in the recreational areas in Chongqing and the recreational areas along the Yangtze River [29]. In terms of historical villages, there is one national-level historical village and twenty-eight municipal-level historical villages 1 in Chongqing. These historical and cultural villages have gradually become the focus of rural tourism development. Anzhen Village, as the only national-level historical and cultural village in Chongqing, is located at the intersection of the Chongqing recreation area and the recreation area along the Yangtze River. In addition to its unique historical and cultural resources, it has become the focus of rural tourism development. This research traces back the existing historical and cultural resources in Anzhen Village, pays attention to the change process of the cultural landscape, and adds representative localized thinking about Chinese villages to the study of cultural landscapes.

3.1. Overview of Anzhen Village in Chongqing

Anzhen Village is located in the center of Qingyang Town of Chongqing (Figure 3), which was an important node of the ancient post road in Fuling District of Chongqing. Anzhen Village leads to Chongqing in the west and Fuling in the east, and its good location advantage became an important foundation for its historical development. Additionally, there are 14 manors from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China left in Anzhen Village, built by the Chen clan, which have become important historical heritages.

The old saying “Chen Wanbao built Shilongjing Manor in Chongqing and Liu Wencai collected land to rent in Chengdu” is an expression of the prosperity of the Chen clan and Anzhen Village during the late Qing Dynasty. Among the fourteen manors built by the Chen clan, six manors were seriously damaged. At present, only eight manors, including Shilongjing, Daijiayan, Sihetou, Shiba, Xinwuzhui, Chaomen, Lijiawan, and Lantianya, are still in good condition. The historical heritages, as collective memory spaces, have not only become an important carrier of the local cultural landscape, but also an important material space dependent on the tourism transformation of Anzhen village.

3.2. Research Methods

3.2.1. Historical Data Analysis

The collection and sorting of historical documents of Anzhen Village are an important foundation for studying the changing process of the local cultural landscape. Firstly, through the study of historical materials, the historical and cultural development context of Anzhen Village is grasped, as the basis for the analysis of cultural landscape changes. Secondly, the landmark events are screened out. Through the study of historical materials before and after these landmark events, the critical points of the cultural landscape changes are grasped. Additionally, the cultural landscape characteristics are summarized through the combing and comparison of important historical events.

3.2.2. Field Investigation

Following Saunders’s discussion, the region, history, culture, and people of Anzhen Village are taken as the main research contents, focusing on the dynamic changing process of the cultural landscape. Multiple fieldwork research methods such as surveying, photography, and interviews are used to understand and grasp the historical and cultural development context, humanities and customs, and social life of Anzhen Village. These provide detailed and reliable basic data for the collation of clan relations and the study of cultural landscape changes.

4. The Changing Process of Cultural Landscape: The Evolution and Reshaping of Rural Memory

One of the core discussion points of cultural landscape issues is the historical and cultural memory of the place. By exploring the changing process of the rural cultural landscape from the perspective of cultural memory, we can understand the process of the beginning of, change in, and reshaping of rural memory in Anzhen Village. The change analysis of the cultural landscape is based on the actual remaining elements, so the traceability of the most important existing material elements, the Chen manors, has become one of the most important parts of the cultural landscape research of Anzhen Village.

4.1. The Budding Memory: The Clan-Clustering Group Life in the Traditional Human–Land Relationship

Anzhen Village, which was built in the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127), made great progress after the immigration movement in the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the population dropped sharply because of years of war. The Qing government implemented the well-known immigration policy of “Huguang Filling Sichuan and Chongqing” [30]. For more than 150 years, more than 5 million people migrated to Sichuan and Chongqing from various provinces [31]. From 1720, Chen Woren, the ancestor of the Chen clan, followed this wave of immigration and moved from Xinyu County (Jiangxi Province) to Anhua County (Guizhou Province), and then moved to Anzhen Village (Chongqing). Before Chen Woren moved here, Anzhen Village had three households of Xiong, Rao, and Huang [32]. Later, Xiong and Rao sold the land of Shilongjing and Daijiayan to Chen and moved to other places. After purchasing the land, the Chen family moved to Daijiayan, which is the center of Anzhen Village. At this point, only two clans of the Chen family and the Huang family lived in Anzhen Village [32]. From 1720, the Chen family lived on this land and gradually formulated the Chen family motto: “To take farming and studying as the fundamentals, to take diligence and thrift as the principle of housekeeping, to treat neighbors with etiquette and be generous and kind to people” 2. From the family motto, the traditional values of China’s agricultural society can be seen. “Farming” and “studying” are the fundamentals of individual development in the agricultural society of China. Diligent farming can produce grain to support the family’s livelihood and diligent studying can give people a good chance to be officials without worrying about food and clothing. “Diligence and thrift as the principle of housekeeping” is the basic requirement for family governance. “Treat neighbors with etiquette” emphasizes kindness to others. “Being generous and kind to people” is based on a deeper level of generosity and benevolence. What the Chen family motto conveyed is a strong Confucian thought of participating in the society, behind which was the earnest expectation of farmers, who were at the bottom of Chinese feudal society, for the prosperity of their small families.

The ancestor of the Chen family moved to Anzhen Village during the immigration wave, which injected fresh blood from other places into Anzhen Village. In addition, clan clustering was adopted by the Chen family’s ancestors. The clan, as an important form of social organization in traditional Chinese society, has profound impacts on agricultural production, life, education, and other aspects, as well as on the spatial form of villages [33]. In the traditional human–land relationship of Anzhen Village, the living groups, with the clan as the unit, built their own small families, resulting in the budding memory of the local cultural landscape.

4.2. Constructed Memory: Typical Chongqing Residential Mansions Become a Way of Spatial Expression in the Cultural Landscape

The ancestor Chen Woren, who moved to Anzhen Village, had three sons, namely Chen Dizhang, Chen Huanzhang, and Chen Rongzhang. After they got married, the Chen family separated for the first time after immigration. Chen Dizhang and Chen Huanzhang went to another place to start their own lives. Chen Rongzhang, the youngest son, stayed at Daijiayan. In 1807, Chen Rongzhang’s grandson, whose name was Chen Wanbao, was born. The most intact historical building in Anzhen Village is his Shilongjing Manor. The period after Chen Wanbao moved to Anzhen Village was the peak of the development of the Chen family. Due to hard work and the accumulation of generations, Chen Wanbao was already a small landlord, who mainly planted local crops, when he was young. After the failure of the Opium War between China and Britain, China’s Qing government suffered a serious fiscal deficit. In 1854, China’s Qing government had already imposed opium taxes. By 1857, the opium taxes [34] had been acquiesced by Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing government. After that, the cultivation and trading of opium became common throughout China. At that time, Chen Wanbao began to lead his family members to plant opium in Anzhen Village and gradually became a master of opium cultivation and trade. The Chen family gradually rose to the top of the six largest opium-growing households in Fuling, Chongqing [32]. Opium cultivation and trade brought great wealth to the Chen family, which gradually changed the cultural landscape of Anzhen Village.

When Chen Wanbao was old, he repaired and expanded Shilongjing manor, which is the best-preserved building in Anzhen Village. This manor has more than 120 rooms and ten courtyards (Figure 4, left). The manor buildings are symmetrical along the central axis, which is a typical layout of a traditional courtyard house in Chongqing. The internal function layout is distinguished. The main courtyard is the main living place and it is also the venue for various public activities. The secondary courtyards are the private spaces for the Chen family. The central opera stage (Figure 4, right) is set on the south side of the main courtyard, which is decorated with carved beams and traditional Chinese paintings. Study halls, calligraphy halls, bedrooms, and other architectural functions are arranged neatly along with the courtyards. These kinds of residential buildings, built around courtyards, are common residential forms in Chongqing.

Shilongjing Manor is an important beginning of the Chen Wanbao manor group that remains. It was also the beginning of the production of material elements and an important part of the cultural landscape. The planning method adopted in Shilongjing Manor, which does not occupy fertile land and conforms to the slope, and the courtyard-type layout method have also become a reference sample for the subsequent construction of Chen’s manors. Shilongjing Manor, which inherits the characteristics of traditional Chongqing residential houses, has become a cultural landscape of spatial expression in Anzhen Village. In terms of social life, with the prosperity of the Chen family, the Chen family’s activities gradually became the main part of the social and cultural elements of Anzhen Village. Additionally, the cultivation, trade, and consumption of opium at that time became important social and cultural scenes in the late Qing Dynasty.

4.3. Continuing Memory: A Group Interpretation of the Settlement Landscape

Based on Shilongjing Manor, the Chen clan began to expand the manors on a large scale. Chen Wanbao had three sons, the eldest son was Chen Rongfa, the second son was Chen Rongda, and the youngest son was Chen Rongmao. According to the customs of traditional Chinese clan society, the three sons had to live in separate houses after they got married. With the support of the family’s strong financial resources, the Chen family built Sihetou Manor for the eldest son. The second son was given a refurbished Shilongjing Manor. The youngest son inherited the ancestral house of Daijiayan. With the development of the small families of Chen Rongfa, Chen Rongda, and Chen Rongmao, many manors were built later. Chen Rongfa, who lived in Sihetou Manor, expanded the two manors of Sanwangzhai and Tangkan to the north. Chen Rongda, who lived in Shilongjing Manor, expanded seven manors towards the northwest of Xiaba, Chaomen, Lanyatian, Tangyan, Babaowu, and Qiangganzi. Chen Rongmao, who lived in Daijiayan, expanded Xinwuzui, Dalupian, and Shiba manors to the south. The Chen family expanded to 14 manors (Figure 5). All the manors are typical traditional Chongqing residential forms, forming a whole landscape of manor settlements.

During this period, the cultural landscape of Anzhen Village underwent significant changes. In terms of material elements, the typical traditional Chongqing architectural style manor expanded from Shilongjing Manor to 13 other manors, becoming a group of manor landscape settlements. The tradition of family separation after the marriages of children profoundly affected the material landscape, making Chen’s manors gradually developed into a group settlement landscape. As the prosperity of the Chen family continued, celebrations and entertainment activities became important parts of the social and cultural elements, and various spaces in the 14 manors became important spatial carriers for these social and cultural activities.

4.4. Memory Deconstruction: The Migration of Living Settlements in the Dual Influence of Modern Transportation and Administrative Divisions

With the intervention of modernity, the traditional and stable clan-style human–land relationship in Anzhen Village has gradually changed. Due to the changes in modern transportation methods, automobile transportation has gradually become an important carrier of rural economic development. Highways have also become the lifeblood of rural development. In 1962, the newly built Provincial Highway 105 ran through the whole of Anzhen Village, dividing the village into the north part and the south part. Provincial Highway 105 is the main traffic road connecting Chongqing and Fuling. Convenient transportation conditions have affected the development of the cultural landscape. The center of Anzhen Village has gradually moved north from the well-preserved Shilongjing Manor to the provincial highway since the 1960s. In 1992, the Fuling District government adjusted the administrative division. The town center was set near Provincial Highway 105. Since then, the town government, schools, and hospitals, as the basic supporting facilities, have gradually moved to the vicinity of the provincial highway, forming the new center of Anzhen Village (Figure 6).

With the dual influence of modern transportation and administrative division, the cultural landscape of Anzhen Village has undergone major changes. As the economic center moved to the vicinity of Provincial Highway 105, the social and cultural elements of the cultural landscape also moved north to the new center. Due to the influx of people from other places, the traditional and stable clan-style human–land relationship began to dissolve with the intervention of modernity. In terms of material elements, the emerging center has the appearance of modern buildings. Compared with traditional buildings, the living conditions and functions are relatively improved, but the original traditional buildings have not been maintained. As local villagers gradually moved to the new center, the cultural landscape in the traditional relationship was deconstructed, and the traditional cultural landscape represented by the Chen family manor group gradually declined.

4.5. Memory Reconstruction: The Touristic Reconstruction of the Traditional Cultural Landscape

In 2012, Anzhen Village was named in the first batch of Traditional Chinese Villages; two years later, Anzhen Village was selected as a Chinese Historical and Cultural Village 3. These awards fully illustrate the historical and cultural value of the Chen Wanbao manor group. With it comes the urgent needs of local government and villagers for tourism development. Local villagers hope to increase their income and improve their living standards through the driving effect of tourism development. In addition, the local government expects to stimulate rural tourism consumption and boost the local economy. In recent years, the Fuling District government has invested a total of more than 10 million RMB or the protection of cultural relics, environmental remediation, and tourism development in Anzhen Village 4.

Firstly, a professional design agency was entrusted to carry out the protective restoration of eight existing manors. Secondly, the buildings that did not conform to the overall style were demolished. Modern buildings such as the teaching building of the village’s elementary school in Shilongjing Manor were demolished to continue the manor’s historical architectural style. Thirdly, lotuses were planted, and the trails connecting each manor were restored to show the pastoral scenery and optimize the walking experience of tourists (Figure 7).

With the rise of rural tourism, the Chen manor group with important historical and cultural values has become the object of tourism and consumption. The economic center is being relocated to the Chen manor group, and local farmers are gradually transforming into commercial individuals operating food and accommodation services. Additionally, with the arrival of tourists, the original local human–land relationship has further collapsed. The cultural landscape is undergoing major changes in the process of tourism rebuilding. At the material element level, the Chen Wanbao manor group has evolved from a family-owned traditional residential group to spatial commodities for tourism consumption, and the social and cultural elements have also undergone tourism-oriented reconstruction, which has become the emerging cultural memory of Anzhen Village.

5. The Spatial Dynamic Analysis and Factors Affecting the Changes in the Cultural Landscape in Anzhen Village

5.1. The Spatial Dynamic Analysis

In the dynamic analysis, four different spatial dynamics [22] promote the formation of and change in cultural landscapes. From the perspective of cultural memory, the cultural landscape changes in Anzhen Village are summarized as memory budding, memory construction, memory continuation, memory deconstruction, and memory reconstruction (

Table 1. The four spatial dynamic analyses of the cultural landscape changes in Anzhen Village (source: Drawn by the author).

Stages of Change	Spatial Dynamics	Content
Memory budding	Region	The ancestor of the Chen family moved from Jiangxi Province to Anzhen Village in Chongqing
	History	The epitome of the immigration movement in the Qing Dynasty
	Culture	Chen’s ancestors formulated the Chen family’s motto
	People	The Chen family settled in Anzhen Village
Memory construction	Region	Shilongjing Manor became the center of this region
	History	The prosperity of opium cultivation and trade
	Culture	The Chen families entered their heyday, and the Chen family culture became the dominant element of social culture in Anzhen Village
	People	The Chen family gradually became the dominant force
Memory continuation	Region	The Chen family manors expanded from Shilongjing Manor to all directions
	History	The Chen family jumped to the top of the six households in Fuling opium cultivation
	Culture	The concept of the clan has a profound impact on the cultural landscape
	People	With the expansion of the family manors, a large number of laborers served the Chen family
Deconstruction of memory	Region	The regional economic center moved to Provincial Highway 105
	History	Road transportation and administrative divisions became the factors affecting the cultural landscape
	Culture	The new town has an overall style of modern architecture
	People	With the adjustment of administrative divisions, a new center was built in the north, which has attracted a certain amount of non-local population
Memory reconstruction	Region	Rural cultural tourism reconstructed the regional economy, and the center returned to the Chen manors
	History	Rural tourism has become a new transformational development direction for traditional villages
	Culture	The commercial development of tourism made commercial culture one of the dominant cultures
	People	The coming of tourists further disrupted the traditional clan-style relationship

).

Specifically, tracing the existing cultural landscape is one of the key points of cultural landscape research, so we need to trace the Chen manors built in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. In the regional dimension, the change in the regional center has become the biggest feature. Due to the construction of Provincial Highway 105, the regional center moved northward and then moved southward to the Chen manor group due to the rise of rural tourism. In the historical dimension, the prosperity of the Chen clan and the rise of rural tourism have become important historical nodes. In terms of culture, there has been a gradual transition from traditional farming culture to tourism-based commercial culture. In the people dimension, the dominant force gradually transitioned from the Chen clan to villagers and tourists. To sum up, the changing process of the cultural landscape of Anzhen Village is closely related to the changing process of the region, history, culture, and people.

5.2. Internal Factors

5.2.1. Direct Motivation

Changes in cultural landscape have their own special background. Exploring the direct driving force can help us to restore the cultural landscape. The Chen family expanded from the ancestral house to 14 manors. The concept of the family division of clans and the continuity of descendants were the direct driving forces. After the foundation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the direct driving force for the change in the local cultural landscape was the change in transportation. Convenient modern transportation made the village center move north to both sides of Provincial Highway 105 (Figure 8). After the millennium, the direct driving force was tourism consumption. Against the background that rural tourism has become an important way to boost the rural economy, consumers’ demand for space and culture has become the direct driving force for the changes in Anzhen Village’s cultural landscape.

5.2.2. Fundamental Motivation

Whether in the Qing Dynasty, or after the millennium, Anzhen Village has never stopped pursuing development, and these pursuits are a reflection of the internal needs of local villagers in pursuit of a better life. However, there are also differences in various historical stages. In the late Qing Dynasty, the development of Anzhen Village was dominated by the Chen family, which was a family-style development appeal. After the foundation of the PRC, the demand for development shifted from the prosperity of the Chen family to the development demand of tourism. Therefore, internal development needs have become the fundamental cause of cultural changes in Anzhen Village.

5.3. External Factors

5.3.1. Initial State

The tracing of the existing cultural landscape is one of the key points of cultural landscape research. The differences in the initial state of different villages will also have great impacts on the changes in the cultural landscape. The initial state of the Chen family manor group was that Chen Woren, the ancestor of the Chen family, moved from Jiangxi Province to Chongqing. After integrating into local life, the Chen family’s ancestral house adopted the traditional Chongqing architectural form (Figure 9), and this initial state also affected the subsequent development of the architectural landscape of the Chen family manor group.

5.3.2. Key Events

The changes in the cultural landscape of traditional villages are profoundly affected by key events. These key events, as accidental factors, often lead the changes in the cultural landscape. The key events of Anzhen Village’s cultural landscape are shown in the following table (

Table 2. Key Events in the Changes of Anzhen Village’s Cultural Landscape (Source: Drawn by the author).

Key Events	Period	Content
Key event 1	Around 1854	Chen Wanbao grew opium and became a super-rich man in Chongqing
Key event 2	After 1860	After Chen Wanbao’s three sons got married, they needed to build new manors to expand the family living space.
Key event 3	1960–2010	Provincial Highway 105 was built, administrative divisions were adjusted, and the village center moved to the north. The old village center, located in Shilongjing, deteriorated.
Key event 4	2010–present	In 2014, Anzhen Village became the first “Historical and Cultural Village of China” in Chongqing, and tourist facilities were gradually built to carry out cultural tourism transformation.

). These key events have become important guides for the changes in the cultural landscape of Anzhen Village.

5.3.3. External Incentives

Economic conditions have great impacts on the development of villages. The main cause of the changes in the cultural landscape of Anzhen Village is the change in economic conditions, which can be divided into three key points. Firstly, the incentive for the formation of the traditional settlements was the development of Chen Wanbao. After becoming a well-known rich man in Chongqing, he built family manors, and an integrated landscape settlement was gradually formed. Secondly, the transfer of the village center was also due to the relocation of the economic center. Due to the convenient traffic conditions of Provincial Highway 105, the center of Anzhen Village moved to the north. With the rise of rural tourism, various folklore activities and farming experience activities gradually attracted tourists, prompting the center of Anzhen Village to relocate to the Chen manors (Figure 10). Therefore, economic conditions have become external inducements in the changes in the cultural landscape of Anzhen Village.

6. Conclusions

The research on the changes in cultural landscape is a key link in the theoretical research of cultural landscapes. With the rapid advancement of rural revitalization in China, traditional villages with historical and cultural resources have undergone tremendous changes in society, economy, and culture. Additionally, with the strong invasion of urban culture, the impetus from both inside and outside of villages has had great impacts on the original rural culture, causing the cultural landscape to lose identity or even decline. Therefore, the memory elements in the process of rural cultural landscape changes are summarized, four spatial dynamics of the region, history, culture, and people have been focused upon, and the factors affecting the changes in the cultural landscape have been explored. Based on these, the conclusion of this research is as follows:

Firstly, the transition process of the cultural landscape of tourist-type traditional villages is discussed from the perspective of cultural memory. Through the use of historical data research and field investigation, the social and cultural context of Anzhen Village has been investigated. In addition, the cultural landscape change process of Anzhen Village is summarized as the budding, construction, continuation, deconstruction, and reconstruction process of cultural memory.

Secondly, taking Anzhen Village as the research case, attention is paid to the spatial dynamics that promote the change in cultural landscape. The changes in the cultural landscape are placed in the analysis framework of region, history, culture, and people, and the dynamic change process of the cultural landscape is restored. Regional changes, historical development, cultural evolution, and human-based social activities are all dynamically promoting the changes in the cultural landscape of Anzhen Village.

Thirdly, the factors affecting the changes in the traditional rural cultural landscape are summarized. The change in the cultural landscape is affected by both internal and external factors. Internal factors refer to the direct driving force and fundamental motivation in the process of cultural landscape changes. The external factors are mainly composed of the initial state of the cultural landscape, key events in the historical process, and external inducements of changes in economic conditions.

Fourthly, re-examining rural tourism from the four dimensions of region, history, culture, and people can expand subsequent research from a structural perspective, that is, who promotes, controls, and influences the development process of rural tourism. On the one hand, rural tourism can increase farmers’ income and revitalize the rural economy; but it may also affect local culture and promote the development of rural space in the direction of tourism and commercialization. Compared with many top-down urban renewal projects in Chinese cities, the governance process of rural tourism is more promoted through bottom-up approaches, forming comprehensive actor networks. Various actors, including villagers, village committees, village governments, travelers, and businessmen, constitute the complex action networks. Various actors constantly change their roles in different periods, forming heterogeneous and localized social networks, which can also be the starting point for subsequent research and exploration.

In summary, starting from the theory of cultural memory, the study is focused on the core of cultural continuity study and expands the time dimension of cultural memory change. In the process of traditional rural tourism development, through an in-depth understanding of cultural landscape changes, the protection and inheritance of rural native culture can be emphasized, and the restoration and reconstruction of rural culture can be discussed. However, this study also has certain research deficiencies. Two main shortcomings need to be overcome in future studies: On the one hand, the phase division of cultural landscape changes is mainly based on qualitative descriptions, which lack clear criteria for judgment. On the other hand, the research cases are limited to Anzhen Village in Chongqing, lacking the support of other research cases, which will become other sustainable directions of follow-up research.