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Gatehouse, Capital, and Countryside: The Triple Logic of Cultural Heritage Transformation under Culture-Tourism Integration

Author(s)

Yizhen He, Meifang Hu*

Affiliation(s)

School of Fine Arts and Design, Xiangnan University, Chenzhou, Hunan, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

This paper examines how the ancient gatehouse (menlou), a familiar yet symbolically dense element of Chinese vernacular architecture, is converted from material remains into cultural capital and, in turn, into a driver of rural revitalization under culture-tourism integration. Much of the heritage literature is divided into two general discussions (one about conservation technique, one about tourism strategy), neither explains in terms of capital transformation how vernacular architecture gains value. To address this problem, Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital, heritage activation theory and rural space production theory are combined and they construct three parts of symbolic capitalization, spatial scenarization, and value sharing. This framework traces a ladder of transformations (material entity, cultural symbol, spatial scene, public value) and moves the debate beyond protection-versus-use binary towards transformation-and-symbiosis. Based on four gatehouse traditions (Huizhou, Shanxi courtyard, Minnan red-brick, Suzhou garden), the transformation is never a linear process of resource development, but rather three stages of symbolic extraction, scene reconstruction, value redistribution, each driven by its own actor networks and institutional conditions. The contribution is twofold: filling the gap in how vernacular architecture's capital transformation is theorized, and providing useful analytical tools and practical pathways for rural cultural tourism planning, community building, and heritage management.

Keywords

Gatehouse; Cultural Capital; Heritage Transformation; Culture-Tourism Integration; Rural Revitalization

References

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