Abstract:

Settlement pattern is an understudied topic in historical settlement geography. The settlement pattern of Jingsheng Village in Lingshi County in Shanxi Province had experienced three stages of change: the initial development of the gullies and lanes from the late Yuan Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty, the boundary expansion and internal expansion from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, the filling of the settlement pattern in the late Qing Dynasty and the “southward invasion” across the river. Factors such as geographical environment, clan power, war and banditry, national policies had all played an important role in the development and evolution of Jingsheng Village settlement pattern. The case study of Jingsheng Village shows that the formation and development of settlement pattern is a historical process of dynamic change, and the establishment history of settlement temples and landmark buildings has become an important index for investigation. Research on the pattern of rural settlements will be one of the trends of future rural historical geography studies in China.

Key words: settlement pattern, historical changes, Jingsheng Village