Analysis of Spatial Feature of Korean-Chinese Traditional Courtyards in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of China from the Perspective of “Ecological Wisdom”

Korean-Chinese residing in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture are highly de-pendent on natural resources. They have developed their own beliefs, customs, traditional knowledge and ecological wisdom, which have allowed them to conserve traditional court-yards. The traditional courtyard reflects the Korean-Chinese habits of using forest re-sources and the production of rice farming. It is considered the most distinctive Korean-Chinese symbol. The present study was carried out in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of China, which is known for their rich folk culture. The study aimed to investi-gate and document the spatial feature of the Korean-Chinese traditional courtyard in the ar-ea, so as to obtain a model of ecological wisdom of indigenous people in maintaining envi-ronmental sustainability. Furthermore, seven villages from the study area were selected, covering a sample of 70 traditional courtyards using field method, participatory rural ap-praisal and semi-structured interviews. The results show that the Korean-Chinese tradition-al courtyard has four courtyard layout forms, nine structural landscape elements and six living landscape elements. Of the total traditional courtyards, the Style 1 layout is the most used in the Korean-Chinese traditional courtyard.