The Form and Meaning Construction of Shouchang Five-coloured Dragons Cultural Symbols in Ancient Town Cultural Tourism Space

Abstract

The form and meaning reconstruction of cultural tourism space in ancient towns is an important path to realise the contemporary transformation of traditional culture. With the "Five-coloured dragons" cultural symbol as the core, Shouchang Town has innovatively explored the revitalization mode of local cultural genes through the in-depth integration of symbolic narrative and contextual aesthetics. Based on the theories of semiotics and the spirit of place, this paper combines the symbol deconstruction method of "signifier-signified" and cross-media narrative strategy to systematically study the construction of the shape and meaning of the Five-coloured dragons in Shouchang. Through the empirical analysis of the "One Night Fish and Dragon Dance" tourist Centre, a three-dimensional construction framework of "symbolic translation - spatial reconstruction - cultural immersion" is proposed; in the material dimension, reconstructing the visual system of dragon scales, textures, and swimming fish rhythms; in the behavioural dimension, it develops the experience scenes such as "Five Dragons Offering Swiftness" ceremonial theatre and dragon scale topography interactive workshop; in the spiritual dimension, creating the emotional resonance space of "Xin Qiji's poetic realm". It is found that the multi-dimensional cultural assignment based on the theory of symbol accumulation can significantly enhance the Place Attachment Index and Cultural Identity Coefficient of tourists. The form and meaning interconstruction paradigm proposed in this paper is expected to provide methodological support for the symbolic narrative of cultural tourism space in ancient towns, and also open up replicable practice paths for the living inheritance of intangible cultural heritage (ICH).