Modern Social Science Research

Inheritors of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) are key actors in rural revitalization, possessing both cultural transmission and economic driving functions. This paper analyzes how ICH inheritors simultaneously promote “cultural soul-building” and “economic empowerment” in rural areas from two dimensions: cultural identity reconstruction and industrial development. The study finds that the intrinsic mechanism can be summarized into four progressive stages: symbol activation, relationship reconstruction, value transformation, and ecological reconstruction. Inheritors awaken villagers’ cultural memories through skill performances, rebuilding a social network centered on the master-apprentice relationship, and then transforming cultural resources into marketable ICH products and services, ultimately forming a virtuous cycle where cultural identity and industrial development mutually nourish each other. Revealing this mechanism aims to explain why ICH inheritors can become an endogenous driving force for rural revitalization. The root cause lies in their simultaneous occupation of a structural position within cultural authority and local society, enabling them to play an irreplaceable role in translation and integration between tradition and modernity. This provides an analytical framework for understanding the leverage effect of cultural subjectivity in rural revitalization and offers a theoretical reference for relevant policy formulation.

Rural revitalization; Intangible cultural heritage inheritors; Cultural identity; Industrial development; Internal mechanisms