Study of the differences in the space order of traditional rural settlements

ABSTRACT Under the influence of regional environment and human characteristics, traditional rural settlements in southern Henan present very unique spatial forms, and it is important to explore their spatial regional characteristics. The article explores the typical characteristics of the spatial morphology of rural villages in southern Henan by combining space image and space syntax, taking the village of Hejiachong in southern Henan and other villages as examples. The results of the study are as follows: (1) spatial morphology is the result of the comprehensive reflection of regional environmental characteristics and rural social organization; (2) the combination of space image and quantitative analysis provides an effective method for the study of rural individuals, and quantitative analysis is a useful supplement and revision of space image; (3) The internal spatial order of rural areas is mainly expressed in the form of spatial progressivity under defense and spatial integration under life. Based on the space image analysis of the rural pattern, the spatial hierarchy analysis of people’s activity trajectories and the spatial order analysis under the social organization in southern Henan, the study provides a research basis and theoretical basis for the mapping of rural genealogy in the same geographical unit area. Graphical Abstract


Introduction
With increased urbanization in China, a campaign to destroy the countryside has been launched, and the number of traditional rural settlements has been decreasing, with the countryside showing population loss, poor infrastructure, and cultural discontinuity. In recent years, people have neglected the cultural values of the countryside while striving for its development, resulting in a homogenization of rural development. The current development drawbacks and the withering of rural culture have prompted an increasing number of scholars to focus on traditional rural settlements. From 2012 to the present, the Chinese central government has promoted the selection and revival project of traditional Chinese villages, and a total of 205 villages in Henan Province have been selected as traditional Chinese villages, 28 of which were selected from the southern part of Henan. More emphasis has been placed on the protection of tangible and intangible heritage in villages, and on this basis, funding has been given to support the improvement and enhancement of the habitat of traditional villages.
This paper takes a typical case of traditional rural settlement in southern Henan as the research object and mainly explores three research questions: 1) The southern Henan region is located in the north-south divide of China and is also an independent geographical unit in the Central Plains. Under the influence of the intertwined regional environmental elements and social and cultural backgrounds, what kind of spatial order is produced in traditional rural settlements? 2) What are the commonalities and differences between the spatial image of villages and the results of quantitative model analysis? 3) Can the study of individual villages suggest that other villages in the same geocultural unit share universal common conclusions, i.e., are there similar spatial characteristics and quantitative indicators among the villages in the geo-cultural unit as a whole? This paper hopes to explore the spatial characteristics and cultural inheritance genes of traditional rural settlements in southern Henan through the study of the spatial order of these rural settlements and to provide theoretical support for the sustainable development of traditional rural settlements in this area.

Study of the material form of traditional village settlements
Since the 19th century, Western scholars have studied rural geography and physical space, such as the morphological evolution of rural settlements (Demangeon 1993), the association between typical settlement society and settlement morphology (Fujii 2003), the association between rural settlement environment, people's life, and house layout (Corbett and Willey 1954), etc. Chinese scholars have also conducted work on rural geography, rural constituent elements, and rural spatial morphology, including the evolutionary characteristics of prehistoric settlements in the Zhengluo region (Zhao 2001), classification of rural morphology (Jin 1988), study of constituent elements and rural morphology (Hu 1977), classification of rural morphology in the Guangdong region (Situ 2001), and composition of elements of settlement morphology (Peng 1994). In recent years, scholars have begun to focus on the study of rural spatial attributes, such as the hierarchy and composition of settlements (Zhang 1996), the composition of social attributes of settlement space (Guo 1998), the central aggregation of settlement space and the nonhomogeneous relationship on the edge (Wang 2009).

Study of the social space of traditional village settlements
In recent years, scholars have paid more attention to the study of the social attributes and dynamic mechanisms of traditional rural settlement spaces. The method of spatial qualitative description through on-site perception of rural space image exists as an important tool in the process of rural practice and research and is widely used in the study of rural social space (Zhang 2015). In the 1970s, Bill Hillier proposed the application of space syntax to the study of social attributes of settlement space, which is a spatial research tool based on mathematical thinking that pioneered the quantitative elaboration of the topological relationship of town space (Hillier 1996;Hillier and Sheng 2014). It has also been proposed that space is not only the context of human activities but also the intrinsic properties of human activities, combining tangible and intangible elements, providing new ideas for the study of social properties of space and placing more emphasis on the relationship between space and society (Hillier 2008).
Quantitative analysis tools have been applied to the study of various dimensions of social attributes of rural space. For example, the space configuration within the architecture and mansions of rural settlements (Al-Mohannadi and Furlan 2021; Kim and Kwak 2021;Huang, Chiou, and Li 2019;Dawson 2002), revealing the spatiotemporal evolution process of spatial forms in the countryside (Chen and Li 2018;Xu and Zhao 2016;Tan and Que 2010), the spatial representation of the social and cultural structure of rural clans (Tao and Cheng 2015), the association between rural space and culture (Li and Lin 2009;Zhang and Gao 2016), the differences in the perception of rural space by different use groups (Tao and Chen 2013), and the study of traditional rural settlements' public space (Jin and Jiao 2019) and street space (Fang, Wang, and Zhang et al. 2020). In general, studies on rural social space focus more on the medium and microscopic scales that are closely related to human use, and there are relatively few studies that explore the relationship between traditional rural settlement spaces and society on a cluster basis.

Traditional rural settlements in southern Henan
As a more unique geographical unit, southern Henan has attracted less attention from scholars. The author has taken the study of traditional village settlements as a premise to divide the Central Plains region into six geographical and cultural units. The research area of the article belongs to the Tianzhong cultural area in southern Henan and summarizes the morphological classification and spatial characteristics of traditional village settlements in the region. Other studies on traditional villages in southern Henan focus more on the study of vernacular architecture in the countryside, such as Henan Folk Houses, which describes the characteristic dwellings in southern Henan as a specific type in terms of space, materials and regional characteristics (Zuo and Bai 2007); and southern Henan Folk Houses, which describes the dependence between vernacular architecture and rural settlements in southern Henan (Guo 2011). In recent years, there have also been sporadic results focusing on individual villages in southern Henan, such as the study of the architectural features and spatial pattern of Maopu village (Lv and Lin 2019), the characteristic style and conservation of Xihe village (Gao and Wang 2018), and the landscape pattern and driving mechanism of Dingliwan village (Shi and Mao 2018).

Research differences
To summarize the existing research on traditional rural settlements, the physical morphology focuses more on the morphological classification and spatial characteristics of the countryside, while the social space focuses more on the relationship between space and people from the microscopic perspective, such as the exploration of the genotype of home, the internal spatial configuration of a single unit, and the study of spatial attributes. Recognizing the social nature of the countryside and restoring the driving force of rural spatial development is an effective way to accurately grasp the development pattern of rural spatial forms (Yang 2014). This paper takes an integrated research approach to excavate the spatial order of typical rural settlements in southern Henan from multiple perspectives. Based on the above summary, the innovation points of this paper are proposed. First, the model is used to analyze the correlation between the spatial form of traditional village settlements and the regional environment and social organization structure, taking Hejiachong as an example and comparing it with other villages to find common features to provide a research basis and assumption for the prevalent rural spatial characteristics of villages in the same geographical unit area.
Second, we explore the mechanisms and motives for the organic integration of rural living space and defense space in southern Henan, analyze the spatial level by the activity trajectory of rural people, and analyze the difference in spatial order by the rural social organization structure.
Third, combining space image and space syntax, we explore the rural research method of rural spatial cognition through quantitative model analysis to maximize the exploration of rural spatial characteristics and the causes behind them.

Study scope and data sources
As a point of transition between the north and the south and a blend of multiple cultures, the southern part of Henan was affected by war. Most of the traditional rural settlements were hidden in the mountains and forests to meet the need for defense, and a hierarchical spatial order was formed within the settlements. The villages developed here were influenced by the intertwining of regional elements and historical conditions to produce unique spatial forms. This article focuses on Hejiachong village in Xinyang, South Henan, and makes a horizontal comparison with Dingliwan village, Maopu village and Silouwan village to explore the regional cultural characteristics and cultural order differences of rural villages in South Henan. The selected objects are all included on the list of traditional Chinese villages with profound historical and cultural heritage and well-preserved village patterns ( Figure 1).
The data for this study come from two sources: on the one hand, village data are collected through field surveys, people's interviews, and genealogy for the study of village space images ( Figure 2); on the other hand, 1:500 mapping topographic maps are used as a basis to provide the basic data for quantitative research.

Space image research method
The theory of topological space is used to analyze the space image of the countryside, focusing on the abstract relationships of connectivity, proximity, and inclusion with the mesoscopic scale of the space elements of the countryside through the boundaries, internal and external flow lines, entrance valves, and key points of the countryside (Duan and Ji 2002) (Table 1).  The key points are public nodes in the village with strong symbolic meaning and aggregation

Space syntax
On the basis of rural space images, the space syntax of convex maps and axial maps is used to further analyze the rural spatial social order. Convex space is the space visible at any two points inside the space. Convex maps are mainly used in the analysis of rural settlements to study the differences in spatial social order. Axial maps are the longest and least set of axes and are used in the analysis of rural linear space to dynamically analyze the main trajectory of human flow and explore the accessibility and agglomeration of space. The Convex map and Axial map are converted into Convex and Axial models recognized by Depthmap software, with intelligibility and integration as the main parameters, to investigate the social logic and the difference of hierarchical order in rural spaces from perspectives that are both local and overall, static and dynamic. Compared with cities, villages are smaller in scale and more closely connected by blood, so several models for space syntax need to be integrated to study the spatial structure of villages.
The space syntax variables used in this paper include integration and intelligibility.
The integration value indicates the degree to which a variable in the system is clustered with or discrete from other variables. Axes with high integration values represent spaces with high connectivity and accessibility and are the main activity spaces for residents of the countryside.Connectivity indicates the number of spaces directly connected to a certain space, and the higher the connectivity value is, the stronger the spatial permeability. Intelligibility is a quantitative indicator of the correlation between connectivity and global integration and is used to measure the correlation between the local and the overall space and to analyze the identifiability of the rural space and the integrity of its spatial structure. The higher the correlation, the stronger the intelligibility and the stronger the identifiability. The higher the intelligibility is represented by the regression coefficient R 2 , and the closer R 2 is to 1, the higher the intelligibility is and the higher the degree of comprehensibility.

Research ideas
The basic idea of this paper is, first, to use the research method of space image to make a judgment on the spatial form of the village by combining on-site research, interviews and other information; and second, to use the space syntax axis map to conduct spatial hierarchy research in accordance with the main and secondary activity trajectories within the settlement, where the activity trajectories are the main life paths of the residents in the village recorded by on-site research. In addition, we explored the differences in the spatial order of traditional village settlements with the help of a convex map. Finally, the fit between the space image results and the quantitative analysis results are compared and discussed to provide a feasible research approach for the study of traditional rural settlements and to provide samples and a theoretical basis for the study of traditional rural settlements in southern Henan.

Analysis of rural space imagery
The space image analysis of the villages was conducted by means of a site survey and people's interviews, and the analysis was conducted in terms of the boundaries, internal and external flow lines, entrance valves and key points of the villages. Hejiachong village, Maopu village and Dingliwan village had similar space progression and integration characteristics ( Figure 3).

Open countryside external space
Taking Hejiachong village as an example for specific analysis, Hejiachong has three external flow lines linking the village area: mountains, fields, rivers, and village entrances. The first is the line linking the village with the fields, which starts from the village entrance square and crosses an open lane in the countryside to enter the fields directly; the second is the route leading directly to the back mountains for picking oil tea and tea leaves, which is also the route for the people to escape from bandit danger and ascend the mountains to hide; and the third is the external link through the new village, mainly along the north side of the stream but also across the stream and the old village entrance to make contact. The areas covered by these three external routes are all spheres of influence at the people's disposal and are open to outsiders who can reach them freely but are not aware of the existence of the village's external sphere of influence ( Figure 4).

Enclosed rural interior space
Entering the interior of Hejiacong village, the space is both divided and integrated. From the perspective of defense, the village is divided by borders and layers of space; the closer to the center of the village that one is, the more layers that there are, and the stronger that the defense is. From the perspective of life, the daily lives of the people can be lived in an orderly and smooth manner under the closed space in a homelike pattern.

The progressiveness of the rural space under defense.
The rural areas of southern Henan rely on the separation valve of space bounda-ries at each level to realize the defensive progression of rural space. For example, Si-louwan village is spatially transformed at the levels of the village entrance, narrow lane and courtyard, Maopu village is spatially transformed at the levels of the group entrance, courtyard and space in front of the porch, and Hejiachong village is spatially transformed at the levels of the village entrance, narrow lane, hall space and courtyard ( Figure 5).
Hejiachong has established a layered and progressive village defense system, which is reflected in the gradual strengthening of the defense system from the outside to the inside of the village, a space system with clear boundaries inside the village, and the ability to close the space valve at any time to cut off space hierarchical transformation. The labyrinth-like space pattern of the countryside and the space valves that can be closed at any time can easily divide invading enemies in different spaces.
Hejiachong is bounded by the river, with the new village on the north bank and the old village built with its back to the mountain and facing the river, sacrificing its orientation and hiding the village in front of a bamboo forest on the north side of the mountain. The river forms the first boundary of the village, and it is only after crossing the river that one can step into the entrance of the village. The entrance to the village is a small, nearly a triangular-shaped square, and is the only open public space in the village with the conversion valve between inside and outside. The ancestral  hall of the clan located in a corner of the village entrance is the key point of Hejiachong, and the ancestral hall of the clan is close to the stream, holding the throat of the entrance to the village. The riverbank, the mountain and the walls of the house that enclose the village square form the second layer of the village boundary.
A similar gate at the west side of the village square is the starting point for enter-ing the interior of the village. Crossing the entrance valve of the spatial division be-tween the inside and outside of the village, one enters the interior of the village, where the internal flow is the activity trajectory of the social space of the village acquaint-ances, and each house is mainly linked by streets, alleys, front porches and halls. The narrow and confined space in front of the porch is both a part of the courtyard space and a transportation space between the houses; at the same time, the front and back walls of the main room of the house open at the same time and are also the most direct connection channel, passing through the main room of one house to reach the court-yard of another house directly.
Closing the valves of each spatial node blocks the mobility of the spatial system. For example, if the gate of the mansion is closed, the street space is blocked; many spaces in front of the porch can only accommodate one person to pass sideways, and at the same time, corner doors are set at the turn as a division, and closing the corner doors easily blocks the connection of the space in front of the porch. The doors of the hall are closed at night, and the space is confined within a certain range ( Figure 6).

Integration of rural space under daily life conditions.
In the state of daily life, the internal space of the Henan Countryside will again show very strong integration, reflected in the integration of street space and the inte-gration of open space and private space (Figure 7). Southern Henan Countryside is mostly composed of one large family, and the owners of each mansion have very close family relations with each other. The space level of streets and alleys plays a very weak role within the countryside, often passing directly through the hall of one family to reach the courtyard of another. During the day, the halls of each house are all open to the public, and people can freely move between them and enjoy themselves.
Hejiachong village mainly uses the front and back doors of the main hall to link the courtyards, forming a spatial relationship with a clear distinction between inside and outside and mutual integration. From the village square, after climbing three or four steps into the village gate, there are houses lined up on one side, the gates of the houses open directly to the streets, and the streets and yards are mixed together. At the end of the street is the entrance of one house, and through the hall of this house is an-other house, the internal streets and courtyards are interspersed, and the traffic and courtyards are integrated (Figure 8). The living-based countryside blurs the original op-posing spatial states of open and private, inside and outside, and when the valves of the space boundaries are opened, the internal space of the countryside becomes unob-structed. Two conditions are needed to form the integration of internal space: first, a family-style countryside with blood ties; and second, the need to use the countryside itself as the main defense barrier. The various houses of the country people are exactly like the compartments, inverted seats, halls and courtyards in a traditional siheyuan, etc. A family is a village and a big house.

Quantitative empirical analysis of the spatial order of rural areas in southern Henan
After the initial judgment of spatial defense progression and spatial life integra-tion in the rural areas of Henan by means of space images, a quantitative data model of the space order of the rural areas was established by means of the space syntax DepthMap software to further explore the typical characteristics of the rural spaces and compare and analyze the results with the space images.

Mobile space: the difference between the internal and external orders of linear ac-tivity trajectories in the countryside
The trajectory space of people's daily activities is considered a linear space, and the Axial map of space syntax is used to explore the difference in space ac-cessibility inside and outside the villages. The analyses of the axis integration degree of Dingliwan village, Silouwan village, Maopu village and Hejiachong village reveal sim-ilar spatial characteristics; i.e., the accessibility of the external space of the village is greater than that of the internal space, and the accessibility of the major flow lines in the internal space is less than that of the minor flow lines. For example, the pit space at the entrance of Dingliwan village and the main street of Maopu village are the main places for people's public activities and the spaces with the greatest degree of integra-tion. In contrast, the deeper that the village is, the lower that the spatial integration degree is, the more difficult that it is to reach, and the accessibility of the main streams of the common internal space is generally less than that of the secondary streams. The red, light yellow, green, and blue in the figure reflect the numerical changes in the in-tegration degree from high to low.
Considering Hejiachong as an example, the axial accessibility is analyzed from the overall space, as well as the key flow lines. The key points on the two main flow lines with high perception of space images are selected for comparative analysis.  (Figure 9). After the analysis, the following conclusions can be drawn.

Overall accessibility is low, and accessibility is strongest at the village entrance. From global integration (Rn), the integration of Hejiachong New
Village and Old Village are both at a low level. The highest integration values are 1.06 and 1.00 in the connection area of the New Village and Old Village (Axis 67 and 21) and at the en-trance of the Old Village (Axis 57), which is highly accessible and strong in gathering, consistent with the space image results. The lowest integration value is 0.43 (Axis 30) at the northern end of the new village, where the terrain is high and the households are scattered, mostly built in recent years, with little influence on the construction of the overall village pattern; the lowest integration value is 0.64 (Axis 9) at the center of the old village, which has many levels of spatial transformation and weak accessibility.

Gradual decrease in accessibility from outside to inside.
The global integration (Rn) of the old village of Hejiachong gradually decreases from the outside to the inside, and the closer to the inner center of the village that one is, the less that the integration is, and the more difficult that it is to reach, showing the characteristics of progressive spatial layers. The spaces with lower integration in the old village in Streamline 1 and Streamline 2 are the spaces corresponding to Axis 63 and Axis 9, respectively. One is located at the end of the street inside the village, which is also the node of spatial transformation; the other is the central courtyard space of the old village, and the lowest integration points in both streamlines are located inside the village. Both paths produce inflection points in the transformation of the village space inside and outside, and the integration shows a high-low-high trend; i.e., the in-tegration value gradually decreases from the external space to the internal space of the old village and then increases to the external space.

Mainstream lines are less accessible than secondary lines.
The accessibility values of the main lines on the space image of Hejiachong are significantly less than those of the secondary flow lines. Inside the old village of Hejiachong, there are mainly two types of spatial connections with the hall space and the space in front of the porch as the space for people's daily activities, and the people often use the dark and narrow space in front of the porch as a secondary streamline, corresponding to axes 14 and 64, with integration values of 0.77 and 0.71, respectively; the hall space is used as the main streamline because it is spacious and carries the peo-ple's daily lives, corresponding to axes 10 and 9, with integration values of 0.65 and 0.64. The accessibility of the hall space as the main flow inside the old village of Hejiachong is less, which is not consistent with the results of space images. The acces-sibility measured by the spatial data model of the hall space is not high due to the many levels of spatial transformation dominated by defensive thinking. The deviation between the space image and the model measurement provides much information. For example, the external flow line from the village entrance to the fields in Hojachon vil-lage has a strong collective memory and a high incidence of social activities, but in the space syntax analysis, the integration is also relatively low because it is located at the edge and has a single axis; the space in front of the clan ancestral hall of Maopu village, as a key node in the village, has a high degree of gathering of the people, but because it is located at one end of the village, the integration is not the greatest.

Agglomeration space: the difference in living space order within the village
The space syntactic convex space model is used to construct the order differences in the Hojachon convergence space and analyze the order hierarchy between the spa-tial combination units within the village. Convex space is a division of complex space into several independent spatial units, and there is no visual field occlusion between any two points within the spatial unit. Depthmap software was used to translate the independently divided spatial units into a convex spatial data model, and the topolog-ical connections between the spaces were calculated to explore the differences in the order levels of the aggregated spaces within the countryside.
The village in southern Henan has a strong clan concept and a clear hierarchy of respect and inferiority within the space. For example, in Hejiachong village, from the edge space to the center of the village, the internal and external order and internal hi-erarchy differ significantly. A convex space model was constructed by considering the internal and external spaces of the old village of Hejiachong as a system, with the mo-bile spatial units being the entrance of the village, the entrance of the mansion, the streets, the courtyard, and the front of the porch and the fixed units being the halls and auxiliary spaces (east and west wings, etc.) for the analysis of convex space. The con-clusions of the analysis are as follows (Figure 10).

The village as a whole is highly integrated, and mobile spatial units are larger than fixed units.
The convex space model measures the mean value of global integration in Hejiachong village at 0.64, with the highest value at 0.96, and the village shows strong inward aggregation. The center of aggregation is the long and narrow street space at the entrance of the old village, which indicates that the relatively spacious and easily accessible entrance for the street space is the main communication and aggregation space for residents' internal daily lives. The global integration of the village is greater in the mobile units than in the fixed units; among the mobile units, the integration measured by the model are, in descending order, the entrance of the house, the street and alley, the courtyard, and the front porch; among the fixed units, the hall is larger than the compartment.

Integration weakens from the entrance inward, and the order level decreases. The internal
streets and alleys of Hejiachong village are strongly integrated, but the degree of integration from the streets and alleys toward the halls is weakening. In the convex space model measurement, three layers of progressive spatial units are divided for comparative analysis. The closer to the entrance of the group that one is, the greater that the integration is, and the stronger that the opening of the hall space is, and the integration value is close to that of the courtyard space. These house units are often inhabited by elders and dignitaries. As the spatial level goes deeper, the integration of hall space continues decreasing, fully illustrating the integrative nature of the rural interior space under life and the progressiveness under defense. Unlike the halls and courtyards in other regions, which are usually used as private spaces for families, in the rural interior space of southern Henan, the hall not only takes on the function of living but also exists as the main space for aggregation and communication, similar to the courtyard space. Although the public function of the hall space is greater than the living function, the value of the spatial integration of the hall convexity is close to that of the courtyard space. Especially in the living condition, the hall and courtyard space are more open, and people can walk freely in the interior, forming a happy family gathering environment and also forming a very typical spatial characteristic of rural villages in southern Henan.

High degree of integration of point-like public space within the countryside.
In the space image survey, the space valve transitions in Hejiachong village, such as the entrance of the house, have a high incidence of social interaction activities and are the spatial places where people often gather. As measured by the convex space model, the integration of the public space where the entrance of the village house overlaps with the street is the greatest, with an integration value of 0.96. It is the second largest public space after the village entrance square and the only public space inside the village that links a series of spatial transformation valves, such as the main exits, entrances and entrances, to the mansions inside the village, and many family-style decisionmaking meetings in Hejiacong often occur here.

Overall structure: space awareness analysis of the countryside
Intelligibility is used to describe the relationship between the whole and the local in a system, i.e., whether the information that people obtain when they are in the local space of the system can help them to build up a cognition of the global space (Han and Zhuang 2018). When applied to the study of rural space, it is an important reference quantitative index to measure the overall identifiability of the countryside by affording the ability to obtain a derivation of the overall space of the countryside through the cognition of a local space in the countryside.
The fit was analyzed by analyzing the trend of the simulated scatter plot of the regression line with R 2 . When R 2 is greater than 0.5, the fit is considered good, the intelligibility of the villages is high, and the spatial structure relationship between the whole and the local is good. The intelligibility of Maopu, Dingliwan and Hejiachong villages are all at low levels of0.24, 0.18和 0.30, respectively. The low intelligibility of Hejiachong illustrates the complexity of the internal spatial layers of the countryside, and the openness and closure of the hall space are the main reasons for the low intelligibility. Inadequate openness and closure often make it difficult for outsiders to distinguish the overall pattern of the countryside. Only the people who have lived in it for a long time can distinguish the sense of direction of the countryside (Figure 11).

Conclusion
This paper takes Hejiachong Village in Shangcheng County, South Henan, as the main object of study, and makes a horizontal comparison with Dingliwan Village and Maopu Village, etc. Using a combination of space syntax and space imageimages, the spatial order of typical traditional village settlements in South Henan is studied. The spatial order of traditional rural settlements in southern Henan shows "spatial progression under defense and spatial integration under life." Ddue to the need for defense and family blood ties, and the accessibility of rural settlements from outside to inside is weak, and the intelligibility of rural space is low.

The spatial progression under defense conditions and the spatial integration under ordinary life conditions are the main manifestations of the spatial order in the rural areas of southern Henan
Spatial progression during times of defense and spatial integration during typical life are the most prevalent spatial morphological features of the rural villages in southern Henan. Through the conversion of different levels of the same material space and the opening and closing of spatial valves, people's daily social organization of life and external defense are organically integrated. These spatially cohesive spatial transformation nodes play a strong bonding and suturing role in the rural spatial operation system. Due to the demands of defense, the internal space of rural Henan also shows the orderliness of integration decaying toward the center. Due to the demands of life, the rural space of Henan also shows the orderliness of integration between the levels of rural clan organization structure. The openness of halls and other spaces, the blurred boundaries of mansion spaces, the strong division of the internal and external boundaries of rural spaces, and the multiple spatial valve settings are reflected in the complete system of rural spaces.

The analysis of space image combined with space syntax provides an effective method for the study of individual rural spatial forms
The combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis in this paper provides an effective method for the study of rural individuals. The space syntax method has been widely used in the study of urban space, but most of the rural cases are small in scale and have strong internal spatial social attributes, so it is difficult to comprehensively understand the spatial form of the villages by a single method alone, and multiple methods are often needed to verify and correct each other to arrive at relatively accurate results. In the case of Hejiachong village, the quantitative model of space syntax is incorporated into the analysis of rural space image. The results of the two analyses are roughly the same but with subtle differences, and the in-depth analysis alongside these differences is a useful supplement and correction to the qualitative analysis of rural space image, which can more accurately determine the characteristics of rural space and the reasons behind it. A quantitative analysis of rural space image can provide more scientific and accurate research results.

The rural spatial form is the bridge between the rural territorial environment and the rural social organization structure
The rural areas in southern Henan are rooted in the region and are a comprehensive reflection of both the regional environment and the social space where rural people live together. The people of Figure 11. Comprehensibility of villages in southern Henan. the countryside built their space to adapt to the regional environment, which is reflected in the site selection and spatial pattern of the countryside, while the countryside space form reflects the effective operation of the countryside social organization, which is in turn reflected in the spatial level and internal and external order of the countryside. Therefore, the spatial form of the countryside is both the mapping of the countryside environment and the bearer of the social organization. A good spatial form will result in a very good correlation between the countryside environment and its social organization. In turn, by extrapolating the results of this specific study to the region as a whole, we can make assumptions about the spatial form and social organization of other villages in the same geographic unit through the study of individual cases of villages in the same geographic unit and provide the basis and assumptions for the study of theoretical models and spatial characteristics of villages in the larger area.
Historically, the migration of people to the south was a decisive factor in the formation of rural space in southern Henan. Taking advantage of regional resources, the rural villages in southern Henan formed family settlements with blood ties, presenting extremely strong internal organizational relationships. In the process of research, we also realized the shortcomings of our work. First, the village features are very flexible and changeable, and it is difficult to judge whether the common features from a few villages alone are applicable to the characteristics of the entire rural geocultural unit in southern Henan, so we need to further expand the number of samples to determine the commonalities. Second, it is difficult to obtain rural historical data, and more emphasis is placed on people's interviews, which to a certain extent weakens the authenticity of rural historical data. The collection of genealogies, historical maps, ancient county records, and other information should be strengthened.
The spatial configuration of rural settlements maps a strong sociocultural context and has very high research value. It also gives us inspiration for our next work.
(1) Mapping rural genealogy Based on the rural samples of the geographical and cultural subdivisions of traditional rural settlements in the southern Henan region, a genealogy of traditional rural settlements in the southern Henan region should be established based on spatial constituents, geographical conditions, quantitative models, etc., and the types and characteristics should be summarized.
(2) Further improvement of rural research methods In the process of rural research and practice in southern Henan, the evaluation link should be implanted to form a complete method and evaluation system of "imagery+model+evaluation" to form an overall research method process for traditional rural settlement space.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).