Traditional villages carry the genes and blood of the Chinese nation. Retaining this "nostalgia" in the process of rural transformation and development is very important. From the perspective of landscape gene repair and culture gene repair and taking Zhangguying and Huangdu villages as the research objects, this study explored the changing path and spatial characteristics of the transformation and development of human settlement environment under the self-organization and hetero-organization modes, and constructed a transformation and development model of human settlement environment. The research shows that: 1) Under the self-organization mode, the transformation mechanism of traditional village human settlement environment system is flexible and has high long-term stability. The human settlement environment system under the hetero-organization mode has strong integrity and short-term stability, but lacks certain effectiveness. 2) The leading factor of self-organizing development comes from the endogenous forces dominated by village residents, who have strong ability of innovation and adaptation. Most of the hetero-organizing developments are dominated by external forces, with weak endogenous force and low ability of innovation and adaptation. 3) Under the guidance of self-organization model, the development logic of traditional villages' human settlement environment transformation mostly takes cultural gene repair as the first step, and landscape gene repair as the second step. The development logic of hetero-organization mode is in contrary to self-organization, showing a ladder-like development path. 4) Self-organizing model is easy to produce and preserve cultural genes, and stable cultural genes are also beneficial to maintaining the stable development of self-organizing system. However, the impact of hetero-organization mode is mostly concentrated on the landscape of the villages. It is difficult to form an independent and effective operation mechanism and development concept within the villages, and the ability to repair cultural genes is weak. 5) Self-organization mode is easy to form effective development mechanism and stable cultural atmosphere. The concept of "double-repairs" is easier to implement in the transformation of traditional village human settlement environment. Because of the lack of endogenous motivation, it is difficult to form an independent and effective operation mechanism and development concept within the village with the hetero-organization mode. It is more difficult to implement the concept of "double-repairs". 6) Self-organization mode can continue steadily in the future development of traditional villages. Although hetero-organization mode can continue in a short time, eventually it will be replaced by the self-organization mode with the transformation of internal and external subjects.

There is a huge gulf between the dilemmas of rural development and the strategic goals of rural vitalization in China. This study examined the trend and characteristics of land reform and rural development in China since 1949, and then explored the interactive mechanisms based on the functional system of rural land reform. Alternative pathways and typical models of rural vitalization promoted by rural land reform were also discussed. The main conclusions are as follows: 1) Rural land reform is the breakthrough point to address the current dilemmas of rural development and promote rural vitalization. In essence, it is the readjustment of production relations in the new era to adapt to the development of urban-rural productive forces, both of which are urgent, integrative, and challenging. Since 1949, changes in rural land institution and rural development have been generally coupled and linked. 2) In the new era, rural land reform has multifunctional values. It promotes rural reconstruction and rural multifunctional development by reinforcing weak links and gives play to the multiplier effect of institutional linkages, urban-rural integration, and economy transformation, to promote rural vitalization and drive the optimization of urban-rural territorial system functions. 3) Along the path of integrating elements, restructuring structures, and optimizing functions, rural land reform promotes the change of regional functions and rural vitalization according to local conditions. 4) In the future, it is necessary to give full play to the stimulating effect of rural land reform, pay attention to potential policy frictions, deepen the positive feedback of rural vitalization on rural land reform, and carefully consider the coordination of rural land reform measures and rural development.

For most regions in rural China, poverty is an important factor restricting rural development. In order to reduce excessive dependence on agriculture and single production function, rural multifunctionality is receiving increasing more attention. Multifunctional rural development is to a great extent conducive to reducing the incidence of poverty and improving the ability of rural communities and families to face the pressure of survival. Under the background of rural revitalization in China, this study used field investigation and semistructured interview results to analyze the characteristics of change and driving factors of rural development in poor villages from the perspective of multifunctionality. Based on the development model of Zahan Village, we further explored alternative pathways for vitalizing poor rural villages. The results show that: 1) Under the influence of "policy opportunity geography", Zahan Village has experienced a transition from a vulnerable poor rural village to a village with diversified functions. 2) The coordinated development of agricultural production, social security, ecological conservation, and cultural heritage protection in rural areas has positive implications for improving the level of rural socioeconomic development and enhancing rural resilience. 3) Factors driving rural multifunctional transition include policy support, market demand, natural environment, capital and technology, stakeholders, and cultural traits. 4) In view of the constraints of rural development in poor villages, it is proposed to provide external support for rural vitalization from the macro level, promote synergistic interaction from the meso level, stimulate endogenous forces from the micro level, and achieve rural vitalization through overall planning and various breakthroughs. Finally, based on the multifunctional rural development theory, the dilemmas and prospect of rural vitalization and development were discussed.