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This study discusses the protection of traditional villages and understand the role, policy environment and characteristics of traditional village protection. This study also constructs an analytical framework of “historical timing - policy orientation” to study the development process and policy evolution of traditional village protection in China.

This study selects the policy documents related to traditional village protection since 1980 as the research samples to explore the origin and evolution of traditional village protection in China. Then, the paper systematically combs the temporal evolution of the policy theme and orientation at each stage, which would provide a reference direction for the protection and development of traditional villages.

The interpretation of traditional village protection and its institutional background can be divided into three stages: relying on the protection system of historical and cultural towns and villages (1982–2012) and the stage of construction and improvement of traditional villages protection system (2012–2017). After 2017, traditional village protection entered a new rural revitalization journey.

This study is limited to: documents issued from 1982 to the end of 2022; Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council, and central ministries and administrations directly governing the protection of traditional villages; policies that can directly reflect the central government’s attitude towards protecting traditional villages; and excluding the documents for some particular regions and particular problems.

This study fulfills as the guidance of traditional village protection and development in different periods.