Objective In the context of rapid urban-rural factor flow, the large-scale migration of rural populations has led to issues such as labor shortage, hollowing of residential area, and industrial decline, which impede rural development and contribute to the problem of rural hollowing. Addressing the aforesaid issues has become a critical concern in the context of rural revitalization. As urbanization progresses and strategies like new urbanization and rural revitalization are implemented, China has seen a trend of population flow back from cities to rural areas. The return of labor equipped with knowledge, skills, and assets presents a new opportunity for rural socio-economic development. The main objective of this research is to explore how folk rituals, as a form of folk culture, drive population return and, based on this, discuss their role in mitigating rural hollowing.

Methods Participatory observation and semi-structured interview are employed to collect basic information on the activities, characteristics, and transmission mechanisms of folk rituals in Qinban Village. These methods are chosen to capture both the observable processes of the rituals and their in-depth connotations attributed by participants. “Adaptation” is a key concept for interpreting changes and developments in human-environment relationships. Holling’s theory of adaptive cycle extends the idea of adaptation to the research on complex systems. This theory explains the adaptive evolution of systems through four stages: Exploitation (r), Conservation (K), Release (Ω), and Reorganization (α), providing the theoretical foundation for this research. Previous research has built local adaptive cycles and applied them to study rural life cycles and dynamic development. This research constructs a nested adaptive cycle model for the village to explore how folk rituals, as a “micro-cycle”, interact with the village’s overall life cycle, thereby examining how the transmission of folk rituals helps mitigate rural hollowing.

Results Folk rituals reflect social relationship and shape social space, serving as an important medium for fostering a sense of identity and belonging in rural communities. Based on adaptive cycle theory, the research finds that the ritual of “Xunjing” ritual (a parade ritual) is an annual “micro-cycle” that maintains rural vitality by nesting itself within the village’s overall life cycle, from birth to decline. In the context of rural population loss, the transmission of folk rituals helps mitigate the negative effects of rural hollowing in three key ways. 1) The annual folk ritual, through its historical evolution, has formed a multi-stakeholder collaborative framework that helps promote adaptive cycles. At the same time, the annual cyclic rhythm ensures that the folk ritual is renewed and continued within the structured framework. This provides strong support for the intergenerational transmission of folk rituals, rural memory, rural social networks, and villagers’ local identity, thereby enhancing the village’s adaptive evolutionary capacity. 2) The annual folk ritual provides an opportunity for villagers who have migrated to cities or other regions to return and participate in collective activities. The periodic return of the migrant population injects new social and economic resources into the village, helping maintain the village’s capacity for self-organization and self-adaptation. This cyclic interaction between urban and rural spaces ensures that the village does not completely lose its human capital, thereby helping alleviate the negative impacts of continued rural population migration. 3) The adaptive cycle of the village is characterized by a “dual-cycle” nesting: One cycle is the life course of the rural system from birth to decline, and the other is the temporal cycle formed by folk activities and seasonal festivals based on specific time patterns. Folk rituals, as time-cyclic cultural activities, play an active role in regulating the village’s broader life cycle. The adaptive cycle of the village includes the stages of Exploitation, Conservation, Release, and Reorganization. The annual cycle of folk rituals is nested within these stages, effectively reinforcing village resilience. Building a nested adaptive cycle model can help explore the role of cultural transmission in the village’s adaptive evolution from the perspective of dynamic cycles on different time scales.

Conclusion The research reveals that the transmission of folk rituals supports local memory, cultural continuity, and social networks, and thus helps maintain village vitality. The cyclical nature of folk rituals not only promotes short-term social cohesion but also fosters long-term cultural continuity, positively contributing to the village’s adaptive capacity. Through the nested model of adaptive cycles, this research highlights the importance of cultural activities in mitigating the adverse effects of rural hollowing and provides a valuable framework for understanding how cultural practices support rural sustainability and resilience. However, the research also acknowledges certain limitations. Although folk rituals promote periodic reintegration of the migrant population with the village, this does not imply a permanent return of the population. Therefore, the issue of rural hollowing persists. Additionally, addressing rural hollowing requires a multi-dimensional discussion that goes beyond cultural factors, encompassing economic, social, and ecological aspects. The case of Qinban Village may not fully represent other rural areas. Future research should explore whether similar adaptive mechanisms exist in other cultural and geographical contexts and assess the potential for developing broader strategies to address rural hollowing based on these findings.