Objective/Meaning Empowering the development of beautiful fishing villages through marine culture is a key practice in the rural revitalization strategy. Exploring the underlying mechanisms and practical pathways of this empowerment is significant for stimulating the vitality of fishing villages and providing referenceable experiences for similar regions.

Methods/Procedures Taking X Village in Dongshan County, Fujian Province, as a case study, this research integrates literature review, case analysis, and field investigation methods. Through fieldwork and in-depth interviews, it examines the internal mechanisms and practical outcomes of marine culture-driven development of beautiful fishing villages, and proposes targeted strategies.

Results/Conclusions The study shows that marine culture can empower the construction of beautiful fishing villages across five dimensions: industry, ecology, local customs, governance, and lifestyle. X Village has achieved notable success in leveraging marine culture for village development, yet still faces challenges such as insufficient depth in cultural value recognition, limited ripple effects from cultural empowerment, inadequate integration of culture into living environment improvements, and constraints on modernizing governance. In response, this paper proposes practical pathways in four areas: enhancing cultural awareness, establishing an integrated industrial framework, improving the quality of the rural living environment, and advancing the modernization of rural governance.