Abstract: Based on the theory of symbolic interaction, empowering rural development with cultural IP requires extracting cultural symbols, cultivating interactive fields, transforming values, and reshaping rural norms. However, rural cultural IP faces numerous practical challenges during development, mainly manifested in: alienated symbol construction, cultural IP remains in superficial development and homogeneous competition; weakened interaction effectiveness, blocking communication between the master self and the guest self; the virtualization of symbol selection, with insufficient talent supply and innovation; and the generalization of evaluation standards, suppressing the true self and fostering empty shell development.To further develop rural cultural IPs, it is necessary to explore new paths to boost the empowerment of cultural IPs for rural development. This requires efforts in the following aspects: delving into cultural roots to achieve differentiated cultural positioning; aggregating diverse business forms to expand the long-term development chain of culture; strengthening the talent pool to enhance the creativity of cultural development; and enriching evaluation dimensions to cultivate the internal driving force of cultural development.