Regional Cultures in Jiangnan

Some sub-cultural regions under the Jiangnan culture, such as Wu culture, Yue culture and Chu culture.

Professor Liu Shilin of Shanghai Normal University believes that a self-contained regional culture with a unique structure and function usually possesses two basic conditions: firstly, the relative integrity of the regional geography; and secondly, the relative independence of cultural traditions. Jiangnan culture is just such a relatively independent regional culture. From the perspective of aesthetic culture, the essence of Jiangnan culture is a poetic culture. It is also in the poetic and aesthetic links, Jiangnan culture shows an important transcendence of the Confucian concept of humanism. Because poetry and aesthetics directly represent the need for self-realization of individual life at a higher level, the Chinese culture, which has the earliest occurrence of humanistic spirit and the deepest accumulation of humanistic spirit, has realized its highest logical link in the Jiangnan culture and has gained a more comprehensive development in reality.

The spirit of regional culture is gradually integrated and manifested under the long-term interaction between human social life and the natural environment, and it contains the sum of the understanding of the relationship between human beings themselves and between human beings, human beings and nature, and human beings and society. On the one hand, it is constantly changing, gradually enriching, with the gradual development of various human activities and constantly have new content to add and deposition; on the other hand, it is relatively stable, and always maintain some of the unique qualities that make it different from other regions. In this process, the natural environment, such as climatic conditions, topography, etc., often serves as a basic qualification that defines the historical direction of the cultural spirit of the region.

In such a vast country as China, many nationalities, the long-term historical development of the formation of colorful, distinctive regional culture. Only in terms of the cultural circle of the Han Chinese people, can be roughly divided into the Yangtze River as the boundary of the two major cultural regions of Jiangnan and Jiangbei. "Apricot blossom spring rain Jiangnan, horse autumn wind Jibei" of the clear words and beautiful sentence graphically summarizes the basic natural geographic features of the two places - the south of the grass and trees green and beautiful, the north of the soil is thick and deep water, majestic and broad, in such a significant difference in the natural environment of the breeding The humanistic culture that has grown up in such markedly different natural environments has also been characterized by its own distinctive features.

In the large Jiangnan cultural region, the southeast is undoubtedly one of the most representative subculture region. Especially since the Tang and Song dynasties, the southeast region has gradually become the world's wealth of the region, the abode of the scholarly community, "China's economic and cultural center of gravity from the 'Kaifeng - Chang'an' east-west axis completely shifted to the south of the Yangtze River, and ultimately fell on the 'Hangzhou - Suzhou'. 'Hangzhou - Suzhou' north-south axis." It is also as Mr. Liu Zijian, an expert in Song history, argues, "China's cultural pattern in the last 800 years is a pattern led by the Southern Song Dynasty, with the area around Jiang and Zhejiang as the center of gravity. The political, economic and cultural centers of gravity of the whole country are all gathered together, which is rare in history."

The landscape lover (Ye Qianhua) said, "Jiangnan culture is a culture of mood, a culture of poetry, a culture of painting, a culture of flavor, a culture of beauty. It is embedded in the landscape, flowers, trees, moonlight, morning and evening, lingering in the rain, dew, mist and fog, with a Zen-like beauty. It is an important part of Chinese culture and an outstanding representative of local culture".

Jiangnan region is vast, there are some differences in culture, which humanities Jiangnan refers to is Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, southern Anhui Wuhu, Chizhou, Tongling, Xuancheng, Huangshan, Ma'anshan, Zhejiang Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Shaoxing, and Ningbo and the municipality of Shanghai. Sometimes Anqing in Anhui Province and Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province, which are located in the north of the river, are also included in the Jiangnan culture. The culture given to Jiangnan since the Tang and Song dynasties has transformed it from a geographical term into a word of beauty, culture and affluence, which has been longed for by people all over the world. In the economic center of gravity continues to move south, Jiangnan region also gradually replaced the Central Plains, to the mid-Beijing Song Dynasty, Jiangnan economy has become the most important core of the national economy, and today's Yangtze River Delta is one of China's most economically developed regions.

Jiangnan not only known as the land of fish and rice, beautiful scenery, heavy literature is also one of the traditions of Jiangnan, which also cast part of the cultural character of the people of Jiangnan, Jiangnan culture is considered to be a kind of long-lasting representation of the widely extolled talents and women and other good stories is another praise of the cultural heritage. The classic Jiangnan architectural style of white walls, green tiles, small bridges and flowing water also has a quiet, inner flavor. The savory, fresh, moist and sweet dishes can also represent part of Jiangnan.

In "Remembering Jiangnan", "Jiangnan is good, the scenery is old and familiar. The sunrise river flowers are more red than fire, and the river water is as green as blue in spring. Can you not remember the south of the river?" It describes the beauty of Suzhou and Hangzhou.

"Jiangnan Spring" in the "thousands of warblers cry green reflecting red, water village mountain Guo wine flag wind", no doubt, with "Jiangnan beautiful place, Jinling emperor state" reputation of Nanjing is naturally a representative of the south of the Yangtze River. "There is a paradise above, and Suzhou and Hangzhou below", with "heaps of gold and jade, gentle and rich townships" reputation of Suzhou and Hangzhou is indeed the city of Jiangnan is quite distinctive. Tang Xianzu has a poem: once pining to look at the south of the river, do not remember the Lanting March 3, the flowers from the wordless spring from the old, the flowers from the wordless spring from the old. Flowers from the wordless spring from the old, but teach the return of the swallow and murmur. Qing Qian Qianyi "South Marching Minor Introduction": "to its (Yuan Keli son Yuan Bo Ying) debatable customs South, boarding the car to serve as a messenger, the beautiful places in Jiangnan, the sound of the wind and cultural relics, and their talents reflect each other."

Jiangnan has been known for its flourishing culture and education. Located in the Qinhuai River in Nanjing, Fuzhi Temple is a temple in honor of Confucius, Fuzhi Temple complex in the Jiangnan Tribute Court in ancient times for the examination room for students, are the symbol of the Jiangnan examination culture.

Besides this, there are many famous academies in Jiangnan. Three of the four great academies are located in Jiangnan, namely, Jiangxi's Bailudong Academy, Hunan's Yuelu Academy, Shigu Academy. Others are Ziyang Seowon, Bagui Seowon, Xiangshan Seowon, Lize Seowon, Donglin Seowon, Mingdao Seowon, Maoshan Seowon, Qishan Seowon, Yangming Seowon, Ganquan Seowon, Huihua Seowon, Li Bai Shudang, and Wujing Seowon.

From ancient times to the present, a large number of literary works singing about Jiangnan have constructed the "Jiangnan" in the imagination of Chinese people. Bai Juyi's "Jiangnan is Good" and Su Dongpo's "Looking at Jiangnan" are just a few examples. Crow-top boats

--have almost become a symbol of the region, crow-top boats with feet rowing, and even holding a bowl of wine in the hand--can be so free in the water and have this characteristic, probably anyone will immediately think of Jiangnan. Only in the south of the Yangtze River, there are feet rowing the crow's nest boat. "A pot of sprinkles at the bow, a volume of books at the stern, catching purple Mandarin fish, spinning and washing white lotus roots." This is the old man Fangweng's leisure.

Series Li Silk

--The Best of Jiangnan Silk As early as more than a century ago, silk from the Hangjiahu region was already like today's hottest stocks: hot overseas, with unpredictable prices, and every change touched nerves all over the world. Its quality was at the top of the list, and Chinese royalty and European aristocrats alike were proud to own a fancy dress made of Hangjiahu silk. And in the latest archaeological discoveries, it has also been confirmed as the birthplace of silk worldwide. The world's earliest finished silk fabric was found in Huzhou city in the Hangjiahu region, more than 4,700 years ago.

Historical overview

After the Han Dynasty, the northern part of the country was plagued by many wars, and by the Sui Dynasty, the center of gravity of China's sericulture and silk industry had already shifted to the Yangtze River Valley, and the Tang Dynasty saw further development, with the Jiangnan sericulture and silk industry reaching its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Silk country formation conditions

Hangjiahu Plain is located in the south of Taihu Lake, the Qiantang River and Hangzhou Bay to the north, east of Tianmu Mountain, surrounded by high, low in the middle of the water network is dense, not conducive to drainage. The mulberry tree is drought-resistant and does not like moisture, so how exactly do the people of the Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou region turn the "sea" into a mulberry field?

In the water conservancy, thanks to the Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou area man-made excavation of rivers and ditches, Buirayang harbor and canal Ditang, the so-called "horizontal ponds and vertical Buirayang". In the rainy season, the river water would flow into the Taihu Lake, and in the dry season, the water would be diverted to irrigate the farmland.　　In terms of land, the migration of population, especially after the Southern Song Dynasty, a large number of people migrated south, in order to solve the problem of food, etc., to strengthen the reclamation of farmland, many swamps have been transformed into fertile farmland, but also to solve the problem of labor.　　Water quality is also an important factor affecting the quality of silk, reeling requires a large amount of water, the Yangtze River flows through the Hangjiahu region, the water flow is slow, the sediment in the water can be deposited.　　Production mode, the Jiangnan water towns use ponds to raise fish and livestock, and planting mulberry silkworms water and fertilizer combined to form a natural cycle of conditions to promote each other, the formation of a unique mode of production, to ensure that the mulberry tree growth.　　In the traditional sericulture technology, all places attach importance to seed production, the Qing Dynasty to Zhejiang Yuhang, Xinchang, Xiaoshan and other places of the better known varieties, and later became a modern silkworm seed manufacturing base. Technically on the upper family using high trellis clusters, with the old with the capture, avoid the use of land clusters. The "export dry" and improved to "burn silkworms do not burn cocoon". In the three sleep open leaves, so that eating top leaves two or three times, to save mulberry leaves, and silk tough and shiny. Fewer leaves can be mixed with white rice flour mulberry leaves to feed silkworms, silk white and tough.

Historical splendor

Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to the sprouting and development of capitalism. Jiangnan Su Lake area became the most important silk production area, the development of a number of typical silk professional towns, government weaving is also maturing, at this time, China's silk development to the most active period.　　In the Qing dynasty in the Hangzhou-Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou Road, Jiangning, Suzhou and Hangzhou, set up in three places, specializing in the Imperial Court and the official use of various types of textiles weaving bureau. Weaving office in charge of the court and the official use of silk, silk, cloth and other textiles. Qing imperial family within the government regulations, where the emperor and consort wear the dragon robe, phoenix clothes must be made of silk woven here. Qing Kangxi weaving nine pieces of imperial robes, is the name of the selected lake silk for the warp made.

Nanxun, the ancient town of Jiangnan

Located in Taihu Lake and the canal arm ring, the water is blue like dye, boats such as shuttle, lakes and rivers occupy more than half of the town area. The world's smallest silk fabric - 4,700 years ago, the Neo-Archaea silk debris, as early as in the nearby Qianshanyang site unearthed, if you want to talk about sericulture, reeling natural conditions, the world may not be better than here.

Celadon

-Yuan Ming Qing three generations of the national weapon China is the country of porcelain, and the Yuan Ming Qing three generations since the porcelain in the most famous, is created from the south of Jiangnan Jingdezhen celadon. In the hilly basin of Jingdezhen, Hui culture and Gan culture after a thousand years of fusion, and finally gave birth to the world-famous blue and white porcelain. The song "Celadon Porcelain" tells the true flavor of this product: you are hidden in the kiln, the secret of a thousand years, extremely delicate, like an embroidery needle falling to the ground. Outside the curtain bananas caused by the rain, the door ring caused by the copper green, and I passed by the town of Jiangnan caused you, in the ink landscape painting, you were hidden from the depths of the ink color.

Longquan Sword

--Iron Ying quenching casting of the cold warrior gentleman

The sword is known as the cold weapon period of the "gentleman of a hundred soldiers", the historical legend of the sword made by the Yellow Emperor and Chiyu, so they are also known as the Lord of the soldiers of ancient China and the God of war. King Wu gold hook Yue Wang sword, Jiangnan Wu Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period, has been a unique place in the world of the sword. Among them, Ou Yezi was regarded as the originator of sword-making in ancient China. Ou Yezi, a native of Yue in the late Spring and Autumn period and the early Warring States period, forged three famous swords, Longyuan, Tai'a and Gongbu, in Longquan, a place in the lofty mountains of southwest Zhejiang province.

Blue printed fabric

--the charm of the countryside

Light, soft and airy blue printed fabric, with small bridges and flowing water, whitewashed walls, green willows and red peaches, and light tea smoke, soft strings playing and singing, together constitute a unique charm of the Jiangnan water town.

Blue printed cloth, the ancients called "medicine spot cloth", belonging to the folk tradition of hand-printed fabrics. Its printing and dyeing methods, throughout the country, but in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, especially prevalent.

Oil paper umbrellas

-Disappearing delicacy

Jiangnan is rainy, and half the days of the year are soaked in rain. The Yuan Dynasty poet Yu Ji has concluded that this is called "apricot blossoms, spring rain, Jiangnan". This can be said to represent the ancient people of Jiangnan regional cultural understanding. The reason why the oil paper umbrella has a broad market in Jiangnan, in addition to the low price, light weight, easy to use and other characteristics, the deeper factors lie in the constraints of regional characteristics. There nearly 2,000 millimeters of rainfall per year, as well as the vagaries of the climate, determines its role in the space is not limited.

Yellow mud snail

-This flavor should only be Jiangnan have

Mud snail to take food to three seasons for the best, peach blossom when the shell is soft and tasty; Plum rain, fat cream full of belly, suitable for soaking in yellow wine, soak a - two nights, "cream overflow shell, Ying are as crystal". The "cream overflow shell, Ying are like crystal"; Mid-Autumn, although the mud snail has been meat hard cream less, less flavor than peach mud snail, but the grain is big fat rich, pickled food has a special flavor. The market is generally sold in the osmanthus mud snail. The world's mud snail, Ningbo mud snail's reputation.

Mud snail is also a flavor of Chinese medicine, its meat into the medicine, salt, wine impregnated food, there are tonic kidney and liver, beneficial essence, bright eyes, the effect of the birth of the dry, "Compendium of Materia Medica Gleanings," that is, "spit iron can moisten the throat dry, the birth of the body fluid."

Longjing tea

--a cup of tea with landscape

I don't know is Longjing complete the tea here, or the tea here complete the Longjing? Anyone who comes to Hangzhou, do not forget to come to Longjing a tour, pick up the stairs to climb the mountain, read all the slopes of the color of the tea, and - body sweat, who will be called to open the half-covered doorway of the farmers, sit down to the babbling bamboo chairs, and enthusiastic hosts to discuss - bowl of tea just made good Longjing drink, this time the scene, it is "people this clear soul, - sip, drink nectar liquid, and the tea, the tea, and the tea. -The scene at this time is "clearing one's mind and soul, sipping as if drinking nectar liquid" (Ming Tu Long, "Longjing Tea").

Purple clay pot

--Purple clay contains Qiankun

The function of the teapot, this tea, however, the tea, has been not only for the human physiology to quench their thirst, and more in the role of the spirit of nourishment. That tea vessels, naturally, under the leadership of such a concept, in the sanctuary of the arts in the room, settle down. Purple sand pot is born under such an aesthetic concept. It is the scenery of Jiangnan, but also the beauty of China, and even the creation of human treasures.

Shaoxing Wine

-Essence of Lake Jianhu Water

Shaoxing wine originated in China, and is the oldest type of wine in China and one of the world's top three ancient wines. Its history is as long as that of beer and wine.

Shaoxing wine has many varieties, such as Yuanhong, Jiayi, Shanzhu, Xiangxue and Taigu. Yuanhong, also known as "Scholar's Red", is the most representative variety of Shaoxing wine, named for the vermilion color on the outside of the wine jar.

Sheyan

Sheyan

-The Human Spirit of the Dragon's Tail Stone

Sheyan is named after the state of Shezhou, the capital of which is present-day Shexian, Anhui Province. To wuyuan (ancient belongs to shezhou, now belongs to jiangxi) dragon's tail mountain in the stream in the stone of the best, so she inkstone also known as dragon's tail inkstone. Tang Kaiyuan years have been produced, South Tang formed a certain scale. She ink stone has "astringent not stay pen, slippery not refuse ink melon skin and vomit, gold sound and jade virtue" and other advantages. According to the natural pattern can be divided into: eyebrow, ribbing, Venus, gold halo, caviar, jade belt and other stone products.

Hui ink

-Huangshan Pine Phoenix Nirvana

Hui ink, pine smoke, tung oil smoke, lacquer smoke, gum as the main raw material for the production of a special pigment used mainly for traditional calligraphy, painting. Huizhou ink is China's ink-making skills in a wonder, but also known as one of the "four treasures of the literary house". It is also one of the "Four Treasures of the House of Letters", which are famous all over the world. It is the most favorite and reliable token for calligraphers and painters. Ancient people once said, "A good ink is like a good horse for a famous general."

Hu Pen

-Writers of Chinese Characters

Hu Pen, together with Anhui ink, Xuan paper, and She ink stone (Duan ink stone), is known as the "Four Treasures of the House of Letters". The origin of the lake pen is in Shanlian Town, Nanxun District, Huzhou, Zhejiang Province. Lake pen materials, fine craftsmanship, a wide range of coarse bowl size, as fine as an embroidery needle, with sharp, Qi, round, healthy four characteristics.

Xuanpaper

-The carrier of Chinese culture

Xuanpaper is produced in Jing County, Anhui Province (originally belonging to Ningguo Prefecture, the production of paper in the name of the prefectural capital Xuancheng, so it is known as "Xuanpaper"), which is the paper used for writing and drawing in ancient China. Xuan paper started in the Tang Dynasty and has been used throughout the ages. In addition, it was also produced in Xuancheng and Taiping (present-day Huangshan District, Huangshan City) near Jingxian County. During the Song Dynasty, the paper-making industry in Huizhou, Chizhou and Xuancheng gradually shifted and concentrated in Jingxian. Due to the Xuan paper is easy to save, not brittle, will not fade and other characteristics, so there is a "paper life of a thousand years" reputation.