Does anyone know the cultural characteristics of north and south China?

Historical geography is the carrier and foundation of historical culture. As a huge and complex cultural entity, the regional differences of China culture are very great. The simplest division of this difference is to divide China into north and south. According to the physical geography, it is bounded by the Huaihe River in Qinling Mountains (Huaihe River is the southernmost of the frozen rivers in China). From the perspective of cultural geography, it is probably more reasonable and convincing to take the Yangtze River as the boundary since Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Barker said: There are four main natural factors that determine human life and destiny, namely: climate, food, soil and terrain. In addition, the long-term inheritance and precipitation of cultural genes have greatly affected the cultural differences between the north and the south of China. Liu Shenshu, a scholar in the Republic of China, said: "Generally speaking, the land in the north is thick and deep, and people's livelihood is mostly practical. In the land of the south, the water is vast and the people's livelihood is still absent. " The vast yellow land and black land in the north have magnificent scenery, dry and cold climate, high and desolate sky and poor vegetation. In this environment, the character's temperament is heavy, strong, bold and rigorous. In the south, the water is free, the mountains are Tsinghua, the plants are gorgeous, the climate is warm, the clouds are light and the wind is clear. In this environment, the characters are gentle, delicate, agile, romantic and intelligent. The staple food of northerners is sorghum, soybeans and white flour, so they have developed a strong body. At the same time, the cultivation of these crops requires cooperation between people, so the spirit of cooperation and political consciousness between people are highlighted.

Southerners live on rice, so they are smart. At the same time, "rice cultivation often promotes scattered centrifugal force rather than cooperative centripetal force" (Joyce White's language), so southerners' indifferent personality to politics is more prominent. Mr. Lu Xun once said: the advantage of northerners is massiness, and that of southerners is cleverness, but the disadvantage of massiness lies in stupidity, and the disadvantage of cleverness lies in cunning. From the appearance, it is better for northerners to face south or southerners to face north. Wang Guowei's evaluation of southerners and northerners is: "Southerners are indifferent and reclusive, while northerners are enthusiastic about joining the WTO." Southerners fantasize, while northerners practice. "

Lin Yutang's following passage can better grasp the cultural differences between the North and the South: "Northerners in China are used to simple and simple thinking and hard life, tall and strong, with a warm and humorous personality, and like to eat green onions and make jokes. They are the sons of nature. In all respects, they are more like Mongols, but more conservative than Shanghainese and Zhejiang people. They have not lost the vitality of their race. They led to generations of local separatist forces in China. They also provide character material for novels describing China's wars and adventures.

In the southeast frontier, south of the Yangtze River, people will see another kind of people: accustomed to ease, diligent in cultivation, sophisticated, mentally developed, physically degraded, and fond of poetry and ease. They are sleek but underdeveloped men and slim but neurasthenia women. They drink bird's nest soup and eat lotus seeds. They are shrewd businessmen, excellent writers and cowards on the battlefield, ready to roll to the ground and cry for their parents before their outstretched fists fall on their heads. They are descendants of an educated China family who crossed the river with their books and paintings at the end of the Jin Dynasty.

At that time, northern China was invaded by savage tribes. In a sense, the northern culture is as lofty, solemn, simple and magnificent as a mountain, while the southern culture is as graceful, gentle, delicate, elegant and dreamy as running water. This is actually two kinds of heterogeneity of the same culture, just like a brave and generous gentleman and a gentle and beautiful woman, forming a perfect family. Chinese culture can be divided into many types, including Yanzhao culture, Sanqin culture, Sanjin culture, Wuyue culture, Qilu culture, Kanto culture, Jingchu culture, grassland culture, Lingnan culture, Qinghai-Tibet culture, Bashu culture, Yunnan-Yunnan culture, western region culture and Taiwan Province province culture. In this book, we will make an in-depth observation and tour of some typical and representative regional cultures.

Historical celebrities and cultural geography: Let people from different countries write an article about elephants. Germans wrote about elephant's thinking, French wrote about elephant's love, Russians wrote that Russian elephant is the greatest elephant in the world, and China wrote about elephant's ethics. Another humor said: After a fire broke out in a multi-ethnic mixed building, Jews were the first to carry their wallets, and lawyers immediately went to rescue their lovers, while China desperately searched for their mothers everywhere. These two kinds of humor vividly reproduce the rich national cultural characteristics hidden in the spiritual world. One side of the soil and water support one side of the people, and those who are near Zhu Zhechi and near Mexico are black.

Citrus trees in the south of Huaihe River can produce big and sweet citrus fruits, and only small, sour and bitter oranges can be produced when transplanted to the north of Huaihe River. Historical celebrities, as symbolic individuals painted with oil paints created by the secrets of human geography, have always been nothing more than the mother of human geography. If historical celebrities are compared to fish, human geography is water; If historical celebrities are compared to trees, human geography is land. Talking about historical celebrities out of the background of the intersection of nature and society in a certain area is tantamount to finding fish from a tree. Historical celebrities are only the full embodiment of "the biggest symbol of national spirit" in the deep environment of regional human geography, and also further repair and deepen the external function of human environment. At the end of 65438+2009, Tanner Blanks and other strong cultural and historical schools believed that in the depth of human geography, race, environment and times are the three major factors that determine national culture, especially ethnic factors. They assert that talent, lust, instinct and intuition in racial factors are "eternal impulses" that determine the characteristics of national culture.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Jung, an Austrian psychologist in sigmund freud, emphasized the great influence of "collective unconsciousness" all his life. In his view, everyone's life behavior is controlled by an invisible big hand behind him. This big hand is a comprehensive value concept with cultural isomorphism accumulated in the long-term tradition and an important part of human geography. Take Qilu culture as an example, although as Liu Yuxi said, Qilu people also have obvious regional differences. "Zou people are rich in the Near East; How heroic it is to have fish in the south; Near Jining in the west, it is more flashy; The northern region is thrifty, but on the whole, Qilu people give people the impression of being strong and heroic, simple and kind, simple, frank and affectionate, compassionate and full of heroism. Today, Qilu people are considered to be the most traditional community in northern China, and the first group to think of northerners. In the mainstream culture of China and the early Confucian culture, we see more characteristics of northern culture. (excerpt)

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Why are there so many beautiful women in Jiangsu and Zhejiang? Why are there so many literati in the land of abundance? -"One side of the soil and one side of the people" is a familiar common sense in China, but it is not very simple to systematically answer the deep relationship between man and land. Why is Guanzhong in Shaanxi an imperial island since ancient times? Why is there a revolution in Red Hunan? Why are there so many beautiful women in Jiangsu and Zhejiang? Why are there so many literati in the land of abundance? Where is the hero? Where are the saints? -"The Vein of China" published by Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences Press is such an ancestor's "Soil and Water Resources".

Foreign Comments on China's Humanistic Spirit Today, the root and depth of China's national spirit have been largely hidden. From the perspective of contemporary civilization, there is no doubt about the defects and dross of China's traditional culture and the drawbacks of various value systems, but for human beings who suffered from the proliferation of material civilization after the two world wars, the cosmopolitanism in China's humanistic spirit undoubtedly has great enlightenment for the future world, because for human beings, "the world must be stable, which is the only way to avoid the tragic ending" (Toynbee's words).

More than 400 years ago, Italy published a book that caused a sensation throughout Europe, that is, A History of the Great Emperor of China written by Mendoza in Spanish, which described China as a "quiet and intelligent nation" in an idealized style in politics, economy and culture. Now it seems that the book is obviously incorrect, even absurd, but it is worthy of attention to eulogize China's humanistic spirit.

In the history of Europe, some great thinkers and historians, such as Voltaire, Rousseau, Hegel, Kant, Schelling, Adam Smith, Wells, Tolstoy, Sasha, Jaspers, Frey, Tony, Needham, etc., paid great attention to China's humanistic spirit. Toynbee is the representative of these people. When someone asked him when and where he would choose to be reborn at a certain time in world history, he said longingly that he would like to be born in Xinjiang, China in the first century BC (that is, on the world-famous Silk Road, which has just flourished).

Toynbee mentioned many times before his death that China will play the role of the main axis of human culture in the future. The reason why he said this is mainly based on the following considerations: First, the experience of the Chinese nation. In the past 2 1 century, China has always maintained its status as an imperial entity going global and become a veritable model of regional countries.

Second, in the long history of China, the world spirit gradually cultivated by the Chinese nation.

Third, there is humanitarianism in the Confucian world outlook.

Fourth, the rationalism of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

Fifth, East Asians have a reverence for the mystery of the universe, believing that people will be defeated if they want to dominate the universe. This is the most precious intuition brought by morality.

Sixth, this intuition is shared by all schools of philosophy in Buddhism, Taoism and China (except the extinct legalists). Man's purpose is not to arrogantly dominate nature outside himself, but to have a belief that he must live in harmony with nature.

Seventh, in the past, whether military or non-military, although westerners had advantages in applying science to technological competition, East Asian countries were sure to defeat them.

Toynbee's emphasis on the spirit of China's cultural world is true. One thing is enough to prove this point: Matteo Ricci, a famous Italian Jesuit priest, came to China during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty and found that the Ming army was the largest and best-equipped army he had ever seen when he traveled around the world. At the same time, he also found that this powerful army was completely defensive, and China people never wanted to invade other countries with powerful armaments (see Matteo Ricci's Notes on China). Hegel believed that world history began in China.

Leibniz thinks that two characteristics of China people are love for peace and respect for God and ancestors. Fei Zhengqing emphasized that China's humanistic characteristics are: patience, peace-loving, harmony, moderation, conservatism and contentment, ancestor worship, respect for the old and love for the young, and a learned man. All these reflect humanism centered on people rather than god; It is the ideal life of China people to live a conservative and comfortable life of "picking chrysanthemums under the east fence and seeing Nanshan leisurely". Joseph Needham, another great sinologist, believes that China people have a heavy moral and ethical concept, an attitude of respecting life and a humanitarian spirit. In addition, China people's cosmopolitanism and great harmony are also very prominent. In Goethe's view, China is a nation that maintains the doctrine of the mean in all aspects, which is also the reason why its culture has been maintained for thousands of years.

Toynbee and Daisaku Ikeda also deeply realized this point. Among many people who commented on China's national spirit, it is worth noting that President Radhakrishnan, a former Indian university student, said, "China people love beauty. The whole country is a huge art palace. China people want to make everything beautiful-cities and temples, fields and gardens, tables and chairs, small cups and chopsticks. The poorest servant also eats up the leftovers in a beautiful way. Beauty is the veil of their lives and the color of their countryside. " Looking back suddenly, through the ancient and quiet face of China's humanistic spirit and the profound and ancient traditional land of China, we have actually realized that the most touching thing about China culture, whether it is brilliant glory or heavy shame, lies in the mysterious and open close communication between man and nature and the life and culture formed by this communication. For China people, the salvation of the soul does not come from the gods in the upper world, but from the earth under their feet. As the saying goes: "When you see the real body in the clouds, you realize that the skeleton is a shackle;" Birds are conscious in their voices. They know it is a spear. " Southerners and northerners

Historical geography is the carrier and foundation of historical culture. As a huge and complex cultural entity, the regional differences of China culture are very great. The simplest division of this difference is to divide China into north and south. According to the physical geography, it is bounded by the Huaihe River in Qinling Mountains (Huaihe River is the southernmost of the frozen rivers in China). From the perspective of cultural geography, it is probably more reasonable and convincing to take the Yangtze River as the boundary since Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Barker said: There are four main natural factors that determine human life and destiny, namely: climate, food, soil and terrain. In addition, the long-term inheritance and precipitation of cultural genes have greatly affected the cultural differences between the north and the south of China. Liu Shenshu, a scholar in the Republic of China, said: "Generally speaking, the land in the north is thick and deep, and people's livelihood is mostly practical. In the land of the south, the water is vast and the people's livelihood is still absent. " The vast yellow land and black land in the north have magnificent scenery, dry and cold climate, high and desolate sky and poor vegetation. In this environment, the character's temperament is heavy, strong, bold and rigorous. In the south, the water is free, the mountains are Tsinghua, the plants are gorgeous, the climate is warm, the clouds are light and the wind is clear. In this environment, the characters are gentle, delicate, agile, romantic and intelligent. The staple food of northerners is sorghum, soybeans and white flour, so they have developed a strong body. At the same time, the cultivation of these crops requires cooperation between people, so the spirit of cooperation and political consciousness between people are highlighted.

Southerners live on rice, so they are smart. At the same time, "rice cultivation often promotes scattered centrifugal force rather than cooperative centripetal force" (Joyce White's language), so southerners' indifferent personality to politics is more prominent. Mr. Lu Xun once said: the advantage of northerners is massiness, and that of southerners is cleverness, but the disadvantage of massiness lies in stupidity, and the disadvantage of cleverness lies in cunning. From the appearance, it is better for northerners to face south or southerners to face north. Wang Guowei's evaluation of southerners and northerners is: "Southerners are indifferent and reclusive, while northerners are enthusiastic about joining the WTO." Southerners fantasize, while northerners practice. "

Lin Yutang's following passage can better grasp the cultural differences between the North and the South: "Northerners in China are used to simple and simple thinking and hard life, tall and strong, with a warm and humorous personality, and like to eat green onions and make jokes. They are the sons of nature. In all respects, they are more like Mongols, but more conservative than Shanghainese and Zhejiang people. They have not lost the vitality of their race. They led to generations of local separatist forces in China. They also provide character material for novels describing China's wars and adventures.

In the southeast frontier, south of the Yangtze River, people will see another kind of people: accustomed to ease, diligent in cultivation, sophisticated, mentally developed, physically degraded, and fond of poetry and ease. They are sleek but underdeveloped men and slim but neurasthenia women. They drink bird's nest soup and eat lotus seeds. They are shrewd businessmen, excellent writers and cowards on the battlefield, ready to roll to the ground and cry for their parents before their outstretched fists fall on their heads. They are descendants of an educated China family who crossed the river with their books and paintings at the end of the Jin Dynasty.

At that time, northern China was invaded by savage tribes. In a sense, the northern culture is as lofty, solemn, simple and magnificent as a mountain, while the southern culture is as graceful, gentle, delicate, elegant and dreamy as running water. This is actually two kinds of heterogeneity of the same culture, just like a brave and generous gentleman and a gentle and beautiful woman, forming a perfect family. Chinese culture can be divided into many types, including Yanzhao culture, Sanqin culture, Sanjin culture, Wuyue culture, Qilu culture, Kanto culture, Jingchu culture, grassland culture, Lingnan culture, Qinghai-Tibet culture, Bashu culture, Yunnan-Yunnan culture, western region culture and Taiwan Province province culture. In this book, we will make an in-depth observation and tour of some typical and representative regional cultures.

Historical celebrities and cultural geography: Let people from different countries write an article about elephants. Germans wrote about elephant's thinking, French wrote about elephant's love, Russians wrote that Russian elephant is the greatest elephant in the world, and China wrote about elephant's ethics. Another humor said: After a fire broke out in a multi-ethnic mixed building, Jews were the first to carry their wallets, and lawyers immediately went to rescue their lovers, while China desperately searched for their mothers everywhere. These two kinds of humor vividly reproduce the rich national cultural characteristics hidden in the spiritual world. One side of the soil and water support one side of the people, and those who are near Zhu Zhechi and near Mexico are black.

Citrus trees in the south of Huaihe River can produce big and sweet citrus fruits, and only small, sour and bitter oranges can be produced when transplanted to the north of Huaihe River. Historical celebrities, as symbolic individuals painted with oil paints created by the secrets of human geography, have always been nothing more than the mother of human geography. If historical celebrities are compared to fish, human geography is water; If historical celebrities are compared to trees, human geography is land. Talking about historical celebrities out of the background of the intersection of nature and society in a certain area is tantamount to finding fish from a tree. Historical celebrities are only the full embodiment of "the biggest symbol of national spirit" in the deep environment of regional human geography, and also further repair and deepen the external function of human environment. At the end of 65438+2009, Tanner Blanks and other strong cultural and historical schools believed that in the depth of human geography, race, environment and times are the three major factors that determine national culture, especially ethnic factors. They assert that talent, lust, instinct and intuition in racial factors are "eternal impulses" that determine the characteristics of national culture.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Jung, an Austrian psychologist in sigmund freud, emphasized the great influence of "collective unconsciousness" all his life. In his view, everyone's life behavior is controlled by an invisible big hand behind him. This big hand is a comprehensive value concept with cultural isomorphism accumulated in the long-term tradition and an important part of human geography. Take Qilu culture as an example, although as Liu Yuxi said, Qilu people also have obvious regional differences. "Zou people are rich in the Near East; How heroic it is to have fish in the south; Near Jining in the west, it is more flashy; The northern region is thrifty, but on the whole, Qilu people give people the impression of being strong and heroic, simple and kind, simple, frank and affectionate, compassionate and full of heroism. Today, Qilu people are considered to be the most traditional community in northern China, and the first group to think of northerners. In the mainstream culture of China and the early Confucian culture, we see more characteristics of northern culture.

The positive pulse of traditional Confucian culture originated from Qilu land. In addition to the cultural sage Confucius, most of the early main figures appeared in this area, such as Mencius, Zi Si, Zeng Shen, Yan Hui, Zi Gong, Zeng, Gongye Chang, Yuan Xian, Fu Sheng, Zhu and Kong Rong. It is no accident that this elite group came into being in Qilu culture, and all this can only happen in a human geography model suitable for building Confucianism. Another indisputable fact is that Qilu has been a wise man since ancient times. Zhuge Liang, Guan Zhong, Yan Ying, Wang Meng, Wang Dao and Fang are all from Shandong. Jiang Ziya, the founding emperor of Qi State, and Zhou Gongdan, the founding emperor of Lu State, are also two legendary saints. In addition, it is inferred that Yi Yin, a famous sage of Shang Dynasty, was also from Shandong. In the history of Shandong, the emergence of a large number of wise men is inseparable from the developed economy, profound Confucian atmosphere and vigorous human feelings here before the Tang Dynasty. "The article does not cure mountains and rivers, and the body and mind are bound by wild clouds." This is a collection of essays and illustrated cultural essays about China's regional culture. What emerges in the book is China's extremely ancient, huge and long-lasting vivid figure. With a book in hand, readers can sit in the cupboard and enjoy the moonlight and leisure in the vast and exquisite Chinese cuisine, then the purpose of this book has been achieved. There is a profound meaning in this, as Zhang Chao, a beginner in Qing Dynasty, said: He who can be idle in the world can be busy in the world. Aiming at the bull's-eye of "China regional culture", we can do our best, because China is so big, there are so many famous mountains and rivers, and its history is even more amazing. This is very different from Americans who like to recall history. Even from 1776, American history is only over 200 years. No wonder the French sarcastically said that Americans like to recall history, but once they recall their grandfather's father, they can't remember it anymore.