Shanghai culture everyone talks about the repeated reorganization of the Jiangnan urban system |, why "none of them tend to decline"

"Mobility Convergence into the World System"

Shangguan News: Within Jiangnan culture, what kind of brilliance does Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui have?

Chen Yulan (Director of Jiangnan Cultural Research Center and Librarian of Zhejiang Normal University): From a macroscopic point of view, Jiangnan culture is a common cultural symbol in the Yangtze River Delta region. Specific to Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, Wu culture, Yue culture, Huizhou culture, and Shanghai culture have both commonality and personality, and are unique and interconnected, different and complementary.

Jiangnan culture can be compared to a beauty with even flesh and bones, concave and convex, and full of energy, the personality of the Shanghai,Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui regional culture is the flesh and bones of the framework, and the Jiangnan culture is attached to the body shape and beyond the spiritual charm.

To sum up, the Taihu Lake basin north of the Qiantang River, bounded by the Qiantang River, belongs to the historical Wudi and is the core area of Jiangnan culture, which is manifested as a rich farming culture; the eastern Zhejiang region south of the Qiantang River belongs to Yuedi, and its back to the mountains and the sea, with many mountains and many fields, is manifested as a diligent fishing and hunting culture; the Anhui Southern Huidi in the west is characterized by inland merchant culture; and the eastern Shanghai has more obvious characteristics of the open culture of the sea.

Oda (Professor of Soochow University): The dense intersection of Hong Kong and The people, the farmers talk about Sangma, and the paradise of Suzhou and Hangzhou are only part of the society in the Jiangnan region; the so-called "small bridges, flowing water, and people's homes" are only regional images of the central area. Looking at the Huizhou Mountains, Mogan Mountains, Tianmu Mountains, Siming Mountains, and Tiantai Mountains, there are more grasses and trees, waterfall splashes, and cooking smoke.

In terms of economic form, Cotton is widely grown in Songjiang, Jiading, Taicang, Changshu, Jiangyin and other places; in the eastern island beach, from Zhoushan in Zhejiang in the south to Chongming in Shanghai, fishing salt and farming are the main businesses; planting tea and planting bamboo is the main sideline industry in the Mountainous Area of Jiangnan.

Shangguan News: What kind of historical interaction is there between the Wuyue region and the southern Anhui region?

Feng Xianliang (Professor, Fudan University): In terms of population mobility and commodity trade, the market activities of Huizhou merchants have promoted the flow of goods between Jiangnan and the outside, and between urban and rural areas inside Jiangnan. Because of the long-term operation and relocation activities of Huishang merchants, Shangcheng City and Shangcheng Town have formed many settlements with Huishang as the core in the Jiangnan area. In terms of cultural exchanges, the emigration of Huizhou literati in the Wuyue area is also remarkable. The late Ming dynasty calligrapher and poet Cheng Jiaxuan was a native of Xiuning, Anhui, and had been unhappy on the road to the imperial examination. Later, he moved to Hangzhou and then lived in Jiading, and with his outstanding achievements in knowledge and poetry and music, he was jointly known as the "Three Elders of Lianchuan" with Lou Jian and Tang Shisheng of Jiading.

Luo Shijin (Professor of Soochow University): In the Ming and Qing dynasties in Jiangnan, the footprints of Huishang were all over the place, which not only promoted economic development, but also promoted the prosperity of culture and art. The important characteristics of Huishang are "Jia and Good Confucianism" and "Jia and Good Literature". Anhui Qimen Ma Yuezhen and Ma Yuelu live in Yangzhou, in their Xiaolinglong Mountain Pavilion, a group of important literati and artists in Jiangnan, such as Jin Nong, Quan Zuwang, etc., are often guests, and the Yaji Wenhui can be described as elegant.

Oda: The cultural interaction between the Wuyue region and the southern Anhui region is the interaction between "water town Jiangnan" and "hill Jiangnan". From a historical point of view, after the Fall of the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Water Town Jiangnan Wang clan from the north moved into southern Anhui; since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the flow from southern Anhui to Shanghai and Suzhou has become the basic direction of interaction between the two places.

The interaction between "Water Town Jiangnan" and "Hill Jiangnan" has profoundly affected the economic and social development of Jiangnan and the whole of China. Although southern Anhui is located in the mountains on the edge of Jiangnan, it interacts frequently with China as a whole, and every interaction of traditional China can be responded to here. Not only that, but the tentacles also extended overseas, linked to the world market formed since the 16th century.

Shangguan News: In addition to "Water Town Jiangnan" and "Hill Jiangnan", are there also "Plain Jiangnan" and "Coastal Jiangnan"?

Oda: Starting from the natural ecological elements, the landscape plate of Gangnam is clear at a glance, and I prefer to call it "Water Town Jiangnan", "Hill Jiangnan" and "Island Beach Jiangnan". Cao Juren, a scholar of modern newspapers, noted that northern Zhejiang, western Zhejiang, and eastern Zhejiang belong to the same administrative system, but in fact they are "by no means the same." There are roughly three categories: Hangjia Lake in northern Zhejiang, located in the Taihu Lake Basin, and Shaoxing in eastern Zhejiang, located in the Qiantang River basin, belong to the same water town, "a reed can be navigated"; Ningbo along the seashore, belongs to the eastern island beach; the water flowing between the mountains in western Zhejiang is actually the upper reaches of the Qiantang River, originating in the Huangshan Mountains, so Huizhou and the western Zhejiang Mountains belong to the same type. In this way, northern Zhejiang enters the circle of Taihu Lake water towns, while the western part of Zhejiang and the southern part of Anhui constitute the "south of the hill", and the part of eastern Zhejiang obviously constitutes the "south of the island beach".

Tang Lixing (Professor of Shanghai Normal University): Jiangnan in the plains, Jiangnan along the coast, and Jiangnan in mountainous areas, or large and small Jiangnan, have long had close economic, social and cultural ties in ancient times. For example, the take-off of the commodity economy in Jiangnan in the middle of the Ming Dynasty and the growth of the budding of capitalism are the results of the linkage of the three plates.

This is embodied in the smuggling trade of Huizhou maritime merchants. Huizhou Zajia and handicraft workshop owners formed a pattern of "no emblem, no town", they produced, purchased, and sold all kinds of agricultural and sideline industries and handicraft products on the spot; Huizhou merchants transported silk, cotton, ironware, porcelain, books and other commodities that were in large demand overseas and were prohibited from being exported to the hands of maritime merchants in coastal areas, and were transferred by maritime merchants to Japan, Southeast Asia, and then shipped to Europe. In such a market development, the Jiangnan region has gradually entered the world market and trade system.

"Building and Enriching the Gangnam Identity"

Shangguan News: Ancient Shanghai "Musu, Yang Yufeng", modern Shanghai has become the "center of Jiangnan". Is this change an endogenous result, or is it a historical opportunity?

Luo Shijin: Shanghai's development into an international metropolis is a result of China's modernization process and an extreme of Jiangnan's development since the Ming and Qing dynasties. In this sense, there are endogenous factors. Shanghai, in the final analysis, is the Shanghai of Jiangnan. In modern times, "European wind and rain" has an important impact on shanghai's development, but from the perspective of the development process, it is difficult to talk about Shanghai without Jiangnan.

For example, the sources of capital, operators and even the main labor force of the national industry and commerce in modern Shanghai came from the surrounding areas; today's Shanghai dialect is a kind of Wu dialect. This is not only the reason for geographical identity, but also a manifestation of the overall consistency of the process of economic, social and cultural development.

Zou Zhenhuan (Professor of Fudan University): The relationship between Shanghai and Jiangnan can be said to be interdependent and mutually reinforcing.

For example, Suzhou, Changzhou, Jinling, Huzhou and Hangzhou in the Jiangnan region are the core areas where traditional bookstores gather. In the 1860s, due to the influence of the Taiping Rebellion and the introduction of advanced printing and publishing technology in the West, the resources of the traditional Jiangnan book industry gradually shifted to Shanghai. Many publishing institutions and book talents in Shanghai have moved in from the Jiangnan region, and Shanghai has become the center of the national book industry.

From similar cases, it can be seen more clearly that the rise of modern Shanghai has the influence of foreign forces, but it has benefited from the support of the surrounding areas on the basis, rather than relying solely on so-called foreign trade.

Oda: For another example, after the Opium War, Shanghai rose rapidly and walked in front of several other ports, of course, for a single reason, but one factor is obvious, that is, Shanghai relies on the hinterland of Jiangnan, where the traditional market economy is extremely developed.

Huzhou is a famous silk producing area. According to the location advantage of Huzhou Nanxun, seized the "big ship" in Shanghai and exported a large amount of raw silk. First of all, Nanxun Old Silk Shop "Xing Zhengmao" set up a branch in Shanghai, "Xun number to buy silk, Shen number out of silk, Xun Shen direct sales". Then, taking the "Xing Zhengmao" application as the starting point, the same business method was adopted, accumulating silk warp in Nanxun and selling it in Shanghai, opening up foreign trade channels step by step.

It can be seen that when it comes to the rise of modern Shanghai, we cannot ignore the villages in Jiangnan towns that are rich in various products. In particular, it cannot be ignored that they are in the developed Jiangnan river system, connecting rural villages inside and trade ports outside.

Feng Xianliang: Cities cannot be separated from the countryside, and the countryside is inseparable from the city. The relationship between urban and rural areas is not only a combination of interests, but also an inseparable whole. The integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta in the new era also needs to attach great importance to the linkage and integration of urban and rural development.

Shangguan News: From Yangzhou and Nanjing, to Suzhou, Hangzhou, Huizhou, and then to Ningbo and Shanghai, the Jiangnan municipal system has been repeatedly reorganized, but several major cities have been dividing labor and cooperating, coexisting and prospering. What kind of foundation has this laid for the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta in the new era, and what kind of enlightenment has it brought?

Ye Zhou (Associate Researcher, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences): In long-term economic life and social practice, Jiangnan people have long realized that they must break through regional boundaries, divide labor and cooperate, form a rational layout, fully develop, and do their best to make the best use of their talents.

By the Ming and Qing dynasties, the cities in Jiangnan had basically formed a huge urban agglomeration structure, and each city had its own characteristics. For example, Songjiang is a well-known cotton cloth industry center in the country, Suzhou and Wuxi are important rice markets and grain processing centers, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, etc. are important wine-making bases, and Hangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou or garment manufacturing centers, and so on.

The American scholar Shi Jianya summed it up this way: The remarkable thing about the example of the lower Reaches of the Yangtze River is that the regional urban system has been repeatedly reorganized, but none of the several large cities in the region have tended to decline.

Compared with other urban circles in China, the Yangtze River Delta urban circle has obvious advantages in terms of the economic foundation of the hinterland, the maturity of the urban agglomeration level, and the prosperity of the internal regional culture. This advantage is inseparable from the division of labor, cooperation, coexistence and common prosperity formed in the history of the Jiangnan urban agglomeration.

Feng Xianliang: Since the traditional Jiangnan region, there have been rich historical resources and cultural heritage, which is an important basis for the construction and enrichment of Jiangnan identity, including economic identity, political identity and cultural identity. Interpreting the Jiangnan municipal system and urban and rural structure has important reference value for promoting the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta.

Column Editor-in-Chief: Gong Danyun Text Editor: Xia Bin Caption Source: Xinhua News Agency Infographic Photo Editor: Xiang Jianying

Source: Author: Xia Bin Chen Junjun