■ Wei Minghua
At the beginning of 1981, I was transferred from Nanjing back to Yangzhou to work. A year later, in the spring of 1982, Yangzhou was fortunate to become one of the first historical and cultural cities in the country announced by the State Council. Fate doomed me to form an indissoluble relationship with the famous city of Yangzhou, and for forty years, I will not abandon it.
Looking back over the past forty years, we find that our understanding of the famous city of Yangzhou is actually deepening. At first, we only saw dotted gardens and ancient buildings, and then gradually paid attention to linear old streets and flaky ancient cities; then, we paid attention to the intangible Yangzhou heritage from the material Yangzhou heritage; in recent years, we have only based ourselves on Yangzhou, looked at the whole of China and the world, and put Yangzhou in a larger scope such as the Chinese Canal and the Silk Road. In this way, we have truly entered our homeland step by step - Yangzhou.
In the past forty years, I have also done some things that are beneficial to Yangzhou.
The first is to write some articles and books, and to initiate Yangzhou Studies. My work in Yangzhou was first artistic creation, then drama teaching, and finally cultural research. During this period, my attention to the history and culture of Yangzhou ran through the entire forty years of my life in Yangzhou. Over the years, I have published dozens of books about Yangzhou. Among them, there are opera research, such as "Yangzhou Opera History", "Yangzhou Quyi History", "Yangzhou Kunqu Art", "Yangzhou Qingqu Art", etc.; special research, such as "Yangzhou Skinny Horse", "Two Huai Salt Merchants", "Wind and Dust Have Not Returned guests - Biography of Yangzhou Eight Monsters", "Family Style - Rambling Yangzhou Modern Famous Gate", etc.; comprehensive research, such as "Yangzhou Culture Talk Film", "Yangzhou Dynasty Sage Officials", "Twenty-Four Bridges Bright Moon Night", "Where Jade People Teach Blowing Flutes", "Luoyang Early Summer Guangling Spring - Intercity Cultural Comparison", etc. The task of Yangzhou Studies is to reflect on the old culture on the one hand and build a new culture on the other hand. Our generation must, on the one hand, cherish and preserve the exquisite antiques left by our ancestors, so that they can continue to play the function of art appreciation and historical witness, and on the other hand, we must construct a material culture and spiritual culture suitable for the way of life of contemporary people in new time and space. I am pleased to see that Yangzhou Studies is being accepted by more and more people, and has made great progress.
The second is to protect some important buildings in the ancient city. I have served as a member of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Yangzhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and every year I put forward proposals on cultural construction and the protection of ancient cities. Some proposals were prepared in advance and some were provisionally moved. The most important proposals were on the protection of Wu Daotai Mansion and the Junti Temple and the restoration of Wenhui Pavilion. In May 2006, Wu Daotai House was listed as a national key cultural relics protection unit. In May 2018, Zhunti Temple was upgraded to a cultural relics protection unit in Jiangsu Province. Here's my share of the effort.
Third, we have done something in terms of foreign exchanges. In early 1981, I returned to Yangzhou from Nanjing, and my first job was to study Yangzhou Qingqu. Coincidentally, I happened to see an article in the magazine by Professor Hatano Taro, a Japanese scholar, talking about Yangzhou Nanyin. Under the guidance of Professor Chen Ruheng of the Shanghai Theater Academy, my correspondence with Hatano Taro continued for several years. He was a famous Sinologist in Japan, older than my father. One of the words he repeatedly said in the letter was that he wanted to "come back to the land of Hongqiao and listen to the book of drums", that is, to relive the old dream of Yangzhou. Since then, I have established contacts with foreign friends such as Ms. Yi Debo, a Norwegian scholar who studies Yangzhou commentaries, Mr. Jinichi Sakata, a Japanese scholar who cares about Guangling piano studies, Dr. Antonia, an Australian scholar who explores the history of Yangzhou, Dr. Mel Qing, an American scholar who visited Yangzhou's famous places, and Professor An Ruluan, a Swiss scholar who has extensively dabbled in The literature of Yangzhou in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In 2015, Foreign Languages Publishing House published my book "Dreaming of Yangzhou Again" with Spanish writer Ms. Tiana Guco. The title of the book "Dreaming of Yangzhou Again" comes from Zheng Banqiao's words: "When I dream of Yangzhou, I think of Yangzhou dream of me." "The Yangzhou Dream seems to be a beautiful dream recognized by ancient and modern China and foreign countries.
Because of my strong interest in the history of Sino-foreign exchanges, I have been immersed in the collection and play of historical materials in Yangzhou and the world in recent years, and I have also published several books. What I think is still worth mentioning is "The Wind Comes from all directions: A History of Yangzhou's Foreign Exchanges". The book is divided into five chapters, including "East and Westward Journey", "Study Abroad and Preaching", "In the Domain and Outside the Domain", "Foreign Affairs and Western Building", and "Nanyang and Beiming". "The World Discovers Yangzhou", the six chapters of the book are "The Sound of the Waves Is Still There - Spring and Autumn to Sui Yangzhou", "Silk Road Jinfan - Tang to Song Yangzhou", "Ancient Yi Qingfen - Yuan to Ming Yangzhou", "Painting FangQi Dream - Yangzhou from the Early Qing Dynasty to the Middle Of the Middle", "The Long Song of the Troubled World - Yangzhou from the Late Qing Dynasty to the Beginning of the People's Republic", "Picturesque Lakes and Mountains - Yangzhou of the Republic of China to the Present". "Silk Road Hundred Cities Series • Yangzhou Biography" is one of my latest books, divided into eight chapters: "Yangzhou to the World", "The World Discovers Yangzhou", "East Asian Cultural Capital", "World Famous Food City", "Red Dust and Green History Figures", "Hometown World Circulation", "City Style Silhouette", "Old Streets and Deep Alleys New Wind".
Forty without confusion. I wish my hometown Yangzhou more and more beautiful!
About the Author:
A first-class writer, a contemporary cultural celebrity commended by the Yangzhou Government, and a mentor of Yangzhou Famous Teacher Studio. He has published seventy books. He has won the National Book Award, the East China Book Award, the East China Tianhan Drama Theory Award, and the Peony Theory Award, the highest award in Chinese opera art
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Editor: Ding Ying
【Source: Yangzhou Evening News】
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