Recently, the second season of the large-scale historical and cultural documentary "China" is being broadcast on Mango TV and Hunan Satellite TV. The documentary "China" by Shanghai People's Publishing House and Xuelin Publishing House has also been listed at the same time. Tonight's sixth episode, "Monsoon," is about the ming dynasty's thriving publishing industry, seeing how China's cultural traditions continue to persist and how China has gradually opened its window to the world.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Yikui, a professor at Hangzhou Province, received an important task - to compile the Hangzhou Fu Zhi. In order to complete the task, he decided to go out of the study hall and go deep into the folk to carefully observe and record the city. At that time, Hangzhou's commerce was developed, and there were many textile workshops, and the weavers in the workshops were happy although they were bitter. Therefore, based on what he saw and heard in the life of weavers, he wrote the famous article "Weaver Pair", which recorded the development of the silk weaving industry in the Ming Dynasty, and also preserved a unique sample for the commercial society, so that future generations could truly feel the vivid historical picture. Xu Yikui has always actively linked with reality, observed the changes in the world in the city, and has not given up the writing and expression of individuals, so that the cultural map of the ming dynasty's pluralistic coexistence can be passed on with the help of his words and ideas.
In 1413, a young man named Ma Huan ushered in the first voyage of his life, and it was Zheng He who led the fleet. Zheng He, full of ambition, with the curiosity of the entire Chinese nation about the world, and his fleet began the fourth magnificent voyage. Zheng He's fleet was filled with Chinese porcelain, silk, tea and other supplies in exchange for spices, dyes, jewelry and other products abundant in the West. Ma Huan, the translator, suddenly had a thought, he wanted to record this rare adventure with a pen.
Zheng He's seven voyages to the West are undoubtedly a feat of the times. But there are few records in the official archives of the Ming Dynasty, and Zheng He himself has not written about it. Ma Huan compiled the observations and feelings on the way to the sea into "Yingya Victory", allowing Chinese to see the vast world. The prologue to the age of global navigation was written by Ma Huan, allowing China and the world to tie up the bond of interconnection.
Among the many speakers, Xu Xiake is particularly unique, at the age of 22, he left his hometown, measured the magnificent mountains and rivers under his feet with actions, and at the same time, from the perspective of geology and geography, he used his life to write a Chinese version of the "Book of the Earth" "Xu Xiake's Travels" to record the great era blown by this monsoon for future generations.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, commercial publications were unprecedentedly prosperous, and anecdotal engravings became popular, and a number of scientific works that were comparable to the world, such as Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica", Song Yingxing's "Heavenly Works and Open Things", Wu Yousheng's "Theory of Plague", Pan Jitao's "River Defense -- Overview", and Tu Benyi's "Minzhonghai Faults" were published one after another. With the help of commercial publishing methods, the most outstanding achievements of the Ming Dynasty have been preserved and disseminated, and China has left a strong imprint on the history of world science and technology.
Text/Guangzhou Daily, Xinhua City Reporter: Moschig
Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Dai Yujing