Huang Tianji Chen Pingyuan talked about Lingnan culture: fierce and pragmatic, inclusive and integrated

Huang Tianji (right) and Chen Pingyuan (left) talk about Lingnan culture Guangdong People's Publishing House Courtesy of Guangdong People's Publishing House

Zhongxin Network Guangzhou, September 21 Title: Huang Tianji Chen Pingyuan Talks About Lingnan Culture: Fierce and Pragmatic, Inclusive and Blended

Author Cheng Jingwei Dong Fang

Huang Tianji, professor of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University, and president of the Ancient Chinese Opera Society, talked with Chen Pingyuan, Professor of the Liberal Arts Chair of Peking University, Distinguished Professor of the "Yangtze River Scholar" of the Ministry of Education, and Librarian of the Central Research Museum of Culture and History, and talked about the past and present life of Lingnan culture and looked forward to the broad future of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

From the perspective of regional culture, what position does Guangdong occupy? Chen Pingyuan agrees with Liang Qichao's relevant views in his article "The Position of Guangdong in World History". Chen Pingyuan said: "In terms of Chinese history, there are many areas that are much more important than Guangdong, and Guangdong does not seem to be important; but for Guangdong, which lives in Lingnan, it has become important in world history because of transportation, shipping, and opening up to the outside world." ”

Chen Pingyuan said that in addition to Guangdong, the geographical scope of Lingnan originally included Hong Kong, Macao, Guangxi and Hainan Island, and at present, when talking about Lingnan, it mainly refers to Guangdong, of which Cantonese culture occupies an advantage in the entire Lingnan culture. "The expressions of various books on Lingnan culture are different, but they generally contain qualities such as mercantilism, openness, compatibility, pluralism and intuitiveness."

Chen Pingyuan once pointed out in the article "How Lingnan Culture "Backgammon"" that Lingnan culture pays attention to practicality, pays less attention to pomp, is rational and low-key, flexible and flexible, does not appreciate "hanging on a tree", and does not pursue "not dying until the Yellow River".

In Chen Pingyuan's view, the style of the entire Guangdong and even the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, if summed up in one sentence, is "fierce and pragmatic". He said: "The key is 'and', fierce people are generally not practical, pragmatic people generally do not dare to take the lead, and Guangdong people have this characteristic - both fierce and pragmatic, the tension between the two makes this place can do some practical things."

"'Sheng' means to jump alive, and 'fierce' is not a mighty wind, not a very fierce meaning, but a very lively meaning." Huang Tianji added.

In addition to being fierce, Huang Tianji believes that Cantonese people also have a characteristic - calmness. "For some very serious problems, guangzhou people are not too afraid, while resisting the epidemic, while singing and dancing, do you see this wonderful?"

However, in Huang Tianji's view, the so-called "calm" sometimes evolves into "laziness", because "anyway, I can eat two meals, make a little money, do a little business, I am lazy." "In the same way, there is something wrong with being too fierce," some Cantonese people like to rub the edge ball, and sometimes it is easy to poke into the ground. He said.

From the perspective of Guangdong people's handling of affairs, Huang Tianji believes that Guangdong's characteristics are one of tolerance, and the other is integration. "Which province people come to Guangdong, there is no difference between the two, very tolerant, after coming, I don't feel that I am a foreigner."

As for the blending, Huang Tianji cited Guangzhou's and di congee as an example: "Put everything down, then it will be delicious." Inside the porridge, chicken offal, beef offal, fish fillets, miscellaneous is blended. Different nutrients, different tastes. ”

Huang Tianji believes that Guangdong can easily absorb foreign cultures, and the fusion of foreign cultures and traditional Chinese culture will become Lingnan culture. The fusion of East and West, the fusion of North and South, the fusion of East and West, the fusion of ancient and modern, this is the biggest difference between Guangdong and other provinces. (End)

Source: China News Network