The style of the Xuzhou section of the Grand Canal. Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Xuzhou Municipal Party Committee
The Jining section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is full of ships and goods. Photo by Yang Guoqing
Nanxun Ancient Town, Huzhou City, overlooks. Photo by Lu Qinqin
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the successful inscription of China's Grand Canal on the World Heritage List. On June 22, 2014, China's Grand Canal was successfully inscribed on the World Heritage List at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee.
The Millennium Canal runs through the north and south, through ancient and modern times, inheriting Chinese civilization and promoting economic and social development and exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. In recent years, cities along the canal have continued to strengthen the protection, inheritance and utilization of the Grand Canal culture, so that the spirit of the canal will last for a long time. In this issue, a reporter from China City Daily walked into the important cities along the Grand Canal, Jining City, Shandong Province, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, and Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, to explore the "city story" of the harmonious coexistence of man and water.
Jining City, Shandong Province: Canal cultural signs are integrated into daily life
Jining City is located in the canal traffic artery, "water and land converge, north and south", "south of Jianghuai, north to Yanyou". The Jining section of the Grand Canal is known as the "Canal Capital", and the most advanced and well-known water conservancy project on the Grand Canal - Nanwang Water Distribution Hub, known as the "Northern Dujiangyan".
As the "City of Canals", how can Jining City, Shandong Province, strengthen the protection of the canal and tell the story of the canal?
A reporter from China City Daily learned that there are 3 world cultural heritage sections in the Jining section of the Grand Canal, namely the Huitong Nanwang hub section, the Xiaowen River, and the Weishan section of the Huitong River; There are also 9 world cultural heritage sites such as Xingtong Doumen, Xu Jiankou Doumen, and Shili Gate.
In order to inherit the protection of canal cultural relics, Jining City adheres to integrity and innovation, implements the cultural relics protection and revitalization project, and takes the lead in promoting the transformation of cultural relics from rescue protection to preventive protection in the country. In recent years, Rencheng District of Jining City has continued to build the "Canal Memory" project, covering the national key cultural relics protection unit Dongda Temple, the provincial cultural relics protection unit Taibai Tower, Tianjing Gate, as well as the original monuments, ancient streets and ancient trees of the old canal, with a total area of about 11 square kilometers and a water area of about 3.2 hectares.
As a traditional block, Zhugan Lane in Rencheng District can be called the epitome of Jining canal culture. Don't go to Bamboo Pole Lane, come to Jining City in vain. In the past, because of the many bamboo products, it was named Bamboo Pole Lane, and now you can still see the craftsmen who sell cage drawers, bamboo mats, and bamboo baskets. Zhang Bucai is the person who sells cage drawers in Bamboo Pole Alley. After decades in the industry, Zhang Bucai's shop has moved seven or eight times, but he has never left Zhugan Lane. From only selling bamboo cages and bamboo drawers in the past, to now all kinds of kitchen utensils are readily available, the products are rich, but they are only within the scope of their own specialized business.
The special cuisine of the north and the south has also left roots in the lives of Rencheng people. Less than 300 meters away from Zhang Bucai's shop, Linjiawan fish stew is a common fast food born by the canal, and it is a daily delicacy that locals will never forget. The opening of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal has not only brought prosperity to commerce, but also made river fresh food more accessible.
"Fish stew with topbread is served by the portion, it is cheap, convenient and fast, and it is loved by most people." Li Zhi, the owner of Linjiawan fish stew, said that fish stew is like a number of treasures, fish is stewed, and you can eat it when you come, this kind of "canal fast food" can meet the needs of the people working in the prosperous period of the old canal, and can also let the people living in the fast-paced world "come and eat" to trigger the memory of taste buds.
Nowadays, with the holding of the Jining Canal Cultural Festival and the construction of canal theme parks, museums and heritage parks, Jining City has awakened the memory of the canal in people's hearts through a series of cultural inheritance and protection actions, so that the ancient canal culture can continue and carry forward in the modern society.
Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province: The boatman's horn strings together the canal context
As the origin province of the Grand Canal and the only key construction area of the Grand Canal National Cultural Park, the Jiangsu section of the Grand Canal has the longest navigable mileage, the richest historical and cultural relics, and the broadest coverage area.
The Xuzhou section of the Grand Canal is the northernmost section of the Jiangsu section of the Grand Canal, accounting for one-fifth of the total length of the province. It is understood that the Xuzhou section of the Grand Canal is rich in cultural resources and heritage resources, integrating Chu and Han cultures, Su Shi cultures, Caoyun cultures, hydraulic cultures, folk cultures, business cultures, red culture and other cultural forms.
In Pizhou City, Xuzhou City, the Grand Canal has been flowing endlessly for thousands of years, and Pizhou has also been shipping and shipping for thousands of years. In order to unify the pace, the boatmen who worked together shouted a rhythmic trumpet, and the precious canal heritage - "Pizhou Canal Boatman's Horn" was born.
"Pull up the vine, yo ......" "I'll pull on the boat, work harder......" Gazing at the ancient canal water, the distant boatman's horn seems to echo in the historical space, word by word, loud and melodious. The noisy wharf, the wooden ships weaving back and forth, the boatmen's horns and the handling horns one after another...... These became the memories of the older generation.
The inheritor of the Pizhou Canal Boatman, a municipal intangible cultural heritage project in Xuzhou, said that "the slender man is shirtless, and the scholar reads hard", and pulling fiber is undoubtedly hard, but fortunately, there is a number, which can convey the power of inspiration. The boatman's horn has no fixed lyrics, and the tune is either melodious or high-pitched and powerful, and the lyrics are generally sung with things. Singing over the mountains, singing when encountering water, touching the scene, singing and arranging, and even the whole paragraph is full of onomatopoeia, which vividly reflects the living conditions, labor scenes and inner world of the boatmen.
How to keep the boatman's horn down? How to better convey the hard work in the trumpet and carry forward the spirit of the times of the shipwright's trumpet?
Shi Changqing, 66 years old this year, has insisted on the research and protection of the canal trumpet culture for many years. In the face of the fact that there are fewer and fewer old people around him who can sing the trumpet, Shi Changqing visited the old boatmen in the past, visited the old wharf, sorted out the trumpets in their mouths into recordings, supplemented and perfected them bit by bit, scrutinized and pondered word by word, and the rhythm of the chapters of "The Boatman's Trumpet" was gradually awakened from the hazy memories of the old boatmen.
In the interview, many music lovers said that although the boatman's horn has lost its vitality, the boatman's fighting spirit embodied in the music is worthy of protection and inheritance; It is recommended that the trumpet be arranged into theatrical productions, or combined with pop music, in a way that is more acceptable to more young people, and pass on the boatman's trumpet.
Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province: The canal butterfly has been revitalized
Since the Eastern Jin Dynasty after generations of development, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, Nanxun land everywhere rice, wheat mulberry hemp, the pond canal traverses the east and west, the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal runs through the north and south, forming a criss-crossed, dense like a spider web of the Jiangnan Canal water system, along Henan Xun, Lianshi, Shuanglin, Linghu, Digang, Shanlian six ancient towns should be "transported" and born.
At the new starting point of the 10th anniversary of the successful application of the Grand Canal in China as a World Heritage Site, the Nanxun section of the Grand Canal, which consists of a 1.6-kilometer old road in Ditang and a small town in Nanxun, has attracted widespread attention.
Coming from the depths of history, the ancient canal town is full of new vitality. This year, Huzhou City issued the "Regulations on the Promotion of the Construction of Huzhou Ecological Civilization Model City", which clearly states that it is necessary to promote ecological culture and promote the protection and construction of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt.
In order to make the ancient canal change in the protection and inheritance, Nanxun District of Huzhou City has deeply implemented the Grand Canal Ancient Town Cluster Revitalization Project, and accelerated the creation of landmark achievements in the cultural revival of the Grand Canal in the new era. The Grand Canal Historical and Cultural District of Lianshi Town, Nanxun District, uses the grain station and cocoon station of the original Lianshi Town to build a new business format with grain and silkworm culture as the core; Shuanglin Ancient Town has revitalized and utilized silk and opera cultures, Cai Zhai, Zhou Wenqing Art Museum and other projects have been implemented one after another, and music festivals have been held in the village, parent-child camps, rice and shrimp bases, children's museum island research bases, etc., which are highly sought after by parent-child tourists in the Yangtze River Delta......
At the same time, Nanxun District also relies on think tank platforms such as the Nanxun Culture Research Association to pay attention to the protection of cultural relics, the restoration of ancient towns along the river, and the activation and presentation of excellent traditional cultural products such as lake pens, fish mulberry, silk, and silk. Located at the head of the four treasures of Chinese scholars, the lake pen was conceived and produced in the rich canal cultural environment of Huzhou. For thousands of years, generations of pen workers have poured the beauty of life into Mao Ying, making the lake pen more delicate and spiritual.
"In the production of lake pens, the water basin and the selection of the pen is the top priority, the water basin worker from the wool to the model of the pen drawing, the pen selection worker will re-process the pen bit finely, and make the standardization of the brush head." Yang Songyuan, a master of Chinese pen-making art, introduced that the whole process needs to go through 8 major processes and more than 120 small processes, and a pure handmade lake pen can be completed.
In order to make the lake pen glow with "new vitality" in innovation, Yang Songyuan moved important processes such as "water basin" and "pen selection" into the live broadcast room of Gongfu Lake Pen, interacted with the audience in real time, and explained the essentials of production. More and more people also know Hubi through the live broadcast room of Hubi, understand the traditional skills of canal intangible cultural heritage, and join the team of the pen-making industry. "I want to pass on what I have learned all my life to the younger generation, so that the skills of the lake pen will be passed on from generation to generation." Yang Songyuan said.
■China City Daily reporter Hu Anhua