Almost all of the world's historic cities are close to the river. As an important resource and environmental carrier, rivers maintain urban survival, affect urban style, and cultivate the aura of the city. The Hao River in Nantong is also such a river, and since the tenth century AD, it has embraced the political, economic and cultural center of the Nantong region. "Haohe Culture" is the core of Nantong's cultural location, the essence of the culture that has condensed for thousands of years, and the soul and identity of the city.
Nantong is located at the "end of the sea of the Jianghuai River", which is the result of the long geographical development of the Yangtze River estuary. The Haohe area is in the heart of today's Nantong City, and its history can be traced back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, when it was still a barbaric Jiangkou sandbar, historically known as "Hu Chu Zhou", which was connected to the mainland at the end of the Tang Dynasty. The first development here was the "displaced people" from the north and south of the world, who cultivated and made salt under harsh conditions. In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, there were "salt pavilions" and "wolf mountain town curbs" here, and there was a slow economic and social development.
Hao River
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the world was in chaos, and the two divided regimes in the north and south of the Yangtze River estuary had been facing each other across the river for decades, and the military importance of Nantong's geographical location of "coastal control of the river" was highlighted, and at the same time, out of the need to control the salt production resources along the coast, the construction of the city has become an inevitable choice. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, there was the Yao clique divided here, "XiuchengChiguan", before and after the fifth dynasty. After 958 AD, the Zhou army occupied this place, set up "Tongzhou", built the city of Zhaozhou, and the Hao River was officially formed.
Nantong Ancient City District
The site selection and construction of Nantong City is quite ingenious, it emphasizes the shape of mountains and rivers, and cares about feng shui and meteorology. They use the network of shuipo rivers formed during the development of the sandbar, and process it into a hao river to surround the city, there is a pond in the city, and the city river meanders, presenting a scene of a water city surrounded by water in the city. The city of Zhou faces the Yangtze River, with the front of the department as the center, showing a typical pattern of "square-shaped T-shaped street". This city shows the founding wisdom of nantong ancestors "the unity of heaven and man". The pattern of Nantong City pool laid down in the tenth century AD lasted for a thousand years.
The basic function of the Hao River is a city defense system composed of the city wall, and the Hao River is "extremely deep and wide, looking at the ocean, which is enough to be called a giant view", which has a great effect on protecting the city. However, Nantong is located in the middle of nowhere, "south of the river, northeast of the sea, scholars are rare", far from the political center, the economy is not yet developed. After the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the strategic position of Tongzhou was not valued by the soldiers, except for the wars at the end of the two Song Dynasties and the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the attacks of the Wokou, Nantong was in a state of peace and stability for a long time. In the Song Dynasty, it was known as "Huainan Taoist Temple", and the Ming and Qing dynasties were more known as "Chongchuan Fudi".
Night view of the Hao River
The Hao River is not only a moat, it also provides suitable conditions for urban life. The developed water system provided superior conditions for the development of agricultural production on the outskirts of the city, and during the Southern Song Dynasty, Jinghai County, where the prefecture was located, had become a "WangXian County". After the Ming Dynasty, the Tonghai Plain gradually became an important cotton-producing area, and the suburban soil cloth industry also developed. With the development of agricultural handicrafts, urban commerce gradually prospered, shops were distributed along the streets, and commercial markets with their own division of labor were formed at each city gate, river, bridge and dam. The developed rivers and alleys inside and outside the city provide residents with the convenience of water, boats, freight and sewage, and play a role in ecological regulation, which is called "human vein".
The regional character of "good as water"
More than a thousand years ago, the ancient ancestors of Nantong left their hometowns and gathered in this new land. The geographical conditions of the river and sea barrier, immigrants from different cultural backgrounds, the development of military tuns, the collective production mode of official salt labor, and various factors converge and intersect in this narrow area, fully blended, and together constitute the gene of "Haohe culture".
Nantong Tianning Temple
The harsh and dangerous environment in the early days of Nantong Chenglu shaped the hard-working, tenacious and troublesome character of the residents of Haohe, and also continued the psychology of reverence for natural creation and worship of ancestral gods. Religious beliefs and the worship of the gods have always flourished in Tongzhou. At the beginning of the founding of the city, there was already a Guangxiao Tianning Temple in the city, and the Taiping XingguoJiao Temple and the Xinghua Sect Temple in the Song Dynasty were built one after another, and they have been preserved to this day. By the Qing Dynasty, there were hundreds of temples and shrines of various kinds, and various witch plays such as the "Boys' Association" were all over the countryside.
"Good is like water, water is good for all things without dispute", Haohe culture has the distinctive characteristics of advocating harmony between people and people, and symbiosis between man and nature. Since ancient times, the ancestors of Haohe have adopted the social trend of being good and simple, having no quarrel with the world, and being poor and lightly profitable. History records that the Northern Song Dynasty Tongzhou "has many false courts, gaps in prison, and the pure wind of ancient times." The "Ming Dynasty" Tongzhou has a thick terroir, mellow folklore, and a Zhuwei Yang. The citizens of the city have lived comfortably for a long time and have cultivated their temperament of "soft and brittle sex and no hard work". Although the degree of commercialization of salt, cotton and cloth production in Nantong has been continuously improved, people's awareness of business is very indifferent, "businessmen do not wantonly, do not rush to the market, do not use women as the main store, soon customers are outside, only in the local trade migration."
Wenfeng Pagoda located on the banks of the Hao River
However, no matter how good and indisputable the ancestors of Nantong were, the advocacy and pursuit of "Confucianism" was still the mainstream of their spiritual culture. The Northern Song Dynasty Tongzhou began to build a state school, repair the Temple of Literature, Jinghai has a county school, and the Southern Song Dynasty set up a college. In terms of the imperial examination, the Northern Song Dynasty already had the praise of "LishiZhou", and passing the imperial examination to embark on the career path is the goal of Nantong readers. The people of Nantong did not hesitate to move the Zhuangwu camp to shoot stacks, dredge the city river, and build the Wenfeng Pagoda in Haobin to facilitate the "feng shui" of the scientific expedition and help the literary style flourish. On the banks of the Hao River, the family strings recite and the household poetry books, and the Nantong people have a long historical tradition of revering the culture and re-teaching.
The humanistic meaning of "wise man enjoying water"
Zhong Ling Yu Xiu, the beautiful Hao River nourished and inspired the cultural inspiration of Nantong people, and the Hao River has become a good place for local cultural atmosphere gathering, literati gathering, and cultural context continuation. "Haohe culture" is the core of Nantong's regional culture.
Aerial view of the Hao River
"The benevolent leshan, the wise enjoy the water". Since the Ming Dynasty, Nantong's literary style has become increasingly popular, and the Xiangxian Mokeya Gathering Society has built Zhumei Garden, Retreat Garden, Guanfang Garden, Yunshen Pavilion, Cangcui Garden, Stone Garden, Borrowing Water Garden and other forest garden annexes with the help of the Haohe River landscape, and the "Shanci Society", "Five Mountains Painting Society" and other societies have traveled with ink and ink. "The pavilion is jagged and victorious", Haohe has ushered in the wandering traces of celebrities such as Mao Xiang, Li Yu, Li Kun, Huang Shen, Zheng Banqiao, Yuan Ming, etc., and the literati of the past have left countless Han Mo Danqing, more than 400 kinds of Mingren works recorded in the Guangxu Tongzhou Zhi Yiwen, and 113 volumes of poems collected by the Chongchuan Poetry Collection. After the poetry was passed down, the family families included the Chen family of "Si Kou Yi Shu Shu Shan Poems", the Li family of the "Tenth Dynasty Yiguan Several Volumes of Poetry", the Fan Family whose poetry continued for thirteenth generations, and so on.
A corner of the North Hao River
The profound cultural celebrities on the banks of the Hao River are emerging in an endless stream. The "Orthodox Surgery" written by Chen Shigong, a famous doctor in the Ming Dynasty, is known as "the most detailed list of diseases and the most refined treatment", the reputation of Gu Yangqian, Fan Fengyi, Bao Zhuangxing, Hu Changling, and other literary sages has risen, and the three generations of grandchildren "Bai's Pipa" and Liu Jingting's book-reading art have shocked the whole country. In the Qing Dynasty, Nantong calligraphy and painting were more prosperous, Zhang Jing, Li Tang, Li Shan and other "Five Mountain Painting Society" yu Haobin, "Tongzhou Sanqian" landscape painting, "Tao Zhu Li Bai" calligraphy is famous, and one of the "Eight Monsters of Yangzhou" Li Fangyi and "Jiangnan Jiangbei Daoist" Ding Youyu's poetry and calligraphy have far-reaching influence. In the late Qing Dynasty, Nantong also included the epigraphers Feng Yunpeng and the Yunhu brothers, and experts in astronomical arithmetic Jiang Yu and Zhou Maoqi, and Fan Dangshi was recorded in the annals of Chinese literature as the main representative of the "same light body". Generations of cultural masters have continuously added heritage and color to haohe.
Since the nineteenth century, with the decline of water transport and salt transport, especially the destruction of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the economy and society in the center of Weiyang culture and Wu culture tended to be depressed, and the Culture of The Shanghai School sprang up. At this time, Nantong seized the opportunity to stand on its own two feet in the gap between the strong cultures around it, and realized the promotion of "Haohe Culture".
Nantong Club
The promotion of "Haohe culture" is the result of local economic development. The modern sages of Nantong, represented by Zhang Xiao, with the goal of strengthening the country and enriching the people, vigorously introduced advanced production methods and scientific culture, hoping to explore a model that can be emulated for China's progress with Nantong's "local autonomy". Since 1895, the modern industrial civilization represented by Dasheng Textile Company has combined with the traditional soil cloth industry and cotton planting industry to produce a huge "joint effect", and the local economy of Nantong has risen rapidly, and its influence covers the vast Jiangbei Huainan, and Nantong City has the status of a regional center, "as if there is a phenomenon of being the capital of the Jiangbei area".
The promotion of "Haohe culture" is the result of Nantong's urban development. Since 1902, dozens of cultural and educational, transportation and water conservancy, financial and trade, charity and public welfare institutions and various municipal facilities have been built on the banks of the Nanhao River, and the functions of the city in the modern sense have become increasingly complete. "HaonanYuan is lush and lush, the wind and things are new and new", the shores of the Hao River gradually erect tall Western-style buildings such as Chengnan Beiye, Haonan Beiye, General Chamber of Commerce Building, Huaihai Industrial Bank, etc., these architectural landscapes not only change the urban style, but also make people feel that a new era is coming.
Zhang Xiao (4th from left) poses with Mei Lanfang (3rd from right) and Ouyang Yuqian (3rd from left).
The promotion of "Haohe culture" is the result of the intersection and gathering of Chinese and Western civilizations. The openness and inclusiveness of Haohe culture has attracted a large number of celebrities and scholars and dozens of foreign experts to teach. Drama masters Mei Lanfang and Ouyang Yuqian performed on the same stage in the more vulgar theater, Shen Shou's "imitation embroidery" won the World Exposition Grand Prize, Xu Lisun and Shao Dasu brought back the "Mei'an" guqin from the Nanjing Master, and Chen Hengke and Li Kuoli brought the "Haipai" calligraphy and painting art. Famous groups such as the "Su Society" and the "Chinese Science Society", as well as Chinese and foreign celebrities such as Dewey, Liang Qichao, Wang Guowei, Huang Yanpei, and Tao Xingzhi, flocked to the Hao River to gather and visit, leaving countless words of praise.
Shen Shou (back row, 10th from right) poses with teachers and students of the Female Red Transmission Institute
The promotion of "Haohe culture" is the result of cultural consciousness and pursuit. Nantong Normal, Women's Normal, Primary and Secondary Schools, and specialized schools in textiles, agriculture, medicine, and commerce are cultivating new-type intellectuals and professionals; cultural facilities such as the Han molin Printing And Book Bureau, the Museum Garden, the Library, the More Vulgar Theater, the Women's Red Transmission Institute, and the Linggong Society are popularizing scientific knowledge; and a number of influential and progressive literary and artistic societies such as the New Folk Drama Society, the Little Drama Society, and the Youth Drama Art Society, as well as a number of talented literary and artistic young people, such as Gu Minyuan, Shi Bai, Xu Jingbai, and Jiangcun, have also sprung up along the HaoHe River. In the past hundred years, Xu Yixiu, Sun Zhixia, Wang Geyi, Zhi Wei, Wei Jiangong, Yuan Hanqing, Zhao Dan, Wang Ling, Zao Wou-ki, Yang Le and others have gone from the HaoHe River to the whole country and the world.
Tongzhou Normal School
HanMerin Printed Book
In modern Times, Nantong has formed a strong cultural centripetal force centered on Haohe, and people advocate the spiritual concept of hard work and self-reliance, hard work, innovation, tolerance and self-confidence, integrity and dedication, which has injected new factors into the "Haohe Culture" and is a comprehensive innovation of "Haohe Culture".
The years do not live, the seasons are like a stream. The Hao River has flowed quietly for a thousand years, and it is one of the few complete moats that have been preserved nationwide. Nowadays, the functions of urban defense, water supply, sewage discharge, and shipping in the history of haohe have gradually receded, and the functions of tourism, landscape value, ecology and culture have been continuously enlarged. Haohe has become the carrier of Nantong's urban memory, and she always evokes the local belonging and cultural identity of the citizens, satisfying their psychology of being close to and returning to nature. At the same time, Haohe river is an ideal space for Chinese and foreign guests to know Nantong and feel Nantong, and is the most distinctive urban feature and symbol of Nantong. Today, more than a dozen museums have been built around her, and in 2012, it was awarded the National Aaaaa Level Scenic Tourism Zone. Nantong has the reputation of "the hometown of culture and culture" and "the hometown of education" because of the Haohe River, and has successively won the honors of National Historical and Cultural City, National Civilized City, National Environmental Protection Model City, National Garden City, and China's Excellent Tourism City.
Nantong Museum
Scenery of the Hao River
When most of China's cities are presented to the world with the attitude of "a thousand cities and one side", Nantong has carefully created urban characteristics represented by "Haohe culture", which not only avoids the mediocrity of the city, but also has a profound impact on the sustainable development of Nantong. "Haohe culture" is the charm of Nantong and is a well-deserved urban cultural business card.
Text Editor: Yu Xiaohui
Art Editor: Shen Jie
Author: Zhao Mingyuan
Introduction: Graduated from the Department of History of Nanjing University in 1988. He is currently the full-time vice chairman of the Nantong Municipal Committee of the China Democratic League, a member of the Standing Committee of the Nantong Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a director of the Jiangsu Provincial Local History Society, a vice president of the Nantong Historical Society, a vice president of the Jianghai Cultural Research Association, and a special researcher of the Zhang Xiao Research Institute of Nantong University. Main editors: "Nantong Haohe Culture", "Trade and Trade Spirit" and so on.
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