Lingnan culture is an organic part of the long and splendid China culture. The data unearthed from the site of Lingnan ancestors prove that Lingnan culture is primitive culture. Lingnan culture is based on the unique geographical environment and historical conditions, with agricultural culture and marine culture as its source. In the course of its development, it constantly absorbs and integrates Central Plains culture and overseas culture, and gradually forms its own unique characteristics.
Geographically, Lingnan culture can be divided into three parts: Guangdong culture, Guangxi culture and Hainan culture.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the three cultures of Lingnan merged with each other, and Lingnan culture really had its own independent style and spirit, which was different from the southern culture. After the formation of Lingnan culture, it developed in an all-round way in politics, philosophy, scholarship, art, economy, craft and life, and reached its peak in the late Qing Dynasty.
Since modern times, Lingnan has become an important bridge for cultural exchanges between China and the West, and various cultural thoughts are intertwined into colorful pictures. Lingnan culture has become the forerunner of China's political, ideological and cultural revolution and development. From Hong Xiuquan's jintian uprising, Kang Liang's political reform, He Ziyuan's educational innovation to the democratic revolution led by Sun Yat-sen, Lingnan culture has always been an important representative and leading force of China's modern political revolution. The essence of Lingnan cultural spirit in this period is fighting spirit, revolutionary spirit and innovative spirit.
Since then, the founding of New China, reform and opening up, and rapid economic development have provided conditions for the revival of China's local culture. In 1970s and 1980s, Guangdong entered the new culture period, and the soaring economy combined with Lingnan-style Cantonese culture and lifestyle formed the modern stage of Lingnan culture.
As one of the centers of Lingnan culture, Guangzhou has a long history. From 4000 to 5000 years ago in the Neolithic Age, there was Baiyue culture before the city was built, and there was the integration of Chinese and Vietnamese cultures and the integration of Chinese and Western cultures after the city was built. Constantly formed its own unique style and distinctive regional cultural characteristics. From archaeological relics to documentary records, from historic site culture, architectural culture, folk culture, garden culture, commercial culture, religious culture to various cultures and arts, there is an open humanistic consciousness, especially innovative consciousness, commercial consciousness, pragmatic consciousness and civilian consciousness, which embodies Guangzhou people's ideas of openness, compatibility and reform. Traditional culture and arts, from Cantonese, Cantonese opera, Guangdong music, Guangdong Quyi, Lingnan calligraphy, Lingnan painting school, Lingnan poetry, Lingnan architecture, Lingnan bonsai and Lingnan crafts to Lingnan folk customs and Lingnan food culture, all reflect the rich connotation and unique and colorful local characteristics of Lingnan culture. Although judging from the history of Lingnan civilization, Shaoguan in northern Guangdong and Chaoshan in eastern Guangdong benefited from the southward migration of Jiangxi School and the westward migration of Fujian Studies, and were briefly the cultural centers of Guangdong in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Gaozhou area in western Guangdong was once the political center of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, but since the Sui Dynasty, Guangzhou, as the capital of Guangdong, like other provinces, has begun to establish its position as a political, economic and cultural center that other governments cannot shake.