Jingchu culture, named after Chu State and Chu people, is a regional culture that rose in Jianghan Basin from the Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period.
The rise of Jingchu tribe
Chu, also known as Jingchu, why was this country called "Chu" in the Spring and Autumn Period? "Chu" was originally the name of a shrub, also known as "Jing", which is very common in the mountains and forests of Jianghan Basin in the south. Can be used for firewood and other purposes, people can not do without it. Therefore, as early as the Shang Dynasty, the northern Zhongyuan people used Jingchu to refer to the southern region and southern tribes in Jianghan Basin. For example, in the Book of Songs, there was a saying that "Wei Nv Jingchu lived in the south". However, the main body of Chu people is not the indigenous people in Jianghan Valley, but a branch of Zhu Rong tribe who originally lived in the north (Chu people took Zhu Rong as their ancestor). This tribe moved to Jianghan Valley, and constantly merged with the surrounding aborigines (descendants of Jiuli and Sanmiao) to develop into a powerful Jingchu clan.
Jingchu tribe also absorbed advanced Shang culture in the confrontation with the northern Shang Dynasty, creating favorable conditions for its own development. In the early years of the Zhou Dynasty, the Jingchu people who took refuge in the King of Zhou got the support of the Central Plains Dynasty, thus establishing their own country. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Chu has grown rapidly, especially in Chu Zhuangwang, and it has annexed many small countries around it and become a big country.
Chu culture of restraining before promoting.
Chu is a historical regional concept, centering on the whole of Hubei and northern Hunan, and expanding to some extent. When the Yanhuang tribe in the north was creating the Central Plains civilization, the Jiuli tribe in the south also rose in Jianghan Basin, creating early Chu cultures such as Daxi culture and Qujialing culture. However, with the defeat of Jiuli tribe by Yanhuang tribe and the conquest of Sanmiao tribe by the more powerful Central Plains tribe in the later period, Chu culture gradually declined. Another reason why Chu culture and the Central Plains are backward is that in mountainous Shui Ze in Jianghan Valley, clans and tribes can't change from gathering, fishing and hunting to agriculture and animal husbandry as quickly as in the Central Plains. This slow development of productive forces correspondingly limits the speed of cultural development. Therefore, when the slave countries such as Xia and Shang dynasties appeared in the north, the Chu state in the south remained in the primitive patriarchal society, and the scattered clans and tribes were constantly oppressed and conquered by the forces of the Central Plains. However, it was in this wild background that lasted for thousands of years that the Chu nationality and its subsequent Chu gradually bred and developed, and became the center of tribal integration in southern China at that time. By virtue of its unique climate and geographical location, Chu people combined the Central Plains culture with the local culture in the south and created a unique Chu culture.
Chu Ci, a wonderful work of Chu culture
The name "Chuci" originated from the Western Han Dynasty. It has two meanings: first, the name of poetic style refers to a poetic carrier created by Chu poets such as Qu Yuan at the end of the Warring States period on the basis of Chu folk languages and folk songs; The second is the name of the poetry collection. The works of Qu Yuan, Song Yu and others, and the simulated works of later generations were collected by Liu Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty and named Chu Ci. As Qu Yuan is the pioneer of Chu Ci, his works are the most representative in both quality and quantity. All the Chu Ci mentioned by later generations are Qu Yuan's masterpiece Li Sao, and they are often referred to as "Sao" or "Li Sao".
The emergence of Chu Ci is inseparable from the unique folk customs of Chu. In Jianghan water town, folk witchcraft prevails, and local customs still worship songs and dances, which is different from Chu folk songs in the Central Plains and has been circulating in this area for a long time. These factors are the basis of Chu Ci. The Book of Songs is a collection of folk songs from the early Zhou Dynasty to the mid-Spring and Autumn Period. Although it has been widely collected for more than 500 years, there are almost no folk songs of Chu (probably because Chu has always been regarded as a barbarian by the Central Plains Dynasty, and Chu dialect is difficult to be accepted by the Central Plains people). ), but only from the few Chu Ci preserved in the ancient books of all parties, its connotation is rich, its narrative lyric is extremely romantic, and its influence on Chu Ci is far-reaching.
Chu Ci is regarded as the source of China's romantic literature, which has a more direct influence on later Han Fu. "Writing Chu language, Chu sound, gathering Chu land and making famous Chu utensils", together with other Chu culture essences, has built a magnificent and peculiar Chu culture.
Jingchu culture is an important part of Chinese national culture, with a long history, extensive and profound, distinctive regional characteristics and great economic and cultural development value.
Chu culture and Jingchu culture belong to the same concept, and both refer to the cultural entities and forms created by Chu people and Chu State and precipitated for a long time. What we are talking about here is the same concept, because there is no distinction between Jing and Chu in history. Jing, Chu or Jingchu, as a specific title, has been used for more than three thousand years. For example, "Poetry, Shang Fu, Yanwu" said: "Wei daughter Jingchu lives in the south of the Yangtze River." This is the collective name of "Jingchu", where Jing is in front and Chu is behind. The chronicles of bamboo books say: "In the sixteenth year of Wang Zhao, Jing Chu cut." Here is the collective name, Chu is in front and Jing is behind. According to Chunqiu, Duke Zhuang of Lu (693-66 1) used to be called Jing, but since the first year (659-627) it was renamed Chu. From this point of view, Jing or Chu, Jing and Chu or together, mean the same thing, and there seems to be no big difference. To the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xu Shen explained the classics in Shuo Wen Jie Zi: "Chu Mu also follows the sound of punishment." Chu Shi: "The leaves of a bush are a Ye Jing." In this way, Jingshan, Jingchu, Jingzhou and Jingchu were unified and formed a systematic and complete concept. Therefore, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, Confucius said in Justice in the Spring and Autumn Period and Zuo Zhuan: "Jing and Chu are two, so I think the country name is also two." Shen Kuo's "Meng Qian Bi Tan" also said: "Jing is Chu, and Chu is also an alias." At this point, Jingchu has become an established practice, and it has become a unique title of Chu nationality, Chu state and Jingchu area. Of course, there are other sayings in history, such as the legend of Mao in the Book of Songs and Shang Dynasty: "Jingchu is also the Chu State of Jingzhou." Another example is Yan Shigu's note in Han Gao Di Ji: "Qin Zhuang's surname is Chu, so it was changed." But no matter what kind of statement, Jingchu has already merged into one, and it will never be completely separated. As a culture created by Chu people, it has been passed down in Jingchu for a long time, and it is of course called Chu culture or Jingchu culture. It is obviously unscientific to think that Chu culture refers exclusively to Chu culture and Jingchu culture refers to Jingchu regional culture from ancient times to the present, that is, it refers to Chu culture and all the time and space cultures here. Culture is inherited, its origin is changing, and it is a trickle. Although Chu is dead, culture is not dead. Today, we trace the source, observe its flow, examine its flow, explore its source, study Jingchu culture from the perspective of time and space, and strive to serve the construction of modern civilization. This conforms to the requirements of historical materialism, but it cannot be said that this is Jingchu culture itself. Chu culture or Jingchu culture is an independent cultural form, with its own connotation and attributes, and its interdependent and interactive scientific system. We can't call the culture of any period in Jingchu area Chu culture or Jingchu culture.
The connotation of Chu culture or Jingchu culture can be summarized from the angle that everyone is used to accepting at present, which can include material culture, spiritual culture, social system culture, folk culture and so on. This generalization only lists the contents of Jingchu culture, and never studies the essential implication of Jingchu culture from the perspective of culturology.
In the material culture of Chu, it should include agriculture, handicrafts, commerce, currency, cities and transportation. In agriculture, it is mainly reflected in the invention and use of various farm tools, the construction and development of water conservancy projects, the expansion of cultivated land and the development of food crops and agricultural and sideline products. Chu is a big country in south china agriculture, with advanced iron farm tools and developed water conservancy, which are two major characteristics of Chu's agriculture. "Chu world powers also. ..... The place is 5,000 li, the armor is one million, and there are 1,000 chariots and 10,000 war horses to support the overlord for ten years. This is also the "Warring States policy, Chu policy is for me", which is the historical public opinion and reflects the fruitful achievements of Chu's agricultural development. The handicraft industry of Chu has made brilliant achievements, mainly in bronze ware, cast iron, silk weaving, lacquerware, bamboo and wood products, architecture, shipbuilding and branch line manufacturing. Among them, lacquerware industry and silk weaving industry are the most prominent, which can be said to have reached the peak of the productivity level in the ancient world at that time, and its unearthed objects have been dumped by the world so far. Chu has always attached importance to commerce, so its commercial achievements are outstanding. Its products are not only exported to all parts of the country, but also to Central Asia and Southeast Asia. With the expansion of commodity circulation, money has also developed greatly. Besides copper coins, there are also gold and silver coins. Judging from the unearthed situation, all the known pre-Qin gold and silver coins belong to Chu. There are many cities in Chu, and land and water transportation extend in all directions. All this belongs to the basic content of Chu people's material culture, which, in Gorky's words, means "mastering the natural forces quickly and creating a' second nature' for yourself", showing the courage and wisdom of Chu people. "Second Nature" is the material culture created by Chu people in the long-term struggle. Material culture can be found not only in documentary records, but also in archaeological excavations. Since a large number of cultural relics were unearthed in Chu after 1960s and 1970s, some scholars put forward the concepts of "Chu culture in archaeological sense" and "archaeological cultural relics mainly embody material culture", and Zhang compiled the concept of "Chu culture annals". Cultural relics are actually the crystallization of cultural activities, which not only reflects the material and cultural achievements of Chu people, but also reflects their spiritual and cultural outlook. The two are inseparable.
Eight connotations of Jingchu culture
1, Shennong culture in Yan Di. Suizhou, Gucheng and Shennongjia in Hubei Province are the main activity areas of Shennong in Yan Di, and there are many folk cultural sites. Yandi Shennong tasted herbs all over the world here, cured diseases for the people, invented agriculture and taught people to farm. Its profound historical and cultural heritage marks the transition of Chinese civilization from fishing and hunting era to farming era.
2. The history and culture of Chu State. Hubei is the birthplace of Chu culture. As one of the great powers in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chu has created brilliant civilization achievements in the long history of more than 800 years. Chu's unique bronze casting technology, leading figures' silk embroidery technology, exquisite lacquerware manufacturing technology, profound philosophy, Wang Yang's wanton prose, stunning lyrics, pentatonic music, sleeve-bending dance and grotesque art are all very valuable cultural treasures.
3. Qin and Han culture. Hubei in Qin and Han Dynasties was one of the important cultural centers at that time. Yunmeng Gu Ze, Sleeping Tiger Land, Longgang Qin Bamboo Slips, Zhangjiashan Han Bamboo Slips, Hanming Princess Wang Zhaojun, Han Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu and writer Wang Yi are all important cultural resources. Hubei is also the "land of four wars" where Wei, Shu and Wu are intertwined and fiercely contested. Political, economic, military and diplomatic alliances and struggles are complicated and thrilling. Famous cultural scenic spots such as Gulongzhong, Chibi, Wulin and Changbanpo are important carriers of the culture of the Three Kingdoms.
4. Qingjiang Batu culture. Tujia people in Qingjiang River Valley are descendants of Cubans. Enthusiasm, simplicity, diligence, kindness and courage represent the excellent national qualities of Tujia nationality. Its wedding and funeral customs, song and dance music, food, clothing, housing and transportation constitute the distinctive characteristics of Qingjiang Batu culture. At the same time, Hubei ethnic areas with Enshi Autonomous Prefecture and Changyang and Wufeng Autonomous Counties as the main body are also rich in Batu culture, where beautiful mountains and rivers and rich products are important areas for developing Hubei's characteristic economy.
5. Famous mountain and ancient temple culture. There are many famous ancient temples in Hubei, which have formed unique cultural resources of famous ancient temples. Wudang Mountain is a famous Taoist mountain. After hundreds of years of development, Wudang culture with rich connotations has been formed. In addition, Jingshan, Dabie Mountain, Dahongshan, Qiyue Mountain, Jiugong Mountain and Huangmei Wuzu Temple, dangyang yuquan temple, Laifeng Temple, Hanyang Guiyuan Temple, Wuchang Baotong Temple, Jingzhou Tianxing Temple, Wuchang Changchun Temple and many other famous ancient temples, as well as Zhongxiang Mingxian Mausoleum, all have high popularity and unique cultural connotations.
6. Three Gorges Culture. The Three Gorges of the Yangtze River is the most spectacular canyon in China, one of the most famous canyons in the world, a world-famous hydropower energy base and the largest artificial lake on the earth. With the impoundment, power generation and successful completion of the Three Gorges Project, its world-famous natural scenery, colorful cultural landscape, mysterious and romantic myths and legends, and peculiar customs on both sides of the Xiajiang River have formed a cultural school with strong Xiajiang color, which constitutes the distinctive characteristics of the Three Gorges culture.
7. Jiangcheng Wuhan culture. Wuhan is located at the intersection of the two rivers and is known as the thoroughfare of nine provinces. As early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, it was a strategic stronghold connecting the South and the Central Plains. Marked by Panlongcheng in Shang Dynasty, Wuhan has accumulated rich culture with a history of more than 3,500 years. After Ming and Qing Dynasties, Wuhan gradually developed into the largest industrial and commercial city in Central China, and became one of the manufacturing centers and important industrial bases in modern China. In modern history, Wuhan once became the political, economic and cultural center of China. As a megacity and regional economic center in central China, Jiangcheng Wuhan has distinctive regional characteristics in culture.
8. Modern revolutionary culture. The Revolution of 1911 and the Wuchang Uprising fired the first shot in the heart of the Qing Dynasty, overthrew the last feudal dynasty in China's history and ended the monarchy. Revolutionaries and people with lofty ideals in Hubei have contributed greatly. Marked by the Revolution of 1911 and Wuchang Uprising, it formed a magnificent revolutionary cultural connotation in the modern history of Wuhan, Hubei. During the new-democratic revolution, the older generation of proletarian revolutionaries such as Dong, Chen Tanqiu and others founded the * * * production group in Wuhan. A series of revolutionary activities, deeds, sites, etc. The "February 27th" strike, Wuchang Agricultural College, the "August 7th" conference, the Jute Uprising, the revolutionary base areas in western Hunan, Hubei, Henan and Anhui, the Eighth Route Army Office, the Defence War in Wuhan, the headquarters of the New Fourth Army, the breakthrough of the Central Plains, and Liu Dengjun's advance into the Dabie Mountains, etc., constitute the main contents of Hubei's modern revolutionary culture and are extremely valuable revolutionary cultural resources. The eight cultural series of Jingchu culture have great penetration and influence beyond time and space, which is an important foundation for us to build advanced culture and carry out socialist cultural innovation.
Hubei is the birthplace of Jingchu culture and the political, economic and cultural center of ancient Chu. Examining the development track of Jingchu culture from the dual perspectives of material culture and spiritual culture, we can further find that it has innovative characteristics in the following five aspects and is an important spiritual heritage for developing advanced culture today.
First, the entrepreneurial spirit of "Blue Road";
Second, the open spirit of "getting rich and returning to summer";
Third, the innovative spirit of "blockbuster";
Fourth, the patriotic spirit of "deep-rooted and difficult to migrate";
Fifth, the harmonious spirit of "stopping the war and using it".
These innovative features of Jingchu culture are not only the product of the times, but also the concrete embodiment of excellent national culture and national spirit, and are the important resources of excellent traditional culture in China.