During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the handicraft industry, commerce and culture in Foshan were very prosperous. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it developed into an important town in Lingnan, with many businessmen and developed industry and commerce. Together with Hankou Town in Hubei, Jingdezhen Town in Jiangxi and Zhuxian Town in Henan, it is also called the "Four Famous Towns" in China, and the "Four Great Meetings" in the world with Beijing, Hankou and Suzhou. The four major industries of ceramics, textiles, casting and medicine in the south are very prosperous. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Foshan became one of the cradles of modern national industries in China. The first new reeling factory and the first match factory in China were born one after another, and the "Bamboo Mouth Factory of Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company" was established.
The long history has given birth to the unique charm of Lingnan traditional culture. Foshan is known as the hometown of pottery, Cantonese opera, martial arts, Guangzhou yarn center, Lingnan medicine center, southern casting center and folk art center.
Foshan is the "Tao Dou of South China", and its pottery has a long history of more than 700 years. Since ancient times, it has had the reputation of "Shiwanwa is the best in the world". Nanfeng ancient stove, built in Zhengde period of Ming Dynasty, is the oldest firewood burning dragon kiln in the world. It has been handed down from generation to generation for more than 400 years and is known as the "living fossil of ceramics". In 2005, Foshan won the title of "Ceramic Capital of China".
Foshan is the birthplace of Cantonese opera Southern Red Bean. The nickname of Cantonese opera artists-"Children of the Red Boat", the earliest organization of Cantonese opera-Qionghua Guild Hall was born. It is a major feature of Foshan culture that folk spontaneously organize Cantonese opera to sing Private Bureau, which lasts for a long time. The Qionghua Cantonese Opera Art Festival, held every year, makes Foshan present a grand occasion of "berthing a red boat in the sand at night and watching Qionghua by thousands of people".
Foshan is the "hometown of Lingnan medicine". The ancient prescription medicine has a history of more than 400 years, and its products are complete, which can be divided into seven categories: ointment, Dan, pill, powder, tea, oil and wine. It is an essential Chinese patent medicine for artisans, families and tourists, and a number of time-honored and famous medicines such as "Huangxianghua" Ruyi oil, "popular" medicinal liquor and "Yuanjilin" Ganhe tea have emerged.
The foundry industry in Foshan began more than 2000 years ago. Pots, pots, bells and towers cast in Foshan in the Song Dynasty were famous all over the country. By the Ming Dynasty, Foshan's casting technology had reached a fairly high level and became the smelting center of South China. During the Opium War, the cannons cast in Foshan played an important role in resisting foreign invasion.
Foshan is the cradle of folk art in the Pearl River Delta, which breeds and retains a large number of folk arts and folk customs that embody the essence of Lingnan culture, such as autumn scenery, lion dance, dragon dance, dragon boat rap and dragon boat race. Traditional handicrafts such as autumn colors, paper-cutting, woodcut New Year pictures, pottery sculptures, gray carvings and brick carvings are exquisite and unique. At the end of 2005, six projects, including lion dance, Cantonese opera, dragon boat rap, Foshan woodblock New Year pictures, Guangdong paper-cutting and Shiwan pottery and plastic arts, which Foshan participated in the declaration, entered the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists.
Since ancient times, Foshan has been rich in humanities and talented people. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, there have been nine champions in Guangdong, and Foshan ranks fifth. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were "a humanistic country with equal emphasis on both Qi and Qi". In modern times, Kang Youwei, the leader of the Reform Movement, political activists Zhang, Dai Hongci, Tan Pingshan, He Xiangning, Luo Dengxian and Deng Pei, national industrialists Chen Qiyuan, Jane and Jane Yujie, scientists Zhan Tianyou and Zou, writers Wu, Cantonese opera stars, Ma Shiceng, martial arts masters Liang Zan, Bruce Lee and famous doctors were born.