1. The Pearl River is the earliest place for foreign trade. Due to its favorable geographical location, the Pearl River has become the earliest place for China's foreign trade. According to the Records of Geography of Hanshu, in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty sent messengers from Guangzhou along the route opened by a hundred people. He didn't invent the compass, nor did he know how to use the sail. He took a boat with paddles and, with the spirit of pioneering and adventure, opened up an eternal sea route. This route passes through Southeast Asia, across the Bay of Bengal, to the southeast of the Indian Peninsula, and to Sri Lanka. This is the beginning of the Maritime Silk Road. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Guangzhou has become the largest port in China and a world-famous oriental port city. The route from Guangzhou to the Persian Gulf countries via the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean was the longest route in the world at that time. As a result, a famous "Maritime Silk Road" with the South China Sea as the center and Guangzhou as the starting point was opened, and the whole Lingnan area had the reputation of "Tianzi Nanku". During the heyday of the Maritime Silk Road, all the people were Cantonese, and nothing happened to the Europeans. China implemented a maritime ban in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but the Pearl River Estuary was not completely closed, and Guangzhou remained the only trading port. In this case, in 1686, foreign businessmen were allowed to live and do business in a block at the mouth of the Pearl River in Guangzhou, which was later called Shisanxing Street. Thirteen lines lasted for more than 170 years until 1856 was destroyed by the Second Opium War. What a spectacular trade scene! Goods piled up on the dock, water cargo ships such as crucian carp crossed the river, street shops were closely connected, and goods were dazzling. Businessmen of different colors and languages in shops talk about business, look at goods, weigh money and sign contracts. Silk, tea, porcelain, Chinese herbal medicines, etc. are readily available through the cobweb-dense Pearl River waterway. From the mainland, it was transported to Guangzhou from all directions, and then exported to all countries in the world. All kinds of western goods are resold to Chinese mainland through foreign companies. During the centuries-long commercial activities, Guangzhou has become a big shopping mall for China's foreign trade, Guangdong people have cultivated the ability to control the storms of business, and the Pearl River people have formed the spirit and cultural characteristics of opening to the outside world, taking risks and being tolerant. 2. The Pearl River people opened their eyes for the first time to see the world's closed-door policy, which made China people blindfold, block their ears, close their hearts and be stupid. /kloc-in the 0/5th century, great geographical discoveries began to turn the earth into a complete world system. The industrial revolution began in Britain in the18th century. But China people are ignorant of all these changes. Until the Opium War broke out, no more than 20,000 British troops beat the Qing Empire out of the water. China people are completely puzzled: What's wrong with this world? China encountered a "great change once in three thousand years" (Li Hongzhang's words). Actually, not everyone in China is sleepy. Some people try to understand what happened abroad. Pearl River people are undoubtedly the first people to open their eyes to see the world. In addition to Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan, who opened their eyes to see the world, they took the initiative to learn about the outside world, and some foreigners took the initiative to send new ideas and cultures to China. The most prominent of these people are western missionaries. Missionaries first landed in China from the Pearl River. Matteo Ricci, an Italian missionary, came to Zhaoqing as early as 1584 (the 12th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty). He brought a complete map of mountains, seas and lands marked with the place names of China, which should be the first map of the world that China people came into contact with. Ma Lixun, a British Protestant missionary, arrived in Guangzhou on September 8th, 807. After living in China for 27 years, he translated the Bible into Chinese for the first time and published it. At the same time, he also translated China classics such as Saint Amethyst and Daxue into English and introduced them to the west. He also compiled the first Chinese-English dictionary. Conservative corruption in the Qing Dynasty aroused strong opposition from Chinese people. The Reform Movement of 1898, which shocked Chinese and foreign history and was called "the Reform Movement of 1898", took place in China. A group of intellectuals who relied on Emperor Guangxu to carry out political reform failed in only 103 days, but it was a tragic move by the Chinese nation to strengthen history through political reform, which greatly promoted the historical process of China's modernization. Kang Youwei (1858- 1927) and Liang Qichao (1873- 1929), two leaders of the reformists, were also from Guangdong. Both of them are outstanding politicians, thinkers and masters of Chinese studies in China's modern history books. Although "Kang Liang" failed, the flame of the revolution burned more fiercely. Sun Yat-sen is regarded as a revolutionary who is "the great pioneer of China's democratic revolution" and "the father of modern China". He led the national revolution, overthrew the feudal monarchy and established the first republic in China and even Asia. I often wonder: Why are Cantonese people the first to open their eyes to see the world? There may be several reasons: the convenient geographical location of the Pearl River Delta makes Guangdong the earliest open area in China. As the earliest trading port in China, Pearl River people have developed an open concept in their long-term foreign economic and trade activities and cultural exchanges. Cantonese people rarely have conservative ideas, like innovation, dare to be the first in the world, and like to drink soup; Guangdong people have a strong spirit of tolerance and tolerance, and have a strong ability to accept, absorb, digest and transform new ideas and cultures from abroad; Guangdong people have strong adaptability, study advanced ideology and culture hard, like reform and innovation, and can keep up with the changes in the world, constantly change themselves and improve themselves. As a result, Cantonese became the first person in the history of China to open his eyes to see the world. /read-lsgz-353 1.htm

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