In China, due to various reasons, some provincial capitals are separated from other cities in this province, but they always have some unclear and obscure connections with other provinces. Nanjing can be regarded as a well-known example. It is obviously the capital city of Jiangsu, but it is often dubbed as "Huijing". The connotation of Nanjing is actually the capital city of Anhui.

Coincidentally, Hangzhou, which is also one of the capital cities in the Yangtze River Delta region, has a similar situation, and there is also a title used for teasing, that is, "Yuhang".

"Yu" naturally means Henan, so this title must have an inseparable connection with Henan. The two titles of "Huijing" and "Yuhang" similarly bind a city with other provinces in form, but their causes are not similar.

A large part of the reason why Nanjing is called "Huijing" is that Anhui has formed a semi-encirclement situation on Nanjing geographically, which leads to the economic radiation scope of Nanjing being mostly located in Anhui Province, so Anhui people prefer to go to neighboring Nanjing in inter-provincial population flow.

in contrast, the origin of the title "Yu-Hang" is much more special. Because Hangzhou and Henan are not adjacent and far apart. Geographically, Hangzhou and Henan seem to have nothing to do with each other. Judging from today's population flow data, the most important provinces with foreign population in Hangzhou are Anhui, Jiangsu and Jiangxi, and Henan is not ranked.

However, the cave between Hangzhou and Henan has a long history, and the language of "Yu-Hang" is not false.

First, the "otherness" in the Wu dialect area

If you want to ask why some netizens are more keen to associate Hangzhou with Henan, a large part of the reason is that the Wu dialect in the old city of Hangzhou is out of place with the surrounding Wu dialect areas.

Wu dialect is one of the oldest languages in China, and its history can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period. There were two important vassal states in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces-Wu and Yue, and they each had their own languages.

However, because the main nationalities of these two vassal states are very close and their cultures are very similar, later generations used to confuse the two languages, which is called Wu Yue dialect, which is the predecessor of what we now call Wu dialect.

Therefore, the geographical position of Wu and Yue in those days roughly determined the general pattern of the regional distribution of Wu dialect today. It is mainly distributed in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River where the economy is relatively developed.

▲ Division of Wu dialect area

Hangzhou is adjacent to Shaoxing in the south and Huzhou and Jiaxing in the north. This geographical position determines that Hangzhou is in the center of Wu dialect area. However, compared with its surrounding areas, Hangzhou dialect, especially the dialect in its old city, although still belonging to Wu dialect, is unique and has a strong color of Central Plains Mandarin. In a narrow sense, Central Plains refers to today's Henan Province.

First of all, the suffix "er" in Hangzhou dialect is particularly rich, which is completely different from Wu dialect. For example: guy, Gail, crazy woman, etc. However, the dialects in the surrounding areas habitually use "head" and "son" to form words, such as: old man, child, sweetness, suffering and so on.

Secondly, personal pronouns in Hangzhou dialect are close to Mandarin, and totally different from Wu dialect. Personal pronouns in Hangzhou dialect are generally "you, me and him", but in Shanghai dialect they are "I, Nong and Yi", and Yuhang District, which is adjacent to the old urban area of Hangzhou, is "I, Er and Yi".

Thirdly, many words in Hangzhou dialect belong to Mandarin vocabulary, such as things, kitchens, washbasins, etc. In addition, in Hangzhou dialect, the pronunciation of almost all words is the same as that of spoken words, and there are few words that are read both in Chinese and English, so there is a lack of a different reading system in Chinese and English. However, in other dialects in Wu dialect area, the phenomenon of literary and colloquial reading is common. For example: home, marriage, street, people, etc.

Dialect is an important sign that the cultural customs in one region are different from those in other regions, and it is also an important means for regional people to maintain group consciousness. The uniqueness of the dialect in the old urban area of Hangzhou in Wuyu District is a reflection of the great differences in regional culture between Hangzhou and other cities in Wuyu District.

Second, Bianjing civilization has a far-reaching impact on Hangzhou

The origin between Hangzhou and Henan needs to start with three large-scale population migrations from north to south in Chinese history.

The first large-scale migration of the northern population to the south in China's history originated from the sharp contradictions within the ruling class in the Western Jin Dynasty (after the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms). Many nomads from the Great Wall took advantage of the situation, defeated the main force of the Jin army, established several non-Han regimes, and forced a large number of northern Han people to move south, which was later called "Yongjia South Crossing".

This migration to the south lasted more than 111 years. During this period, a large number of Han people went south from today's Henan and Shandong areas, along the tributaries on the north bank of Huaihe River, to Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, including today's Hangzhou.

The second migration started from the "An Shi Rebellion" in the Tang Dynasty. After the "Anshi Rebellion", the north fell into a state of separatist regime in the buffer region, and the Yellow River basin was the main battlefield for continuous attack and cutting. People moved south again to escape the war. Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces have absorbed a large number of northern immigrants.

Although the first two migrations injected fresh blood into Hangzhou and had a certain impact on its regional culture, during this period, the regional culture of Hangzhou did not differ greatly from the surrounding areas.

The main reason is that in these two migrations, the last resting place of northern immigrants mostly concentrated in the south of Huaihe River and the north of Yangtze River, and the number of immigrants who crossed the Yangtze River to Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Anhui was far less than that in Jianghuai area.

In addition, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal had not been expanded at that time, the Jiangnan Canal in the southern section had not been dug, and Hangzhou had not yet become the terminal of this artery running through the north and south, so it did not have a certain political and economic status, so at that time, these northern immigrants who crossed the Yangtze River did not choose Hangzhou as their first choice.

▲ Since ancient times, the importance of the Jiangnan Canal is self-evident.

It was the third great migration from north to south that really had a decisive influence on the regional culture of Hangzhou during the Song Dynasty. The protagonist of this population migration is today's Henan people.

during the northern song dynasty, the economy and culture flourished in the central plains. It is estimated that the GDP in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty accounted for about one-fifth of the world's total, much higher than that in Western Europe in the same period. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Henan was in the "world", with developed agriculture and merchants. Kaifeng and Luoyang were the capital and capital of the Northern Song Dynasty respectively. At that time, Henan had an unparalleled position in the whole country.

But in 1127, the northern jurchen attacked Bianjing, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, which is today's Kaifeng. Song Gaozong Zhao Gou led the Song Dynasty to the south in a mess, and after many twists and turns, he finally came to Hangzhou today. Along with the arrival of the royal family, there were a large number of immigrants from Henan. The scale of these immigrants was unprecedented, and their number was soon several times that of the local aborigines. Hangzhou became an immigrant city.

Later, Hangzhou was designated as the travel capital, and it became the political, economic and cultural center of the Southern Song Dynasty. Here, this group of expatriates who migrated from Henan imitated the Bianjing story, recreated the Song Dynasty and relived the old dream of Beijing.

They have exerted a great influence on the regional culture of Hangzhou, which involves all aspects, including dialects.

These immigrants from far away from the north have an absolute advantage in number and political status. Although they are located in the center of the Wu dialect area, most of their residences are concentrated in the downtown area of Hangzhou today, and at that time, their Bianjing dialect undoubtedly represented authority and was the official working language.

Therefore, the Bianjing dialect at that time left a deep imprint on the original Wu dialect in Hangzhou, especially in those areas where immigrants live in concentrated communities, and this influence has continued to this day.

In addition, Hangzhou's diet has been deeply influenced. Obviously, these influx of northern immigrants can't adapt to the diet in the south quickly, so they began to enter the catering industry. On the one hand, they can eat the dishes in the north, especially the Bianjing flavor, and on the other hand, they can make a living and establish themselves in other places.

In addition, Song Gaozong was an out-and-out Bianjing native at that time. When he first arrived, he sometimes ordered his people to buy some delicious food from the Hangzhou market. In order to let his products enter the palace, local vendors began to imitate the cooking of Bianjing-style food to cater to the Song Dynasty.

▲ Grand view of dining in the capital of Southern Song Dynasty in hangzhou dishes Museum

In this way, Bianjing catering became a fashion in Hangzhou at that time. However, during this period, Hangzhou did not completely copy the food culture of Bianjing in the north, but combined it with the food culture in the south, which laid the foundation for the status of Hangzhou catering industry in the country in the future.

The well-known steamed buns in Hangzhou and the vinegar fish in West Lake are a good example. Both of them copied the ancient Kaifeng craft, and the changes of the Song capital bound the Central Plains and Jiangnan together through delicious food.

▲ The West Lake vinegar fish in Hangzhou is similar to the carp baked noodles in Kaifeng

However, why did the Bianjing civilization in the Song Dynasty have such a far-reaching impact on Hangzhou? In the Southern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou was never a real or official capital, but an unofficial capital when the Emperor traveled, that is, the capital of Hangzhou. Moreover, Hangzhou was not even a line at first, but was called "line in", which means where the son of heaven is. It was not until the political situation was stable that Hangzhou was officially designated as the capital of Hangzhou.

The official capital of the Southern Song Dynasty has always been Bianjing, which is actually a political declaration. This kind of political declaration not only shows the people all over the country the determination of the authorities to recover the lost land and return it to the old capital, but also shows the legitimacy of the Southern Song regime to the outside world. On these two points, the people of the Southern Song Dynasty are United from top to bottom. They all support the recovery of lost land and acknowledge the orthodox position of the Southern Song Dynasty, the only Han regime, on the land of China.

It is precisely because of this mentality that the people of the Southern Song Dynasty have a strong nostalgia for Bianjing and the peaceful and prosperous times of the Northern Song Dynasty. Therefore, both physically and spiritually, we tried our best to get close to Bianjing and create an atmosphere of Bianjing, all of which virtually shaped Hangzhou as the capital of the city.

The Dream of China in Tokyo, written by Meng Yuanlao, a famous litterateur in the Southern Song Dynasty, was well-known at that time. It was all about the prosperity of the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, and this note-writing prose seemed to be a kind of evidence of the complex feelings of the people in the Southern Song Dynasty towards Bianjing.

In addition, most of these northern immigrants who moved south to Hangzhou were social elites in China at that time, and they migrated to Hangzhou in large numbers in a relatively short period of time.

and after a long period of time, Hangzhou became the political center of China, and after the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou never had such a prominent position in politics. It can be said that these two conditions are indispensable. We can compare Shaoxing with Hangzhou.

In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, before the court of the Southern Song Dynasty, which had just crossed the Yangtze River, had a firm foothold in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, nomads from the Southern Song Dynasty went south on a large scale, so Song Gaozong had to continue to flee south and prepare to go to Wenzhou by sea. Later, it was heard that nomads from the Southern Song Dynasty withdrew from the North, and then he turned back to return. Song Gaozong took Yuezhou, which is today's Shaoxing, as its capital at that time.

Song Gaozong stayed in Shaoxing for nearly two years. During this period, thousands of northern immigrants poured into Shaoxing. Even after the Southern Song Dynasty officially set its capital in Hangzhou, many northern imperial families, bureaucrats and literati moved here because the imperial tomb of the Southern Song Dynasty was located in Shaoxing.

Therefore, the immigrants in Shaoxing once surpassed the local aborigines in number and political status. However, Shaoxing did not become the political center at that time for a long time in the Southern Song Dynasty, but was the capital for less than two years. In addition, the proportion of immigrants and local aborigines in Shaoxing at that time was far from such a disparity as that in Hangzhou.

For these reasons, Shaoxing's regional culture is not much different from the surrounding areas. The most typical performance is that Shanghainese can hardly understand the dialect in the old urban area of Hangzhou, but they can communicate with Shaoxing dialect.

▲ Portrait of Song Gaozong

After the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty, there were several large-scale population movements in Hangzhou because of the war, especially during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Later, in history, there have been many other areas to fill the population of Hangzhou, mainly in the surrounding areas such as Ningbo, Shaoxing and Hangjiahu Plain.

But these immigrants did not make Hangzhou become the political center of China again for a long time. Moreover, most of these immigrants moved to Hangzhou in succession for a long time, unlike the population migration during the Jingkang period, which moved to Hangzhou in large numbers in a relatively short period of time, and completely suppressed the local indigenous people in number at once.

in a word, the reason why the title of "Yu-Hang" has been circulated among the people is the profound influence of Bianjing civilization on Hangzhou.

Third, today's story

stands tall in Qiantang, with Xiang Tao, the trendsetter. Today's Hangzhou is forward-looking. With the help of the wind of the times in the Internet industry, it is bravely standing in the forefront with majestic momentum.

relying on the fast-developing "internet plus", Hangzhou is building a digital city brain, starting with eleven major systems such as police, transportation, cultural tourism and health, so as to make the management of this city more scientific and efficient, so that its citizens can enjoy the city services unconsciously and easily, and make Hang Cheng a city of the future.

▲ Qianjiang New Town in Hangzhou today

Hangzhou today is also nostalgic. The history of the Song Dynasty is undoubtedly a unique experience for Hangzhou. While retaining the relics of the Song Dynasty, Hang Cheng also built the "Song Cheng" with the magnificent scenery of Bianjing in the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival as the template, all of which invisibly contributed to the construction of Hangzhou's urban cultural brand.

Inheriting the heritage of the ancient capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, carrying forward the excellent culture of the Southern Song Dynasty, and constantly enriching the spiritual connotation of the Southern Song Dynasty are also the proper meanings in the title of * * * building * * and enjoying Hangzhou as a "city of life brands".

But that unique historical experience also brought some minor "troubles" to the development of Hangzhou. Today, with the rapid expansion of the city of Hangzhou, due to the uniqueness of the regional culture of the old urban area of Hangzhou, the surrounding areas are brought into the urban area of Hangzhou, and their sense of identity with the old urban area is not high, which leads to some interesting "infighting" and the phenomenon of "the district does not recognize the city".

▲ After the expansion of Hangzhou, Yuhang, Xiaoshan, was often "excluded" when issuing policies, and cultural differences between Hangzhou city and its surrounding areas led to "infighting"

The most interesting thing is the infighting between Xiaoshan District and the old city of Hangzhou. Although Xiaoshan has long since withdrawn from the city and become a part of Hangzhou city, some "angry" Xiaoshan people still don't say that they are from Hangzhou.

Some people in Xiaoshan think that people in Hangzhou are "refugees from Henan" and "others" in Wuyu District. Some people in Hangzhou city think that Xiaoshan people are "upstarts in the countryside".

In recent years, the "June 2 Festival" has sprung up in downtown Hangzhou, and "62" stands for derogatory meaning in Hangzhou dialect. There is no similar vocabulary in the surrounding Wu dialect area, so it is extended that on June 2, Hangzhou merchants held a consumption carnival. However, due to the particularity of Hangzhou dialect, "62" Festival is difficult to be recognized by people outside the city.

look back to Henan. In recent years, as a famous historical and cultural province, Henan has steadily shouldered the heavy responsibility of food security and steadily built an important transit point of the "Belt and Road". It is moving forward steadily at its own pace. With the change of the times, the contact mode between Hangzhou and Henan is also undergoing tremendous changes. Today's Henan is no longer the most important export destination for migrants in Hangzhou.