From the late Shang Dynasty, the Wu and Yue people in Taihu Lake basin began to establish their own countries. At that time, the two regimes in wuyue had a deep hatred and became hostile targets. However, although the two countries have fought to the death and accumulated deep grievances, they belong to the same tribe and the same nation in language, customs and culture, which can be described as "brother" countries.
In different periods in history (before the Ming Dynasty), the land of wuyue belonged to the same administrative unit, so it was often referred to collectively. Theoretically speaking, "wuyue" is a geographical concept first, and then a national concept.
1. Where is the Wuyue culture? Later, the concept of "Wu Yue culture" was put forward because many stone culture and geometric imprint pottery remains were found in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces at that time. In order to prove that Jiangnan culture is not lost to the Central Plains culture, and that Jiangnan region is also one of the cradles of Chinese civilization, a concept definition of "Wuyue Culture" has been put forward to highlight its status as "on the top".
As we all know, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces are one of the earliest areas of primitive agricultural production in China, and they have always had a good reputation as a land of plenty. In ancient wuyue, the climate was warm, the river network was dense, and it was wet and rainy, which was beneficial to irrigation. It is suitable for planting rice and raising silkworms for reeling ... This unique condition makes agriculture in wuyue develop rapidly.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, this place gradually prospered and developed, and it became more prosperous after the Tang Dynasty, and its cultural influence became more and more important.
According to historical records, Wu Yue people are not only hardworking, but also have a very brave pioneering spirit. At that time, wuyue's ancestors had begun to learn water and traveled across the ocean to seek development in Zhoushan Islands, southern Japan and zhina. These people are called "Yue Yue". It can be seen that the Wuyue people at that time were not only good at farming, but also one of the earliest nations in the world who tried to conquer the ocean.
People in wuyue attach great importance to music, and Wu Ge Wu Dance is mainly the product of rice culture. At that time, celebrating the harvest and praying for the gods could not be separated from singing and dancing. This kind of singing and dancing is actually a manifestation of superstition.
Of course, this is actually understandable. After all, the productivity of human society was relatively low at that time, and many things simply did not have the conditions to answer from a scientific point of view. Wu and Yue people live by farming and fishing, and it depends on God's face. Because the production is unstable and can't stand the ups and downs of natural and man-made disasters, it is more popular to sing and dance to worship the gods and pray for the blessing of ancestors.
According to relevant archaeological findings, the history of wuyue's love of singing and dancing can be traced back to the early ancestors. As early as Hemudu site, people found primitive musical instruments such as bone flute and bone whistle, which has a history of more than 7000 years.
Wuyue is famous for its beautiful scenery and beautiful water towns, and talented people come forth in large numbers. Wang Yangming was born here. He can achieve such a great success, in addition to his personal talents, he must have been influenced by Wu and Yue culture to some extent.
There is an old saying in China that "oranges are born in Huainan and oranges are born in Huaibei", which is exactly the truth. The natural geographical environment is good, the variety is good, the humanistic environment is good, and the talents are excellent.
Second, if we take wuyue apart, what exactly are Wu Culture and Yue Culture? 0 1 Wu culture
Broadly speaking, it is well known that southern Jiangsu is Wu and central and northern Zhejiang is Yue. However, in terms of subdivision, this is actually a controversial issue for a long time.
In 1990s, with the rapid development of local economy all over the country, local governments began to vigorously explore and even compete for historical and cultural resources in order to shape local image and improve local soft power. The definition of "Wu culture" caused great controversy at that time.
For example, some scholars believe that the so-called Wu culture refers to the culture of Wu, which includes the culture created by human activities in Wu. There are also some scholars who think that it is not appropriate to extend Wu culture indefinitely within the time limit. In the upsurge of Wu culture research, the characteristics and connotation of Wu culture have been generally recognized by everyone.
Wu culture has several notable features, such as geometric printed pottery, fish and rice culture, silk textile, jade porcelain and Wu Ge Wu dance. As I said before, it is basically the same as Vietnamese culture.
It is worth mentioning that there has always been a lot of controversy about Wu culture. For example, race is a big controversy. Who is the owner of Wu culture? Some people say it's Zhou people, some people say it's Yin people, some people say it's Yi people, some people say it's Yue people ... Who is it? Anyway, there is no unified conclusion, and opinions vary.
02 yue culture
Yue culture, that is, the subdivision of Wu-Yue culture, is, in short, the material and cultural remains left by the ancestors of Yue tribes in the south of the Yangtze River. There are many sites of Yue culture, such as the famous Caoxieshan site in Suzhou and Qihedong site in Fujian. Interested friends can go and have a look.
Caoxieshan site, approved by the state as the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units, has a history of more than 6,000 years. The paddy field of Majiabang culture in this site is considered as the earliest ancient paddy field with irrigation system discovered in China.
At that time, China and Japan cooperated in archaeology of Majiabang cultural paddy fields. When the accumulation layer was opened, the Japanese archaeological team was shocked to see the ancient rice fields and sighed: This is no less than the archaeological discovery of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses in Xi 'an.
Qihedong site is also the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In the unearthed site, there are traces of human activities such as fire pits, stew mounds, ash pits and stoves, which shows that Vietnamese culture has a long history.
Similar to the Wu nationality, the Yue nationality has the cultural characteristics of "land of plenty". Ancestors also have the adventurous spirit of hard struggle, dare to explore and seek opportunities for survival and development. For example, the revenge story of Gou Jian, the king of Yue, is a typical example, and many people and things written by Lu Xun in modern times also vividly highlight this point.
Lu Xun was born in Shaoxing, Vietnam. Lu Xun's ideological cognition is also full of a sense of identity with Vietnamese culture, especially in his literary works, which often describe many customs of Vietnam. For example, when Lu Xun was born, because he was the eldest son of his family, his parents held various ceremonies for him according to the local popular customs of full moon, one hundred days and one year old, praying for his safe growth.
Another example is the character Ah Q written by Lu Xun, which is very regional. Ah Q is not only loyal to farming, but also the image of a Vietnamese tramp.
For example:
"Sir, The True Story of Ah Q ... tomorrow. So I had to do it, thinking, as the saying goes: begging is afraid of dogs, and scholars are afraid of the annual exam. I am neither a scholar nor a weekly exam, which is really embarrassing ... "
Ah Q's various "wandering" vagabond temperament is vividly displayed.
For example, the book describes the embarrassing scene that Ah Q secretly went to the retreat to steal radishes and was chased by black dogs, and also shows the image of a "Vietnamese" who makes a living in Beijing.
Generally speaking, there is not much difference between Wu culture and Yue culture, but a subdivision of Wu and Yue culture. Strictly speaking, these two cultures come down in one continuous line and belong to the same nation.
The biggest impression of Wuyue culture is the tenderness of Jiangnan water town, the unique charm of Jiangnan cultural boundary, the land of Lotus Town with bridges and flowing water, willows, apricot flowers, swallows' awnings ... wuyue, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, a beautiful place full of humanistic and historical details, is one of the important birthplaces of Chinese national culture.
References:
A Summary of Great Wu Culture Research
What do you think of this? Welcome to share the discussion in the comments section ~
The picture comes from the internet. In case of infringement, please contact to delete.
For more quality content, please continue to pay attention to @ Reading Literature and History.