Jiangnan culture promotes integrated development of Yangtze River Delta
The First Yangtze River Delta and Jiangnan Culture Forum recently took place in Shanghai. Photo: SHANGHAI OBSERVER
Jiangnan comprises the regions located south of the Yangtze River. In order to promote high-quality integrated development within the Yangtze River Delta and further the study of the Jiangnan culture, the First Yangtze River Delta and Jiangnan Culture Forum recently took place in Shanghai. It was organized by the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Associations (SFSSA), the Jiangsu Federation of Philosophy and Social Sciences Circles, the Zhejiang Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences Circles and the Anhui Province Federation of Social Sciences.
Hu Jinjun, deputy director of the publicity department at the Shanghai Committee of the Communist Party of China, said that the Jiangnan culture is the cultural foundation for the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta. At present, we should make good use of these rich cultural resources to promote the coordinated cultural development of the Yangtze Delta, enhance the soft power of the region, and drive the Delta as the main engine of national transformation.
Wang Zhan, chairman of SFSSA, said that the Jiangnan culture has grown out of the development of the Jiangnan economy. The Jiangnan economy has prospered from the shipping industry of the Yangtze River, the Grand Canal, the Jiangnan water network and the sea, and it produces cultural landscapes that are different from other regions, such as its immigration culture, business culture and canal culture. To implement the national strategy of the integrated development of the Yangtze Delta, the governments of three provinces (Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui) and one city (Shanghai) in the Yangtze Delta should further facilitate the free flow of production factors within the region and take advantage of common cultural resources to forge the Jiangnan cultural brand.
Mei Xinlin, former Party secretary of the Zhejiang University of Technology, said that the regional concept of Jiangnan has changed many times over its long history. After the integrative development of the Yangtze River Delta changes into a national strategy, the regional concept and the cultural studies of Jiangnan should also change with the times. The integration of the Yangtze River Delta is essentially the integration of its urban agglomeration, which aims to emulate the world’s top city agglomerations. In this context, we need to move away from the previous concepts of “pan-Jiangnan,” “great Jiangnan,” “middle Jiangnan” or “small Jiangnan.” The zoning of “new Jiangnan” led by Shanghai should be taken as an opportunity to reexamine the regional concepts and cultural studies of Jiangnan.
Xu Xingwu, dean of the School of Liberal Arts at Nanjing University, said that the Jiangnan culture provides a strong platform of support for the unification of the Chinese nation, the rejuvenation of Chinese culture and the continued exchange among East Asian civilizations. As contemporary Chinese culture has integrated into the culture of the world, the Chinese people are facing the problems that spring from the collision between Chinese and Western cultures and the need for the coexistence of diverse cultures. We need to find a better way to work with traditional Chinese culture, maintain dialogue with other cultures, develop innovative cultural strategies, make necessary cultural adaptations and achieve cultural autonomy in the new era.
Wang Shihua, a professor from Anhui Normal University, said that Anhui has been part of Jiangnan for a long time. Huizhou of Anhui Province has been famous for its merchant and business culture since ancient times, and it has made important contributions to the economic development of the Yangtze River Delta. While integrating into the Jiangnan culture, the Huizhou culture has also influenced the Jiangnan culture.
Xiong Yuezhi, a research fellow from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that a difference between Chinese and European metropolises was that the metropolises of ancient China were generally national administrative cities. However, over a long period of time, cultural centers of the Jiangnan region also shifted with urban economic development. The integration of political centers and cultural centers is often seen in China, such as Nanjing and Hangzhou in the Jiangnan cultural circle. In addition, Suzhou ever since the Ming and Qing dynasties and Shanghai since modern times have become cultural centers because of their economic status.
Cheng Zhangcan, curator of the library at Nanjing University, said that historically, the prosperous business travel routes of Jiangnan were flowing with people and goods, which also contributed to the integration of the unique Jiangnan culture. At this moment, when considering the building of the new Jiangnan, we must first think about how to build the roads of the new Jiangnan and pave the way for the development of high-quality integration in the Yangtze River Delta.
edited by YANG LANLAN