Writer · Dialogue | Professor Zhao Shiyu of Peking University: Suzhou condenses Jiangnan's essence and is a blessing place for research.

Author:Watch Suzhou Time:2022.08.26

[See Suzhou Special Manuscripts / Zhao Wanyu, Dai Ziyi Video / Dumplings, Zhang Meng]

"A professor at Peking University wrote a book about Suzhou Dongshan"

"This new work describes a new Jiangnan history in the endless Jiangnan story"

"After reading this book, maybe you will want to go to Dongshan, Suzhou to feel the culture of Jiangnan Water Village" ...

Today (August 26), Zhao Shiyu, a professor at the Department of History of Peking University with the new book "History of the New Jiangnan History in Dongting Dongshan" in Suzhou Second Library, with the book as a media, and the history of the history community. The coffee opened a "carnival" in the book industry.

At first sight of Suzhou, he studied in Dongshan for five years. From Liu Meng's historical legends, Zhao Shiyu, born in Beijing, was born in Beijing with 380,000 words. The living world of Dongshan people.

For him, Suzhou condensed the essence of Jiangnan. It is a blessing place for research and a cultural treasure that can still be discovered. He also hoped that because of writing and publishing this book, he was accepted as Xinjiangnan.

This is a new book sharing session, a display meeting of the representative project of intangible cultural heritage, and the exhibition of lift generals.

At the sharing meeting, scholars such as Zhao Shiyu, Zheng Zhenman, Liu Zhiwei, Liu Yonghua, and Xie Yan discussed the relationship between "big history" and "small history", "country" and "local", "people" and "institutional".

Zhao Shiyu admits that the release ceremony of the book "Family Huo Huo" in Suzhou, who has long been abroad, is meaningless: This new writing is Suzhou, which is now published in Suzhou. There is a feeling of returning to my hometown and finding home.

Q: How many times did you come to Suzhou? How do I feel different from Suzhou this time to Suzhou?

I came to Suzhou for the first time, two or three decades ago. Until now, I have been to Suzhou dozens of times, and I can't count it. In the early days, I might go to the garden landscape as a tourist. Later, I went to some rural towns in Suzhou for the purpose of professional research.

Shiqiao Village Southern Song Ancient Bridge

In the past, I always said that I was a layman in Suzhou and a admirer of Jiangnan culture. This time I came to Suzhou with a new book. Excited and uneasy.

Q: We learned that when you first went to Dongshan, you did not immediately have the idea of studying Dongshan. When did the idea of writing books for Dongshan?

There is nothing much different from all visitors who visit. The only difference is that we have an academic background, and the focus of observation will be different. While the tour, we will unconsciously bring the learning and research things into the process of the tour.

Shaling City God Temple

In 2018, I came to Dongshan for the first time. Like everyone, I would first go to the major famous tourist attractions to play. And when I walk into the countryside and contact the local people from zero distance, I will find that the generals are abound, which also proves the importance of Liu Meng in Dongshan. As the origin of Biluochun Tea, Baisha Loquat and Taihu hairy crabs, there are not only many beautiful scenery, food, and monuments, but also very few tourists. Compared with the urbanized Jiangnan region, the tourists who are weaving, and the commercialized Wuzhen, Dongshan has the Jiangnan atmosphere described in ancient books, and it is more in line with my imagination of the Jiangnan south of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Three cities

As I walked into the general church, I found that it was very different from many ancient temples in the country -its stele materials and text materials were very small. Especially when I learned that there was a "raising general" ceremony during the Spring Festival of Dongshan, after investigation and research, it was a tradition of inheritance of water people ashore. Therefore, during the Spring Festival in February 2019, I came to Dongshan for the second time to see the ceremony of "raising the general".

In a series of experiences, the more in -depth thinking, the more questions will be, the greater the challenge of research, and the more irritating it is for scholars. Therefore, as a person who is a manner, I try to find the answer in it to provide some new paths for everyone's academic research. Q: Your new book is called "History of the New Jiangnan in Dongting Dongshan". Among them, how should the word "return to the country" understand? What are the "New Jiangnan History"?

The name of "Family Huo Hometown" is named "Family". First, the ceremony of the "raising general" in the village area of Taihu Lake has been interrupted for decades due to political reasons. It has gradually recovered in the past two decades. It appears again in front of us. A new interpretation of the understanding of the fierce general beliefs based on the literature of the literature only thirty years ago, and then a new explanation.

Secondly, Liu Meng's belief was originally produced in a local society, but it was included in the court worship in history and rose from the countryside to the temple. When the situation moved, the fierce belief returned to the country from the altar of the national festival. Although the public is still facing the severe challenge of the "breaking superstition" campaign since the national era, the identity of the "locust-driven god" given by the Qing court and the result of the "non-heritage" list can give this folk traditional legitimacy. Essence Therefore, "returning to the country" will make us think about the continuity and new changes of the interaction and game between the country and the society.

Taihu -the Yangtze River Delta "Raising General" distribution range shows

Third, the title of this book was influenced by Natalie Davis's masterpiece "Martin Gal". A farmer named Arnold Detir in the book claims to be Martin Geal, and his home has caused a series of storms. And Liu Meng's identity is unknown, but he is indispensable in the lives of ordinary people. This is why he has been destroyed several times and he has returned. At the level of the meaning of life around the people, Liu Meng and Martin Ge Liu Meng will have certain similarities.

The mighty will be in front of the Mountain Temple in the early morning of the lunar calendar

The fourth is that I hope that the former historical protagonist will return to people's vision and let the local cultural traditions return to my hometown. There are many history of Jiangnan, and we have a wealth of understanding in many fields such as agricultural development, the rise of the town, and the development of society and culture. This work focuses on the process of setting ashore ashore as a settlement crowd. Although it is not necessarily mature, I have raised new problems, new directions and new research paths in this work.

The "New Jiangnan History" is a bit arrogant, on the one hand, it refers to the "last water village" in Dongshan's structure in the entire Jiangnan region; the second is to hope that the historical structure of Dongshan will be replaced from a larger range of Jiangnan. The region is also a major reason for this book to be called the history of Xinjiangnan.

Q: A professor of Peking University created a book for Suzhou. Can it be said to be a preference for Suzhou?

Suzhou, including the Taihu Lake Basin, has a long history and is very rich. It has a unique culture.

It can be said that Suzhou concentrated the essence of Jiangnan. The phrase "Suzhou's most south" is well deserved.

And Dongshan, not only has beautiful scenery, the environment of the original ecology, the long history and the thick folk customs, it is completely unprecedented, but also retains the traces of water village life and a lot of monuments. It is a blessing place for academic research. In addition, Dongshan is not large, so that we can get the corresponding information in a limited space. Looking at the big world from a small place, it is very suitable for academic research.

For me, writing a book for Suzhou is accidental and inevitable. Here I gave me a kind of "excitement", which made me inspired and impulsive, making me feel that this place is too exciting, and it is regrettable not to write a book here.

In addition, Jiangnan's research may be the most rich in regional research. For me, studying Jiangnan Culture helped me fill an important part of the puzzle on Chinese puzzles.

Q: We have learned that in terms of creation, you have always adhered to the principle of "reading thousands of books and walking thousands of miles", seeking discovery in the exploration, and especially in the fields and work in the field. What is the charm of field surveys?

"Reading a lot of books and walking thousands of miles" is the principle of many famous scholars in history. In the 30 years, we have run through more than half of China, look all the way, and talk all the way.

Unlike the academic research methods that are currently passing, in order to understand what others have, they only go online to search for the dissertation. In addition, we can also hear the researcher's introduction in their respective fields, or to communicate the incident inspiration in the fields. When I do n’t understand, we can ask. The new ideas will flow out from time to time, and the blurred understanding will become clearer. In addition, a lot of unknown information can be obtained in the process of investigation.

The field survey has added many important evidence to me, which benefits me a lot, so field surveys are a very valuable and meaningful method. Just like a sociologist Zhou Feizhou recently made a long interview with Liu Shiding, which mentioned that "the field is a place where intuition, insight, and good conjecture", "a place to make you imagine."