An Introduction to the History of China Literature, edited by Professor Yuan Xingpei, refers to the phenomenon of "regional imbalance" when it comes to "unbalanced development of China literature". The book points out: "The so-called regional imbalance contains two meanings: First, in different dynasties, the development of local literature experienced ups and downs, showing a ups and downs situation." "Second, different styles are bred and grown in different regions, so that some styles have different local characteristics, at least for a long time after their formation." (Noe: Yuan Xingpei: A General Introduction to the History of China Literature, Higher Education Press, 1999) Although this book is very brief on this issue, I am still happy to see it come true. Because since Mr. Liu published "Differences between North and South Schools" in 1905 (note: Liu: Differences between North and South Schools, Journal of Chinese quintessence 1905, No.3 to No.0/kloc) and Mr. Wang Guowei published "The Spirit of Qu Zi's Literature" in 1906.
More than 80 years cannot be short. Why hasn't anyone come to study this problem? I think there are two main reasons. First, this problem is really complicated, which is time-consuming and laborious; Second, influenced by abnormal academic atmosphere. We know that for a long time after the founding of the People's Republic of China, issues such as regionality and geographical environment were very sensitive. On the suspicion that regionality and geographical environment are "determined by geographical environment"; And "geographical environmental determinism" is considered as an idealistic view.
Only when the social academic and cultural atmosphere is relatively free, academic research begins to be rational and mature, and personality begins to appear today, will someone raise this issue again. This is the reason why I was happy when I read the above contents of the History of China Literature edited by Mr. Yuan.
Second, the unsolved mystery of literary history
In the past, most studies on China literature only focused on historical exploration, but ignored the law of its spatial combination. Only pay attention to the chronology, not the location; Only pay attention to the exposition of the times and nationality, but not to the investigation of regionality or regional style. Therefore, this kind of research is often one-dimensional and one-way, lacking three-dimensional sense and richness. In fact, history is always in a certain space. Time and space are the two most basic forms of things' movement. "Geography is the stage of history, and history is the skeleton of geography. If you ignore geography when reading history, you will lose many wonderful real meanings. " (Note: Wang Hui: Historical Geography of China: Edited, Taiwan Province World Bookstore, 1975 edition) If literary research only pays attention to its temporal relationship (the times) and ignores its spatial relationship (the regions), it will be difficult to solve many mysteries in the history of literature.
Portrait of Sima Xiangru
For example, both of them are the source of China's poems. Why are the cultural implications and aesthetic forms of The Book of Songs and Songs of the South different? They are all masters of Han Fu. Why are the poems of Sima Xiangru and Yang Xiong so magnificent, while those of Ban Gu and Zhang Heng so simple and elegant? As giants of Tang poetry, they also roamed the north and south of the country and experienced the historical changes from prosperity to decline in the Tang Dynasty. Why are Li Bai's poems so elegant and free, and Du Fu's poems so depressed and frustrated? Why were there always more northern writers than southern writers in the pre-Qin, Han, Western Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, but there were more southern writers than northern writers in the Eastern Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties? Why was Jiangxi's literary world, which was still unknown in the Tang Dynasty, so wonderful in the Song Dynasty? Not only the number of writers has increased by more than ten times, but also famous writers have emerged in large numbers, and their masterpieces have become outstanding in the literary world of the Song Dynasty. Why do Song Ci, which leads a coquettish generation, have amorous language, gorgeous language and enchanting posture? Why are the leaders of the retro school mostly northerners (such as He Jingming, Bian Gong, Kang Hai, Wang,,) and the leaders of the reformists mostly southerners (such as Li Zhi, Yuan Zhongdao, Yuan Hongdao, Yuan Zongdao, Zhong Xing and Tan)? Some problems like this can't be explained clearly by historical methods alone, and geographical methods must be adopted at the same time, because these problems involve the theory and practice of human geography and the regional problems of literature.
Third, the geographical distribution pattern of China writers in past dynasties.
The regionality of China literature is an objective fact, not a question of admitting or not, but a question of how to admit and explain it. To scientifically understand and explain the regionality of China literature, we must complete a prerequisite work, that is, make clear the geographical distribution of China writers, that is, the distribution pattern, distribution reasons, distribution centers and distribution laws.
Regarding the geographical distribution of China writers, we must first determine what kind of talents are writers. There are two problems here. First, there were few full-time writers in ancient times, and most of the literary works handed down from generation to generation were writers and bureaucrats; Secondly, the identity of a writer is determined by his literary works handed down from generation to generation, but before the Han and Wei Dynasties, many works were often written regardless of style. Such works can be said to be literature, history or philosophy. So, what kind of person can be regarded as a writer? How many writers are there in an era or a region? People often have different opinions and lack unified definitions and standards. Fortunately, the predecessors did some basic work, such as compiling a batch of dictionaries of China writers, which saved us some trouble in reviewing.
China Writers Dictionary published by Zhonghua Book Company.
But the screening work can't be omitted. We investigate the geographical distribution of writers, aiming at investigating the role and influence of the human geographical environment in a region on the formation of writers. However, the historical biographies of past dynasties (including local chronicles and notes) often confuse biographies' native place, ancestral home and county view, and this problem also exists in various literary histories and writers' dictionaries compiled by later generations. Taking the History of China Literature compiled by the Institute of Literature of China Academy of Social Sciences as an example, there are many problems in this respect. More than 30 mistakes were made in the question of the native place of poets in the Tang Dynasty alone (Note: Zhang Guoguang; A new probe into the philosophy of literature and history: professional differentiation of poets in Tang Dynasty, Wuhan Publishing House, 1992). The determination of a writer's native place is a very complicated matter. By writer's native place, I mean his birthplace. My approach is, on the one hand, to take the widely recognized Dictionary of China Literati by Mr. Tan Zhengbi as the statistical object, and on the other hand, to make full use of the relevant information that can be seen at present to correct errors.
The Dictionary of China Writers compiled by Mr. Tan Zhengbi started from Li 'er until modern times. Those whose names appear in Biography of Wen Yuan in various literary histories, or whose literary works are included in Yiwenzhi and Sikuquanshu in various histories, will not be included "(Note: Tan Zhengbi: A Dictionary of China Writers, Shanghai Bookstore, 198 1 edition), * * * got 60. Excluding the 40 people who died after the Revolution of 1911, there are 7 people of Korean, Mongolian and Vietnamese nationality, 467 people with unknown nationality and 6,286 people whose native place is to be tested. The geographical distribution of these 6,286 people is as follows:
Fourthly, the geographical distribution centers of China writers in past dynasties.
As can be seen from the above table, the geographical distribution centers of Zhou and Qin writers are in Shandong, Henan and Hubei today, that is, Shandong, Song, Wei, Zheng, Han and Chu at that time;
The geographical distribution centers of Han writers are in Shaanxi, Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui today, that is, counties and countries such as Jingzhaoyin, Youfufeng, Nanyang, Chenliu, Henan, Runan, Yingchuan, Anping, Beihai, Qixian, Guo Pei and Huiji at that time.
During the Western Jin Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms, the distribution centers of writers were in Shaanxi, Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui today, namely, Jing, Beidi, Yingchuan, Guo Liang, Liu Chen, Runan, Hanoi, Hedong, Taiyuan, Gaoping, Langxie, Pingyuan, Guangling, Wu Jun, Huiji and Qiao Jun at that time.
The geographical distribution of writers from the sixteen countries in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties is concentrated in today's six provinces, namely, Yingchuan, Chenjun, Pingyuan, Langxie, Nanjun, Huiji, Wu Jun, Nanlanling, Jinling, Jiankang, Southeast China Sea, Nanyanzhou and Huainan.
During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, the geographical distribution of writers was concentrated in today's five provinces, namely, Jingzhao, Huazhou, Henan, Zhengzhou, Taiyuan, Zhou Pu, Jiangzhou, Qin Zhou, Shenzhou, Dingzhou, Zhou Bei, Zhaozhou, Youzhou, Yangzhou, Xuzhou and Changzhou.
During the Song, Liao and Jin Dynasties, the geographical distribution of writers was concentrated in today's five provinces, namely, Zhangzhou, Suzhou, Changzhou, Runzhou, Jizhou, Raozhou, Fuzhou, Hongzhou, Jianchang, Hangzhou, Huzhou, Qingyuan, Wuzhou, Taizhou, Wenzhou, Meizhou and Fuzhou.
The geographical distribution of writers in the Yuan Dynasty was concentrated in Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hebei, Beijing and Shandong provinces, namely Huizhou, Ji 'an, Raozhou, Fuzhou, Pingjiang, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Huzhou, Wenzhou, Shaoxing, Qingyuan, Wuzhou, Taizhou, Fuzhou, Jianning, Jinning, Calm, Dadu and Dongping.
The geographical distribution of writers in the Ming Dynasty is concentrated in today's Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Anhui, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Fujian, Shandong and other provinces, namely Ji 'an, Fuzhou, Nanchang, Changzhou, Yangzhou, Yingtian, Suzhou, Songjiang, Huizhou, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Ningbo, Jinhua, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xinghua and Jinan.
The regional distribution of writers in the Qing Dynasty is concentrated in today's Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Anhui, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Fujian, Shandong and other provinces, namely Nanchang, Fuzhou, Suzhou, Changzhou, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Jiangning, Taicang, Songjiang, Anqing, Huizhou, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Huzhou, Changsha, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Shuntian and Jinan.
The reasons and laws of the distribution of writers in China in past dynasties.
Generally speaking, with the geographical Qinling-Huaihe line as the boundary, during the Zhou, Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, Western Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, the distribution focus of China writers was mostly in the north, mainly in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River; During the Eastern Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the distribution centers of China writers were mostly in the south, mainly in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
The formation of the distribution center of gravity of China writers in past dynasties has a great relationship with the following environment:
First, the land of the two capitals.
Every dynasty that enjoyed the country for more than a hundred years had a considerable number of writers in the capital. Such as Jing Zhao Yin, Zuo Fengyi and You Fufeng in the Western Han Dynasty, Henan sound in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Danyang sound in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, Jing Zhaofu in the Tang Dynasty, Kaifeng House in the Northern Song Dynasty, Lin 'an House in the Southern Song Dynasty, Metropolitan House in the Yuan Dynasty and Shuntianfu in the Qing Dynasty. All previous dynasties, except the Western Han Dynasty, were only a secondary administrative unit at that time, with a territory less than 1% of the whole country and nearly one-tenth of the writers in the whole country. This ratio is amazing. Gyeonggi area is not only the political and military center of the country, but also the cultural and talent center of the country. The prosperity of cultural and literary talents in Gyeonggi area is mainly driven by the administrative power of the government. One is immigration. There are often more outstanding talents among immigrants than local aborigines. The second is to set up schools. Most schools in Gyeonggi area had the best teaching conditions and teachers at that time, and the students were also very extensive. There are countless feudal bureaucrats and various cultural talents transported by schools in Gyeonggi area. The third is the collection of books. No matter which dynasty, it pays great attention to book collection, and the number of books in Gyeonggi area often ranks first in the country. This provides great convenience for the reading and writing of the broad masses of cultural people. The fourth is to open doctoral programs. The last procedure of the imperial examination was completed in Beijing. Thousands of scholars get promotion opportunities here and realize their life ideals. This is undoubtedly the most effective incentive for children in the two capitals. In addition, compared with foreign candidates, the children of Gyeonggi also enjoyed the convenience of the exam.
Chang 'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty
As far as the whole country is concerned, there are many writers in Gyeonggi; As far as States, counties, prefectures, highways and provinces are concerned, writers are mostly distributed in offices. Because these prefectures, that is, the political, economic and cultural centers of the relevant States, counties, prefectures and governments, are the same as those in Gyeonggi area.
Second, the rich area.
Before the mid-Tang Dynasty, China's economic center of gravity was in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in the north, especially Xi 'an in Shaanxi, Taiyuan in Shanxi, Luoyang in Henan and Zibo in Shandong. Therefore, writers in these areas are also the most widely distributed. In the south, Jingxiang in Hubei, Nanjing in Jiangsu, Yangzhou in Suzhou and Shaoxing in Zhejiang are relatively rich, so there are more writers in these areas. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, China's economic focus shifted to the south of the Yangtze River, especially Chengdu in Sichuan, Nanchang, Ji 'an and Fuzhou in Jiangxi, Huizhou in Anhui (Huizhou is not very rich locally, but Huizhou merchants rank first in the world), Anqing and Changsha in Hunan, Nanjing, Suzhou, Changzhou, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang and Shanghai in Jiangsu, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou and Shaoxing in Zhejiang, and Fuzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian.
The influence of economy on literature is not direct. There is also an important intermediary between a rich economy and prosperous literature, and that is education. In ancient China, there were two kinds of education: private education and official education. Official schools are everywhere, and private schools are mostly in economically developed areas. Take the Han Dynasty as an example. At that time, the most economically developed areas were Guanzhong, Zhongyuan and Qilu, and the private education at that time was also the most prosperous in these three places. Since the Song Dynasty, great changes have taken place in private school education in China, which is the vigorous rise of academy education. During the Song Dynasty and later Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, China's economic center of gravity was stable in the south, and the number of academies in China was also the largest. The official and private education in a place is developed, and the engraving and collection of books closely related to education are also developed, which provide important conditions for the growth of literary talents.
Bianjing in Northern Song Dynasty
Rich areas are not only developed in government and private schools, but also prosperous in books and convenient in transportation. In addition to being well educated, the literary talents here have the conditions to go out and travel. This is also very important for the growth of writers. Among the ancient writers in China, there are few poor people in the real sense. These people are either bureaucrats, landlords and businessmen, or their children. They don't major in literature. Being an official is their profession. Meng Haoran, Gu and later Tao Yuanming were not officials, but they all had granges and considerable economic income. Therefore, the word "poor" refers to political poverty, not economic poverty. Imagine, how can you afford to study and take exams without money? How to "take Wan Li Road"? The purpose of life is nothing more than two points: one is survival, and the other is development. Reading, making friends and writing are all behaviors that seek development. Only when the problem of survival is solved can we talk about development. The real poor don't even have enough to eat. Why should they be writers?
Third, a civilized country.
Here refers to those areas with long cultural traditions and deep cultural roots. It takes a long time to form a civilized country. Once formed, it has considerable stability and will not change immediately because of changes in external conditions such as politics and economy. Even if a civilized country is not the political and economic center of gravity of the country, as long as there is no severe social turmoil and economic depression, it can still bloom brilliant flowers of realistic civilization. Civilized countries are writers' nests. The ancient civilizations in China are Qufu, Linzi, Jinan and their nearby areas in the north, followed by Taiyuan, Xi, Beijing, Kaifeng and Luoyang. Suzhou, Nanjing, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Shaoxing and Fuzhou rank first in the South, followed by Changzhou, Xuanzhou, Huizhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Quanzhou, Jingzhou, Nanchang, Ji 'an, Chengdu, Changsha and Guangzhou.
A civilized country has several advantages. First, the cultural tradition is long. These civilized countries have a history of at least several thousand years. Once the cultural tradition is formed, it has tenacious strength and eternal character. Tradition and reality are a dynamic relationship. Tradition is tradition because it plays a role in reality; The reality is to explain, inherit and use tradition from one's own side. Cultural traditions are not easily disintegrated and split. For example, during the Qin and Han Dynasties, the social economy in Qilu suffered great damage, but the Confucian tradition remained inseparable. Just after the demise of the Qin Dynasty, the State of Lu rose in the battle between Chu and Han. When Liu Bang was in Enemy at the Gates, "Confucian scholars in central Shandong still talked about learning etiquette and music, and the sound of string songs was endless" (Note: Sima Qian: Biography of Historical Records of the Scholars, Zhonghua Book Company, 1959 edition). Qilu area has once again become a famous culturally developed area.
imperial examination museum of china
It can be seen that cultural tradition is a spiritual force. This power can break through the time limit, connect history and reality, and connect the ancients and the present. Where cultural traditions are formed and carried forward, the culture of that place can maintain development. Second, rich cultural accumulation. Cultural tradition is an ideology, and cultural accumulation is a variety of material carriers, such as schools, books, inscriptions, artifacts and so on. The former is software and the latter is hardware; The former can be passed down and the latter can be passed down. The third is the encouragement of cultural leaders. The main body of a civilized country is a cultural leader who directly inspires the thoughts and behaviors of local talents or potential talents. Cultural leaders include locals, as well as foreigners who live, be officials and give lectures in the local area; There are ancients and sometimes sages. For example, in Shu County of Han Dynasty, in the early Western Han Dynasty, the culture was still relatively backward. It was not until "Wen Weng defends Shu and teaches people how to read" that some cultural flavor appeared here. By the time "Sima Xiangru traveled to the capital and became famous by his words", the scholars here were greatly shocked and encouraged, so "Wang Bo, Yan Zun and Yang Xiong followed, and their articles were the best in the world". Sima Qian's long journey: The reason for the development of Shu culture is that "Wen Weng advocates his religion as his teacher" (Note: Ban Gu: Hanshu Geography, Zhonghua Book Company, 1962 edition). It can be seen that the enlightenment and encouragement of cultural leaders are very important.
Fourth, open up the domain.
Openness here has two meanings, one is geographical openness, and the other is cultural openness. Geographical openness, more specifically, refers to the convenience of transportation at home and abroad. As far as geographical conditions are concerned, the culturally developed areas listed above are all areas with developed transportation. The areas with developed transportation are not all culturally developed areas, but the culturally developed areas must be areas with developed transportation. Regional opening is the premise of cultural opening.
Developed transportation provides at least two advantages for cultural exchange and construction. The first is the advantage of material exchange. Matter belongs to culture in a broad sense. As the objectification of human's essential power, the production and circulation of material contains human's values, aesthetic style and cultural orientation, and material exchange itself is a kind of cultural exchange. Especially in ancient times, when the cultural media was relatively simple, material communication was an important form of the whole cultural communication. Where traffic is developed, there is frequent exchange of materials; And places where material exchanges are frequent, that is, places where cultural exchanges are active. Chang 'an and Luoyang in Han and Tang Dynasties, capital and Lin 'an in Song Dynasty, metropolis in Yuan Dynasty, Beijing, Guangzhou and Quanzhou in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and so on. The second is the advantage of personnel exchange. Man is not only the subject of cultural creation, but also an important medium of cultural communication.
Extensive and frequent personnel exchange is the main driving force of cultural construction in a region. Once an area becomes a developed transportation area, bureaucrats, martial artists, scholars, businessmen and even monks, doctors, geisha and so on. People in China are always in an endless stream, so are foreign envoys, scholars, businessmen and missionaries. Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty is a typical example. It should be noted that the opening of culture is not limited to places like Chang 'an, both of which are capitals. Linzi in the Warring States, Huiji in Xinmang, Jingzhou in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Chengdu in the late Tang Dynasty, Fuzhou in the Five Dynasties and so on.
To sum up, the land of the capital, the rich area, the civilized country and the open land are the four elements of politics, economy, culture (in a narrow sense) and geography, which are related to the formation of the geographical distribution center of writers. Among these four elements, the most direct and stable is culture. Where the focus of culture is, the focus of writers' distribution is. During the Zhou, Qin, Han and Western Jin Dynasties, China's cultural center of gravity was in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, and the distribution center of writers was also in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Sixteen Countries and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the cultural center of gravity shifted to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and so did the distribution center of writers. During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, the cultural center of gravity returned to the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River again, and the distribution center of writers also returned to the north. During the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the cultural center of gravity returned to the Yangtze River valley again, and the distribution center of writers came to the south. This is the basic law of the geographical distribution of writers in China.
Conclusion of intransitive verbs
Through the geographical distribution of writers, we can examine the influence of human geographical environment accepted by writers; Through the influence of the humanistic geographical environment accepted by writers, we can examine the regionality of literary works; Through the regionality of literary works, we can understand the diversity and richness of literature and explain many unsolved mysteries in the history of literature.
the eight great prose masters of the Tang and Song dynasties
The regionality of China literature is mainly manifested in two aspects. First, a certain style is produced in a certain region, so it must have the characteristics of a certain region. For example, Yuan Zaju, which is enthusiastic and lively, sounds "inspiring and creepy enough to make people brave" (Note: Xu Wei: Narration of Southern Poems, Collection of China Classical Dramas, Volume III, China Drama Publishing House, 1959 edition. ), and "euphemistic charm is better" (Note: Wang Yan: "Preface to Long and Short Sentences", Shuangliu Draft, Volume 10, text "Sikuquanshu". ) Song ci is different. Because Yuan Zaju was originally a style centered on metropolis and rooted in Shanxi, Hebei and Shandong. Most of its authors are northerners. According to Wang Guowei's statistics: "Among the 62 people, there are 49 northerners and 0/3 southerners. Among the northerners, there are 46 producers in the places where Zhongshu Province belongs, namely Zhili, Shandong and Shanxi, and most of them have 19. " (Note: Wang Guowei: Time and Place of Yuan Zaju, History of Song and Yuan Opera, 9th Edition, East China Normal University Press, 1995 Edition), while Song Ci is a style with strong southern culture, and more than 80% of its authors are southerners (Note: According to the statistics of Song Ci and Song Ci Supplement), if it is not anonymous, Taking the poets with the word 13 or above (including 13) as the statistical object, * * * got 203 people. Of these 203 people, 168 people came from Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Jiangsu, Anhui, Sichuan, Hubei, Guangdong, Chongqing and Hunan, accounting for 82.8% of the total, and only 34 people came from Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Beijing, accounting for 16.7% of the total).
Another outstanding performance of regional literature is that the same style has different characteristics in different regions. The so-called orange is born in Huainan and orange is born in Huaibei. Taking the ancient prose of Tang and Song Dynasties as an example, Han Yu's ancient prose is different from Ouyang Xiu's. "The article of June 1st, with Changli Taishi, and Korea is just, so it is Xiong Wen; Europe is soft, so it is literary. " (Noe: Chen Qichang: Preface to Eight Great Writers in Tang and Song Dynasties, quoted from Zhang Renfu: Cultural Contrast between North and South China, Yunnan Education Press, 1992). One is rigid, the other is soft, the other is male and the other is loose, which has different performances in different regions. The reason should be sought from the geographical distribution of writers. Han Yu is from Mengxian County, Henan Province, and Ouyang Xiu is from Yongfeng, Jiangxi Province. Their influence on human geography is different.
From the perspective of literature, it is of great significance to study the geographical distribution of writers for investigating the regionality of literature and then the diversity and richness of literature. In addition, from the perspective of education, studying the regional distribution of writers is also of great significance for understanding the generating environment and laws of talents. Of course, no matter from which level, the above research is only a preliminary attempt. I hope more people are engaged in this research.