Heavenly Huizhou - The Ten Major Schools of Huizhou Culture

Author: Wang Qimin
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-10-01
Features: The long-standing Huizhou culture is the sum of material and spiritual civilizations created by the ancient Huizhou people, and also a crystallization of Chinese national culture, possessing extremely high cultural and aesthetic value. For thousands of years, the Huizhou region, nestled in the mountains along the upper reaches of the Qiantang River, has been like a giant furnace, continuously absorbing various nutrients. The distinctive original indigenous culture, the "Shanyue" culture of mountain dwellers who farmed by clearing land with fire, as well as the Confucian culture brought by northern scholars, successively took root, interacted, and merged here, ultimately forging a unique socio-cultural system. After the Song Dynasty, especially during the Ming and Qing periods, Huizhou became renowned for its literary traditions, scholarly schools, commercial guilds, and refined customs. The outstanding achievements of the Huizhou people in economy, society, education, academia, literature, art, craftsmanship, architecture, and medicine left the world in awe, giving rise to the admiration, "Huizhou is in the heavens!" This book introduces the ten major schools of Huizhou culture—Huizhou merchants, Xin'an Confucianism, Huizhou pragmatic learning, Xin'an medicine, Xin'an painting school, Huizhou architecture, Huizhou woodblock printing, Huizhou seal carving, Huizhou opera, and Huizhou cuisine—through accessible language and illustrated content. These schools are not only the essence of Huizhou culture but also hold significant positions in Chinese cultural history, and some even in world cultural history, exerting profound influence. The authors of this book are deeply rooted in the fertile soil of Huizhou culture, possess abundant first-hand materials, and have long dedicated themselves to Huizhou cultural research. Therefore, the book is well-documented, rich in content, highly readable, and holds certain academic value, making it suitable for both scholars and general readers.
Huizhou is a magical land nestled in the mountainous region of southeastern China, at the source of the Qiantang River. For thousands of years, the Huizhou region, surrounded by mountain walls, has been like a giant furnace, continuously absorbing various influences and forging a unique regional culture. Since the Song Dynasty, the Huizhou people, later hailed as embodying the "Huizhou Camel Spirit," have thrived by adapting to the times, leveraging geographical advantages, and striving for harmony, achieving remarkable accomplishments in economic, social, educational, academic, literary, artistic, craft, architectural, and medical fields. Here, literature flourished, scholarship formed schools, commerce thrived in guilds, and customs were refined, ultimately giving rise to the splendid and glorious Huizhou culture. Historically unique, Huizhou culture encompasses numerous categories and rich content, spanning disciplines such as history, paleography, economics, sociology, anthropology, geography, literature, aesthetics, folklore, architecture, environmental studies, and medicine. It serves as a vivid specimen and holographic microcosm of the late feudal society in China, forming an integral part of traditional Chinese culture, with its essence representing the forefront of advanced culture in its time. This book introduces the mainstream of Huizhou culture—Huizhou merchants, Xin'an Confucianism, Huizhou pragmatic learning, Xin'an medicine, Xin'an painting school, Huizhou architecture, Huizhou woodblock printing, Huizhou seal carving, Huizhou opera, and Huizhou cuisine—through clear and engaging language and illustrated content, covering their origins, development, and evolution. These schools have exerted significant influence in Chinese cultural history, and some even in world cultural history, occupying prominent positions. The authors of this book are deeply rooted in the fertile soil of Huizhou culture, possess abundant first-hand materials, and have long dedicated themselves to Huizhou cultural research. Therefore, the book is well-documented, rich in content, highly readable, and holds certain academic value, making it suitable for both scholars and general readers.