Author: Qu Wei (reproduced)
There are many classmates and friends here, and I am very touched, because I believe you all came to this lecture out of your love for Wenzhou. In fact, it doesn't matter who I am, what matters is whether we have love or not. It is this love that binds us together.
I often ask myself, why write such a book? Not on impulse, but there must be a lot of touches, so I will make up my mind to do such a thing. Because in Wenzhou, there are many experts and scholars who study Wenzhou culture, politics and economy, and I am just an ordinary author. Out of my love for Wenzhou, I want to write it. I often walk around the city, and what I see is mostly disappointment. So some people say that they see sadness in my book. I don't like to express sadness, but sometimes you feel this way when you love something or someone too much. I hope I don't feel sad when I sit here. Everyone is happy. That would be great.
I am a nostalgic person, and I often think of Wenzhou as a child. Because they have all disappeared, they are memorable. If nothing has changed and everyone turns a blind eye, there is nothing new. Although only the fresh is news, and I am also a reporter, I feel that things that sometimes disappear, and the old things are brought up again, are also news subjects.
I was not a good student when I was a child. I have a lot of free time, unlike today's children who have a lot of studies to finish, and have no time to wander around the street at all. I often play truant and go to zoos, parks and Songtai Mountain. At that time, I thought there were really many interesting places in Wenzhou. I think that's how my feelings for Wenzhou were cultivated, because I had a happy childhood. A happy childhood is very important for children's growth. At that time, drums were played on Songshan Mountain, and my brother and I often stood by and listened, fascinated. There is an octagonal well at the foot of Songtai Mountain. There are many families living next to them. Women are fetching water and washing clothes by the well. Very lively. There is also a booth for renting picture books on the side. You can rent one for twenty cents and sit on the stone steps for a long time. I read many world famous books there. Now the octagonal well is surrounded by the fountain of Songtai Square. I don't know if this is protection or destruction.
Speaking of wells in Wenzhou, there are many topics. In ancient times, there were 28 wells in Wenzhou, which were said to correspond to 28 stars in the sky. It's just symbolic To put it bluntly, it effectively solved the draught problem of Wenzhou citizens at that time. Although this problem was solved 1600 years ago, our draft problem is still a problem today. I wrote all these contents in the book "Wenzhou Memory", so I won't say them here. The urban construction in Wenzhou is very interesting and exquisite. This stress is not the feng shui that we are keen on now. I don't know why people nowadays care so much about ancient geomantic superstition, including government departments. Because this kind of individual consciousness sometimes even affects the construction concept of government departments and becomes a stupid collective consciousness. There must be something wrong with this. The problem is probably that everyone is too uneducated. It is understandable or excusable to say that it is a personal act, but it is unforgivable if it is a government act. If I say so, people who engage in feng shui must have a problem. In fact, Guo Pu, who built Wenzhou, is an expert in divination. He is much more knowledgeable than the so-called Mr. Feng Shui now. But he chose to build a city here because he didn't pay attention to Feng Shui, but carried out his philosophy and military thought. Wenzhou has a history of 1600 years, but the ruins of Wenzhou have never changed, which is rare in the history of city building in the world. As we know, Beijing, Xi, Rome and Athens, these ancient big cities, have all changed in thousands of years, and they are not at their original addresses. We often see in history books that there is a bracket behind a famous city, indicating the present position and where it is. But Wenzhou has never changed. There are mountains and water in Wenzhou, so Guo Pu put forward the idea of "connecting mountains with five buckets and connecting water with five elements" when he built the city, and drilled 28 wells, making Wenzhou a strong city that is easy to defend but difficult to attack, with sufficient water supply in drought and rapid flood discharge in flood. Unlike the heavy rain now, there is water everywhere.
In my feeling, Wenzhou is very beautiful. I thought she was beautiful at first. That's on Wuma Street. I lived near there when I was a child. I often wander alone in the street and like to look at those old houses. I am very interested in old houses. I think these houses are so beautiful. I can't feel anything in the house now. At that time, I thought, why isn't our house like that now? Can't you do it? Walking on the edge of those beautiful old houses, I seem to feel that I am walking in a fairy tale world. Later, I wrote a novel set in Wuma Street. From writing that novel, I gradually realized, why not write Wenzhou and show people its beauty?
Many things contributed to my idea. A Cheng and Fan Zhenbiao, two famous writers in Northeast China, accompanied me to Wenzhou. They want to see the old Wenzhou, even the shadow of Jiangnan water town. I just need to show them the old house. Those beautiful old houses are about to be demolished. They all looked pitiful, but there was nothing anyone could do but appeal. That night, they enjoyed it and regretted it. Teacher Fan also said that she seemed to be in a Grimm fairy tale, and she was really beautiful. I think they all feel sorry for us, and we don't seem to realize it. When all the old houses are demolished, it will be too late for us to think again. In the past, building a house was a big deal for people. They always want to be beautiful, fashionable and comfortable, and they are not casual. We want to keep them today, not to say how important the house is and how prominent the owner is, but because it often represents a culture, a state of life and a view of history. Of course, the former residences of those cultural celebrities are different. Simple as it is, it should be protected. But there are so many cultural celebrities in Wenzhou, but there is almost no protection for their former residences.
Another time, I received a group of European musicians, and I introduced Wenzhou to them. It has a history of 1600 years and is a very old city. But they looked at me blankly and said, this is a new city with many tall buildings, which is no different from other cities. Looking back, it is true that Wenzhou is like an upstart. Almost all our ancient things have been destroyed.
On another occasion, the famous poet Lei and I went to Wenzhou together. He talked about Xie Lingyun in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and Ikebukuro, and he really wanted to see it. I took him. At that time, the pool upstairs had not been renovated and was in tatters. Mr. Lei is still touching the railing of the bridge with great interest, and he is very happy.
Many times, I meet friends from other places. They always like to ask me some questions about Wenzhou. The most common questions are why Wenzhou people do business and the interesting and unique dialects in Wenzhou. Wenzhou dialect is very particular. This is a linguistic question, but it's not my turn to say it. But because it's interesting, I might as well say something interesting. This is the job of a writer. I still remember that one year, a colleague and I went to Shanghai for an interview on an international event. Because there are foreigners around, we speak Wenzhou dialect in the middle, and no one can understand it, so some people always follow us to exchange foreign exchange for dollars and so on, and receive us everywhere like foreign guests. On another occasion, reporters from the National Evening News held a meeting in Wenzhou. On behalf of the organizer, I have been attending. There is stewed duck at dinner. A foreign reporter friend asked me, how do you say duck in Wenzhou dialect? I said, call: ah. Everyone was very interested and shouted: ah, ah. It turned out to be, ah, a voice. I wrote something about Wenzhou dialect in this book. You can read it. There is a famous Wenzhou novelist, Mr. Lin Jinlan, who wrote a novel called "The Custom of Low Stool Bridge", which tells the story of Wenzhou, and used many words in Wenzhou dialect, which caused a shock in the national literary world. There is also a young writer in Wenzhou, Guo Xiang, who recently wrote a novel called Sky in the Alley in Wenzhou dialect, which is also very interesting.
Some people say that Wenzhou people can do business, just like Jews. So we often pretend to be "Jews in China". I often think about this problem. In fact, you need to say that you are Jewish, but there are Arabs who can do business. Although Jews fight Arabs every day, in fact, they belong to the same Semitic race. Their ability to do business has a lot to do with their culture and living environment. According to my investigation, I think there are similarities between Wenzhou and the ancient Greek city-state culture in the Aegean basin. Wenzhou is surrounded by mountains on three sides and faces the sea on one side. In the case of underdeveloped land transportation in ancient times, it should be an important way to choose sea navigation. Maritime traffic not only provides convenience for us, but also creates a kind of marine cultural characteristics different from the farming culture originated in the inland of the Central Plains, and the spread of our Yongjia school's ideas in the local area. Being good at trade has become a feature of people in this area. This is introduced in detail in my book, so I won't say it here.
Over the years, Wenzhou has gained a reputation, but this name also has many negative effects. People say that Wenzhou people can do business, and some even say that we Wenzhou people can only do business and make fake things, even our hair is hollow. Who knows that Wenzhou is also a place with splendid culture? This is what we need to do. More importantly, how can we build Wenzhou's culture well and what kind of valuable things can we leave for our future and future generations? This is the purpose of my writing this book.