Before the Six Dynasties, wuyue was famous for its martial arts, and Wu Yue people in literature were fierce and aggressive. But after the Six Dynasties, Jiangnan changed its face and became famous for its elegance. It is "sensitive to learning and neglecting the use of force." There is a scene where the father teaches, the mother persuades her son, and the wife urges her husband to learn. "He is ashamed of his career and can recite it from beginning to end. He should take a master's degree. People who live in a group of white heads are not self-sufficient, and their customs in the south of the Yangtze River are completely natural (volume 9 of the Collected Works of Mr. Zhenchuan, Preface to Seeing Wang Rukang off).
Wuyue literati, with their strong reading atmosphere and numerous scholars, made a blockbuster in the field of scientific research in past dynasties. According to Yongzheng's "Zhejiang Tongzhi", in the Southern Song Dynasty, there were more than 6,000 people who were admitted to the Jinshi in Zhejiang alone. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were more people in the south of the Yangtze River. According to the Ming and Qing Dynasties Jinshi Inscription, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were 4,690 Jinshi in Wu alone. Because of the examinations in various subjects, the examination ability of scholars from the south of the Yangtze River is much higher than that of scholars from the north, forcing Ming to adopt the negative principle of "taking points and taking them" and limit the admission rate of scholars from the south of the Yangtze River with quotas to maintain the general balance of the region. Another example is the champion. There were 89 people in the Ming Dynasty, including Emperor Wu 16. In the Qing Dynasty, there were 124 people in the whole country, and 44 people were Emperor Wu. In this way, wuyue won the reputation of "the hometown of top scholars". The top scholar is the first among scholars, and the number of top scholars can undoubtedly show the degree of cultural development in this area.
Wuyue is not only a large number of literati, but also talented people in "literature" and "art". Most people study for exams, get into Jinshi and become officials. But there are also some people who, out of personal interest, like learning knowledge, dancing, playing chess, painting and calligraphy. Most of them are frustrated in the examination room, and some people still do not change their amateur habit of attaching importance to literature and art even if they win the Jinshi and become officials. These famous students, knowledgeable people, are called "Jiangnan gifted scholars". The most famous gifted scholars in wuyue are the four gifted scholars in Wuzhong in Suzhou in the middle of Ming Dynasty, namely Zhu Yunming, Tang Bohu, Wen Zhiming and Xu Zhenqing. Zhu and Tang "turned literary talent into brilliance", that is, "moved a generation" at that time. There are also many anecdotes about Zhu and Tang among the people. From then on, those talented people who are good at writing, painting and calligraphy are often called "Jiangnan gifted scholars". Just as the natural environment in the south of the Yangtze River is good, Suzhou and Hangzhou are the cradle of beautiful women. As a result, there are many stories of "talented people and beautiful women" in costume dramas.
Because of the strong reading style, there are more cultural families. In feudal society, public opinion paid special attention to scholarly family. Under the control of this concept, parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren, often several generations, are proud of reading, and over time, they have formed a big cultural family. Cultural families exist all over the country, but in terms of quantity and influence, they lag far behind other regions. Cultural families have everything, including calligraphy and painting, poetry, medicine, science, technology and other fields. The surnames of Gu, Shen, Wen, Yuan and Wan in Ningbo are all famous cultural families. Wen was born in Bashu, moved out in the later Tang Dynasty, and gradually moved to Liang Wudi. The Wen family has been famous for their writings since their ancestors. For Wen Zhiming, he is "the alliance of Wuzhong scholars for more than 30 years" (Biography of Poetry in Past Dynasties). Wen Wenben, Wen Peng, Wen Jia, Wen, Wen, Wen Zhenheng, Wen Bing, Wen Cheng, Wen Biao, Wen Dian, Wen Chi, Wen Han, Wen Tai, etc. They are all famous in the poetry world and lasted for eleven generations. "Poetry and style of writing are circulating in the sea, and they are endless, so they are nothing like Wen's genealogy" (preface to Wen's genealogy). Shiwan was born in a military family in Ningbo. Since the early Ming Dynasty, Ningbo Wei has been the hereditary commander-in-chief of affairs, and all previous dynasties have been "good at classics and history, called Confucian generals". Wan Biao and his son in the middle of Ming Dynasty were one of the famous descendants of Wang Xue in eastern Zhejiang. Sun in the early Qing Dynasty, the grandson of Wan Biao, a member of the Southeast Fushe Society, and a disciple of Jishan School. He is also a close friend of Huang Zongxi and has made great contributions to the spread of Huang Zongxi's studies in Ningbo. Wan Tai has eight sons, who are called "Eight Dragons". The most famous are Wan Sitong and Vance. His grandchildren Wan Yan, Wan Jing and Xuan Sun Wan all have literary names. Shao Tingcai wrote in the biography of Wan family in Ningbo: "Wan family started to defend, and the New Year of Science was brewing for 300 years. Civil and military officials go in different directions, but their purposes are different. Politics is a family. Very suitable! " (Collected Works of Sifutang, Volume III).
From Wushu to culture, the evolution of wuyue folk customs has gone through a long process. This change began in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and ended in the Song Dynasty. Generally speaking, the form of advocating culture is the result of the southward movement of the Han Confucian cultural center. After several wars, the northern regime moved south, and so did the cultural center. Therefore, Confucian culture washed away wuyue's original savage habits and made it the center of Confucian culture in the south. Specifically, the formation of seeking fame and studying is inseparable from the implementation of the imperial examination system.
The feudal society in China was an official-based society, and officials were the most glorious profession. The way to choose officials, the six dynasties and nine grades of official law. Although the official law values talent, it values family status. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the imperial examination system became the right way to be an official. As the saying goes, "No matter whether you are civil or military, you always attach importance to the family. This is called the right path. Otherwise, you have to learn from the world and learn from the world. " (Ge Shijun's "Continued Imperial Classics"). Compared with the Nine-grade Zhengzhi system, the imperial examination system is a gradual system of selecting and testing officials. It is "equal opportunity, open door", not limited by family background and region. Every scholar is qualified to take the imperial examination. Although the competition is fierce, any diligent intellectual has a chance to be selected. Due to the characteristics of China's official-based society, once an official is appointed, a high-ranking official is highly paid, and everyone is proud of learning and becoming famous. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a poem "Sleeping Snow Song" circulated by Emperor Wu vividly described this habit of respecting literature: (1) Didn't you see a neighbor riding a green horse? Laugh at my loneliness on foot. Once you get to the point of studying, you will be in a fog. The old body is rich now, and the big shoulders and high teeth guide the land ahead. Don't hate a person when you first go out. There are so many chariots and horses in the book. "(2)" You didn't see the western belle clever thrush, laughing at me for marrying without a wife. Once you reach the peak of your studies, rich and powerful people will compete for the wedding date. The former solitary room is now full of candles, and Peacock Screen opens her eyes. At first, I believed that I didn't hate not having a good marriage when I got married. There is a woman Yan Ruyu in the book. " (3) "You didn't see that there was more than enough business in the south, and you laughed at me for studying hungry and cold. Once you were on a cloud road, a goldfish hung in a purple bag around your waist. In the past, the whole family had no food. At first, I believed that rich people don't have to buy fertile land. There are thousands of millet in Qian Qian in the book. " (4) "Don't you see that the flying clouds in the north have nothing to do with laughing at my home. Once you study in Xiangfu, there will be thousands of buildings. The eaves of reeds used to be beams and trees, and they were carved into abrupt buildings. At first, I believed that there was no need to build a high hall, and the book had its own golden house. " (Chu people won the first volume and five episodes of Selected Works of Sword) The rate of return on reading is so high. Being famous, advantageous, with a house and a wife, naturally every scholar will pursue reading crazily, which has formed a strong atmosphere of pursuing fame and profit in wuyue.
The developed economy in the south of the Yangtze River has also created conditions for the formation of reading style. The imperial examination system faces the whole country, and there are scholars all over the country, which has produced many scholars and talents. However, due to special reasons such as abundant financial resources, the reading atmosphere in wuyue is stronger than that in other regions. As the economy in the south of the Yangtze River is generally developed, families with a little assets above rich peasants can generally provide education for their children. Jiangnan is generally richer than the north, which has created many scholars and superb scientific research skills, overwhelmed the scholars in the north to a certain extent, and even led to the adoption of quota measures in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In addition, Jiangnan scholars are easy to make progress in their studies, which is inseparable from the natural intelligence of Jiangnan people. Due to the influence of geographical environment and the development of commodity economy, Wuyue people are smarter than northerners. They are especially good at reading and guessing questions. It is said that in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, as soon as the Selected Works of Scholars in the South of the Yangtze River came out, there were businessmen who wanted to sell it to the north, and the northern literati respected it. The beautiful natural scenery and leisurely living atmosphere in the south of the Yangtze River also make Wuyue people know how to read, and the culture of advocating literature is getting stronger and stronger.
Of course, not every corner of the Five Mountains is full of reading styles. Generally speaking, the reading atmosphere in Taihu Lake Basin and Qiantang River Basin is relatively strong. Suzhou is known in history as "the literary talent adopts the beauty of the southeast, and the source of Zou Lu is studied" (Zhao's Suzhou Fu). Nanjing was the largest cultural center in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Hangzhou, Jinhua, Shaoxing, Jiaxing and Huzhou have a strong style of study. In the eastern and southern Zhejiang, Ningbo, Taizhou, Wenzhou, Lishui, Quzhou and other areas, reading is relatively weak, but the wind of doing business and learning art is quite strong.