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Introduction to Fuzhou, China

Introduction to Fuzhou, a Famous Historical and Cultural City in Fujian

Fuzhou, also known as Rongcheng, referred to as Fu and Rong for short, belongs to Fujian Province. It is located in the eastern part of Fujian Province, the lower reaches of the Minjiang River and the coastal areas. It is the capital of Fujian Province, the political, cultural and transportation center of Fujian Province. one.

Founded in 202 BC, Fuzhou has been the political center of Fujian for a long time in history. It is an important city on the southeast coast of China and the resident of the army in the eastern theater. Fuzhou’s landform is a typical estuary basin, surrounded by mountains and mountains, and its altitude is mostly between 600 and 1000 meters.

Fuzhou is one of the first 14 coastal port cities open to the outside world, the gateway to the Maritime Silk Road and one of the three areas of the China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone; Fuzhou is also one of the first five trade ports opened in modern China, Fuzhou Mawei It is the cradle of the modern Chinese navy and the birthplace of Chinese shipping culture.

It has won the titles of “China’s Excellent Tourism City”, “National Sanitary City”, “Binjiang Coastal Ecological Garden City”, “National Environmental Protection Model City”, “National Double Support Model City”, “National Historical and Cultural City”, “National Civilized City” etc. title.

Fuzhou history and culture

1. City signs

1. City standard – three mountains and one water

In the city of Fuzhou, the “three mountains” of Yushan, Wushan and Pingshan stand facing each other, and the Minjiang River passes through the city like a green belt. According to historical records, in the second year of Liang Kaiping of the Five Dynasties, King Fujian expanded the city and encircled the beautiful Yushan, Wushan and Pingshan into the city, forming the unique style of Fuzhou’s “mountain in the city and the city in the mountain”. “Three mountains and one water” has become the main symbol of Rongcheng, so Fuzhou is also called “Three Mountains”.

2. City tree – banyan tree

Planting banyan trees in Fuzhou has become a common practice in ancient times. Especially in the Northern Song Dynasty, the prefect Zhang Boyu advocated “the establishment of households to plant banyan trees”, “the city is full of green shades, and there is no cover in the summer”, so that Fuzhou has the reputation of “banyan city”. The banyan tree is evergreen in all seasons, with luxuriant branches and leaves, majestic tall and straight, full of vitality, symbolizing the spiritual outlook of Fuzhou city.

There are nearly 1,000 ancient banyan trees in the urban area of ​​Fuzhou. Among them, a thousand-year-old banyan in Fuzhou National Forest Park is known as the largest banyan in Fuzhou. meters, and the ground projection area of ​​the canopy reaches more than 1,330 square meters. On February 8, 1985, the 12th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People’s Congress of Fuzhou City decided to name the banyan tree as the city tree.

3. City Flower – Jasmine

Fuzhou’s specialty products rank first in China in terms of output and quality. In the Song Dynasty, jasmine was widely cultivated in Fuzhou. There are many jasmine gardens in the suburbs of Fuzhou. It symbolizes the fragrant fragrance of Fuzhou, a famous historical and cultural city. Fujian jasmine tea made from jasmine is also well-known for a long time and is sold at home and abroad. On February 8, 1985, the 12th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People’s Congress of Fuzhou City decided to name jasmine as the city flower.

4. City fruit – Fu orange

The Fuzhou Basin is rich in oranges, especially oranges, which are thin-skinned, red in color, juicy, sweet and unique in flavor, and are called “Fu oranges”. The ripening period of the fortune orange is just at the end of the year. The custom of Fuzhou is to use “red” for good, and “orange” is similar to “auspicious”, so it has become a folk mascot and a New Year gift. The main production areas are located on both sides of the Minjiang River. On February 8, 1985, the 12th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People’s Congress of Fuzhou City decided to name Fuju as the city fruit.

5. Top ten business cards

The selection of Fuzhou’s “Top Ten Business Cards” started on December 18, 2006, and the results of the event were announced on April 28, 2007. They are: Three Lanes and Seven Alleys, Mawei Ship Administration, Lin Zexu, Three Mountains, Two Towers, One River, Gushan, Fujian Opera , Hot Springs, Shoushan Stone, Tanshi Mountain Cultural Site, Qingyun Mountain.

The common language

Fuzhou dialect is commonly used in the Fuzhou area, and the locals call it Pinghua (one said: common people’s language (meaning folk dialect, in the Fuzhou dialect, the people read the word “hurry up” and “peace”)). The Fuzhou dialect (Fujian dialect) is one of the eight dialects of Chinese. It has been finalized during the late Tang and Five Dynasties and occupies an important position in the Fujian dialect.

The Fuzhou dialect is the common language of the old Fuzhou prefecture “Shiyi” in the lower reaches of the Minjiang River, and the representative dialect of the entire eastern Fujian region. Fuzhou dialect is mainly spoken in the middle and lower reaches of the Minjiang River in Fujian (including its tributaries Dazhangxi and Gutianxi) to the sea mouth, covering 11 counties and cities, namely Gutian, Pingnan, Minhou, Yongtai, Minqing, Changle, Fuqing, Pingtan, Luoyuan, Lianjiang and Fuzhou are used by more than 10 million people. The seven counties (Fu’an, Ningde, Zhouning, Shouning, Zherong, Xiapu, and Fuding) under the jurisdiction of Ningde City (the former Funing House) can understand it.

As for the areas in northern Fujian such as Youxi, Jianou, Shaxian, Shunchang, Jiangle, etc., Fuzhou dialect is used as the second dialect.

The Fuzhou dialect has many origins. The bottom layer should be the language of the ancient Minyue people. The early immigrants before Wei and Jin brought ancient Wu and ancient Chu languages, and ancient Chinese and middle Chinese also obviously survived in Fuzhou dialect.

3. Folk customs

Folk customs in Fuzhou can be divided into five categories: festival customs, wedding, funeral and birthday customs, folk customs, food customs, and wearing customs, mainly including making lanterns, walking on stilts, dancing dragon lanterns, lion dancing, dragon boat racing, climbing and other folk activities.

1. Festivals

The life style of Fuzhou is also influenced by Catholicism and Christianity. Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, etc. reflect the tradition of Fuzhou people who are good at absorbing foreign culture and customs.

All folk customs are “passed down by the predecessors and the later generations” (Fuzhou common saying). Because duck eggs and Fuzhou dialect are pronounced “squeeze the waves” homonym, the fishermen go out to pray for no wind and waves, and it also means “suppressing the chaos”, so the people of Fuzhou call it “squeeze the waves”. “Peace Egg”. In the event of a wedding banquet, birthday, farewell, and over nine (for those who meet nine in the virtual age), you must eat Taiping.

According to Qiu Denghui, an expert in Fuzhou folklore, there are four main ways of saying that the old Fuzhou people “work in the new year”: first, the first, second, and third days of the new year; On the second day of the month, the dragon raises its head, and these two months are all in the concept of “year”, that is, “new year pocket”; thirdly, the “tail tooth” starts on the 16th day of the 12th lunar month and continues until the 29th day of the first lunar month. (Banjiu Festival) is considered as the New Year, which lasts 45 days; fourth, the 24th of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar to sacrifice the kitchen to the twenty-ninth of the first month of the first lunar month, the Ninth Festival.

In the Han Dynasty, the Spring Festival refers to the day of “Li Chun” in the twenty-four solar terms. After the Revolution of 1911, the first day of the first lunar month was changed to the Spring Festival. “The custom of the Spring Festival is first and foremost related to the beginning of spring. During the Spring Festival, farmers often have the custom of reading the omens and divination, and in some places there are still sayings such as ‘the spring is sunny, and the harvest is good.'” Zhao Linbin, a cultural scholar in Fuzhou, said in his The book “A Brief Introduction to Fuzhou Folk Culture” wrote this.

Wandering the gods and welcoming the gods is a customary activity held in the first month of the Fuzhou countryside. The third to fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the time for wandering the gods, and it has become one of the important activities of “new year” in the countryside. The wandering gods often take the village as a unit, sometimes several villages unite, carry the statues of the gods worshipped by the local sedan chairs, and parade the village in a group to the sound of gongs, drums and firecrackers. On the 15th Lantern Festival night, the activity of wandering the gods and welcoming the gods reached a climax.

There is a tradition in Fuzhou that there is a “Banjiu Festival”, and married daughters have to cook “Banjiu porridge” on the 29th of the first lunar month, and send them back to their parents’ home as soon as possible to honor their parents. So far, the suburban counties of Fuzhou still maintain this custom, but the “Nine Festival” in the urban area is gradually replaced by “Mother’s Day”. Once this festival comes, the flower shop’s business is particularly good. A banquet for parents can also be seen in the restaurant.

2. Food customs

Fujian cuisine is famous all over the world, and the taste of Fuzhou people is sweet and sour. There are dozens of local snacks such as fish balls, noodles, meat swallows, shrimp cakes, oyster cakes, light cakes, Dingbian paste, spring rolls, fried noodles, Fuzhou noodles and so on.

Fuzhou cuisine is the representative of Fujian cuisine. Fujian cuisine is known as “Fuzhou cuisine is fragrant in the world, and food culture has been passed down through the ages”. The selection of ingredients is exquisite, the knife work is strict and careful; the heat is paid attention to, and the soup is adjusted;

The first is that the knife is skillful and clever, and it is interesting in taste. It is known as shredded as hair and as thin as paper. The more famous dishes are fried snails.

The second is that there are many soup dishes and various changes. It is known as “one soup and ten changes”. Famous soups, such as the long-established Buddha Jumping over the Wall, have the reputation of “the altar is full of meat and fragrant, and the Buddha hears that he abandons Zen and jumps over the wall”. Among them, Juchun Garden is the most famous one.

The five representative dishes of Fuzhou: Buddha Jumps over the Wall, Sea Clams in Chicken Soup, Sliced ​​Snails, Lychee Pork, and Drunken Chicken. The five bowls represent: Tai Chi taro paste, pot edge paste, meat balls, fish balls, and meat swallows.

Fuzhou’s vegetarian dishes are also famous. They use gluten, bean curd skin, bean curd tendons, winter bamboo shoots, mushrooms, fungus and other plant foods as raw materials. Many temples and Lai halls in Fuzhou sell vegetarian dishes, among which the vegetarian dishes of Yongquan Temple in Gushan are the most famous. There are more than 30 kinds of famous vegetarian dishes such as “Golden Lotus in the South China Sea”, “Shenjiang in Banyue”, “Three Fresh Foods in Shigu” and “Three Silks in Yongquan”.

4. Local Culture

1. Tanshishan Culture

Tanshishan Culture is named after the ancient human site of Tanshishan. The site is located in Tanshi Village, Ganzhe Town, Minhou County, Fuzhou City. It is a national key cultural relic protection unit and the most complete and most substantial prehistoric ancient human cultural site in existence in China.

The Tanshishan culture, which has a history of more than 5,000 years, can be compared with the Yangshao culture and the Hemudu culture, and has the unique and distinctive characteristics of the marine civilization. Since the discovery of the Tanshishan Cultural Site in 1954, 8 archaeological excavations have been carried out, and a number of important cultural relics such as pottery lamps, which are known as “China’s first lamp”, have been unearthed.

2. Shipping culture

It refers to the ideological and cultural achievements formed during the establishment of Fujian Shipping Administration in the late Qing Dynasty. In the fourth year of Tongzhi (1866), Fujian Ship Administration, founded in Mawei, Fuzhou, is recognized as “the cradle of China’s modern navy” and the birthplace of China’s modern industry, science and technology, and higher education.

3. “Three Lanes and Seven Alleys” culture

The culture of “Three Lanes and Seven Alleys” originated from the “Three Lanes and Seven Lanes” in the historical and cultural district of Fuzhou. “Three Lanes and Seven Alleys” is located in the central urban area of ​​Fuzhou (Gulou District), which is the general name of the lanes arranged from north to south on both sides of Nanhou Street.

“Three Lanes” are Yijin Lane, Wenru Lane, and Guanglu Lane; “Seven Lanes” are Yangqiao Lane, Langguan Lane, Ta Lane, Huang Lane, Anmin Lane, Gong Lane, and Jibi Lane.

The basic pattern of the “Three Lanes and Seven Lanes” historical and cultural block was formed in the late Tang Dynasty, and developed to its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, covering a total area of ​​about 45 hectares. There are more than 200 ancient buildings, connecting squares and alleys. The alleys are connected, with pink walls and black tiles, rigorous layout, exquisite houses, and ingenious craftsmanship. Many famous people in Fuzhou are also from “Three Lanes and Seven Alleys” or are closely related to it.

4. Shoushan Stone Culture

Shoushan stone culture is based on Shoushan stone carvings. Shoushan Stone, produced in Shoushan Township, Jin’an District, Fuzhou, is a top-quality carved colored stone.

5. Traditional arts

Fujian Opera: Fujian Opera is also known as “Fuzhou Opera”. In the Ming Dynasty, Kunshan tune and Yiyang tune were introduced into Fuzhou, and Fuzhou dialect opera gradually emerged. When Guangxu first arrived in the Qing Dynasty before and after the Revolution of 1911, he was called the “Fujian class”. In the thirteenth year of the Republic of China (1924), Zheng Zhenduo published the traditional repertoire “Purple Jade Hairpin”, which officially replaced the title of “Fujian class” with “Fujian Opera”.

Pinghua: Pinghua is the main variety of folk art in Fuzhou. It pays attention to singing, speaking, doing and expressing, and has the reputation of “living fossil of humanities”.

Jufan: The original name of Jufan is “Xiehuan”, which means harmony of voice and joy. It is one of the main local music in Fuzhou. It evolved from the folk dragon lantern dance and has a melodious and beautiful tune.

6. Religious culture

Fuzhou is rich in religious culture and is known as the “Buddha Country”. There are 6 key Buddhist temples (Yongquan Temple, Xichan Temple, Linyang Temple, Kizang Temple, Wanfu Temple, Xuefeng Temple), which are the most cities in the country. Fuzhou was selected as the The city with the largest number of key Buddhist monasteries in China by the China World Record Association.

Foreign religious culture in Fuzhou has a long history, and almost all of these religions established a stronghold in Fuzhou when they were introduced into China, which is closely related to Fuzhou being a port for overseas trade since ancient times. As early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, Fuzhou had trade relations with Southeast Asian countries.

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Fuzhou has become a prosperous international trade port where “departments enter the market with tide boats, and thousands of wine shops hang with curtains”. In the Ming Dynasty, Fuzhou’s foreign trade entered its heyday. The famous navigator Zheng He made seven voyages to the West, all of which set sail at Taiping Port (Mawei and Changle area) in Fuzhou after adding supplies, and Fuzhou Port officially became a national port.

In the Qing Dynasty, after Kangxi and Yongzheng, the prohibition and customs were opened, and Fuzhou’s foreign trade became more prosperous, “making the ports of the Southwest Ocean come to each other’s market”. After the Opium War, Fuzhou was turned into one of the “Five Ports Trading” ports. For a long time, foreign envoys, businessmen, etc. have come to Fuzhou, enriching the foreign religious culture in Fuzhou.

Fuzhou retains religious and cultural relics such as Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. During the Three Kingdoms period, Buddhism was introduced to Fuzhou. During the Five Dynasties, Fuzhou was known as the “Buddha Country”. Fuzhou Kaiyuan Temple is the oldest existing temple in Fuzhou.

The history of another Buddhist monastery in Fuzhou, the Yongquan Temple in Gushan, can be traced back to the second year of Kaiping (908 AD) of Liang Kaiping after the Five Dynasties. There is a mosque in Nanmendou, Fuzhou, whose history can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. From the Ming and Qing steles preserved in the mosque, we can roughly understand the spread and development of Islam in Fuzhou at that time.

In the fourth year of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1624), the Italian Jesuit missionary Ai Julio came to Fuzhou to preach. Ten years later, there are hundreds of believers in the city of Fuzhou. The oldest existing Catholic church in Fuzhou is the Fanchuanpu Catholic Church on Nantai Island (built in 1868).

Another religious culture in Fuzhou is its folk belief with maritime features, which is related to its local environment. Fuzhou is located in the lower reaches of the Minjiang River and is on the verge of the East China Sea. It is originally a land of water, with many rivers, lakes, ponds, rivers and sandbars. There are four main rivers in the urban area: Baima River, Dongxi River, Jin’an River and Guangming Port, as well as Antai River, Datiegang, Wusi River, Yingzhou River, Dadao River, Chating River, Yangqia River, Longjin River, etc. More than 10 inland rivers.

The rivers, seas, and rivers are connected, and the oceans, tides, and rivers are connected, which makes Fuzhou culture imprinted with maritime characteristics. The maritime feature of Fuzhou culture is reflected in its folk beliefs, that is, Fuzhou people worship the god of the river and the god of the sea.

Fun places in Fuzhou

1. Scenic spots

Fuzhou is an excellent tourist city in China, with many famous mountains, famous temples, famous gardens and famous residences. It has three national key scenic spots such as Three Lanes and Seven Alleys, Pingtan Haitan, Gushan, Qingyun Mountain, and Eighteen Chongxi.

There are more than 150 famous historical sites in Fuzhou, including the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys, Lin Zexu Tomb, Fuzhou Hualin Temple, Wuta, Mawei Ship Administration Site, Fuqing Maitreya Rock, Tanshi Mountain Cultural Site, Luoyuan Chen Taiwei Palace, etc. It is listed as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Known as the “Forest of Steles in Fuzhou”, Gushan Cliff Rock Carvings, Hualin Temple, the oldest wooden structure in the south of the Yangtze River, “Blessed Langya King Dezheng Monument”, one of the “Four Famous Monuments in the World”, Li Yangbing Wushan Cliff Rock Carvings, which record Zheng He’s voyages in Ming Dynasty The “Monument of Heavenly Concubine Ling Ying’s Remembrance” in historical data.

2. Local specialties

The ten counties in Shiyi, Fuzhou are rich in special products and famous products, such as “tea, bamboo shoots, mountains and trees are all over the world”, “fish, salt, clams are rich and green”, “two letter tides are born from sea to sky, fish and shrimp enter the market regardless of money” ( “Fujian Chronicle”).

It has longan, lychee, citrus, olive, hibiscus plum, tea, mushroom, bamboo shoot, lotus seed, fish, shrimp, snail, mussel, muntjac, pheasant, partridge, stone scales, bodiless lacquerware, wood painting, wood carving, paper umbrella, Special or famous products such as shell carving.

Fuzhou cork painting, Shoushan stone carving, bodiless lacquer ware, Pingtan shell carving, among which Shoushan stone carving, bodiless lacquer ware and cork painting are known as “Three Wonders of Rongcheng”. Bodiless lacquerware, Beijing cloisonne and Jingdezhen porcelain are also known as the “Three Treasures” of Chinese traditional crafts.