Special Cultural Function Of The Ming And Qing Jiangnan Towns

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China's social changes would liketo enter a key period. With the prosperity of industry and the enlargementof markets, our towns have entered a high-speed prosperous period,especially in regions south of the Changjiang River. The development ofthe towns in this area ranks first in the whole country. The towns emergein large numbers, like the bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Togetherwith the vast countryside and the large or medium-sized cities, they playimportant roles in the hierarchical system of our country cities. Relyingon the economic boom, many towns in regions south of the Changjiang Riverdisplay a strong cultural function and become profound humanistic towns.Scholars gathered in non-central cities or towns, form a national impacton the literary genre of pomp, appeared in Chinese literature focus. Theemergence of such a phenomenon is unprecedented and unrepeatable inChina's urban development history and cultural history.In this essay, we will choose several schools of literature, whichare produced in Jiangnan towns in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, such asYushan school of poetry,Loudou school of poetry and Meili school of poetry.Through the analysis of the related authors and works, we tend to combseveral core elements which can reflect urban culture function, namely,the economic prosperity and cultural prosperity of Jiangnan Towns, thepoetic dwelling of Jiangnan literati, the convenient transportation, theculture footprint of literati, the cultural clans in the towns, thedevelopment of traditional library and engraved books, the royal humaneeffect that is caused by a literary giant for his retirement, the Jiangnantowns and the cultural movement to restore the Ming Dynasty in theEarlyQing Dynasty and so on, and combine with the contemporary socialpolitics situation to fully explore the special cultural function inJiangnan Towns. Besides the 'Introduction', this essay consists of seven chapters.The first chapter will be about 'The prosperity and development ofJiangnan Towns in Ming and Qing Dynasties': In the first section, it willcomb Jiangnan Towns' history and reform. In the second section, it willdeal with the economy prosperity of Jiangnan Towns in Ming and QingDynasties. In the third section, it will analyze the cultural prosperityof Jiangnan Towns in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the fourth section,it will focus on the case study in Jiangnan Towns in the Ming and Qingdynasties. Besides, it will report the urban development status throughseveral culture cases.The second chapter will be about 'Poetic dwelling environment inJiangnan towns and its relationship to literary activities'. In the firstsection, it will introduce the poetic dwelling of Jiangnan literati. Inthe second section, it will comb literati's elegant party in gardens,pools and halls. In the third section, it will analyze the origin of moneyLiu sing's and its significance in the history of culture. In the fourthsection, it will deal with the intersection between enjoying the flowersand reciting poems and the thinking of literati.The third chapter will be about 'The convenient transportation andthe culture footprint of literati': In the first section, it willintroduce the water features of Jiangnan Towns in the Ming and QingDynasties. In the second section, it will analyze the main culturalbehavior of Jianghu waterway and Jiangnan literati. In the third section,it will discuss the literature activities among boats in Jiangnan Towns.The fourth chapter will be about 'The interaction between culturefamilies and Jiangnan Towns': In the first section, it will comb theprofiles of culture families in related towns. In the second section, itwill analyze the humanistic characteristics of the influential families.In the third section, it will deal with the families that is handed down disciple in Jiangnan Towns and analyze the close relations between them.The fifth chapter will be about 'The grand undertaking of books inJiangnan Towns': In the first section, it will deal with the richcollection status of town private. In the second section, it will dealwith the boom in printing industry of the towns. In the third section,it will discuss the large-scale works and achievements of the book seriesin the towns, and will put emphasis on the analysis of its push intoEarlyQing Dynasty literature revolution.The sixth chapter will be about 'A literary giant's return home andthe literature center of gravity down in Ming and Qing Dynasties': Inthe first section, it will comb the literati's Hermitage wind in EarlyQingDynasty. In the section second, it will describe the cultural contributionof literati after they return their homes. In the third section, it willdiscuss the special literature status of Jiangnan Towns in EarlyQingDynasty.The seventh chapter will be about 'The Jiangnan towns and thecultural movement to restore the Ming Dynasty in the EarlyQing Dynasty':In the first section, it will analyze Jiangnan Towns' reasons of thecultural movement to restore the Ming Dynasty and their unique advantages.In the second section, it will introduce the surveys of related urbanscholars in the cultural movement to restore the Ming Dynasty. In the thirdsection, it will discuss the specific intersection between literati intowns and the cultural movement to restore the Ming Dynasty. In the fourthsection, it will summarize the special significance of Jiangnan Towns asimportant towns during the Ming Dynasty in the EarlyQing Dynasty. Besides,it will conduct cultural reflection.The conclusion will come from two aspects---assemblage and radiation,to analyze the unique cultural functions of Jiangnan Towns in Ming andQing Dynasties.