West Lake Dream: Social Networks And Culture Of Hangzhou Intellectuals In The17th Century

The17th century is a period of vital importance in modern Chinese history,when there appeared prosperous commercial economy in areas of Zhejiang andJiangsu around which a great controversy on "preliminary capitalism" came intodebate several decades ago and is still seen presently, and when the Donglindangschool and Huang Zongxi launched their criticism of the royal power and began adiscussion of such modernistic features as democracy. But for the big change betweencultures in Ming and Qing dynasties, most scholars put emphasis upon the epoches ofLate Ming and the Mid-Qing yet regard the joining period between the two dynastiesas a transmission or a subordination. But actually the cultural circle in this joiningperiod is very active and productive, especially those intellectuals, who showed greatuniqueness and a different distinction.In the research method, such intellectuals stressed a combination of socialstructure, mainly class and social layer, and a view of macro history. The paper is tostudy the intellectual group via an integration of regional history and social network.The method of social network is to look at the social relation and interactionsbetween individuals and social systems by a lateral view, by which we can studyculture in this period, avoiding an isolated view of the roles and positions of differentsocial groups, such as officials, intellectuals and monks, removing the structuralistknowledge in the past and recognizing the internal changes of the region.Regional feature is quite obvious in dynasties of Ming and Qing, which is shownin recent researches in folkmanship, regional literature and regional economy.Hangzhou developed since Late Tang period, and after Wuyue founded by QianHouse in the Wudai Period and the Song Regime in the south, it became the biggestmetropolitan in southeast China. Though it saw decline in Yuan dynasty, still itremained a regional center like Nanjing and Suzhou. The widespread education andaggregation of intellectuals had been its source for prosperity. Different from perviousresearches, the paper is to use the perspective of social network to study theconstruction of intellectual groups in Hangzhou and observe the relation between individuals and social network by examples of Li Yu and Wang Zhuo.Intellectuals and social network in Hanzhou are obviously regional which realizethe positive interaction between layers inside the intellectual group, culture andcommerce, non-religious and religious and genders and through which such socialresources as social status, wealth and information can be obtained by different groups.Individual intellectual can be involved in Hangzhou and get reward bycommunicating with the local officials and powerful people. On the other hand, suchnetwork is trans-area, Hangzhou can change information and prestige with otherregions by transferring officials, traveling intellectuals and migrating population.Social networks of Hangzhou intellectuals are based upon the daily life of suchgroups and social interactions. We can identify the background of such network byanalysing the social interaction in their daily life situations. For intellectuals, there isclose relation between their social interaction and the layer they belong to, life space(work, family life and leisure) and friend activities (making friends, visiting andletter-writing) where social layer concerns with intellectuals interacting each other ofdifferent status and life space with their life attitude, family operation, and rhythm oftheir leisure and daily life whereas interaction is an inevitable way of self-realizationand social involvement. On the other hand, the operation of social network isdependent on certain spaces, and contribute to its formation the other around.Hangzhou is famous for in scenery since Tang dynasty. As a special humane space,the West lake and its surrounding area is in close and rapid interaction with the localintellectual social network.There appeared some marginal groups beyond intellectuals, peasants,hand-workers and businessmen, notably hermits and famous women (versatile girlsand prostitutes) beyond the ritual order of "family and country integration" in thedaily life of intellectuals along with the development of the city and its commerce, theformer wanting to set them apart from the actual society while the latter is the productof the special relationship between the two sexes who both were important part of thisnetwork and influencial.Last, the distinction between cultural domains is more clear in Ming and Qingdynasties and the regional ideas are getting apparent (building folkman clubs, compiling local literatures and so on) due to the functions of geographical andhumane factors. But there is competition and reorganization of cultures from differentregions, which Hangzhou intellectual network has to cope with where the movingpopulation calls foe attention. Intellectuals from local Hangzhou and other regions,Hanzhou intellectuals and the local ones all need time and effort to adjust themselves.So tidying out such history is of great value in understanding the construction ofmainstream national culture in China.