day harem and Tianjin people
text / Feng Jicai
From a cultural perspective, Tianjin is a strange and confusing city. As the largest hub of water and land transportation in China, it has been affected by the economic and cultural tides of various places every day; it is also the gateway and close neighbor of the capital Beijing, and Kyoto's political and cultural heritage has always influenced it; it has also passed a century-long concession history and is located on the front line of the collision between the ancient and closed China and the modern Western civilization. In addition, its city was formed late, so it should have more emerging colors and more outgoing spirits. But how does it have such a unique and tenacious regional culture? How could millions of residents so persistently use local spoken language with strong characteristics and stick to its rich folk customs and customs so enthusiastically? More particularly, the mentality of the people here is very different from that of the Beijingers who are close to each other, which is really a mystery!
The deepest core of regional culture is in the human mindset. Folk customs are just appearance, and cultural mentality is the essence of the spirit. Once a certain cultural mentality is formed, its unique folk customs have unshakable roots. This regional culture is truly established. When studying the causes of Tianjin's regional culture, the author discovered that all its secrets were hidden deep in an ancient temple - Tianhou Palace.
There is a Tianhou Temple near the sea in China, and it is called Mazu Temple in Fujian, Zhejiang and Taiwan. The god worshipped in the temple is the queen of heaven, also known as Tianfei . It is said that she can protect the safety of boaters in rivers, lakes and seas. During the development of navigation in the Song Dynasty, the , , and the reverence of the queen became increasingly important.
Tianjin is bordering on Bohai , and it is also the place where the Grand Canal flows through. The capital was established in Dadu (now Beijing) in the Yuan Dynasty. During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing again. The grain needed by the capital was transported to Tianjin from the south through the sea or from the Grand Canal, and then transferred to the capital. Tianjin has always been connected to shipping, so naturally he is particularly pious to the queen. There are sixteen small Niangniang Temples recorded in Tianjin, the most brilliant and important one is the Tianhou Palace.
old photos of the Tianhou Palace mountain gate
wooden statue of the Tianhou Madam when she was on a tour
Today's Tianhou Palace's main hall, the picture is selected from "Tianjin Cultural Map"
day harem status, the picture is selected from "Tianjin Cultural Map"
day harem was built in the third year of Taiding in the Yuan Dynasty. There was no Tianjin city in the fashion. Tianjin is called Haijin Town , it is just a big wharf. The Tianhou Palace was built at the Sancha River estuary where the intersection of Daqing River , Ziya River , and Yongding River . This is also the source of Haihe that leads directly to the sea. The boatmen and navy who came and went every day could not help but stop the boat and go to the temple to burn an incense stick to ask for something. As the incense is getting more and more popular, various shops gather on the left and right sides, and a Gongqian Street, known as the "cradle of Tianjin", gradually formed. Although Tianjin City was built behind it later (, the second year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, ), the Tianhou Palace was still the center of Tianjin's economy and spirit.
Interestingly, the queen changed her name to Tianjin, called Niangniang, or Old Niangniang. This name infuses the intimacy and human feelings of Tianjin people, that is, the taste of Tianjin. Moreover, her role and functions have been greatly expanded.
The earliest request of the Empress to be the only one who saves the poor and protects the danger and blesses peace. Because the people here worship the Empress too much, all things that cannot be controlled in the world depend on her. The Chinese people's respect for gods is the pursuit of "reward in this world", not simply relying on geographical ideals, but more emphasis on real utilitarian realization. The Chinese people’s spiritual creation psychology starts from the personal needs. If there is a need, a God will be created. The statue of the empress in the Heavenly Queen's harem evolved from one to nine.In addition to the Virgin of the Heavenly Queen, there are also Vision ( to remove eye diseases ), Slap ( to eliminate ear diseases ), Sending birth ( to protect boys and girls ), Rasp ( to bless children with rashes safely escape from danger ), Wet mother ( to ensure that women have sufficient milk during pregnancy ), Lambs ( to manage the quality of milk hiring milk ), Thousand Sons and descendants ( to bless the clan to continue ), etc. Grass gradually moved the gods believed by the people into the temple, built temples and burned incense. Such as: Guanyin, Dragon King, Medicine King , Tang Minghuang , Fire God , Hebo , Lei Gong , Electromo, Guandi, God of Wealth, Wenchang, Yue Wumu, etc. It seems that these gods with great powers were summoned here by the Empress, and all the world's misfortunes, good fortune, danger, and failure are decided here; the Empress, who was sitting in the middle of the hall, became more supreme and had boundless magic power. This kind of hodgepodge of immortals that seems ridiculous to people today, and this incongruent transformation of the Queen of Heaven and the Queen of Heaven's harem just reflects the residents of this commercial port who likes lively and hot, and the more they get better.
Here, the Empress seems to be a generous mogul, and will meet all requests; all hopes and demands can be turned into reality through the Empress's hands. The true pragmatic spirit is that even fantasy contains realistic utilitarianism. People call the queen the queen, just to bring the gods closer to themselves. The gods created by Tianjin people in the Heavenly Palace, such as: Brother Sha, Niangniang, Master Geda Liu, Master Ruo Da San, Brother Shuai, Grandma Wang San, etc., all use the unique sense of humor of the people here to turn their yearning into immortals, and then turn the gods into people who can be approached. With respect, it has become more market-oriented. This interesting mentality of focusing on the profit of life has been strengthened and deepened in the Heavenly Palace, and has become a psychological mechanism to resist the sensitive and alert political culture from Kyoto. Through the evolution of Tianhou Temple, we can see that the original peasant cultural mentality in the process of the formation of Tianjin City was successfully transformed into the small merchant and hawker-style citizen cultural mentality. This mentality has strong limitations and conservatism, which effectively curbs the formation of large commerce and metropolitan consciousness here.
Old postcards with masts in Sancha River estuary with masts
Qing Dynasty "Tianjin Imperial Meeting Map" (partial)
The imperial meeting performance during Mazu's parade, the picture is selected from "Tianjin Cultural Map"
People worshipped incense and worship at the Mazu parade ceremony, the picture is selected from "Tianjin Cultural Map"
Tianjin people further made the imperial palace, which is due to people's strong desire for life. Tianjin was originally a place in Yanzhao. The people are simple and life is enthusiastic. At the end of the twelfth lunar month, men and women burn incense and pray silently in the hall, but the courtyard of the temple is filled with New Year's goods, which are bought and sold. The square in front of the palace is even more lively, commonly known as the "Previous Palace Museum". Among the northern metropolis, Tianjin is the most popular for the New Year. The items that are in full bloom are extremely rich. Various vendors are competing to sell countless local specialties in Tianjin, including velvet flowers, New Year pictures, lanterns, goldfish, incense, candles, paper-cuts, magical pictures, diaboloss, flower cakes, etc.; the theater opposite the mountain gate beats and gongs and sings to cheer people up. The Empress is drowned in this strong sense of life, and is also a center of life here. People from Tianjin are more popular, especially during the Chinese New Year. It is said that they come from the red clothes worn by the queen. There are two meanings of red clothes: one is to avoid evil, so women wear red all over the red light movement, which is called being able to avoid guns and cannons; the other is auspiciousness. When women in Tianjin spend the New Year and get married, they use red items to wear; window flowers, door couplets, and blessing characters are also used red everywhere. Auspicious celebration of warding against evil means to eliminate disasters and bring blessings. Whether it is to ward off evil or auspicious celebration, they yearn for a warm and happy life. This wind has been going on to this day; the hot red injects a blazing temperature into the blood of Tianjin people. Respecting friendship and righteousness, being generous and hospitality are the customs and feelings of the people here.
4 The 23rd day of the old calendar every year is the birthday of the empress, and the people's royal meeting has always been the biggest folk move in Tianjin. People carried the statue of the Empress out of the temple gate and went out for a tour to spend the blessings. For four consecutive days, the folk festivals performed along the streets, and the audience was filled with tides and thousands of people were empty. These are non-governmental organizations, and are extremely popular in Tianjin.
originated in Tianjin, the dock, and residents are mixed in various places, and the dock is very fierce in turmoil. If people want to gain a foothold, they can't support a single horse and can only form gangs. This kind of custom is gradually spread to various public affairs in society, such as firefighting among the people, and the residents' businesses in various places are automatically combined into water meetings. Whenever there is a fire alarm, gongs will be heard and rescue each other. When the imperial meeting was established, people were sincere and devoted their own efforts to participate in the event. At the same time, they also showed off everywhere and showed off their strength and victory. At this imperial meeting where Tianjin people are proud of it, it symbolically showed the people here who are eager for justice and strong and competitive, as well as the consciousness that the small group is higher than the individual and the large group is higher.
Chinese temples are different from Western churches. A church in a village in the West is the center of its spirit and culture. China is a pan-god country, and the gods of the people perform their own duties and their own duties. Especially in metropolis, few temples can become the spiritual holy land and cultural origin of thousands of people, except for the Tianhou Temple in Tianjin.
Gongqian Street at the end of the last century
Looking at the theater opposite from Tianhou Palace. The picture is selected from "Tianjin Cultural Map"
lively Tianhou Palace New Year's goods market. The picture is selected from "Tianjin Cultural Map"
For hundreds of years, as the old place of Yanzhao, the commercial capital and the water and land wharf, Tianjin has been integrated into this big temple, gradually integrated and created, and at the same time it stretched out from this big temple to create a unique and distinct regional culture. Therefore, the people of Tianjin transformed the Tianhou Palace, and in turn, the Tianhou Palace created the Tianjin people again. I have written many novels about the culture of the local people, such as "Stopping on the Palace of the Imperial Palace", " Divine Whip ", " Three-inch Golden Lotus ", "Yinyang Bagua", etc., and I plan to use long texts to make in-depth rational analysis. Today, the regional culture and cultural psychology of various parts of China are not only valued by writers and cultural scholars, but also are beginning to be noticed by some urban managers. They want to find the strengths and limitations of the collective personality unique to the people here, prescribe the right medicine to mobilize people's vitality. Of course, not every city manager has such a cultural vision. But I believe that only by truly recognizing the cultural character of a region can we arouse the glory and life of this society.
Click to read:
Tianjin Cultural Map
Subtitle: The city I love to study
Author: Feng Jicai Editor-in-chief, Feng Jicai Institute of Literature and Art, Tianjin University Preparation of
Publisher: Tianjin University Press
Publishing Year: 2021-6
Number of pages: 260
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 9787544784122
Introduction
This book consists of a pocket book plus a guide picture, and is a full media publication. Edited by Mr. Feng Jicai, under the guidance of many Tianjin cultural experts, after the on-site inspection of important locations in the city by the Tianjin University Feng Jicai Literature and Art Research Institute team, the city was carefully selected in ten categories: natural wonders, humanistic scenic spots, Tianjin style, cultural and educational essence, local scenery, foreign buildings, celebrity residences, red memories, art museum venues, and colorful life. Each location was presented in a sentence introduction on the guide map, and introduced in a short article in a pocket book. The guide picture is in a cartoon hand-painted style; the pocket book is not only full of pictures and texts, but you can also scan the QR code for each point to watch more service information, exquisite photos and other multimedia content on your mobile phone, and it can be updated continuously.
Different from general tourist maps and manuals, "Tianjin Cultural Map" is a creative "experiential" reading book for general education in colleges. It specializes in introducing Tianjin city to college students who come to Tianjin. It has a lively and vivid form, easy to understand, rich and rigorous content, and focuses on the orientation of cultural education.This book is a "key" to open up Tianjin's urban culture, guiding college students to understand Tianjin's humanities, geography, history, customs and life characteristics through on-site tours. In the process of gaining fresh cultural cognition and aesthetic experience, they actively intervene in Tianjin's urban life, thereby enhancing their emotions towards Tianjin and creating a sense of responsibility for society. This is not only a publicity and promotion of Tianjin's urban culture, but also an innovation in university general education, which can play a leading role in local cultural general education in universities across the country.
