User:Jin Yichen

Wuyue Culture

Wuyue Culture, also known as Jiangsu and Zhejiang culture, is an important part of Han civilization, as well as the regional culture of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Wuyue Culture is an important component of China’s outstanding traditional culture and holds a unique position and significance in the long course of the development of Chinese civilization.

Four Cultural Symbols

There are four cultural symbols of Wuyue Culture, including the Hemudu Culture, Liangzhu Culture, West Lake Culture, and Silk Culture.

The Hemudu Culture is a Neolithic culture of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, named after Hemudu village, where an archaeological site related to the culture, which dates back to between 5000 and 4000 BCE, was discovered in 1973. The social economy of Hemudu Culture is mainly based on rice farming, and also engaged in animal husbandry, gathering, fishing and hunting. The Hemudu Culture is the representative of Wuyue Culture with a characteristic of being open (Yu, 2001).

The Liangzhu Culture is a late Neolithic culture dating back approximately 5,300 to 4,000 years. In 1936, archaeologists discovered the Liangzhu Site in Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. In 2019, the Liangzhu Ancient City Ruins were inscribed on the World Heritage List, marking the recognition of China’s 5,000-year-old civilization by the international community. The Liangzhu Culture has a highly developed agriculture, including irrigation, rice cultivation and aquaculture. Houses are often elevated and built on rivers or banks (Pan, 2024).

The formation of the cultural landscape of West Lake has undergone an evolution process of nearly a thousand years of natural and human history. During this process, on the one hand, a large number of social elites from various fields in different historical periods have continuously built and contributed at both the material and spiritual levels; On the other hand, it is the result of the influence of major historical events. A series of related cultural relics and historic sites that have emerged around West Lake and are directly related to traditional Chinese Buddhist culture, Confucian culture and Taoist culture, or have witnessed related historical events, have formed a unique landscape appeal and cultural charm (Chen, 2011).

Silk is an important invention and creation in ancient China. It’s the embodiment of truth, goodness and beauty. Silk Culture is manifested not only in the material-level culture such as mulberry, silkworm, silk, silk fabric, silk clothing, silk craftsmanship and silk technology, but also in the spiritual culture such as the unique humanistic, artistic and aesthetic aspects accumulated in the production process of silk products. In the practice of silk production and life, the ancestors of Yan and Huang not only invented silk, but also inherited the silk craftsmanship and promoted the Silk Culture (Sun, 2016).