2009—Know Zhangjiajie, Love Zhangjiajie, and Work Together to Play the "Zhangjiajie Card" (Part 2)
4. Zhangjiajie's cultural spirit is strikingly distinctive—clarifying the confused notion that Zhangjiajie has no culture (Part 2). Over the long course of history, the people of Zhangjiajie, mainly Tujia, while upholding fine Chinese traditions such as diligence and bravery, warmth and modesty, honesty and courtesy, readiness to help others, respect for knowledge, and pursuit of harmony, have formed their own unique...
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
4. Zhangjiajie's cultural and spiritual characteristics are prominent—clarifying the muddled notion that Zhangjiajie has no culture (Part Two).
In the long river of history, the people of Zhangjiajie, with the Tujia as the main body, while inheriting fine traditions of the Chinese nation such as "diligence and bravery, warmth and modesty, honesty and courtesy, readiness to act for justice, reverence for knowledge, and pursuit of harmony," have also formed their own unique historical and cultural accumulation. In my humble opinion, its most prominent cultural and spiritual characteristics are the following five aspects:
(1) If you want to eat chili peppers, don't fear the heat—a spirit of vigorous, courageous, and resolute striving. In the early 1950s, when the Korean battlefield was locked in fierce combat, it was discovered that soldiers from northwestern Hunan in the Chinese People's Volunteers were generally not tall, yet had extremely swift legs, climbing rocks and vines and crossing mountains and ridges as if walking on flat ground; whenever it came to seizing high ground, each one was like a hunting dog or an arrow shot from a bow, especially capable in battle. This of course was related to their growing environment. In the vast Wuling mountain region of countless peaks and ravines, with rushing waters and steep slopes, long roads and deep forests, along with venomous snakes, fierce beasts, banditry, and the scourge of war, the living environment was extremely harsh. Thus, generation after generation, the Tujia, Bai, Miao, Han, and other ethnic peoples living in Zhangjiajie developed a character of enduring hardship and tenacious perseverance, and also nurtured a regional character of boldness, courage, firmness, and reverence for blood and valor. Legend has it that in the past, when a male infant was born, the father would, according to custom, weigh out a piece of raw iron equal to the baby's weight and soak it in medicinal water; three months later, the father would begin using bamboo strips dipped in the medicinal water to scald the infant's feet; from the time the child learned to walk, he wore no shoes and walked through thorny brush, training until the soles of his feet were like iron.
Whether in the cave-dwelling era of primitive tribes or during the arduous years of migration, the pioneering spirit of the ancestors of this land, enduring great hardships, commands admiration for all ages. A Miao epic called "Xiuba Xiuma" describes in detail the long, bitter journey of continuous migration of the Guandou tribe more than 4,200 years ago. Whether because of inter-tribal warfare, population expansion, or suppression by the imperial court, they moved from the Yellow River basin to the Yangtze River basin, from north of Dongting Lake to south of Dongting Lake; after living for a period around Changsha and Changde, the people of the Guandou tribe followed the Lishui River upstream, split into seven routes, and migrated to Chongshan on the outskirts of present-day Zhangjiajie City, building Chongshan into their second paradise since the beginning of their history. When forced to withdraw from Chongshan under attack by government troops, apart from a portion who merged with the indigenous people of this land, most migrated to Luxi in the Yuan River basin, and afterward scattered across Xiangxi and the vast southwestern regions.
The Tujia epic "Hand-Waving Song" likewise records the journey of the Tujia ancestors who traveled upstream in search of a new place to settle. After settling in northwestern Hunan, they endured hardships and persevered unyieldingly to build their own homeland. During the "Visiting the Gods" ritual of the Bai people in Baifangyi, Sangzhi, there is a passage of lyrics for "worshipping ancestors and honoring the local lord": "First we worship the ancestors whose road was long; second we worship the ancestors who toiled in countless ways; third we worship the ancestors who suffered in pioneering; fourth we worship the ancestors whose glory shines." The Bai ancestors each chose a rock at their settlement as a marker, hence the sayings "the Gu family's engraved-character rock, the Wang family's overturned-pot rock, the Zhong family's lion rock, the Xiong family's fish rock, the Liu family's gate-front rock." Descendants of the Wang surname built a small temple on the great stone slab of the overturned-pot rock, and the couplets on the stone pillars of the temple gate recorded the ancestors' journey: rising in the southwest, settling in Jiangxi, traveling up the Yangtze, crossing Dongting, wandering through Jinshi and Lixian, settling in Cili, planting grass markers, opening fields, and establishing a legacy for a thousand years.
At the same time, for the survival of their people, the indigenous peoples of all ethnic groups, with the Tujia as the main body, in one struggle after another nurtured a spirit of sacrifice that defies brute force and a national character of unremitting self-improvement. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, 13 peasant wars occurred in this land. The most famous was "Jingfu Xiang Dancheng's great raid on the commandery and counties." Xiang Dancheng was a native of Liaojia Village, Sangzhi County. He led the local people to successively defeat the government troops sent by imperial order to suppress them; even the renowned General Fubo, Ma Yuan, failed to fulfill his ambition and died in battle, and the war that shook the court and the countryside was finally concluded only through negotiation. In the late Qing Dynasty (1854), several thousand local people of Sangzhi rose in rebellion and were defeated; the rebel leaders He Tingbi and more than 30 others were taken to the riverbank outside the city for execution. He Tingbi glared and shouted: "I may die, but my head shall not fall to the ground!" As soon as the words were spoken, He Tingbi's wife, Madame Liu, rushed out from the crowd, quickly knelt before her husband whose noble spirit soared to the heavens, and solemnly tore open her garment front. Seeing this, He Tingbi laughed heartily toward the sky and extended his head toward his wife. The executioner's blade fell, and Madame Liu caught her husband's head in midair with her garment front, then without looking back ran toward Hongjiaguan. The Han opera "Madame Liu Catches the Head," based on this story, always brings the audience to tears whenever it reaches the crucial moment.
This He Tingbi was the full brother of Marshal He Long's great-grandfather. Another woman of the He Long family—He Long's cousin-in-law Zhang Yaogu—likewise enacted a heroic drama of sacrificing herself by leaping off a cliff. One day in 1929, He Long, leading his troops in guerrilla warfare everywhere, entrusted several wounded Red Army soldiers to his cousin-in-law Zhang Yaomei, who was staying at her natal home. Zhang Yaomei took the wounded Red Army soldiers overnight to a cave in the mountains behind the village, and then every day quietly delivered rice, vegetables, firewood, and medicine. Unexpectedly, someone in the village informed on her. One early morning, as Zhang Yaomei led her young son along a mountain path, she suddenly spotted people from the door-to-door search corps following far behind. She immediately veered onto another path and ran desperately, while her young son chased after her, calling "Mama!" as he ran. This was exactly the effect Zhang Yaomei wanted—she absolutely must not lead the enemy toward the cave. This was a path leading to a sheer cliff. When Zhang Yaomei saw the search corps about to catch up, she first threw her young son over the cliff, then leaped off the cliff herself.
During the eight years of Red territorial control from 1928 to 1935, tens of thousands of people from the Zhangjiajie area joined the Red Army led by He Long, among whom more than ten thousand sacrificed their lives; of the several thousand Red Army officers and soldiers from Yongding, only a few hundred survived. That famous Red Army ballad—"If you want to eat chili peppers, don't fear the heat; if you want to join the Red Army, don't fear death; with a knife at your neck, losing your head is just a bowl-sized scar!"—very truthfully reflects the vigorous, courageous, and resolute heroic spirit of the people of Zhangjiajie.
(2) A loyal heart shines in the annals of history — the spirit of dedication and devotion to the country. Throughout local history, people of all ethnic groups, with the Tujia as the main body, have always surged with the hot blood of loyalty to the sovereign and devotion to the country. To quell national crises, for the integrity of the territory, the dignity of the nation, and social stability, no matter the time or circumstances, they always unhesitatingly rushed to the front lines, forging brilliant achievements of loyal service to the country with their loyalty and blood. During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, a man surnamed Peng from Yongding wrote a large character "Loyalty" on the cliff face opposite the Golden Whip Rock in Zhangjiajie. His younger brother Peng Shuiyun, in an article titled "Record of Loyalty on the Blue Cliff," described it as "bright as white snow." This act expressed the simple sentiment of local people's loyalty to the sovereign and devotion to the country.
I made a rough count: the Shixi Xuanfu Office passed down through 14 generations, with 4 tusi receiving imperial orders for military campaigns; the Sangzhi Xuanwei Office passed down through 22 generations, with 11 tusi receiving imperial orders for military campaigns; the Maliao Xuanfu Office passed down through 17 generations, with 4 tusi receiving imperial orders for military campaigns; the Shanyang Anfu Office passed down through 13 generations, with 5 tusi receiving imperial orders for military campaigns, and so on. Whether receiving imperial orders to quell domestic rebellions and unrest or to resist foreign aggression, they were always impassioned and repeatedly established extraordinary merits. This shows that loyalty to the central government was the mainstream in local history. What is particularly remarkable is that the local tusi, always ready to answer the court's call, brought their own military provisions and armed themselves in battles to resist foreign invaders or quell internal rebellions, neither spending the state's military pay nor using the state's weapons and equipment. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, all the tusi received orders from the court. In order not to miss the military opportunity, they agreed to celebrate the New Year one day early. After finishing the New Year's Eve dinner, the Tujia soldiers of the Sangzhi Office, Shangdong Office, Zhongdong Office, and Xiadong Office assembled at Lianghekou in the Sangzhi Office city. On New Year's Eve, the troops arrived at Jiuxi, joined forces with the Tujia soldiers of the Maliao Office and Rongmei Office, and a force of more than ten thousand marched mightily to Susong. Maogang Tusi Qin Yaozhi and his son Qin Chengkun both went to war. Maliao Tusi Tang Ren was successively dispatched to campaign against Japanese pirates in Zhejiang and bandits in Hangzhou, establishing extraordinary merits. The emperor ordered the construction of a Loyal Minister Shrine to commend him and bestowed a plaque reading "Renowned on the Seas." When the Ming Dynasty minister Wang Shouren wrote a memorial address for the fallen Tujia soldiers, he lamented that "within three years, they were dispatched twice," sincerely commending them for sacrificing their lives for the country, a death weightier than Mount Tai!
In 1840, when the Opium War broke out, General Guo Hongsheng (a native of Yongding) defended Zhenhai, repelling multiple British attacks until he died of illness in the army; General Xi Dacheng (a native of Yongding) was successively ordered to campaign against invading Russian, British, and French forces, and even when severely wounded refused to leave the battlefield. Several Qing military generals from Zhangjiajie guarded Taiwan, successively recruiting thousands of able-bodied men from their hometown to share life and death, honor and disgrace with the island. Liu Mingdeng and Wang Zhengdao, both natives of Yongding, successively served as Taiwan's generals, the latter dying in battle in the 1894 Sino-Japanese Naval Battle. Sun Kaihua from Cili was even more of a family of heroes: in the tenth year of Guangxu (1884), Sun Kaihua, as a provincial military commander, led his troops in fierce battle against invading French warships, annihilating over 2,000 enemy soldiers and achieving the brilliant feat of defeating a Western navy; in the twenty-first year of Guangxu (1895), when the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed and Japan occupied Taiwan, Sun Kaihua's eldest son Sun Daoyuan inherited his father's legacy, organized a volunteer army for a desperate battle, and died a martyr; Sun Daoyuan's wife Zhang Xiurong, to continue her husband's unfinished cause, recruited a suicide squad to wage guerrilla warfare and sacrificed her life for righteousness when betrayed by a traitor. As of 2009, Hunan Province had only two key cultural relics protection units related to Taiwan, and both are in our Zhangjiajie: one is Sun Kaihua's former residence, and the other is the stone carving group at Liu Mingdeng's tomb garden.
During the War of Resistance Against Japan, Dayong County, with a population of 130,000 at the time, saw over ten thousand passionate sons and daughters march to the battlefield. In 1932, Battalion Commander Zhang Guoxun, a native of Yongding, led a battalion to guard a key fortress of the Great Wall. After three days and nights of fierce fighting with the Japanese invaders, only about 20 men remained; even with his right arm blown off by a bomb, he still organized a charge and died heroically in the fierce battle. Battalion Commander Wang Zilong from Sangzhi, Battalion Commander Chen Shibo from Sangzhi, and Major General and Deputy Division Commander Qin Zibin from Yongding all died heroically after being wounded multiple times while leading their troops in fierce battles against the enemy. In 1947, the local government named Hujiaqiao, where Wang Zilong fell, "Zilong Township," and renamed Maqiao Township, where Chen Shibo fell, "Shibo Township."
Marshal He Long was a native of Zhangjiajie, loyal and righteous, with a chivalrous spirit and tender heart—a typical representative of this cultural character and spirit. He was at the height of his personal career when he followed the Communist Party's command to launch the Nanchang Uprising; he resolutely joined the Communist Party when the revolution was at its lowest ebb and the Party was most out of favor; and when only a few guns were left, he took off his leather shoes, put on straw sandals, returned to his hometown to rebuild his troops and establish a red base. Xia Xi, the Central Committee representative who actively promoted the Wang Ming line, vigorously pursued the AB Corps, killed innocents indiscriminately, and even several times considered taking action against He Long. Given He Long's lofty prestige in the army, dealing with Xia Xi would have been as easy as turning his hand, but he always put the overall situation first, because Xia Xi was sent by the Central Committee and did not represent himself alone. In 1934, he was ordered to tie down more than 200,000 Nationalist troops, effectively coordinating with the Central Red Army's march north. In 1936, after leading the Red Second and Sixth Army Corps on the Long March to join forces with the Central Red Army and the Red Fourth Front Army, at a critical moment he took a clear stand against Zhang Guotao's splittism and flightism. After reaching northern Shaanxi, the Red Second Front Army he led was the largest among the three main Red Army forces; he voluntarily handed over his troops to the Central Committee and gladly accepted the Central Committee's work arrangements. All these show his great loyalty and righteousness. During his lifetime, Marshal He highly admired Yue Fei, who served the country with utter devotion. In 1926, when he led his division on the Northern Expedition, it happened to follow the same route the Yue family army had taken when resisting the Jin soldiers. After the founding of the People's Republic, he always kept a copy of The Complete Story of Yue Fei at his bedside, and when he reached moving passages he could not help but wipe away tears. During the Cultural Revolution, he was imprisoned and suffered persecution, yet he always worried about the fate of the country. When writing to his children, he always admonished them: no matter what happens, you must follow the Party and Chairman Mao in carrying out the revolution. Mao Zedong once evaluated He Long on three points: first, loyal to the Party and loyal to the people; second, fierce in struggle against the enemy; third, able to maintain ties with the masses. Among these, the first point is 'loyalty'!
(3) Since ancient times, love and righteousness are worth a thousand pieces of gold — the spirit of benevolence, chivalry, and friendliness. People of all ethnic groups, with the Tujia as the main body, value love and righteousness, benevolence and friendliness, place great importance on friendly harmony among relatives, friends, and neighbors, within society, and within families, and esteem chivalrous conduct and warmheartedness.
First, among relatives, friends, and neighbors.
People in this region regard unity and mutual assistance among relatives, friends, and neighbors as the foundation of being human. "When one family has trouble, a hundred families help; when one family has a crisis, a hundred families are uneasy." When any family has a wedding or funeral, everyone turns out in full force. If a household in the village cannot afford to send their children to school due to poverty, all the village households will pool money to help that family. Folk organizations such as the "Maidens' Association" and the "Elders' Association" are products of helping those in danger and assisting those in need. When it comes to major agricultural activities such as building houses, clearing wasteland and digging fields, transplanting rice seedlings, and weeding, neighbors, relatives, and friends bring their own tools and help each other, commonly known as "lending a hand" or "helping for free." Today they help this family, tomorrow that one. During work, they select song leaders, singing while beating gongs and drums. This is the origin of the local folk art known as "Weeding Gong and Drum."
In old Tujia villages, there was a custom called "Stealing Mid-Autumn." If a daughter-in-law had been married for three years and still showed no signs of bearing a child, on Mid-Autumn night, neighbors would quietly sneak into the vegetable garden and pick a plump winter melon. It could be stolen from anyone's garden, and the owner, knowing full well, would not stop them. The winter melon would be wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed on the bed of the childless couple, wishing them an early addition of a precious child. This custom vividly reflects the deep warmth of human feelings among neighbors.
Next, within society.
Wang Jiawu from Huluke in Sangzhi County, starting from the first year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1796), hired over a hundred stonemasons and spent 14 years carving a cliff plank road more than 1 meter wide and 20 kilometers long into the precipitous cliffs on the south bank of the Lishui River. This not only ensured the safety of travelers but also shortened the route from Nancha to Chenjiahe by 30 kilometers. Wang Jiawu's fortune was exhausted as a result. The Yongshun Prefect bestowed a plaque reading "Household of Harmony and Goodness" in commendation.
Zhang Taomei from Yuanguping in Yongding District was a folk singer of the Liu Sanjie type, famous far and wide. She was exceptionally talented and kindhearted, often using songs to advise people and mediate disputes, and was a warmhearted person deeply loved by the masses. Once, encountering a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law quarreling, she sang: "Mother and daughter-in-law quarrel, don't hold a grudge; weeding in the rain, turning around brings closeness. The daughter-in-law walks while the mother holds the umbrella; the elder forgives the younger's petty mind." Once, when a robber was about to draw his knife to kill someone, she risked her life to persuade him. Once, when the Tang and Gong clans gathered over 400 people and guns about to fight, she rushed to the scene upon hearing the news and sang until both sides withdrew.
Qin Ziren from Qiaotou Township in Yongding District, from 1925 until his death in 1992, provided free tea to passing travelers for 67 consecutive years, never accepting a single cent.
During the catastrophic floods of July 1998, Cili farmer Zhu Mingchu, despite being ill, rescued 110 passengers trapped in the floodwaters and heroically sacrificed his life.
In October 2002, Zhao Mingjian, a farmer from Wulingyuan District who had been bitten by a venomous snake, exerted all his strength to first rescue tourists from out of town trapped on an isolated cliff, disregarding his own safety.
In May 2008, 14 nurses from Cili who were traveling in Sichuan encountered the sudden massive earthquake. Under circumstances where life and death were unpredictable, they voluntarily threw themselves into the work of saving lives and healing the wounded.
The chivalrous spirit and warm hearts of Zhu Mingchu, Zhao Mingjian, and the 14 nurses from Cili display and renew the beautiful image of Zhangjiajie people.
Third, within families.
In 1935, eight members of the family of Hou Qingzhi, a Red Army soldier from Yongding, resolutely joined the Long March. Several died during the march, and three other relatives were separated and lost. To find the three relatives lost during the Long March, the family began an unyielding journey to search for them. Hou Qingzhi's generation searched for decades, and even on his deathbed he urged his children to find a way to locate their flesh-and-blood relatives on the grasslands. In 2004, Hou Qingzhi's children happened to learn from a TV program that an elderly man named Hou Deming in Waqie Township, Hongyuan County, Sichuan, wanted to find his relatives in 'Dayong, Hunan.' The Hou family quickly formed a search group and went to Sichuan, finally finding the relatives separated 68 years earlier.
Hu Yuqing, a veteran from Cili who was in Taiwan, was already a father of two when he was conscripted in 1948. In 1949, he moved with his unit to Taiwan and never married, haunted by the dream of one day returning to his hometown to reunite with his wife and children. After Taiwan's policies loosened, he returned to his hometown to visit relatives, only to learn that his two children had long since died of illness and that his first wife, Zeng Yigu, had long since remarried. Blood is thicker than water. When Hu Yuqing learned that Zeng Yigu's subsequent husband had died of illness a year later, he returned to visit Zeng Yigu 13 times. In 1999, the two renewed their old bond and became a family again. That year, Hu Yuqing was 75 and Zeng Yigu was 74. From 1948 to 1999, a full 51 years — enough to show the deep love and righteousness of Zhangjiajie men.
A man in the Yuanguping mountain area of Yongding District was paralyzed in bed some years ago. Every few days, his wife would coax him into a large back basket and carry him around their vegetable garden, rice paddies, and mountain forests, discussing with him the spring planting and autumn harvest in the fields and chatting about the village gossip, using this method to cheer him up and distract him. The neighbors were so moved that they all praised the paralyzed man for his good fortune in marrying such a virtuous wife!
(4) Standing on the summit, I am the peak — the enterprising spirit of striving to be first. Daring to be first in the world is summarized as the "Hunanese spirit." Zhangjiajie, located in northwestern Hunan, likewise has a fine tradition of self-improvement and striving to be first. In the 1911 Xinhai Uprising, the first to lead an entire battalion of officers and soldiers to capture the walls of Wuchang City and the first to plant the battle flag atop the Wuchang city wall was Gu Zhuangyou, a native of Zhangjiajie. On August 1, 1927, among the troops that followed He Long in firing the first shot at Nanchang were three thousand sons and soldiers from Zhangjiajie. Among the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" founding heroes who participated in developing China's first atomic bomb and first hydrogen bomb was Academician Chen Nengkuan, a native of Zhangjiajie. Zhuo Jiong, a famous economist from Zhangjiajie, was called by theoretical circles the pioneer of China's socialist commodity economy theory. Rice expert Wang Zili won the National Invention Award for "Rice Tillering Control and Grain Increase Technology," and to date is the only person in China's rice cultivation technology field to have won this award. Wang Guoxing achieved a major technological breakthrough in artificial hatching and breeding of giant salamanders. Tang Xianchi, founder of "Maoyuan Chemical," which develops a series of gallnut products, was just a peddler going from village to village buying gallnuts 10 years ago, and within a few years has risen to the top of the national industry. Wang Zili, Wang Guoxing, and Tang Xianchi — all three came from humble "local guerrilla" backgrounds, yet all made achievements in the field of science and technology that Zhangjiajie takes pride in. Since 2000, Zhangjiajie has produced three provincial college entrance examination top scorers in succession, demonstrating that the spirit of self-improvement and striving to be first is being gratifyingly passed on to our younger generation.
Among Hunan Province's 14 prefecture-level cities (prefectures), Zhangjiajie was established as a city the latest, has the fewest subordinate districts and counties, and the smallest population. But this does not prevent Zhangjiajie people from striving to be first. Take, for example, the series of achievements created in Zhangjiajie's tourism development and construction over 30 years:
In 1982, Zhangjiajie gave birth to China's first national forest park;
In 1992, Zhangjiajie was inscribed on China's first batch of World Natural Heritage sites;
In 2004, Zhangjiajie was inscribed on China's first batch of World Geoparks;
The Maoyan River Rafting, which opened in 1987, became China's first rafting tourism destination;
The "Zhangjiajie Tourism Development Co., Ltd." listed in 1996 became China's first tourism stock;
The Zhangjiajie International Forest Protection Festival, which began in 1991, was the world's first international tourism festival event themed on forest protection;
The "Regulations on the Protection of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage of Hunan Province," implemented from 2001, was China's first local regulation protecting a World Natural Heritage site;
From 2004, our city took the lead among prefecture-level cities nationwide in launching ecological city creation, and pioneered nationwide by having the annual municipal people's congress report on environmental protection work to the assembly;
From 1997, our city won the title of National Outstanding Unit for Social Security and Outstanding Prefecture-level City for Comprehensive Social Security Management for three consecutive terms over 12 years. In 2009, it brought home the "Chang'an Cup," the highest honor in national comprehensive social security management, becoming the only city in Hunan Province to receive this honor.
In addition, the first human flight through a natural mountain cave — Tianmen Cave, the wooden stilted building "Nine Heavens" at the Tujia Customs Park, and the Bailong Sightseeing Elevator have all been entered into the Guinness World Records, confirming the abundant fruits borne of the spirit of striving to be first.
(5) Tianmen Cave opens and clouds flow through — the inclusive spirit of openness and enlightenment. Among ancient poems about Tianmen Cave, there is the line "Tianmen has no lock, sealed by white clouds," and also the line "Tianmen Cave opens and clouds flow through." This "sealing" and "opening" symbolize the process from closure to openness.
Zhangjiajie has experienced five major waves of migration in its history. The first was over 4,000 years ago when Shun "exiled Huandou to Mount Chong," and the displacement during the successive destruction of the Yong State, Ba State, and Chu State 2,000–3,000 years ago; the second was during the Eastern Han Dynasty when local indigenous uprisings frequently occurred in the region, ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand people, leading to large-scale military settlements; the third was the large-scale military settlements implemented in the Ming Dynasty; the fourth was in the late Ming and early Qing when the Yongding Guard and Jiuxi Guard experienced over 40 years of military turmoil, with "only one or two households surviving out of a hundred," prompting policies to attract large numbers of migrants; the fifth was after the establishment of the prefecture-level city in 1988. These major migrations in history promoted multicultural exchange and forged an inclusive culture that absorbs everything and a spirit of cultural openness. For example, the religious beliefs of the Tujia are extremely diverse: besides the ethnic group's ancestor worship, nature worship, Tuwang worship, and polytheistic beliefs, there are no shortage of followers of Daoism, Buddhism, and Christianity. Puguang Temple in Zhangjiajie's urban area, where Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism coexist in one corner peacefully and even support one another, is a perfect proof.
In the third year of the Republic of China (1915), after Yongding County was renamed Dayong County, a county magistrate once composed a famous couplet based on the two characters "Dayong":
Carrying on the past and opening the future, tolerance makes greatness,
Standing firm between heaven and earth, unchanging is called the mean.
"Tolerance makes greatness" is undoubtedly a vivid portrayal of the region's inclusive culture and open consciousness.
5. The relationship between Zhangjiajie and Xiangxi, Changde, and the Wuling Mountain area — clarifying the confused understanding that "Zhangjiajie belongs to Xiangxi culture."
Precisely because Xiangxi is not merely a geographical concept but also the administrative division of a prefecture, saying that Zhangjiajie belongs to Xiangxi culture is clearly inappropriate and shows a lack of even the most basic respect for Zhangjiajie. As for "Greater Xiangxi culture," from a geographical perspective, Zhangjiajie City, Xiangxi Prefecture, and Huaihua City do indeed all belong to the western region of Hunan; from a cultural perspective, there are indeed some shared elements, because this "Greater Xiangxi culture" of western Hunan also belongs to the broader category of the Wuling Mountain cultural sphere. Of course, Zhangjiajie culture and Greater Xiangxi culture share similarities while differing in their own distinctive ways. As mentioned earlier, Zhangjiajie is located at the junction where the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau transitions to the Dongting Lake Plain, and also at the junction between Han Chinese areas and Tujia areas—characteristics that neither Xiangxi nor Huaihua possesses. To use an analogy, we in Zhangjiajie are like people standing at the threshold, inside and out, while Xiangxi and Huaihua are inside the house. Zhangjiajie culture, nurtured by these two junctions, naturally has its own characteristics that differ from those of Xiangxi and Huaihua.
Here is another analogy: if the Wuling Mountains are likened to a father, then the Yuan River of Guizhou and Hunan, the Li River of Hunan, the Qingjiang River of Hubei, and the Qianjiang River of Chongqing—all belonging to the Wuling Mountains—are like the several women this father married. Huaihua, Xiangxi, part of Changde, and Tongren and Zhenyuan in Guizhou, nurtured together by the Wuling Mountains and the Yuan River; Zhangjiajie and part of Changde, nurtured by the Wuling Mountains and the Li River; and Enshi and Yichang, nurtured by the Wuling Mountains and the Qingjiang River—these are like half-brothers sharing the same father but different mothers, and by no means a father-son relationship, let alone a relationship of dependence or subordination. In other words, in terms of bloodline, Zhangjiajie has a brotherly relationship with Xiangxi, Huaihua, and Changde in the same province; in terms of administrative division, Zhangjiajie has a friendly neighborly relationship with them. Since there is a blood relationship, there are certainly some shared and interconnected cultural elements, such as the Hand-waving Dance, the Tima Sacred Songs, Maogusi, the Crying Marriage custom, the Tulaosi (Tujia shamans), and stilted houses—all of which are found among Tujia people throughout the Wuling Mountain area. But beyond the commonalities, each also has its own differences and distinctive features. Take Zhangjiajie and Xiangxi as an example: Xiangxi's Longshan has yielded Warring States Qin bamboo slips, while our Zhangjiajie's Cili has yielded Warring States Chu bamboo slips, and moreover the largest batch of Chu bamboo slips ever discovered in Hunan Province (over a thousand pieces); Xiangxi has the Dehang Miao Village and Sanjiang Miao Village, while Zhangjiajie has the Wangjiaping and Yuanguping Tujia stilted-house villages; when it comes to Tusi (native chieftain) culture, they have it and so do we; when it comes to Weisuo (garrison) culture, we are even more distinctive than Xiangxi; during the Agrarian Revolutionary War, He Long led the red separatist regime, which included their Longshan and Yongshun, but after all, our side was the main base; they have Panhu culture, while we have ancient Dayong culture and the "Three Tombs and Three Masters"; our Guandou in Chongshan is the ancestor of some Miao people in Xiangxi, Huaihua, Guizhou, Guangxi, and even Vietnam and Japan; we have geological culture represented by sandstone peak forests, Tianmen Cave, and Furong Dragon, which they do not have; unfortunately, our Yongding Ancient City has been destroyed beyond recognition—if it had been preserved to this day, it would be no inferior to Fenghuang, and what a different situation that would be. In short, whether Xiangxi or Changde, they are all our good brothers and good neighbors. Our attitude should be, first, to be friendly, and second, to humbly learn from their strengths. But there is one fundamental point: since brothers have divided the family and established their own households, they should have their own plans and calculations, their own cultural confidence, self-respect, and self-awareness. The theme song that appeared at the beginning of each episode of the hit TV drama "Bloody Xiangxi" last year became widely sung overnight—wasn't it using a Zhangjiajie folk song! In short, Zhangjiajie culture is in no way inferior to theirs, and there is absolutely no need to cocoon ourselves and place ourselves under the cultural shadow of Xiangxi.
Now let us talk about the Li River. Never underestimate this Li River. Among Hunan's four major river systems—the Xiang, Zi, Yuan, and Li—the Li River has the shortest course and is the little brother. Yet the most representative Paleolithic and Neolithic cultures in Hunan are precisely concentrated in the Li River basin, which has the shortest course: at Yan'er Cave in Shimen County in the middle reaches of the Li River, the only Paleolithic ancient human fossil ever found in Hunan was unearthed, called "Shimen Man" by the archaeological community, thus becoming the representative of Hunan's earliest inhabitants; at Pengtoushan in the lower reaches of the Li River, the oldest Neolithic cultural site ever discovered in Hunan and indeed in the entire middle Yangtze region was found; at Chengtoushan adjacent to Pengtoushan, the first-phase city wall was built 6,000 years ago, the earliest city wall ever seen in China, and here were also unearthed the world's earliest rice paddies, the earliest complete sacrificial altar, and the earliest oars used for rowing boats. This series of world-shaking archaeological discoveries means that this place was once one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization. That is why in the 1980s, Cili suddenly yielded so many Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Shang-Zhou sites, and Yongding and Sangzhi also yielded large amounts of cultural remains from the Paleolithic through the Qin and Han periods—demonstrating that this Li River, less than a thousand li long, has a very ancient history of human activity.
A brief look at the historical evolution of this region reveals that from 221 BC, when Qin Shi Huang unified China, to the present, a total of 2,230 years have passed. Zhangjiajie's two districts and two counties, together with Shimen, Linli, Lixian, Jinshi, and Anxiang—counties belonging to present-day Changde City and all part of the Li River basin—long belonged to the same administrative region before 1938. As for the two districts and two counties of this region, during those 2,230 years, they belonged to the same administrative region for over 2,100 years! Cili was under Changde's jurisdiction for only 50 years in total, from 1938 to 1988; Sangzhi and Yongding were together under Xiangxi Prefecture's jurisdiction for only 36 years in total, from 1952 to 1988; additionally, Sangzhi was separately under Yongshun Prefecture's jurisdiction for 180 years, from 1735 to 1915.
Yongding City has an old couplet: "Where the Tan River mouth has a gap, the red sun mends it; where Tianmen has no lock, white clouds seal it." In a sense, this is a portrait of local culture blending openness and seclusion into one. Zhangjiajie culture, as a product of the convergence and fusion of the Wuling Mountain cultural sphere and the Li River basin cultural belt, shares with the cities and prefectures of the Wuling Mountain area—the same mountains, the same ethnic peoples, the same cultural roots—and with the several counties in the lower Li River—the same water source, the same administrative region, the same cultural flow. The former are half-brothers sharing the same father but different mothers; the latter are half-brothers sharing the same mother but different fathers. Zhangjiajie's own two districts and two counties, from ancient times to the present, have shared the same mountains, the same ethnic peoples, the same water source, and the same administrative region. Their cultural essence is rooted in the same Wuling Mountain range, and their cultural mother body originates from the same Li River—they are unquestionably blood brothers sharing the same father and mother. This is the most fundamental cultural identity. The opening of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" says, "The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide." But Zhangjiajie's two districts and two counties have been united for long periods and divided only rarely—barely divided before being reunited. As the saying goes, "Sharing a boat crossing is a bond cultivated five hundred years ago." Sharing a boat crossing is only a matter of minutes or tens of minutes, but ours has been over 2,000 years! In those 2,000-plus years, how many historical upheavals and transformations occurred across the land, yet our city's two districts and two counties have basically never been separated—an extremely rare phenomenon. Moreover, once tourism development began, these full brothers returned to eat from the same pot, which further shows that this was destined by fate. As the opening song of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" TV series sings: "The green mountains remain, how many times has the setting sun turned red," and "A pot of cloudy wine brings joy to meet again." Now that we understand we were always full brothers and have now returned to one family, I believe everyone will cherish this fate and brotherhood even more, jointly create history, share a common destiny, and work together to play the "Zhangjiajie card" well, and together build our Zhangjiajie well.
(3) Carrying out popularization work on Zhangjiajie's history, culture, and cultural spirit is a foundational project for knowing Zhangjiajie and loving Zhangjiajie.
Through the above rough introduction, if we were to summarize "Zhangjiajie's city conditions" in a few concise phrases, it could be expressed as follows: "Zhangjiajie has a long history and profound culture; it is an emerging tourism city and a well-known tourist destination, yet also an underdeveloped area that is old revolutionary, minority, border, and mountainous." In past introductions of the city's conditions, the description of its long history and profound culture was somewhat neglected, and it is necessary to strengthen awareness in this regard.
For example, on the mainland, regardless of age, everyone knows that Taiwan is China's sacred territory—this is related to our consistent education and propaganda; but if Taiwan were still run by the likes of Chen Shui-bian, who advocates Taiwan independence, using that "de-Sinicization" approach to brainwash the Taiwanese people, the consequences would be unimaginable. The United States, in fact, places great emphasis on ideological education and propaganda—even Hollywood blockbusters like "Saving Private Ryan," "Twister," and "The Bridges of Madison County" combine education with entertainment, cultivating and promoting their "American spirit," including patriotism, heroism, and moral sentiment. The 1991 first edition of "The American Reader" can be called "words that have inspired, enraged, entertained, tormented, and comforted Americans," and because it truly influenced American thinking and even laid the foundation of the American character, it has been hailed as a "great book."
As everyone knows, whether it is integrating resources, unifying pace and approach, or forming strong cohesion and centripetal force, some corresponding measures need to be taken to strongly promote it, so that the process of cultural identity and sense of cultural belonging can be completed as soon as possible. Therefore, a very important task for us at present is to carry out popularization work of 'Know My Zhangjiajie, Love My Zhangjiajie' among the cadres and staff and the general public throughout the city, in order to change the current phenomenon that many people lack understanding of Zhangjiajie's history, ethnic groups, culture, and cultural spirit. Entrusted by the municipal party committee leaders and the municipal party committee propaganda department, I am currently chief-editing a book titled 'Zhangjiajie Reader'. Following the editorial positioning of 'authoritative edition, popular reading material, city calling card, encyclopedia' and the editorial policy of 'comprehensive, accurate, concise, and readable,' it integrates Zhangjiajie's history, geography, products, ethnic groups, culture, tourism, and construction, highlights Zhangjiajie culture, distills the Zhangjiajie spirit, unites people's hearts, and inspires fighting spirit, so as to enhance the cultural confidence, cultural self-respect, cultural awareness, and cultural identity of cadres, the masses, and the general public throughout the city, and to serve the building of a world-class tourism boutique and the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. It is believed that by reading this book, the broad ranks of cadres and workers, tourism practitioners, students in school, and the general public can play the role of 'knowing my Zhangjiajie' and thereby 'loving my Zhangjiajie' even more. Now that everyone understands Zhangjiajie's history, culture, and local conditions, and has gained cultural confidence, cultural self-respect, and cultural self-awareness, and has found a sense of cultural identity and belonging, we can truly form a cohesive force, consciously and proudly gather under the banner of "Zhangjiajie," and wholeheartedly play the "Zhangjiajie card" as Premier Zhu said.