This article is from WeChat official account:Jiuxing (ID: jiuxing_neweekly)< span class = "text-remarks">, author: Huang Po, from the title figure: vision China
There is a hidden city in Guangdong. This city seems inconspicuous, but it is hidden in the city. It has exhausted the heritage of Lingnan, and has become a state of its own.
It is said that it is not famous, but in the past two years, GDP has successfully broken through the trillion mark and entered the “trillion club”, even squeezing out Kunming and Ningbo, incarnation of China’s “new first-tier” cities.
It is said that it does not come out of the world, but it has already become a “hidden champion” in many fields: the world’s largest output of ceramics, the world’s largest output of electric fans, “wealthy families” and “high-net-worth families” nationwide First in the prefecture-level city.
It is said that it is incomprehensible, but it has a long-standing reputation for its kung fu and delicacy. Outside of the dense assembly line, temples, Cantonese opera, pottery, lion waking, dragon boats, salt water songs, why not weave a Zen life in Lingnan?
It’s you, Foshan, China.
Foshan, which is close to the west of Guangzhou, has its own embarrassment of being the third child, but there is no one similar to it after walking around the Lingnan: because of the Buddha’s name, it is small and majestic, leisurely and contented, taking the ancestral temple as the ancestral temple. The center’s centuries-old fancier spreads out here slowly, and the city’s core is in the same line as martial arts and Zen.
It is said that “everyone speaks north, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and Foshan is rich in literature.” It’s time for everyone to see this unobtrusive city.
Foshan is not “Buddha”
More than 1,300 years ago, with the sound of “Kang Dang”, Tapogang was shining. People dug up three bronze Buddhas and named the place “Foshan”.
Many years later, the main urban area was called “Chan City”.
But Foshan is not “Buddha” at all. Unfolding the map, some people compare the landform of Foshan to a phoenix. There are 99 hills in the hills of Shiwan, which are connected like a dragon. In the legend of “Phoenix-shaped Dragon Power”, the BuddhaShan finally opened an extraordinary story.
△The starting point of Foshan, Tapo monuments / Photo by old artist
When the talks of “demolition,” “dividends,” and “villagers” are gradually being put on the table, the fact that “Foshan people are rich” can’t be concealed after all.
Recently, According to the wealth report released by the Hurun Research Institute, Foshan’s wealth of “wealthy families” and “high-net-worth families” with assets exceeding 6 million yuan and 10 million yuan are among the top ten in the country. There are 74,000 households, ranking first among prefecture-level cities in China.
In other words, in Foshan, there is an average of 1 in 17 households with assets exceeding 6 million yuan.
But you can’t see these in the streets of Foshan. People who wear white vests and flip-flops and buy groceries in the market are most likely to come out of one of the “rich families”.
The people of Foshan are very real. They started their business not on the legend of Buddha and the immortal family, but on the real industry. From ancient times to the present, they are all the same.
When a Foshan rushed past Foshan and became Guangzhou’s main navigation route to the Xijiang and Beijiang, it established the fate of Foshan at that time. “Nanhai County Chronicles” stated that it “combines with the two rivers in the northwest, and those who come from other provinces will ask for their way here.”
At the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, handicraftsmen who escaped the war from the north took root here, and backed by Guangzhou, the largest trade and trade port in the south. For a time, the time, the place and the people gathered together in Foshan.
At the peak of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Foshan had become an industrial and commercial city second only to Guangzhou. With iron smelting, ceramics and textiles, the “dust residents, 100,000 hooves”, even surpassed Guangzhou, which was dominated by the two domains, and Hankou in Hubei. , Jingde in Jiangxi and Zhuxian in Henan are also known as the “Four Famous Towns”.
For iron smelting alone, Foshan was the largest iron smelting base in the Qing Dynasty. In its heyday, Foshan had more than 30,000 blacksmiths, which could produce 60 million catties each yearIronware is a veritable Chinese “iron warehouse”.
Even if the handicraft industry declined, Foshan still did not lose its ancestral business (Industry).
△An ancient Nanfeng stove in Foshan, witnessing a century of pottery-making time/Photographed by an old artist
Beijiao Home Appliances, Nanzhuang Ceramics, Xiqiao Textile, and different manufacturing industries have taken root in 41 specialized towns in Foshan, forming an indestructible and powerful industrial system, making Foshan the sixth largest industrial city in China.
How strong is Foshan’s industry?
Let’s put it this way, in Foshan, on average, 2 rice cookers go offline every second, 1 car goes offline every minute, 100 microwave ovens can be produced every minute, and 273 washing machines can be produced every hour. Production of more than 20,000 refrigerators……
△Foshan Shunde Beijiao Midea Group Headquarters / Photo by old artist
△Foshan Shunde Beijiao Country Garden Group Headquarters/ Photographed by old artist
Midea, Country Garden, Hisense, Galanz, Haitian, Jianlibao, and Liansu are all in Foshan. There are already 2 Fortune 500 companies in the world, 8 Fortune 500 companies in China, and 76 Fortune 500 companies in Guangdong.
Under the aura of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Foshan is like an unsung hero, but it can not only fight kung fu, but also has unmatched economic confidence.
Martial Arts and Zen
But if you walk into the old city of Foshan, you don’t even realize that this is an industrial city: green bricks and green tiles, trees and shadows, goulan houses, city rivers and lakes…
You have to sigh: “Foshan really cultivates Zen, but what you cultivate is the life Zen full of fireworks.”
△Foshan life is Zen-like / Photographed by an old artist
Located in the hinterland of the Pearl River Delta, with crisscrossing rivers, Xijiang, Beijiang and Fenjiang have combined this piece of land. Thousands of years ago, Xiangshan ancestors had lived and worked here; during the Song and Yuan dynasties, a group of refugees from the north injected the Central Plains culture here; backed by Guangzhou, they were the first to taste the impact of ocean culture.
Undoubtedly, the Lingnan culture, which is a mixture of Baiyue culture, Central Plains culture and marine culture, is deeply rooted in Foshan.
These can be seen at a glance in the streets and alleys of Foshan.
For thousands of years, people in Foshan have lived around the ancestral temple, which has remained unchanged forever. It can be said that the ancestral temple is a microcosm of Foshan, condensing all the essence.
Huang Feihong Memorial Hall and Ye Wentang settled in the Ancestral Temple. Speaking of martial arts, who is Foshan? Located in the remote Lingnan, where Japanese pirates often come to commit crimes, and the huge benefits brought by the iron smelting industry are complicated, the practice of martial arts has become popular in Foshan.
In the heyday of modern times, there were more than 400 martial arts centers in Foshan.There are more than 50 kinds. Speaking of the phrase “Foshan has no shadows,” no one stands in awe. Huang Feihong of Hong Quan, Ryazan and Ip Man of Wing Chun, and later Bruce Lee all used martial arts to cultivate their lives in this world.
For Foshan people, martial arts has long been more than just a physical fitness, but also a spiritual nourishment: they are martial arts, but they are not courageous. They emphasize tolerance, self-cultivation, refusal, hiding and not revealing, just like “Ye Wen Jue” The first sentence in the book is “Incorrect thoughts, improper for life.” The legends of these generations of masters have endless influence on the people of Foshan.
△Foshan Ancestral Temple Martial Arts Performance / Photographed by Old Artist
△Lion dance performance in Foshan Ancestral Temple / Photo by old artist
The people of Foshan are also pious. The Taoist Northern Emperor is enshrined in the ancestral temple. In Foshan, there are many religions. In addition to folk beliefs such as Buddhism, Taoism, and Mazu, there is also Christianity that was later introduced.
Except for the ancestral temple, which was built in the Northern Song Dynasty, which is “the head of the temples”, there are many temples in Foshan. According to the “Longyi Township of Foshan” in the Republic of China, there are 153 temples, 29 temples, 376 family shrines, 27 lishes, and 4 altars in the town.
Wandering among the gods and living a solid life is the attitude of Foshan people. Because of the belief in gods, Foshan’s early years of rewarding gods were prosperous, combined with the folk music of Cantonese tunes, and the southern style of boxing, which gave rise to hundreds of years of prosperity.Sing and play Cantonese opera.
Wanfutai in the Zumiao Temple was the activity center of the early stage troupe. Xun Shen Opera, Qionghua Guild Hall, and Red Boat Troupe carry Cantonese opera to every corner of the town. According to records, at that time, there were more than 30 large and small stage in the area of Foshan Town.
“Xueqiang” founder Xue Juexian, “Xueqiang” Bai Jurong, Red Line Girl, Ma Shizeng, Luo Jiabao and other famous Cantonese opera actors all left their aftertaste on the stage. “Such a heartbroken candle night, you don’t need the maid’s side” (“Emperor Flower” fragment), the Sri Lankan has gone, but the feelings are delicate, The low-back and Wanzhuan accent lingers in Foshan.
In this land deeply influenced by trade and ancestral temple culture, Foshan does not rely on imperial courts or reach the powerful, but Foshan has the atmosphere of its own city.
The ancient Nanfeng stove has witnessed the rise and fall of Foshan’s ceramics industry for a century. In ancient times, it has the reputation of “Shiwan tile, the best in the world”; the prosperity of martial arts has also led to the prosperity of Chinese medicine museum and lion dance culture; Hewang The dense water towns and beliefs in gods gave rise to the dragon boat culture that thrived in the towns.
Foshan has 14 national intangible cultural heritage sites and 50 Guangdong intangible cultural heritage sites. Paper-cutting, New Year pictures, salt water songs, fragrant cloud yarn, autumn colors, gongs and drums together weave the dense and pleasant life of Foshan people.
Mutual knowledge and taste
In Foshan, it is easy for you to “know your taste”. This “flavor” refers to morning tea and white-cut chicken in the small, but it has a Lingnan flavor in the large.
Foshan has been a land of fish and rice since ancient times. The dense river nets and flat terrain often give you a glimpse of the plains. There are dark green banana forests and cane seas and shining river weir fish ponds. One of them is the mulberry fish pond known as the “Earth Palette”. .
In the southern foothills of Xiqiao Mountain, lies the best-preserved and largest fish pond in the Pearl River Delta, which is called “the rare beauty in the world” by UNESCO.
The mulberry pond of “fish in the pond and mulberry in the pond” not only brought natural ingredients to the people of Foshan, but also started textiles, and even earned the reputation of “the hometown of textiles in the south” for Xiqiao .
The spring scenery of the garden is also a must in Foshan. The Liangyuan Garden, built in the Qing Dynasty, integrates the residences, ancestral halls and gardens into one; Shunde’sQinghui Garden even took the clear water, green trees, ancient walls, leaking windows, stone mountains, small bridges, and curved corridors into one elegant and simple painting with distinct primary and secondary.
People in Foshan are among them, playing chess, admiring flowers, and watching fish, and they have a simple and unpretentious atmosphere in their wealthy life.
△Shunde Qinghui Garden/Photographed by old artist
△Fengjian Water Town in Shunde/Photographed by old artist
Finally talked about the essence of Foshan, food. It is said that “food is in Guangzhou, and cooking is out of Fengcheng.” Among Guangdong, people in Shunde, Foshan have the most picky taste buds and the most superb cooking skills. Eat on the same table with Foshan people(especially Shunde people), whether the fish is fresh and whether there is a “snow taste”(refrigerated), you know it as soon as you eat it, and the highest evaluation is just the phrase “chicken tastes like chicken”.
The old artist once studied specifically, why is there so many delta plains, but Shunde’s cuisine is unique? From a local perspective, the traditional fish pond operations convinced the people of Shunde that the taste must be the natural flavor of the ingredients and should not be modified too much.
△”Looking for the Flavor of Shunde”
But this way of eating is the most difficult, and congee-bottomed hot pot is one of its representatives. People in Shunde have to spend a few hours to cook the rice porridge. In the process of eating, they must pay attention to “one fresh, two meat, three vegetarian, and four porridge”. First, use white shells, oysters, etc. to prepare the porridge, and then put them in order. Into fish and meat.
The control of the heat is also extremely important. After just a few seconds into the mouth, the tenderness, umami and fragrant rice will gradually spread in the mouth.
△Shunde Congee Bottom Hot Pot / Photographed by the old artist
Sauna fish and sauna chicken are another wonderful invention of Shunde people. Every time I finish eating, I have to admire the folk wisdom contained in this dish. Put chicken broth on the bottom of the pot, spread mulberry leaves on the perforated steaming plate, and put chicken pieces. The umami underneath is almost as good as the steamed chicken.
The tender and refreshing chicken is dipped in seasonings, and finally a bite of rich fresh soup, you have to sigh, a chicken can be born in Shunde, it is simply “the highest gift of destiny.”
△Shunde Sauna Chicken / Photo by old artist
In addition, the “four cups of pigeons” are infused with a cup of soy sauce, a cup of sugar, a cup of wine, and a cup of oil. The crystal clear meat is smoothed down with the soup. One bite The old artist’s eyes shined brightly; the white eel pot, which was brown on the outside and soft on the inside, matched the sauce, burnt degree, and fish meat perfectly.
After walking through the streets of Shunde, Shuangpi milk, Daliang fried milk, Daliang collapsed sand, Shau Kei rice roll, Chencun powder, Lunjiao cake, let me immediately declare that I am a “spiritual Shunde person”. I just hate it. Did not give birth to a stomach, filled the world with the most delicious taste.
△Shunde white eel pot/photographed by old artist
△Shunde Double Skin Milk
Foshan’s style, economy, martial arts and delicacies, under the fine taste, all have the breath of “far away from the heights of the temples and hidden in the city”. Just like a hidden world master, although inconspicuous, but unexpectedly, wins with one stroke.
The personality of Foshan people is also like this. With a prosperous economy and lush culture, there is always a sense of “easy calm and leisure” inside and out unknowingly.
Drink morning tea, eat evening porridge, watch gardens, and enjoy Cantonese opera. With the balance in the passbook, another day is spent.