Li Mingquan, Li Haoyuan*

Inheritance and Promotion of Bashu Culture

Li Mingquan, Li Haoyuan*

Bronze Ware

As an important part of Chinese culture, the Bashu culture, precursor of the Sichuan State, originated in the ancient Shu State and went through five dynasties; Cancong, Boguan, Yufu, Duyu and Kaiming. What remains today is the Baodun Culture, the Sanxingdui Culture, the Jinsha Culture and the Shi’erqiao Culture along with the historical and cultural celebrities, the puzzling graphic language, the magnificent myths, the plain but exquisite bronze ware, and the breathtaking music and dance. However, with the changes in contemporary society, how to maintain and promote the spirit of the Bashu Culture has become an urgent issue.

1. Integrate Bashu Culture into Education.

InThe Gay Genius:The Life and Times of Su Tungpo, Lin Yutang describes Sichuan people as“a hardy, argumentative, self–reliant and largely self–governing race.” These humanistic spirits, which have been nurtured over thousands of years among the Sichuan people, now serve as spiritual genes worth inheriting and carrying forward. Thekey to inheriting and promoting these spirits from the Bashu Culture is education. We should explore educational resources in Bashu Culture and make traditional cultural education more attractive and appealing. The spirits of the Bashu Culture have long meandered through the cultural character of Sichuan and the spirits of the Sichuan people. Sichuan is the hometown of such proletarian revolutionists as Deng Xiaoping, Zhu De and Chen Yi, and the culture of the Red Army has deeply influenced the people’s persistence in fighting for victory. Now, a “calcium supplement” in spirit has become imperative. The Bashu culture is the “calcium” flowing in the blood of the Sichuan people, awaiting a wakeup call.

2. Promote“Interaction” between the Bashu Culture and Public Life.

The bronze ritual vessels, weapons, daily appliances and musical instruments of the Bashu are exquisite and uniquely designed, as are the ceramic and lacquer wares the Bashu people produced. These tangible symbols display the wisdom and emotion of the people in the ancient Ba and Shu states while intangible symbols like myths, legends, and the works of great prose masters like Li Bai, Du Fu, Su Xun, Su Shi and Su Zhe reflect the spiritual world of the Bashu people and the history therein, thus constructing the visual, auditory, gustatory, tactileand perceptual systems of the Bashu Culture. What we should do is tocombine the Bashu Culture with modern cultural life, and integrate it into the cultural activities in the schools, communities, and districts. Integrated into modern society, the Bashu Culture will serve as a unique rhythm mobilizing the life of modern people.

Sichuan’s Unique“Mountains”and“Waters”

3. Integrate the “Elegance” of the Bashu Culture into Urban and Rural Development.

Sichuan should take the ideological value and humanistic spirit in the Bashu Culture as the theme of its urbanization, the symbols and styles in the Bashu Culture as its features, and maintain cultural differentiation. More attention should be paid to extending the historical context, guarding the cultural heritage, building cultural landmarks, highlighting the way of life, and Sichuan’s unique“mountains” and “waters,” showing different skylines, and forming the unique urban temperament of the Bashu Culture circle that embraces both geographical and cultural features. We should start by fully exploring the connotation of the Bashu Culture, refining the cultural theme of each region, combining urban construction with elegant historical culture, and developing a graceful and refined cultural taste.

4. Bring “vigor” to the Bashu Culture and the Cultural Relics.

Bashu, like a charming treasure house with countless relics, has, since ancient times, been highly praised for its profoundness, beauty and wisdom. We should attach great importance to the excavation, collection and classification of the cultural relics of Bashu. To make full use of the resources, we should motivate mutual complementation among local museums, archives and historical museums, promote exhibitions of the relics collected, facilitate the filing and study of ancient classics and strengthen the development and innovation of cultural products. We should also nourish our spirit with the thought, wisdom, philosophy, and aesthetics of the ancient people that are extracted from the relics, and improve our humanistic qualities by applying these resources to public education, to the popularization of traditional Chinese culture and history, and bring these ideas into the “scholarly Sichuan,” into the homes of people, and into the spiritual and cultural life of each person.

5. “Revitalize” Bashu Culture with Creative Cultural Products.

The Bashu Culture, with profound deposits, abundant connotations and unique means of production, provides vast space for the development of a cultural industry. Since ancient times, the spirit of Bashu Culture has been integrated into celebrity culture, red culture and ecological culture, enjoying unique and fantastic folk customs, and natural scenery. History should serve the contemporary social development more than just being remembered. Culture industry can expand the resource allocation space and motivate the emergence of creative products. It can provide an environment for the reproduction of Bashu Culture Scenes, where people can see, experience and comprehend the Bashu Culture through sightseeing, audio–visual entertainment, reading and learning, virtual imaging, competitive entertainment, food and other products. The formation of a cultural and creative industry system with the Bashu Culture as its content and form will not only help Bashu Culture industry grow stronger, but also continuously enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of the Sichuan cultural regions.

6. “Integrate” the Bashu Culture into Artistic Creations.

Since ancient times it has been acknowledged that beautiful flowers bloom on the land of heroes, and that the splendid dance of clouds surely appears at the top of the mountain. “When King Wu of Zhou and his army fought King Zhou of Shang, people in Bashu danced and sang to mobilize the warriors.”What intense dances and resonant songs. Besides, what a scene and what an imagination in the Bashu legends like “a python’s swallowing an elephant and the inseparable flying of the lovebirds, Biyi! Artistic essences such as rigidness and softness, illusion and reality, richness and simplicity, dynamic and static states, tension and relaxation were fully displayed in Bashu, inspiring endless artistic creativity. The Bashu Culture inspires us to create more fine artistic works based on the profound traditions of history and culture, the mysterious landscape, the peculiar imagination, the superb humanistic feelings, the implicit way of expression, the honest and sincere demeanor. It is our mission to discover and display as many artistic classics as possible to reflect the profound thoughts and exquisite craftsmanship displaying the culture and history of Sichuan and present the charm of the regionally–featured Bashu Culture, so that we can provide a steady flow of nourishment for the minds of the Sichuan people.

7. “Connect” Bashu Culture with the Belt and Road.

“The Belt and Road Initiative” has provided a giant platform for Bashu’s overall opening to the outside world and for its pursuit of cooperation and self–development. Bashu, located in the broad Yangtze River basin, now yearns for cross regional and multi–industrial cooperation with the outside world, to build an inland economic belt, and an international golden tourism belt. To give full display to the unique charm of the Bashu Culture and form an all–round opening pattern, we should expand our cooperation with countries, regions and sister cities along the Belt and Road, and extend the Bashu Cultural richness to others. The unique charm of the Bashu Culture will surely explain to others along “the Belt and Road” the essence of Chairman Mao’s poem, “The mountain goddess if she is still there will marvel at a world so changed.” We should proactively participate in the global cultural development pattern, and give full play to the Bashu Culture’s role in “people–to–people bonds.”.

(Translator: Qian Hongnian; Editor: Xiong Xianwei)

This paper has been translated and reprinted with the permission ofGuangming Online( http://theory. gmw.cn/2017–03/01/content_23860864_2.htm ), March 1st, 2017.

* Li Mingquan, professor, vice–president of Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences. Li Haoyuan, editor of Sichuan Pictorial.