do you know? Chinese history for more than two thousand years is often related to the 40th parallel of north latitude

　　Chinese history for more than two thousand years is often related to the 40th parallel of north latitude

　　Theme: Winning glory for literature in the face of history

　　——The launching ceremony and sharing session of Chen Fumin's new book "Forty degrees North Latitude"

　　Time: In the afternoon of September 12, 2021

　　Location: Kunlun Book Collection

　　Guest: Scholar Yang Zao

　　Chen Fumin, scholar, critic

　　Bai Ye, writer, literary critic

　　Forty degrees north latitude

　　Basically overlaps with the Great Wall

　　Yang Zao: How do you describe the book "Forty Degrees North Latitude"?

There is a military facility in Europe called "Bastion". The castles guarded by humans in "The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers" are just that.

Its advantage is that the enemy will suffer military attacks from more than two sides when attacking from any direction.

I think "Forty Degrees North Latitude" is a "bastion" book with very complicated meaning.

From any level of discussion, there will be more than two meanings overlapping, such as literature and history, big and small, Han and Hu, walking and reading, and so on.

　　Chen Fumin: Teacher Yang Zao's statement made me suddenly enlightened.

I haven't watched "Lord of the Rings", but the concept of "Bastion" he said-you will definitely be hit in two or three ways. This is a particularly powerful defensive structure, which makes me feel very appropriate.

　　My research direction is Chinese contemporary literary criticism, and I mainly put forward my own criticisms on novels and writing phenomena.

I did this job for 40 years, and I became a little bored with this job.

Frankly speaking, I feel that there is too much contemporary fictional literature, which has caused quite a serious "reading disaster".

In addition to feeling tired, I don't think so many contemporary novels are nutritious.

I think reading is a very hard and precious thing at the moment-everyone can spare some time to read while "moving bricks", bringing children, and squeezing the bus.

If the book you read is not nutritious, the writer is especially sorry to the reader.

Out of considerations in this regard, I made a little adjustment to my work and a little shift.

I personally wish to write a nutritious book subjectively, and I hope to deal with the problems raised by this subject, not only I am interested as an author, but readers are also interested, and I can benefit from it.

　　The pursuit of this kind of writing allowed me to turn my work from the original contemporary literary research and criticism to a historical writing based on my own taste and personal accumulation.

The book "Forty Degrees North Latitude" deals exclusively with historical themes. This is what I want to explain to you, why I wrote such a book.

Because there is indeed such a question-you have been doing contemporary literary criticism for 20 to 30 years. Although you have not achieved much, everyone knows that you can do it well. Why did you suddenly come out to do this?

My motivation was accidental, and it was a coincidence that I turned to historical and non-traditional academic critical writing.

　　The subject of my book is Chinese history. I wrote it from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period until the end of the 17th century, during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty.

The content of the book is basically the history of northern nations.

The title of the book is "Forty degrees north latitude". Forty degrees north latitude is a geographical concept.

When I was young, I especially liked to read maps, and I collected a lot of maps.

The northernmost point of our country is Mohe, Heilongjiang, at 53 degrees north latitude.

The southernmost point is Zengmu Ansha, about 5 degrees north latitude.

In my own reading, I found that a geographic line of forty degrees north latitude is very special.

In the territory of China, it starts from Dandong, Liaoning in the east, extends west to Qinhuangdao, Beijing, and Datong, then goes west to Baotou, Hohhot, and then goes west to Dunhuang to Kashgar.

This line of forty degrees north latitude basically overlaps with the Great Wall of China in China-in fact, this is not a coincidence, because the reason why the Great Wall was built on the line of forty degrees north latitude is because this geographic line also happens to be The junction of the Mongolian plateau and the plains.

People in North China know that Zhangjiakou is also known as the Bashang area.

Because forty degrees north latitude is the extreme edge of the North China Plain, the terrain suddenly uplifts here.

The Bashang area is not suitable for decent agricultural cultivation. It does not belong to our traditional Central Plains settlement area.

North of forty degrees north latitude is where nomads gallop.

　　Throughout the two thousand years of Chinese history, from a special perspective, the development and progress of our nation, or the setbacks encountered by our nation, are all related to the forty degrees north latitude.

The Han people who settled in the Central Plains fought with the nomads north of the forty degrees north latitude—such as the Huns, Turks, Xianbei, Khitan, Mongolia, and finally Manchuria—for two thousand years, and finally they merged into a Chinese nation.

I specifically wrote in this book: "They all became Chinese later." This is the special charm of forty degrees north latitude. Forty degrees north latitude is not a conservative and self-proclaimed place. It is to compete for the living space of the nation. , The collision and result of different cultures and civilizations.

　　National conflict and integration

　　Is a fact of civilization history

　　Chen Fumin: Strictly speaking, the trousers we wear today are not the creation of the settled Han people, but the creation of the northern nomads, which we learned from others.

King Zhao Wuling discovered that there were very few cavalry in his country. A major reason was that the cavalry had long robes and large sleeves, making it very inconvenient to ride horses. So he began to learn to wear ethnic minority clothing to facilitate archery.

This is communication, we should not underestimate this matter, it is of great significance.

We used to have a kind of narrow nationalism, always thinking that the northern peoples were savagely backward and invaded us.

Conflicts between ethnic groups will in fact bring humanitarian disasters.

However, people who read history today should have the ability to transcend this perspective, and should see the civilization blending and the results of civilization advancement brought about by the conflict.

　　Another example is that girls like to wear short sleeves when they wear clothes. This is entirely the result of Datang learning from the Persians.

We ate around the table today, which is also learned from ethnic minorities.

Before the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a famous idiom "Qi Mei Ju case", indicating that square cases were used for eating.

However, because of the lack of production methods and means of production, nomads will gather and eat once a sheep is killed.

This is the origin of eating around the table.

　　During the entire two to three thousand years, many stories have emerged around the forty degrees north latitude and the Great Wall.

The northern nomads have put a lot of pressure on us. We are beaten in again and again, and we will suffer huge territorial losses if we enter.

The border of the Ming Empire is very clear. It is on the nine sides—Beijing, Gubeikou, Badaling, and the Mongols to the north. The latitude of the border line of Daming Shou is very low, and even Hami was lost later. .

Therefore, we will find that without Kublai Khan’s creation of the Mongol and Yuan empire, and later the Manchu and Qing dynasties re-determining the border through ethnic integration, many places north of the Great Wall would have nothing to do with us.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang understood very well that he created the Ming Empire and stated clearly in the edict-"I inherit the Yuan Tong", which means that Zhu Yuanzhang specifically admitted that the Yuan Empire created by Kublai Khan is one of the Chinese national traditions.

For a feudal emperor like Zhu Yuanzhang, his vision and practice are even more brilliant than some of our narrow-minded nationalists today.

The collision and integration of nations is not defined by us, it is a fact of the history of civilization.

　　My second motivation for writing this book, and my biggest wish, is to make it available to the public.

We used to be academics, and our articles were published in professional newspapers or academic journals, and were read and discussed in the academic system.

However, the circulation of these words is very small, and they are only circulated in a small academic circle.

We have done so many things in our lives, but its spread is so small that I am not reconciled.

I always hope that there is a kind of writing, which is not only research writing, but also can establish a communication channel with our ordinary readers.

To put it more popularly, it means to lower your body, change your speaking habits, and speak the people's words so that they can understand.

　　A few days ago, The Paper interviewed me, and their interview drafts later used my sentence as the title-"I hope that my writing has literary qualities and at the same time has an intellectual appearance."

This knowledge can be communicated with ordinary readers, rather than shelving it, hiding it in the college, and only using it when citing data.

Academic research is very important, but after all, it is a matter for a few people.

I hope that this kind of writing of mine can establish a dialogue relationship with the general public, and that people are still interested in speaking.

I very much hope that while ensuring the reliability of knowledge, I try to lower the threshold of knowledge expression and understanding in terms of writing.

　　The work shows a new way of writing

　　New presentation method

　　Bai Ye: I am happy and envious of reading "Forty Degrees North Latitude".

In fact, our professionals have other hobbies. For example, Fumin has a hobby of northern ethnic history, and Yang has a hobby of modern culture and the history of media relations.

And one of my hobbies is military history and party history. I am familiar with chatting with some military experts, and they all agree.

I spent so much time reading books about military history almost every night, but I never wrote anything.

Now that Fumin has written what he wants to write, I really envy it.

He has always had a special hobby in this area, and has been digging into this subject, which is semi-professional, so this book really cannot be regarded as a work of "soy sauce", it is academic and professional.

　　Second, Fumin's writing and discussing the level, positioning, and generalization of the problem did give us problems.

It is not accurate to say that "Forty Degrees North Latitude" is a historical record of the frontier; it is not accurate to say that it is historical and geography.

It contains too many things.

This work shows us a new way of writing, a new way of expression, and generally we can call it "academic prose."

But in fact, there are a lot of very elegant things, various elements are intertwined in it, so it is difficult for you to simply say what book it is.

This also makes me feel very good. The more you feel that you can say everything, but you can't fully summarize and express it. It is a very good embodiment of richness.

　　"Forty Degrees North Latitude" satisfies one of my desires to read, which is about the history of northern peoples.

I have been reading and thinking about this question-when did the Chinese nation begin to be called Han?

How did the Han come from?

I often say that the Han nationality is the disappearing minority.

The position of the minority and the majority is inherently relative.

Whoever wins the majority in the process of civilization is no longer the so-called minority.

Therefore, in this sense, the Han nationality can be understood as a minority that has disappeared.

　　The narrative about the nation in "Forty Degrees North Latitude" is highly professional and knowledgeable.

In terms of professionalism, there are discriminative analysis in the quotation, even if the statement is correct or not, he will make up for it.

At the same time, it also has a lot of knowledge-to be honest, if you are not particularly interested in this ethnology, you will find it annoying if you are willing to go in for analysis and research.

After several generations of Shan Yu, the name is not clear.

But Fumin is very clear about who is who.

Even if readers do not want to delve into history, they will get what they deserve through this work.

　　I have a hunch that Fumin’s work will have more influence than his other professional books.

His work is too great, and he can see a place where he writes, and there are many field trips.

The work contains historical data, field surveys, and your own interpretation feelings, so you can see that there is "I" in the whole book, which is very good.

What I also admire is the author’s flexible expressions and expressions. They seem to be the manifestation of language skills. In fact, it is necessary to make the materials very open and eat thoroughly to achieve such a profound and simple expression.

This way will connect ancient things with modern things, reflect the past history with modern knowledge, and at the same time, there will be a lot of ridicule.

This is a successful writing.

　　In addition, in the last chapter of the book "Remembering You Beiping", in a sense, we can see the meaning of cultural roots.

Fumin is a native of Chengde, and we know that Chengde people have always been worried about "there is no more in Rehe".

He reproduces the "Spiritual Return to the Hometown" through historical narrative, and this is not only his personal search for roots, but also a cultural roots search for the nation as a whole.

　　I always feel that Fumin is different from historians in that he is more personal, or he has an "I", and he can fully reflect "I"'s views, choices, tastes, and feelings.

Because of these elements, each character in the book can express very special, leaving readers a lot of thinking.

For example, Emperor Xiaowen written in that chapter, our impression of Emperor Xiaowen in the past was indeed not very good.

At the beginning, the author also wrote that this person was indeed indifferent, and hundreds of thousands of troops marched south, but in the end he stopped leaving, and suddenly left.

In fact, Emperor Xiaowen wanted to move the capital to Luoyang and used this method to achieve this goal.

On the whole, it seems that this person is more "reliant", but behind this "reliance", there is actually another profound meaning. He wants to lead his tribe to civilization.

　　Role switching between offense and defense

　　Is the process of civilization generation and integration

　　Chen Fumin: Just now the two teachers talked about the problems in my writing this book. In terms of "History of Northern Peoples", there is a big gap between me and people who are really professionals.

Even so, I think this job is very meaningful.

Because of the Chinese nation, we are now called the Great Huaxia Nation, with 40 degrees north latitude as a symbol. After two thousand years of continuous integration, the Huns and Turks of the year...have been completely integrated into the big family of the Huaxia nation.

The evolution of civilization sometimes constitutes "oppression" in form of expression, but in the ultimate sense it is actually the only way to national integration.

　　The intersection of culture and civilization is natural, no one is forcing you to do this.

It turned out to be from the north to the south. The south is like taking an exam. Every time I get a full score in a difficult "exam", I often fail.

It was only during the Hanwu period that Huo Qubing and Wei Qing went to Mobei. This was the first time that they got full marks and completely driven out the Xiongnu.

The second time was Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Khan, the leader of the various tribes in the north, respected Taizong Li Shimin. He specially gave him a huge sacred title called "Tian Khan", and also built a "towering tower" from present Xi'an to the Mobei Plateau. "Khan Road", leaders of various ethnic minorities often come to Tang Chang'an to pay homage to Li Shimin. He is the "Tian Khan" above other Khan.

We got full marks about these two times.

　　What I particularly emphasize in the book is that many people with a "sense of national justice" have been complaining about their "failures" and feel that they have been bullied.

In fact, they rarely notice the "reversal" nature of this matter-it doesn't matter if you score, you must immediately assume the responsibility of defense when you score, and you have to continue with the exam to do the questions. You can't escape this fate.

From the extended reading of my book, it is particularly clear that a certain ethnic minority has just entered, and he is about to take on defense, so what he did is very strange-he immediately began to build the Great Wall.

I wrote about this in the book. For example, in the Northern Qi Dynasty, Gao Huanxiu's Great Wall mobilized 1.8 million people, and it was necessary to "match widows" very humanely.

If you don’t look at history, you really don’t know.

Why is it so?

Gaohuan of the Northern Qi Dynasty was originally a Xianbei Han Chinese who was stationed in Baotou. He fought back to the interior and occupied the current areas of Shanxi, Hebei and Shandong. He immediately faced the offensive from the Turkic people from the north.

This is a particularly great and fascinating part of our civilization-you choose the right to offense, you have to assume the defensive obligations afterwards.

The functions and obligations of the forty degrees north latitude are not limited to any ethnic group. You must help me keep it when you come in.

This kind of role transition between offense and defense is the process of civilization generation and civilization integration, so no matter who you are, you will eventually become Chinese.

　　This book will involve professional issues such as geography and ethnic history. I personally hope that these very professional issues will have a popular effect through my writing and narration.

　　Not because what I write is literature

　　Just make up

　　Audience question: Your book is about history. It uses literary writing. It may involve history, ethnicity, and religion.

When you face an expert in this field, what way do you want to face him?

　　Chen Fumin: This friend's question is very professional.

Just now Teacher Bai Ye has positioned this book-it is non-fiction in the literary sense, touching many fields, such as ethnology, frontier history, and even religion, with a lot of content.

A reporter from The Paper asked me a question-what was the biggest constraint you felt when writing this book?

What is the greatest freedom?

I replied that the biggest constraint is the "invisible eyes" in the field of history. They make me shiver and tremble.

The potential first reader of this book is a historian. My article may not be beautifully written, but I will try my best not to let historians say that there is a problem with my material.

　　Take geography as an example. When I wrote this book, I referred to many professional works, such as the "History of China's Territory Evolution" by Gu Jiegang and Shi Nianhai, the "Atlas of Chinese History" edited by Tan Qixiang, and Xin Deyong's writings.

Not only that, but it also requires field surveys. I have ran through all the main locations written in this book, and every picture in it was taken by myself.

Regarding the content of national historiography, every time I write a specific chronological history, I must not only look at the original historiography, but also the works of the best experts in the relevant chronological history.

For example, when I wrote the chapter on Anlu Mountain, I referred to the work of Professor Rong Xinjiang from the School of History of Peking University and wrote the chapter about Khitan and the "Chanyuan Alliance". In addition to "History" and "Liao Hui Yao", I carefully read the statement and the works of Mr. Liu Pujiang.

　　Suppose there is a standard that a writer is 100% in line with the goal he wants to achieve. This is the subjective and good wish of every writer, but it may not be achieved in practice.

Even so, writers cannot give up this standard.

According to subjective standards, I try to understand and master the professional knowledge of ethnology, religion, and geography that this friend talked about. At the very least, I must pass, not a layman.

I know that it cannot be achieved 100%, but I will subjectively establish the relationship between this threshold and academics, otherwise it will not be improvised.

　　Yang Zao: To put it bluntly, Teacher Fumin gave up the so-called shield of literary works.

Many literary works like to use "big things are not limited, small things are true" as a shield. Teacher Fumin rejects this shield. I can't make up my mind just because I write literature.

The reason why this book basically quotes the original text of historical materials-of course the author knows that many readers will not read the original text.

But why does Teacher Fumin insist on putting the original text?

It is to give certain readers a channel for verification, lest you call me nonsense.

This is also a point that Teacher Fumin "cannot let go", a kind of self-requirement of himself.

　　Chen Fumin: There are indeed friends who think that we should not cite so many original texts.

I said it won't work if you don't cite.

Everyone knows that the original text of our ancient Chinese is very concise. If you translate it into Mandarin, it will only have a few dozen more words, but I am still willing to do this.

Of course I know that the original text may cause obstacles to readers, but I can't give up.

I will narrate it in a more popular and interesting way at the moment.

It is a rigid principle for me to insist on quoting the original text, and I am afraid that professionals will pick faults.

　　Finishing/Yuyi