(Question about East and West) Ma Ji: Why can Zhaojun culture shine at home and abroad?
China News Service, Hohhot, October 22nd, title: Why can Zhaojun culture shine at home and abroad?
——Interview with Ma Ji, Chairman of the Zhaojun Cultural Research Branch of the Chinese Society of Ethnology
China News Agency reporter Li Aiping
Over the past two thousand years, the story of Wang Zhaojun’s trip to the fortress and his marriage has been widely spread in China and other countries around the world, and a wealth of research results have been formed.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhaojun's cultural research has taken on a new look different from any previous era.
Its greatest feature is the change of themes and viewpoints.
Ma Ji, chairman of the Zhaojun Culture Research Branch of the Chinese Society of Ethnology, recently pointed out in an exclusive interview with China News Agency "Dongxi Questions" that the current in-depth study of Zhaojun’s history and culture, and shaping a new image of Zhaojun are of great reality for strengthening the unity of the Chinese nation. significance.
Data map: Zhaojun Village, Xingshan County, Hubei Province is brightly lit.
Photo by Zhou Xingliang
The summary of the interview record is as follows:
China News Agency reporter: In history, what changes have taken place in Wang Zhaojun's image?
Ma Ji:
Generally speaking, in the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Zhaojun was the image of the goddess of peace, and his image became more tragic after the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the historical truth was restored, and the drama image of Wang Zhaojun's friendly envoy returned.
Zhaojun's departure from the country in 33 BC was a major event that caused a sensation in the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu.
The Han Dynasty specially changed the Yuan "Jingning" for this purpose and held a grand resignation meeting.
After getting married, Zhaojun earnestly maintained the peaceful and friendly relationship between the two ethnic groups. Her children, son-in-law, and nephew have devoted themselves to the friendship between Han and Hungarian for generations, maintaining the peace situation for 60 years.
"The History of the Huns in Han Dynasty" records the process of Wang Zhaojun's going out of the fortress and her life outside the fortress, praising that after Zhaojun went out of the fortress, "it was the time when the border city was closed, the cattle and horses were wild, the third policeman without a dog, and the death of Li Shu."
It can be seen that the study of Zhaojun in a broad sense started with the image of Wang Zhaojun in the drama.
In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, "Song of Resentment and Thoughts" and "Wang Mingjun's Ci" in the Western Jin Dynasty, etc., used "pity for him to marry away" as the main theme, expressing Zhaojun's sadness of missing home and family.
Affected by the theme of homesickness, Zhaojun's tragic image has gradually become the mainstream.
Until Song Dynasty Wang Anshi's "Ming Feiqu" put forward that "life is happy to know each other", which to some extent dilutes the tragic color of Zhaojun's image.
During the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, a large number of Zhaojun-themed dramas and popular novels were performed and circulated among the people. The image of Zhaojun who sacrificed himself for the country was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and received widespread sympathy. The Yuan Dynasty Ma Zhiyuan's drama "Han Gong Qiu" is a typical example.
After the May Fourth Movement, monographs on Wang Zhaojun appeared. These papers mostly studied Zhaojun or Zhaojun's tomb from the perspectives of folklore, textual research, and literary evolution.
After the founding of New China, Zhou Enlai analyzed historical Wang Zhaojun and related literary works from a Marxist perspective, and believed that she was a figure who contributed to the maintenance of the unity of the big family of the Chinese nation.
He has spoken many times, encouraging the side intellectuals to become "contemporary Zhaojun", take root in the frontier, and build the frontier. He also suggested that Cao Yu "rewrite a Zhaojun drama of national harmony."
Revolutionaries of the older generation, such as Dong Biwu, Chen Yi, and Xie Juezai, wrote poems praising Zhaojun.
Historiography and literary circles have also launched discussions and researches around the historical truth of Zhaojun's departure from the fortress and the shaping of Zhaojun's artistic image.
Since January 1959, "People's Daily" and "Guangming Daily" have successively published articles such as "Talking about the Shaping of Wang Zhaojun".
In February 1961, "People's Daily" published Jian Bozan's "Inner Mongolia's Visit to Ancient Times", which pushed the discussion about the truth about Zhaojun's departure from the fortress to a climax.
"Zhaojun has his own pros and cons, and Hu Hanhe personally knows well. The poets express their ambitions, and the dance and the ink are all in vain." Dong Biwu's "Tomb of Ye Zhaojun" written in October 1963 can be regarded as the 4 years of this event. Summary of the national discussion.
In 2003, I defined "Zhaojun culture" in the book "Zhaojun Culture Research" as "all cultural phenomena related to this for two thousand years, including material culture and spiritual culture, with Wang Zhaojun going out of the fortress and marriage as the core. "Spiritual culture is the focus", systematically expounded the theory of Zhaojun culture.
I believe that the traditional Chinese "hehe" theory is the philosophical foundation of Zhaojun culture. National unity and friendship are the core content of Zhaojun culture. Promoting the complementation and exchange of different economic regions is an important connotation of Zhaojun culture. A large number of literary and artistic works in the past are Zhaojun culture. Important carrier.
Zhaojun culture is a culture that pursues perfection, contains rich philosophy of life, and also has world significance.
Data map: Yichang and Hohhot recalled Zhaojun in the form of a song festival.
Photo by Li Yun
China News Agency reporter: Since the founding of New China, what are the literary and artistic works that Wang Zhaojun, as the envoy of national friendship, has shined at home and abroad?
Ma Ji:
Since the founding of New China, the image of Wang Zhaojun has shown more fascinating charm, and a large number of masterpieces of Zhaojun have emerged in the literary and art circles.
In recent years, the new works of the Chinese Opera and Dance Theater include the folk song and dance drama "Zhao Jun Chuan" (2016) and the poetic song and dance drama of Li Yugang's team "Zhao Jun Chu Chu" (2019). The two dramas have caused a sensation in China, and performances abroad have also achieved complete success.
Zhaojun-themed films are mostly Hong Kong films, and TV series are more successful with mainland works.
Among the many film and television programs, the special feature film "Wang Zhaojun" launched by CCTV's "Chinese Nation" column in 2008 is particularly worth mentioning.
This film truly restores the background of Zhaojun and Qin's time and the experience of going out of the fortress, and recalls Zhaojun's continuous influence on people of all ethnic groups over the past two thousand years.
The film was later translated into English and rebroadcast many times at home and abroad, and the response was very good.
In fact, the story of Zhaojun has spread in literature and art at home and abroad not only in recent decades.
After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the story of Zhaojun has had a wide range of influence abroad, especially in Japan and Vietnam.
In Japan, verses quoting the story of Zhaojun appeared very early in waka. In the 14th century, paintings on the theme of Zhaojun appeared. In the 15th century, there were performances of Noh music on the theme of the story of Zhaojun. The emperor also sang a peace with the minister on the subject of Zhaojun many times.
In recent years, Japanese art works and essays on the subject of Aki-kun have also appeared continuously. Kenji Kobayashi, Kenji Uno, and Yaszo Iwayama are all typical scholars.
In Vietnam, Zhaojun novels "Zhaojun Gonghushu" and "Zhaojun New Biography" are widely spread.
Scholars such as Ren Xiaoyang and Liu Jimin have done research on the spread of Zhaojun culture in Vietnam.
In the West, Zhaojun's deeds were mentioned in some works introducing ancient Chinese poetry in the early 19th century.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Britain’s "Beauty" by Ma Kelong Ming and Sun Love, and Ambert H's "China's Famous Concubines-Ban Jieyu and Zhaojun" also highlighted Wang Zhaojun, which is even more eye-catching. It was in 1986 that the French Institute of Advanced Sinology published Kuang Qinghuan's doctoral thesis "Wang Zhaojun" (in French).
Data map: People from Zhaojun's hometown worship Zhaojun in Hohhot.
Photo by Shang Hongbo
China News Agency reporter: In your opinion, how will Zhaojun culture continue to exert influence at home and abroad?
Ma Ji: In the
future, literary and artistic creation and research work on Zhaojun subject matter should respect historical truth and pay attention to social effects.
I once pointed out that from ancient times to the present, creators of Zhaojun theme have a common characteristic: "Take Zhaojun wine glass to pour yourself in." His works often contain the author's various associations and emotions about life, showing different interpretations and evaluations of Zhaojun.
I believe that the key to Zhaojun culture's continued influence lies in the fact that researchers and communicators must adhere to the patriot's standpoint, respect history, restore the truth, and put themselves in an understanding of Wang Zhaojun's choices and actions in a difficult situation.
We can neither adopt the position of Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism, nor stand on the position of big nationalism or narrow nationalism, and use the "three outlines and five constants", "the difference between the Chinese and the barbarians" or other standards to evaluate Zhaojun and friendship, and they will fall behind the times.
Zhaojun researchers and Zhaojun-themed literary and artistic creators need to unify their motivations and effects. They should carefully consider whether their works are conducive to national unity and national unity, and whether they are in line with China's foreign policy of peace and friendship.
In short, Zhaojun’s cultural phenomenon has spanned two thousand years, and it will continue to be a permanent topic in the future, fully demonstrating the powerful vitality of Zhaojun’s culture.
I hope that more literary and artistic works and high-quality research results will be published in the future, and promote the continuous improvement of the research level of Zhaojun culture. I believe that the influence of Zhaojun culture at home and abroad will be more significant.
(over)
About the interviewee:
Ma Ji, male, born in 1945, native of Xinle County, Hebei Province, graduated from the Chinese Department of Nankai University in 1968, and stayed in the faculty (postgraduate) class of the Chinese Department of Inner Mongolia University in 1980. He has served as a lecturer, associate professor, and professor.
Served as a member of the seventh, eighth and ninth sessions of the Inner Mongolia CPPCC, and Counselor of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Government. He retired in 2015.
The current chairman of the Zhaojun Cultural Research Branch of the Chinese Society of Ethnology, and the vice chairman of the Chilechuan Cultural Research Society of Inner Mongolia.
The main works include "Wang Zhaojun and Zhaojun Culture", "National Friendship Envoy Wang Zhaojun", "Zhaojun Culture Research", "Critic Biography of Genghis Khan" and so on.