Research On The Material Life Culture Of Chu State

In China,the meaning of humanity(Wen)and transformation(Hua)has constituted the word "culture".We can make a definition for "culture":culture is the symbol of man’s adaptation to nature,the transformation of nature and the achievement of human society.natural objects transformed into products by the creation of human beings,through the inheritance of certain group,and all the creation and humanity accumulation of products has transformed into "culture".The first important meaning of culture is creation,which must be embodied in its definition.The second meaning is inheritance which includes transmission.The synchronic transmission of culture forms the mass,regionalism and nationality of culture.The diachronic heritage of culture has constituted a variety of cultural traditions.Transmission and inheritance are the main meanings of the"transformation" of culture.This dissertation selected the material and social culture of Chu State as research object,and focus on their clothing,food,accommodation and transportation.Scholars have great divergence in the relationship of clothing origin and the origin of human beings.Logic can not demonstrate which comes first,the practical or the shame consciousness?The story that Eva used fig leaves to make a skirt has the protagonist image,the plot of"humanist creation",and also has countless learners and imitators that inherit the transformation.The real value as the image is not lower than those of the empiricism and inference.Food is the first necessary of man,and the original of food culture is related with human instinct.Ancient human ancestor gathered food and processed it in their own way,which was already the creation.People would not ask the question who ate shepherd’s purse first or who roasted rabbit over the fire first.There are too many such creators,and we do not know when and where it had taken place.Once retrospected to the original,both the problem of thought and theory are becoming simple,clear and explicit,so it is easy to understand that food culture can best embody the essence of "culture".The Chu’s costume has developed from shabby clothes to "Wenxian"(the silk fabric),and Wenxian is the symbol of the high development of Chu’s costume culture.During the Spring and Autumn Period,people in Yue state cut their hair short and tattooed their bodies,and Qin state advocated black color,Qi,Lu,Zhao,Wei and Han state had suffered from the bondage of Confucianism,so there were little innovations in the pursuit of makeup and costume art.Since Chu was in the south,and absorbed the essence of Central Plains and other ethnic cultures,it had created splendid costume culture,which represented the highest level at that time.In the Spring and Autumn Period,Chu state had a vast territory and abundant resources,and it had all kinds of food except seafood.The Historical Records has recorded that "Chu has a small population for a large area of land,people plant rice and catch fish mainly.They use fire to plant and water to extirpate weed.Vegetable,fruit and different kinds of meat were adequate without the need of trading.It has sufficient food against hunger because of the unique terrain." It’s richly endowed by nature.Chu’s special methods of making wine have far-reaching influence on Chinese liquor production.Many characteristic food have been circulated up to now,and descendant has inherited the cuisine and condiments.People of Chu had high cultural grade,who paid attention to balance the sweet and sour taste of food and pursuit the suitable thickness of food.The food culture created by Chu is an important part of the splendid Chinese food culture."City" is one of the important symbols of human being into the civilized society.In Chu’s nearly 400 years history,it had constructed dozens of cities along Yangtze River,Hanshui basin,Dongting Lake river system,Poyang lake river system and Huai River Basin.More than 100 cities were built for administrative system above the county level.We can know people’s living environment through the distribution of these cities.After analysis of the internal structure of these cities,we can have an overall understanding of the development of Chu people’s accommodation civilization.Accommodation is the mark of people’s treasures and grades from ancient to present.Civilians may spend all the money accumulated all their lives in order to build their own house.People would select the orientation and layout very carefully when it was about to be built.They must choose auspicious day and avoid evil spirit in the break ground day.Both roofing the house and completing all the work had a celebration.This kind of popular convention is often not qualified to take its place in the higher circles,but The Sun Book,unearthed bamboo slips of Chu,Qin,Han,is a secular book which has been abandoned by history and been lost.Culture is public and all-pervasive,and the study of The Sun Book is indispensable when referring to ancient culture.Boat is the earliest vehicle used by mankind,and its origin was earlier than the carriage.It has related record in The Book of Songs.From the cultural theory,when an ancient sage with a log crossing the water,he was standing at the starting point of making a boat;To tie the bamboo and wood into a raft had already been a vehicle on water;Scooping wood to make a boat had became shaped boat of humanity.According to history records,carriage has appeared in period of Yellow Emperor,a legendary ruler.The animal power was not used at that time,just using skid in mud that was depended on human traction.It can be called "carriage" when horse dragged the skid installed with wheels.It is certain that there appeared carriages in the Xia dynasty,which can be supported by double evidences.The "carriage" of Yellow Emperor is only the embryo type,which has reached the real carriage with four horses after deep development.The ancient Chinese culture accelerated the pace of progress greatly with the use of carriage.Chu developed from weak in Western Zhou dynasty to powerful in the Warring States Period,which had became the leader of Central Plains,defeated the Jin’s army,dominate for some time.From the era of King Chu Ling,the king became welter in pleasure.With the rolling wheels,a great deal of manpower,material and financial resources were wasted in the voluptuous lives.The chariots of former kings had became the luxurious tools of later kings.The Song of Chu·Evocation used the story that King hunted in the swamp to reveal the state’s destruction by touring carriage vividly.Looking back on the history of human ancient material culture makes people sigh with emotion.Since human beings walked out of forest and cave,they have been able to get the best food and live a happy life for thousands of years.However,today the food we eat and the water we drink are not as good as those of the ancient.Because of species degradation or even partial extinction,the taste of the past can not be reappeared because of less varieties.On account of the environmental pollution,the quality of grain and vegetables are very poor,and after eating there appeared some problems.Food sources restricts the development of human beings,which is the"tighten mantra".Therefore,the author realized that the idea which proposed by President Xi "green hills and blue water are the mine of gold and silver" is the incisive assertion.Building a Community of Human Destiny is a beautiful "Chinese dream",which is the only way for human development in the new era.