8 books to introduce you to Chengdu

8 books to introduce you to Chengdu

Chengdu is a national historical and cultural city, the best tourist city in China, the starting point of the Southern Silk Road, and one of the "Top Ten Ancient Capitals". The following are 8 books compiled by Inspirational.com to help you get to know Chengdu. I hope they can help you.

"Chengdu Streets and Alleys"

Author: Yuan Tingdong

Douban score: 9.3

Publishing information: Sichuan Education Press

Reason for recommendation: The author completed this book after visiting many streets and alleys and interviewing a large number of relevant people. Reading "Chengdu Streets and Alleys", readers can review the origin and customs of Chengdu from a spatial perspective.

Content introduction |

This book mainly covers the four aspects of Chengdu’s city, rivers, bridges, and streets. The author made this arrangement to introduce the history and culture of Chengdu through streets and lanes based on the basically stable river and bridge system. This book takes the streets and alleys of Chengdu as the main subject, and organizes them according to different naming methods. It focuses on the old streets and alleys that existed before the founding of the People's Republic of China and have certain cultural connotations. It also involves Chengdu's history, folk customs, education, celebrities and many other matters. , accompanied by a large number of video materials, pictures and texts, complementing each other.

The author said |

For a Chengdu native, when we stand at the bridge by the river in Chengdu and stroll through the streets and alleys, we can trace historical memories one after another. , if these historical memories are connected to the Internet, you can learn more about all aspects of old Chengdu, and you can also experience the ins and outs of new Chengdu. Foreign friends who are interested in this city can observe the history and culture of Chengdu from the city, rivers, bridges, streets and alleys of Chengdu, and understand the trajectory of Chengdu’s changes.

I would also like to say |

The two thick volumes of "Chengdu Street Alley Chronicles" seem difficult to read, but in fact they are easy to understand and very interesting. The book is clearly organized and the language is full of sentiments of old Chengdu people yet rigorous. It is a good introduction to understanding Chengdu.

"Chengdu Overview"

Author: Fu Chongju

Douban rating: 8.0

Publishing information: Tiandi Publishing House

Recommendation reason: Those who are official in Chengdu must read it; those in the business, academic, military, and industrial circles must read it; travelers, investigators, new scholars, and old school scholars must read it; women with young children must read it Anyone who can read must read it.

Content introduction |

"Chengdu General View" was written by Fu Chongju, a native of Chengdu in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. The book introduces the customs and customs of Chengdu in categories. The materials are all obtained from the author's own experience and investigation, and many records are quite precious. This book can not only be used as an academic material for Chengdu studies, but also for the public to understand and get a glimpse of the face of old Chengdu.

The author says |

It is better to talk about Chengdu as a visitor from Chengdu. It is more realistic to talk about Chengdu when one is based in Chengdu, but it is more realistic to talk about Chengdu when one is traveling in Chengdu. Talk about Chengdu to those who can hear and hear it, and talk about Chengdu more truthfully than reporters who hear rumors. Talking about Chengdu by recording actual things is not talking about Chengdu by talking about it in writing. We can talk about Chengdu by investigating recent events, but we can talk about Chengdu without studying the classics.

I also want to say |

Although the author of this book is a literati in the late Qing Dynasty, the author wants to make this book mainly practical and hopes to be appreciated by both refined and popular people, so the text is mostly in vernacular. , modern people don’t find it difficult and difficult to pronounce when reading it.

"Teahouse: Public Life and Microworld in Chengdu (1900~1950)"

Author: Wang Di

Douban score: 8.6

Publishing information: Social Science Literature Press

Reason for recommendation: As the subtitle says, the teahouse embodies the public life in Chengdu. Although the teahouse is a microcosm, it contains a wealth of local knowledge. ?Half of the residents in one city are tea drinkers? In Chengdu, if you have ever been curious about the large number of teahouses and the number of tea drinkers, then this book may give you an answer.

Content introduction |

This book explores how teahouses play a role between local culture and national power from three parts: tea and society, tea and economy, and tea and politics. Functional. In the "Tea and Society" section, the author conducts a comprehensive analysis of teahouse life, showing how people use teahouses as a place for leisure, meeting friends, and entertainment, and how various social groups use teahouses to carry out activities. The second part, "Tea and Economy", reveals the operation and management of teahouses, observes how the prosperity of teahouses is connected with its unique culture, and examines how teahouses use various means to survive. We have also seen that the Chengdu Teahouse Industry Association plays an active intermediary role between the government and the teahouse industry. In the third part, the author explores the role of teahouses in local and national politics, revealing their significant role in revolution, reform, and war.

In general, how the state gradually penetrates and interferes in people's daily life is the issue that the author focuses on in this book.

The author says |

From this book, we can clearly see the consequences of the unlimited expansion of state power and the victory of national culture. Modern China is more vulnerable than ever. The pace is unified, but it lacks cultural individuality and diversity more than ever? China's regional culture is gradually disappearing today, and modernization has made Chinese culture increasingly uniform. China is a country that advocates unification. Many people have a strong national complex and believe that as long as they pay any price for the unification of the country, they will not have the slightest regret about the decline and demise of regional culture.

I would also like to say |

"Teahouse" is an academic work that can be held in the hands of the public. The reason is not only that the author Wang Di tries to incorporate difficult academic investigations into vivid narrative writing to attract more readers, but also that his vision always focuses on the lower class people and their daily lives, which are exactly related to our reality. closely related.

"Anxious Wealth: The Money and Ethics Views of China's New Rich"

Author: John Osburg (John Osburg)

Reason for recommendation: This is a great book There are many academic works written by Western anthropologists on contemporary Chengdu society. American anthropologist John Osburg focused on a special group, the "newly rich" class that emerged after the reform and opening up, and conducted participatory observations on them, revealing the changes in their views on money and ethics under the development of a market economy. And the life style of these "new rich" people.

Content introduction |

This book is a work completed by anthropologist Zhuang Sibo after three years of fieldwork in Chengdu. In the book, the author shows us the "new rich" group in Chengdu, revealing their social network, consumption behavior patterns and the role of women in this network. At the same time, the author also discusses China's special "relational" issues, not only criticizing the "newly wealthy" groups but also showing sympathy to them.

I also want to say |

This book has important current significance and must be read by Chengdu people. However, there is currently no Chinese translation. Those who are able can first search for the English version to have a quick look.

"The Traces of an Admiral in the Late Qing Dynasty"

Author: Jiang Lan

Publishing information: Yunnan People's Publishing House

Reasons for recommendation : The author Jiang Lan won the 2016 Fourth Zhu Ziqing Prose Award for her collection of essays "The Tracing History of an Admiral in the Late Qing Dynasty". The work not only establishes the historical time and space coordinates of the characters, but also pays more attention to the natural geography and human geography involved in the characters' whereabouts, as well as the intertwined rise and fall of interpersonal relationships, and the ups and downs of scenery. It demonstrates the work's broad historical vision and profound literary heritage, and extremely Readable.

Content introduction |

The whole book is centered on a little-known second-rate historical figure, Tang Yougeng, the admiral of Sichuan in the late Qing Dynasty. The intertwined relationships between Wang Kaiyun and others completed a gripping historical narrative. Extending from Tang Yougeng's traces, we can get a glimpse of Sichuan's military situation, social and economic level, and the people's sentiments and customs at that time in the late Qing Dynasty.

I also want to say |

Although this book talks about history, it uses the prose style of a writer, making it more fascinating and thrilling to read than the works of historians. A piece of dusty history, a forgotten memory, the author awakens it with his own pen and ink.

"Old Photos of Bashu: The Travels of the German Weis and Couples in Southwest China"

Author: Tamara Weis

Douban score: 7.5

Publication information: Sichuan University Press

Reason for recommendation: Through the relics left by grandparents (Fritz Weisz and Hedwig Weisz), Ms. Tamara Weisz This book slowly unfolds a picture depicting the appearance of southwest China at that time. Some of the moments they recorded seem to be more than a century away from China's current rapid development.

Content introduction |

At the beginning of the last century, Fritz Weiss, as the German consul, came to southwest China with his wife Hedwig. Out of interest in China and its people, as well as their love for emerging technologies at the time, the couple recorded what they saw and heard in words and pictures. "Old Photos of Bashu: The German Weis Couple's Journey to Southwest China" is based on these materials and compiled by their granddaughter Tamara Weis.

I also want to say |

A large number of old photos of Sichuan in the book were taken by Wei Si, the German consul in Sichuan from 1904 to 1915, covering most areas of Sichuan, part of which It is related to Chengdu and has high historical value.

"Still Water Waves"

Author: Li Jieren

Douban score: 8.6

Publishing information: Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House

People's Literature Publishing House

Yilin Publishing House

Reason for recommendation: "Dead Water Waves" is about local people writing about local things, and people at that time wrote about things at that time. That kind of feeling is so real, the observation is so detailed, and the memory is so vivid, no one can copy it later.

Content introduction |

The story takes the peasant girl Deng Yaogu as the main line, depicting the love, hate, and life of ordinary people in Tianhui Town, Sichuan before and after the Xin Chou Treaty. Folk customs.

The author said |

Since 1925, he has had the idea to write down what he has lived, felt and experienced over the past decades. In my opinion, this social phenomenon, which is of great significance and deserves to be a turning point in history, is reflected in several continuous novels, paragraph by paragraph.

The era of "Still Water Waves" is from 1894 to 1901, that is, the period after the first war between China and Japan in the year of Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War and the signing of the Xinchou Treaty. The content takes a small town outside Chengdu as the main background, and details the conflict between the two evil forces in the mainland society at that time (the religious people and Brother Pao). The growth and decline of these two evil forces are also related to changes in the international situation, and the methods of imperialist aggression are so powerful.

I also want to say |

Li Jieren is known as the "Zola of China", and "Still Water Waves" is the first part of his "Big River Novel Trilogy" . The novel is not long, but the description of Chengdu folk customs takes up a large proportion. If you want to understand Chengdu in the late Qing Dynasty while reading the story, this book is a good choice.

"Our Family"

Author: Yan Ge

Douban score: 7.9

Publishing information: Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House

Reason for recommendation: "Our Family" is a novel written by Yan Ge, a young local writer in Chengdu, based on his hometown, Pixian County. This novel is Yan Ge's transformational work, and won her the 2013 "Potential Newcomer of the Year Award" at the Chinese Literature Media Awards. The author joked that he had written a joke book for the first time. The novel uses a large number of dialects of Pixian County in the western Sichuan Plain, including some slang and vulgar idioms, to vividly depict the mood of the characters. The locals laughed heartily when they read it, and the outsiders also found it fresh and interesting.

Content introduction |

The story begins with an untimely call from "grandma" when "father" is having sex with a woman. Etiquette, taboos and awkwardnesses between family members are delicately and delicately expressed in this comedic picture. The protagonist? Dad? is not only a middle-aged man who constantly creates embarrassing farces, but also a family heir who is busy eliminating family conflicts and promoting harmonious relations. He is busy in Pingle Town, Yong'an, western China in the 21st century, running the business of Douban, which adjusts the taste of the southwest people. He is a bit oily, but also a bit naive, muttering a lot of weird things, but he is afraid of hurting anyone, and strives to do everything properly, and people A perfect person? From the old mother and elder brother, down to the wife and daughter, including the brothers and mothers-in-law outside. And in this busy time of covering up the house and outside to resolve conflicts, jokes similar to those exchanged at our daily dinner table are connected in an orderly manner: passing out at the lover's house, the wife and lover meeting in the hospital, the old mother using virtual... An inheritance is used to appease a daughter-in-law, an introduction to a brother is embarrassing, rumors and gossip are spread quietly? All these homely and interesting stories are connected to reflect the history of a family that has stumbled to the bright and glorious present.

I also want to say |

Yan Ge, a post-80s Chengdu female writer with a pioneering temperament. Open her "Our Family" and you will be shown a Chinese version of "Funny Family".

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