长江文化具有深厚历史底蕴
Historical Value of Yangtze River Culture
秋平
Qiu Ping
古往今来，人类逐水而居，文明伴水而生。长江绵延6300余公里，从西到东穿越青藏高原、横断山区、云贵高原、四川盆地、长江中下游平原等几大地理单元。
Throughout human history, civilizations have risen along waterways, where people tended to settle. The Yangtze River, extending over 6,300 kilometers, carves a path from west to east through several of China’s major geographical features, including the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, the Hengduan Mountains, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the Sichuan Basin, and the middle and lower plains of the Yangtze.
长江流域河网密集，拥有岷江、沱江、嘉陵江、汉江、湘江、赣江、黄浦江等众多支流，沿着长江还分布着洞庭湖、鄱阳湖、巢湖、太湖等重要湖泊。
The Yangtze River Basin features an intricate network of waterways, incorporating numerous tributaries, including the Minjiang, Tuojiang, Jialing, Hanjiang, Xiangjiang, Ganjiang, and Huangpu rivers. It also serves several important lakes, including the Dongting, Poyang, Chaohu, and Taihu lakes.
作为中国第一大河、世界第三大河，长江贯通名川大湖，在北纬30度区域形成一条贯通东亚大陆三级台地的“黄金水道”。这种水热同丰且交通便利的独特地理和生态资源，既有利于灌溉，又能提供航运之便，无疑为文明发生和文化生长提供了良好自然条件。
As China’s longest river and the world’s third longest, it weaves its way through the subtropics along the 30th parallel north, creating a vital golden waterway across East Asia’s three-tiered terrain. The Yangtze’s unique ecological and geographical resources, characterized by abundant water, warm climate, and convenient transportation, facilitated both irrigation and navigation in the region, undoubtedly providing favorable natural conditions for the emergence of civilization and the growth of local cultures.
水稻驯化可以说是人类社会具有划时代意义的“农业革命”，它让人类有能力获得相对稳定和丰富的生活资料。
The domestication of rice can be considered a revolutionary milestone in agricultural history as it provided humans with the stable and abundant food resources essential for survival.
农耕经济所支撑的稳定社会结构，使得文化和科技的创造、积累成为可能。其中良渚文化以发达的犁耕稻作农业，精美的玉器、陶器、漆器为代表的专门化的手工业，具有文字风格的刻画符号，大型人工营建工程及金字塔型的社会结构为特征，成为中华文明多元起源的重要实证，在中国和世界文明进程中有着不可替代的重要价值。
The stability provided by the agricultural economy enabled these societies to pursue technological and cultural advancement and accumulation. One example of this is the Liangzhu Culture, which stands out for its plow-based rice cultivation, specialist craft industries exemplified by exquisite jade, pottery, and lacquerware, script-like carved symbols, large-scale construction projects, and a pyramid-shaped social structure. The Liangzhu Culture is an important testament to the diverse origins of Chinese civilization and holds irreplaceable significance in the development of both Chinese and world civilizations.
春秋战国时期，铁制农具和耕牛的使用，让长江流域优越的水热条件得到更好发挥，巴蜀、荆楚、吴越等文化区在长江上、中、下游竞起。
During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (770–221 BC), iron farming tools and ox-drawn plows enabled the inhabitants of the Yangtze River Basin to better harness the water resources and favorable climate. This led to the emergence of the Ba-Shu, Jing-Chu, and Wu-Yue cultural regions along the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Yangtze.
至秦汉时，黄河与长江两大文化区的共同发展推动长江文化在不断交流中取长补短。
The Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC–AD 220) marked a period of common development for the cultural regions of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, as cultures engaged in ongoing exchanges and enriched one another.
两汉以后，中国经济文化重心逐渐由黄河流域向相对安定的长江流域转移。中原地区的农耕技术、风俗制度和劳动力，大大加速了长江流域的发展进程。
Following the Eastern and Western Han dynasties, China’s economic and cultural heartland gradually shifted southward from the Yellow River region to the more stable Yangtze region. As agricultural technology, customs, institutions, and labor arrived from the Central Plains, the Yangtze region began to develop rapidly.
明清两代，长江文化臻于繁盛。在长江下游，以南京、杭州、苏州等城市为中心，形成了一个江南文化圈，涉及教育、科举、出版、藏书、学术、手工技艺、园林建筑、书画艺术、文学创作、戏曲、宗教等方方面面。
The Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911) marked the zenith of the Yangtze River culture. In the lower Yangtze region, a distinct Jiangnan (referring to the region south of the Yangtze) cultural sphere emerged, centered around cities such as Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Suzhou. It encompassed a vast array of cultural achievements, ranging from education and imperial examinations to book publishing and collecting, from scholarship and handicrafts to garden architecture, and from calligraphy and painting to literary creation, opera, and religious practices.
这一文化圈不仅代表着我国古代社会传统文化的发展高峰，而且成为开启近代文化转型的有生力量。
This cultural sphere not only represented a cultural pinnacle in ancient Chinese society, but also became a vital force for sparking China’s modern cultural transformation.
回望中华民族上下5000多年，无论是炎黄子孙的起源、中华文明的发祥，社会生产力的发展、历史进程的演进，还是思想文化的兴盛、民族精神的淬炼，都离不开长江的哺育和滋养。一部波澜壮阔的长江文化史，承载着中华民族的共同记忆，蕴藏着中华民族的文明基因。
Reflecting on the 5,000-year history of the Chinese nation—from the origins of the first Chinese people and the dawn of Chinese civilization, through the growth of social productivity and the historical process of development, to the flourishing of thought and culture and the forging of our national spirit—each major event is closely tied to the nourishment and sustenance provided by the Yangtze River. The profound and sweeping history of the Yangtze River culture thus embodies the collective memory of the Chinese nation and the cultural DNA of Chinese civilization.
中文编辑：郝遥 尚烨
英文编辑：衣小伟
审校：张娴 李晓琼
监制：李达 李振通
