Culture Is Born Out of Its Land

By Han Shaogong

Not all cultural phenomena evolve independently.A good example would be food culture,which could be impacted by the development of the economy and technology,but not always to a high degree.

Many Chinese people nowadays are rich enough to afford Western food every day.Yet,despite their deep pockets,they just don’t like Western food.Instead,they love their Lao Gan Ma Chili Sauce,and prefer tofu over cheese,tea over coffee.How do we explain that?

It’s not about money,nor about economic development.Food culture,specifically a person’s taste buds,reflects more upon particular geographical and cultural characteristics.For example,many Chinese people have migrated to Europe and the United States and have lived there for nearly half of their lives.Yet their stomachs and taste buds miss their home country more than their minds.Despite their fine suits,leather shoes,and good English,they frequent Chinatown and Chinese restaurants more often than they realize it.

Comparatively,clothing culture is less stable and changes more easily.China has always been an agricultural country due to its suitable climate,with abundant rain in the hot season.As a result,cotton planting and silkworm breeding were very common.Therefore,traditional Han clothing was made of either silk or cotton,which are soft and light,making even official uniforms look like casual clothes.

并不是所有文化现象都是迭代演进的，比如餐饮。餐饮文化与经济和技术有一定关系，但没有太大关系。

现在不少中国人有钱了，可以天天吃西餐，那不是什么难事，但有些人即便腰缠万贯，还是不爱吃西餐，偏偏爱吃“老干妈”，你怎么办？他们不爱吃奶酪，就要吃豆腐，不爱喝咖啡，就爱喝茶，你怎么办？

这不是钱的问题，与什么发展阶段也没关系。餐饮文化，特别是口味习惯，更多体现出一种地缘性的文化特征。很多人去了欧美，几乎在那里生活了大半辈子。他们思想上不一定爱国，但肠胃肯定爱国，哈喇子肯定爱国。一个个西装革履飙英语，一不留神，还是会奔唐人街，奔中餐馆。

相对而言，服饰文化没那么顽固，是比较容易变的。中国是农业国，很长一段时间里，靠的是雨热同季等宜农条件，种棉养蚕很普及。因此传统汉服非绸即棉，连官员的制服都像休闲装，软绵绵的一身。

这不同于欧洲。作为以游牧为主业的地区，欧洲盛产羊毛和皮革，所做成的服装不一定柔软舒适，但特别御寒，也容易做得挺括有型，比中国的棉鞋和布鞋更多几分光鲜。这种服饰美学后面，其实都有地缘条件的源头。

Europe is another case.Nomadic animal husbandry prevailed on this land,which mainly produced wool and leather.So instead of being soft and comfortable,their clothing has been more stiff,crisp,and coldproof—it appears more shiny and stylish than cotton shoes and cloth.As you can see,there are always particular geographical conditions behind every clothing aesthetic.

Architecture has the greatest correlation with geography and climate.Why are there so many arcades in Hainan? Because Hainan is a tropical region,with scorching sun and abundant rainfall all year round,making it hard for people to go out.The arcade-style buildings provide corridors on both sides of the street,which are perfect shade and rain cover,benefiting everyone.It is said that this arcade style is actually adopted from Mediterranean Europe,which is a rainy zone as well.Similar geographical conditions generate similar cultural elements,which can be found both in the West and in the East.Therefore,architecture must go along with geo-culture.A few years ago,some property developers in Qionghai did not take this element into account.They abandoned arcades and built a lot of Nordic-style houses.Yet Hainan is not bothered by the problem of accumulated ice and snow on house roofs.So peak roofed houses were useless here and easily blown into a mess after a few typhoons.

Now let’s talk about literature.China has a long and profound history of farming,which made the invention of paper possible.Paper made of grass and trees was invented in China a thousand years earlier than in Europe.Some scholars claim that there were no epics in ancient China because history was written down in works like theShiji (The Records of the Grand Historian),and theHanshu(The History of the Han Dynasty).Paper and pen annulled the need for word of mouth,hence there was no need for epics.Yet,in fact,Tibet,Inner Mongolia,Xinjiang,and other ethnic minority areas of China do have epics,such as theEpic of King GesarandBangel.The reason for this is the same as that in Europe:where agriculture was not developed,and therefore paper and writing would be used later;without paper and writing,word of mouth became the main channel of cultural inheritance.As writing tools and words are born from their geographical conditions,the epic of a particular ethnic group depends on its geographical conditions as well as its local products.

(FromFrontiers,Issue 3,2021.Translation:Lu Qiongyao)

建筑呢，与地理和气候的关联度最大。海南为什么有这么多骑楼？海南是热带地区，太阳很厉害，大家受不了。海南又多雨，大家出门不方便。那么盖成骑楼这种样式，街两边都有固定走廊，既可遮阳，又可避雨，方便了自己也方便了别人。据说这种骑楼风格其实是外来的，最早源自南欧——那是地中海地区，也是一个多雨地带。可见只要地缘条件相近，有些文化就不分东西，东方里可以有西方，西方里也可以有东方。建筑得讲究地缘文化。前些年，琼海有些开发商就没考虑这个元素，盖了很多北欧式的尖顶房，哪知道，海南从无冰雪积压，尖顶房不适用。三五个台风下来，全被吹得乱七八糟。

还可以说说文学。因为中国有深厚的农耕史，前人很早就发明了草木造纸，比欧洲早了近一千年。有专家说，中国古代不是没有史诗，是因为历史都写进了《史记》《汉书》那样的作品，不需要口耳相传，因此就不需要史诗了。其实，中国的西藏、内蒙古、新疆等少数民族地区也是有史诗的，《格萨尔》《江格尔》等都是，其原因与欧洲一样：如果农业不发达，如果纸张和文字运用得晚，运用得不够，口耳相传便成了文化传承的主要手段。一个族群有没有史诗，取决于当地的物产等地缘条件，书写工具和文字载体随地缘条件而生。

（摘自《天涯》2021年第3 期）