Regional Cultural Expression in Literary Works: A Case Study of “Jin Shang Jing Shi Hua”

Abstract

This paper comprehensively utilizes archaeological relics, the Jurchen language relics (such as “pressing out the tiger water”), folk symbols (such as offering sacrifices to the sky and shooting willows, head fish banquet, etc.), as well as metaphorical expressions in the spatial layout of the capital city that imitate the Song Dynasty and at the same time have Jurchen characteristics. It excavates fragmented cultural information such as local legends and the Jin Dynasty music, analyzes and interprets the history of the Jin Dynasty from multiple dimensions and levels. Focusing on the cultural characteristics of the Jurchen people’s “fishing hunting farming” civilization, the process of multi-ethnic cultural integration, alongside the cultural choices and historical contributions of the Jin Dynasty in the historical process, with Huining Prefecture, the capital of the Jin Dynasty are the core research object. The article breaks through the traditional perspective of the “Central Plains Center” historical view, reexamines the history of the Jin Dynasty from the perspective of border dynasties, explores its unique value in a stabilizing territory and promotes ethnic mutual learning. It depicts successful restoring of the Jin Dynasty’s social life scenes, reveals the collision and reconciliation process between the Central Plains ritual system and nomadic civilization, presents the complexity of cultural choices in the process of Sinicization, reinterprets the historical contributions of the Jin Dynasty, and activates the multi-level accumulation of Jin Yuan culture. The paper takes geography as the starting point, building a bridge between historical writing and contemporary regional identity, provides a unique local interpretation of the diverse and integrated pattern of Chinese civilization, and further enriches the overall understanding of the ancient Chinese history and culture.