The History and Contemporary Value of Yangtze River Culture

The Yangtze River, a mother river of our nation, has nourished the ancient Chinese civilization and nurtured the hardworking and courageous Chinese people. In striving to carry forward and develop our culture and build a culturally strong nation, it is of important significance to study and explore both the historical depths and contemporary value of the Yangtze River culture, ensuring that this thousand-year-old legacy continues to thrive. 

I

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. 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. 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. 

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. So far, archaeological evidence of rice cultivation dating back 8,000 years has been uncovered at many sites in China, with the vast majority located in the Yangtze River Basin. The domestication of wild rice provided the basin’s early inhabitants with conditions for population growth, leading to the emergence of scattered agricultural settlements. As these communities expanded and spread, they gradually evolved into distinct regional cultures. These include the Hemudu and Liangzhu cultures situated on the Yangtze’s lower reaches in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, the Qujialing and Shijiahe cultures located in the middle reaches along the Jianghan Plain, and the Daxi culture, which extended westward from the middle reaches all the way to eastern Sichuan on the upper Yangtze. 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. 

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. The southern state of Chu, which rose to prominence in this era, cultivated an open and inclusive culture. In the Spring and Autumn period, it fostered a distinctive style of bronzeware with unique shapes and splendid designs. Later, in the Warring States period, it pioneered a new poetic tradition known as Chu Ci, which is best exemplified by Qu Yuan’s poem Li Sao (The Lament). The unearthing of the chime bells from the tomb of Marquis Zeng in Suizhou, Hubei Province holds special importance, as it has transformed our understanding of China’s musical sophistication. This major find is a showcase for the remarkable cultural, musical, and technological achievements of the early inhabitants of the Yangtze River, giving them a place of prominence in world history. It provides an important insight into Chinese civilization’s achievements in the 5th century BC and marks a high point in global musical culture for that period. It also reflects the great cultural heights reached by humanity as a whole during the Axial Age (800–200 BC).

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. Discoveries of a great many Qin and Han artifacts along the Yangtze River Basin, particularly the Han tombs at Mawangdui in Changsha, Hunan, have provided a fuller understanding of the Yangtze River culture during this time. One such discovery was a plain silk gauze gown unearthed from Tomb No. 1 at Mawangdui in 1972. Crafted with extraordinarily fine silk threads and weighing no more than 50 grams, this ethereal, feather-light gown is one of the world’s oldest existing silk garments discovered to date. Clothing and adornments are basic necessities that reflect the skill and creativity of craftspeople. Yet, they also offer a window into both the material and cultural dimensions of life in that era. The creation of this remarkable gown, from silkworm cultivation through to thread production and final weaving, demonstrates extraordinary attention to detail at every stage. This points not only to the advanced craftsmanship, social division of labor, and organized production present in the Yangtze River region during the early Han period, but also to the ingenuity, perseverance, patience, and dedication of the region’s working people. As such, this artifact stands as a crucial testament to China’s exceptional traditional culture and national spirit.

Chime Bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng, unearthed in Suizhou, Hubei Province. Suspended from a rack 7.48 meters in length and 2.65 meters in height, the bells are all capable of producing two distinct pitches when struck, with a three-degree interval separating each of the two tones. The set covers a range of five and a half octaves, with the three central octaves featuring a full chromatic scale (12 semitones). Capable of producing pentatonic, hexatonic, and heptatonic scales, the bells exemplify the sophisticated ritual and musical culture, as well as its advanced bronze casting skills in the 5th century BC. VISUAL CHINA

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. During the mid-Tang Dynasty, approximately the 8th to the early 9th century, the An-Shi Rebellion triggered a mass exodus of scholars and ordinary people from the Central Plains, as they and their families sought refuge in the South from the ravages of conflict. To a certain extent, this event marked the beginning of the North’s economic and cultural decline and the South’s rise to prosperity. The Jingkang period of the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127) saw northern residents once again seeking to escape the suffering of war by fleeing southward in large numbers, marking the third major “southern migration” in Chinese history. The whole of the Yangtze River Basin, spanning from east to west, became a sanctuary, both receiving northern refugees and preserving Chinese cultural traditions. As the region south of the Yangtze reached unprecedented heights of economic and cultural development, the historic shift of China’s economic and cultural center from north to south was completed. For generations, Chinese people have demonstrated great courage and genuine sincerity in seeking to overcome adversity. It is precisely these qualities that have created the impressive tableau of China’s enduring civilizational vitality and established the Yangtze River culture’s importance within the broader Chinese cultural landscape.

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. 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. As China entered the modern era, commercial and industrial cultural elements became integral to the Yangtze River culture, with the region giving rise to early national industry and commerce as well as a nascent working class.

This photograph, The First Bend of the Yangtze, was a featured work in the inaugural Yangtze River photography exhibition, titled Grand Visions of the Mighty Yangtze. The Yangtze River has its source in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Its upper section known as the Jinsha River surges southward and features a swift and strong current. On reaching Shigu Town in Yunnan Province, it sweeps into a sharp V-shaped bend, sending it coursing toward the northeast. This turn is known as The First Bend of the Yangtze.
PHOTOGRAPHY CENTER OF THE CHINA FEDERATION OF LITERARY AND ART CIRCLES / PHOTO BY WANG HANYUAN

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.

II

The Yangtze River culture has relied on the geographic space of the Yangtze River Basin to emerge and evolve as a system, capturing all the essential cultural qualities and distinctive features of this region in one cohesive whole. This rich cultural tapestry, with its many layers and dimensions, has, over its long history, developed into a vital cultural artery running through the heart of the Chinese nation. 

The mutually supportive relationship between the Yangtze and Yellow rivers has been instrumental in sustaining the Chinese civilization and preserving its unbroken history. These two major waterways, though separated by natural barriers, run in parallel across China’s vast and intricate landscape, complementing each other in their roles. For millennia, they have served as the grand stages where the epic events of Chinese history have been played out. China is unique as the only major civilization that has endured unbroken to the present day in the form of a unified state—an achievement that owes much to the relationship between the Yangtze and Yellow rivers and the two-way flows between north and south they facilitated. Modern Chinese scholar Liang Qichao once observed that China’s status as one of the world’s five ancient civilizations owes much to its two great rivers—the Yellow and the Yangtze rivers—which flow through temperate regions and nurture vast plains. Although the Yellow River Basin played a major role in the development of early Chinese civilization, the Yangtze River Basin began to realize its potential from the late Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century–256 BC) onward, enabling it to quickly gain ground, as the cultures of Ba, Shu, Jing, Chu, Wu, and Yue came to rival their northern counterparts of Qi, Lu, Zhao, Han, Wei, Qin, and Qiang. The complementary dynamic between the Yangtze’s rice-based culture and the Yellow River’s wheat-and millet-based culture helped foster the tremendous vitality that has enabled the Chinese people to undergo constant self-renewal, respond to challenges, and explore new frontiers. This has been a major factor in Chinese civilization’s enduring vitality and continuity over the millennia.

Through their ocean links and tributary networks, China’s rivers have facilitated cultural exchanges and integration and fostered openness and inclusiveness. As a major national artery and thoroughfare, the Yangtze River flows through China’s heartland, connecting to the Yellow River in the north, the Lingnan region in the south, the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau in the west, and the ocean and the wider world in the east. It encompasses 8 major tributaries, over 700 secondary tributaries, and more than 3,600 minor waterways, along with countless smaller streams that vein the landscape in an intricate web. Through its ocean access and countless tributaries, the Yangtze gave rise to two major trade routes: one running from the Central Plains to the frontier regions via the Grand Canal, the Hanjiang River Valley, the Jinniu Road, and the Tea Horse Road, and another extending southward into the Lingnan region through the Ganjiang River, Xiangjiang River, Lingqu Canal, and the ancient Meiling passage. Silk, tea, grain, copper, and iron implements produced in the Yangtze River Basin, along with their associated customs and institutions, flowed into regions such as Guangdong and Guangxi, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, and the Inner Mongolia Plateau, becoming powerful drivers of exchanges and integration between China’s various regions and ethnic groups. At the same time, products from the river basin—silk, tea, and porcelain—also entered West Asia, Western Europe, East Asia, and Southeast Asia through routes such as the “Ten Thousand Li Tea Route,” the route to Central Asia via the Minjiang River and China’s western regions, the old Yunnan–Burma Road, and the Maritime Silk Road. Foreign goods, exotic species, and smelting and textile technologies also entered China through these routes. These two-way flows became a powerful catalyst for exchanges and mutual learning between China and the rest of the world. Since ancient times, the Yangtze River Basin, with its rich resources and convenient transportation, has helped bridge the distinct internal differences of China’s vast regions and peoples to form a unified multiethnic nation. It has also facilitated stronger commercial and cultural exchanges between China and other civilizations. This is a reflection of our nation’s traditional preference for communication, exchange, and integration and our open cultural mindset of seeking to embrace and draw on other cultures from around the world. 

Remaining at the forefront of change, the Yangtze River Basin has exemplified how Chinese civilization has continuously renewed itself by discarding what is outdated in favor of what is new. Over the course of China’s history, the region has long led the way in economic development. Thanks to its wealth of resources and spirit of openness and inclusiveness, it has been a driving force for cultural flourishing and intellectual innovation, nurturing many generations of outstanding thinkers and countless distinguished figures. During the Song Dynasty (960–1279), the emergence of intellectual luminaries, such as Zhu Xi, Lu Jiuyuan, Zhang Shi, Ye Shi, Wang Shouren, Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, and Wang Fuzhi, helped establish the Yangtze region as a leading cultural center. In modern times, the Yangtze River Basin absorbed Western knowledge and creatively blended it with local traditions to pioneer advances in industry, commerce, education, science, and literature. Following the opening of the five treaty ports in the late Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), Shanghai emerged as a crucible for Chinese and foreign interactions in thinking and culture. The fusion of the local Wu and Yue traditions with modern Western influences gradually gave birth to the distinctive Haipai culture, which enabled the city to take the lead and stand out in many respects, from material life to ideas, mindsets, and institutions. During key historical events, such as the Westernization Movement, the Reform Movement of 1898, the Revolution of 1911, the initial dissemination of Marxist ideas, and the founding of the Communist Party of China, countless local patriots emerged in succession to devote themselves to the cause of national rejuvenation, each adding remarkable chapters to the Yangtze River Basin’s history. This history reflects the region’s defining characteristic: its pioneering spirit. It also epitomizes the Chinese nation’s commitment to the continuous material, cultural-ethical, and political advancement based on the principle of “improving oneself each day, day in and day out, and forever building on improvement.” It exemplifies our enterprising spirit of honoring tradition without clinging to the past and respecting ancient wisdom without reverting to archaic thinking, as well as our fearless character in squarely facing new challenges and embracing new things.

III

Today, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, which spans much of China’s eastern, central, and western regions, accounts for around half of the country’s population and economic output. It not only showcases vivid practices for advancing Chinese modernization but also offers unique solutions for developing a strong socialist culture in China. 

The Jiujiang section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park. The cultural park was officially established in late 2021. A plan on protecting, carrying forward, and promoting Yangtze River culture was issued in July 2023, setting out a series of concrete measures to ensure the preservation and development of the Yangtze River culture.
VISUAL CHINA / PHOTO BY ZHANG CHI 

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, President Xi Jinping has placed high importance on protecting, carrying forward, and promoting Yangtze River culture in a series of key speeches, important written and oral instructions, and major plans. In late 2021, the Yangtze River National Cultural Park was officially established, joining four other national cultural parks dedicated to the Great Wall, Grand Canal, Long March, and Yellow River. The 14th Five-Year Plan for Cultural Development (2021–2025), released in August 2022, stressed the need to protect, carry forward, and promote the Yangtze River culture. To fulfill these requirements, a relevant plan was issued in July 2023, detailing arrangements and deployments, with a view to fully leveraging the important role of the Yangtze River culture in guiding values, promoting public benefit and awareness, protecting the environment, and driving development.

Carefully preserving the historical and cultural heritage of the Yangtze River

Our historical and cultural heritage is a precious resource that cannot be recovered or replaced once lost. Therefore, we must redouble our efforts to preserve it. The Third National Survey of Cultural Relics, which began in 2007 and ended in 2011, reveals that the Yangtze River Basin houses 306,000 immovable cultural heritage sites—about 39.8% of the national total. These abundant historical and cultural landmarks, which are dispersed throughout the region, are a testimony to the deep and ancient roots of the Yangtze River culture and a showcase for its creativity and appeal. They form an important foundation for its preservation. With protecting and carrying forward this legacy as our foremost priority, we must ensure the right balance between protection on the one hand and utilization and development on the other. Protection should always take precedence—development should only proceed on the condition of protection and with protective measures applied throughout the process. This means we must focus on developing our protection system, improving relevant organizations, enhancing mechanisms, and developing solid legal safeguards, so as to keep raising the level of protection for the Yangtze River’s historical and cultural heritage. 

Telling the stories of the Yangtze River and passing on the Yangtze River culture

When passing on our historical and cultural heritage, we must carry forward both the heritage itself and the Chinese wisdom and spirit it embodies. To disseminate the Yangtze River culture, we must use stories as a means to reveal its essence and enhance our capacity for presentation and communication. We should strengthen research into the Yangtze River culture’s origins and development context and fully explore the multifaceted value of related artifacts and heritage. With a focus on harnessing advanced socialist culture, revolutionary culture, and the best of traditional Chinese culture, we should do more to showcase the Chinese culture, spirit, and style that underlie the Yangtze River culture. We should also work to foster a positive social atmosphere for carrying forward Chinese civilization, striving to strengthen awareness of the Yangtze River culture in order to help people, especially the youth, better understand and identify with our nation and culture. 

Integrating the Yangtze River culture with modern daily life

To fully protect and utilize our historical and cultural heritage, we must make sure that it plays a larger role in people’s everyday lives, and has its influence felt in the way how they dress, eat, live, and travel. To harness the edifying role of arts and literature, we should produce more outstanding works of literature and art related to the Yangtze River culture and showcase the beauty of China’s history, lands, and culture. We should enhance public cultural services in the Yangtze River Basin. This will see us improving supply, developing new mechanisms, and raising efficiency with a view to embedding the Yangtze River culture into our public cultural products and services. We should upgrade the culture and tourism industries in the Yangtze River Basin, advance the development of the Yangtze River International Golden Tourism Belt, and promote stronger integration between the culture and tourism sectors. Efforts should be made to strengthen international exchanges and communication on the Yangtze River culture and to enhance its global reach. Finally, we should leverage the guiding role of the Yangtze River culture by making it an integral part of regional urban and rural development. In this way, we can facilitate coordinated development between the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the river and propel the overall social and economic development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Fu Caiwu is Director of the Theory and Policy Research Committee of the Yangtze River Culture Promotion Association and Dean of the National Institute of Cultural Development at Wuhan University.

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 22, 2024)