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Nanjing has a prominent place in Chinese culture and history as having been a capital city for ten times throughout the history. The city of Nanjing is a fine history textbook. If one pores over this city, one will evoke the history of China itself. Every historic site in Nanjing is saturated with the character of human affairs. Whichever ruins one might visit, they are all part of a deep historical dialogue. In terms of scenery, Nanjing has mountains and rivers, enough to match any city. But the city's strength is in its history, and its unique culture. This book is a collection of prose about the unique history, culture and atmosphere of the city as well as the temperament and customs of its people, by the renowned Nanjing-born writer, YE Zhaoyan.
Nanjng in the eyes of Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), the Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions:
"THIS METROPLITAN CITY is called Nankin…In the judgement of the Chinese this city surpasses all other cities in the world in beauty and in grandeur… It is literally filled with palaces and temples and towers and bridges, and these are scarcely surpassed by similar structures in Europe… There is a gaiety of spirit among the people, who are well mannered and nicely spoken…in the whole kingdom of China and in all bordering countries, Nankin is rated as the first city.
This city was once the capital of the entire realm and the ancient abode of kings through many centuries, and though the kind changed his residence to Pekin, in the north, … Nankin lost none of it splendor or of its reputation…" - Ricci, Matteo, Nicolas Trigault, and Louis J. Gallagher. 1953. China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matthew Ricci, 1583-1610. New York: Random House. pp. 268-270.
"An elegant city with the European and American planning models adopted at the macro level, and the traditional Chinese style at the micro level – the most beautiful, clean and well-planned modern city in twentieth-century China." - YE Zhaoyan: remarks on the modern Nanjing city
Nanjng in the eyes of Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), the Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions:
"THIS METROPLITAN CITY is called Nankin…In the judgement of the Chinese this city surpasses all other cities in the world in beauty and in grandeur… It is literally filled with palaces and temples and towers and bridges, and these are scarcely surpassed by similar structures in Europe… There is a gaiety of spirit among the people, who are well mannered and nicely spoken…in the whole kingdom of China and in all bordering countries, Nankin is rated as the first city.
This city was once the capital of the entire realm and the ancient abode of kings through many centuries, and though the kind changed his residence to Pekin, in the north, … Nankin lost none of it splendor or of its reputation…" - Ricci, Matteo, Nicolas Trigault, and Louis J. Gallagher. 1953. China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matthew Ricci, 1583-1610. New York: Random House. pp. 268-270.
"An elegant city with the European and American planning models adopted at the macro level, and the traditional Chinese style at the micro level – the most beautiful, clean and well-planned modern city in twentieth-century China." - YE Zhaoyan: remarks on the modern Nanjing city
Table of Contents
The Nostalgia Complex
The History of Nanjing
The Regal Aura of the Golden Hill
The Sound of a Vanquished Nation
Opportunities for the City
A Strategic Town in the Southeast
A Picture of Migration
The Figures of the Six Dynasties and Nanjing Radishes
South Nanjing
North Nanjing
Eating in Nanjing
Drinking in Nanjing (Part 1)
Drinking in Nanjing (Part 2)
Leisure in Nanjing
The Seasons of Nanjing
Nanjingers
The Outsiders of Nanjing
Nanjing's Authors
The Salaried Classes of Nanjing
The Men of Nanjing
The Women of Nanjing (Part 1)
The Women of Nanjing (Part 2)
Nanjing, 100 Years Ago
Nanjing, History, and Culture
On the Qinhuai River
Tianxia Wenshu ("The Literary Center of All-Under-Heaven")
Excursions on Donkeyback
The Streets that Lu Xun Walked
Zhu Xie
Remembering Tiger Bridge Prison
The Ballad of Nanjin
Remembering the Dead
Old Buildings Lost
The Season for Love Songs
Remembering the Willow
Seeing the Willow Through the Mists
The 480 Temples of the Southern Dynasties
Autumn Cool and Summer Heat
Cycling in Nanjing
A Gathering at Anleyuan
Nanjing in Culture
A City's Character and its Authors
Drinking Tea at the Vanguard Bookstore
Repairing the City Walls
Inscriptions on the Bricks of the City Wall
The Ineffable Xuanwu Lake
Nanjing, Nanjing
Nanjing in the Xinhai Revolution