There is no standard pronunciation for eating in Cantonese.

Author: fenkyo reply date: June 28, 2005 at 2: 26: 10

Author: Ye Shuming (Ye Shuming)

Why does Lao Guang cling to his dialect?

After the Central Plains people settled in Lingnan, the culture they brought penetrated into every corner of society like mercury. Gubaiyue, an indigenous language in a weak position, was quickly driven into deep forests and cliff canyons. Hakkas have a proverb: "It is better to sell one's ancestral fields than to lose one's ancestral words". The language of ancestors is that when they are far away from their homeland and have to struggle to survive in the "ruined land", they still hold the mentality that the temples and palaces have not changed and the urban community still exists, and stick to the spiritual pillar of a strong sense of cultural superiority and become an important link to maintain a group from generation to generation.

If you think you are from Guangdong, you were born in Guangdong and grew up eating Cantonese food and drinking Cantonese water. When you fill in your resume from childhood, you will fill in your native place in Guangdong. But one day, someone suddenly asked you, "What evidence do you have to prove that you are from Guangdong?" What's the answer you blurted out? Because I was born in Guangdong? Because my parents are from Guangdong? Or is it because my hukou is in Guangdong?

The Department of Anthropology of Sun Yat-sen University made a survey among Guangfu, Chaoshan and Hakka ethnic groups. Why do Cantonese people identify themselves as Cantonese? Results More than half of the interviewees were mainly dialect, followed by blood relationship, and the third was geographical relationship. In other words, people find their hometown from the vast sea of people according to their local accents. Even if you live in Meizhou, but you can't speak Hakka, you are not a Hakka; Even if your household registration is Chaozhou, you can't speak Chaozhou dialect, and no one will think you are chaozhou people when you walk in the street. In the eyes of Cantonese, the status of dialect is so high. The function of dialect is not only a simple tool for information transmission, but also an important tool for emotional communication.

In the past, northerners always called Cantonese "birdsong and birdsong". When the Qing emperor summoned the local officials in Guangdong, he used their "I chop, chop" to fight. In a rage, he ordered Fujian and Guangdong to set up the Andrew Mongolian Museum and Yin Zheng Academy, with the flag bearer of the garrison serving as the teacher of Andrew, to fully promote the popularization of Putonghua. It's a pity that the flag-bearer of the garrison is lazy and has been popularized for a long time when he meets a dialect like Guangdong. The Cantonese tongue didn't roll up, but Andrew College was abandoned and closed a lot.

Beyond the five mountains, it is still a piece of birds and flowers.

Today, the slogan "Popularize Putonghua and March towards Modernization" is resounding. Dialect seems to be an obstacle to modernization. In fact, EU 15 countries have unified their currencies and economic policies, but there is no unified language. Can't it be modernized? Before the reunification, Hong Kong people did not promote Putonghua, but everyone spoke Cantonese, which did not prevent her from becoming a modern international metropolis. Actually, Cantonese and modernization are not contradictory. In the final analysis, Putonghua is only a tool for communication, and it does not need to be upgraded to the height of moral quality, even linked to the future of the country and the rise and fall of the nation.

Cantonese people are very practical. As long as they really need to speak Mandarin in their lives, they will naturally learn and speak Mandarin without the need for administrative measures by the government. As long as it helps him "eat", don't speak Mandarin, he is willing to learn African dialects. Learning Mandarin is just like learning English. Mastering one more communication tool will definitely hurt you, but you can't trample on your mother tongue to encourage learning Mandarin. Cantonese people do not refuse to learn Putonghua, and spare no effort to promote it. Compared with before the reform and opening up, the level of "boiled wax gourd" is far from that before, and the young and middle-aged generation can basically listen and speak. As long as we respect the facts, we will not deny this great progress.

Nowadays, northerners go shopping in shops in Guangzhou, and most salespeople will take the initiative to speak Mandarin with him. Civil servants can also speak mandarin; Most schools in this city teach in Mandarin. According to the survey, Putonghua in banks, post offices, parks, shops, taxis and other industries has passed the standard. Isn't that enough? Do Cantonese people have to speak Mandarin at home? Does Cantonese Opera have to be sung in Mandarin?

Among the seven dialects in China, Guangzhou dialect is the most antique, with a large number of original ancient Chinese words and usages, such as "enterprise" (station), "food" (eating), "line" (neck), canal (harmony, society), "face" (night) and so on. The vernacular has been used in this way for a long time, but Cantonese dialect is still popular and has become a daily spoken language in the street. Even exclamations like "eh" and "eh" in ancient Chinese are often blurted out by children in Guangzhou-"eh, are you afraid?" (The vernacular word "eh" is pronounced as "car", which implies negation, and "what to be afraid of" means "what to be afraid of". ) "Hey, it's so sour!" (People usually get it wrong) Ho ho "is for" Ho ho ",but in Cantonese, these two words are different." Disgusting means ugly. ) It's amazing.

There are many people in the Central Plains of Guangdong, and the aftertaste of ancient style still exists, although it is still in ruins. In Taishan people's home, the daughter-in-law calls her in-laws "An Ren". An Ren, since the Song Dynasty, has been the title of Mrs. Liu. Besides Mount Tai, it is said that in Huadu and Conghua, some people call their wives Ann. Sounds a bit like an official family. Perhaps, this is the legacy of "the ancestors also had scenery".

Some people think that Cantonese was formed in the Jin Dynasty, and the so-called "northerners avoid Hu mostly in the south, and southerners can speak Jin dialect so far". The "Eight Kings Rebellion" occurred in the Western Jin Dynasty, followed by the "Five Rebellions", which was the climax of a northerner's southward migration. So it is not surprising that Cantonese people can "speak in Jin dialect" so far. However, Chen Feng, a famous scholar in Guangdong in Qing Dynasty, thought that Guangzhou accent was the most suitable for Sui and Tang Dynasties, and it was the most convenient to read ancient Chinese. He wrote a book "Guangzhou phonology", which specifically explained the reasons. "Zhongyuan people have lived in Guangzhong for more than a thousand years. Today's Guangyin is the voice of the Central Plains in Sui and Tang Dynasties."

People's "Cantonese" mainly refers to Guangfu dialect, especially refers to the vernacular based on the accent of Xiguan (Shangxiajiu, Shifu) in Guangzhou. If you want to verify that you speak Cantonese correctly, there is a way to recite this ballad: "A Si A Si, a key, a 10,000 yuan, a 20 cents, buy a catty of litchi, don't love black leaves, just love grasshoppers." This ballad takes the rhyme of clothes, and the upper and lower teeth must bite and the tongue can be pronounced upward. If you can pronounce clearly and accurately, you can speak authentic vernacular.

It is said that more than one third of Cantonese vocabulary is dialect. In the daily spoken language of Guangzhou people, the frequency of dialect is as high as 50% to 60%. Perhaps the biggest headache for northerners is the large number of inversion sentences in Guangzhou dialect. Northerners say "you go first" and Guangzhou people say "you go first"; Northerners say "thank you very much" and Guangzhou people say "thank you for the sun"; Northerners say "too full" and Guangzhou people say "too full"; Northerners say "I'll give you a dollar", while Guangzhou people say "I only wrote you a penny"; Northerners say "I can't find you" and Guangzhou people say "I can't find you". And so on, it's really the same road, and people speak in different ways.

In Guangdong cultural circle, people often talk about an anecdote after the Revolution of 1911. At that time, the imperial system was overthrown. In the Congress of the Republic of China, * * * and Zhao Chu called for Cantonese to be the "national language" of China, and more than half of the votes supported it. However, Dr. Sun Yat-sen persuaded one Cantonese legislator to give up Cantonese and switch to Beijing dialect. Finally, with Sun Yat-sen's popularity, Cantonese lost to Beijing dialect by only three votes.

Speculating on Sun Yat-sen's intentions, North and South were still antagonistic at that time. Since Beijing dialect has been used as an official language for more than 200 years in the Qing Dynasty, it can avoid complications and reduce obstacles to the reunification of the North and the South. This just shows the spirit of southerners who are open-minded and make way for their country. The southern accent to the northern accent is formed by natural geography, and it doesn't matter whether it is good or bad. Since I can use your language as the national language, why do I have to condemn my language as "bird language"?

Cantonese people have always insisted that vernacular is the mother tongue of Guangfu people, Fulao dialect is the mother tongue of Chaoshan people, and Hakka dialect is the mother tongue of Hakka people. Dialect is the identity of an ethnic group and a kind of cohesion. Dialect contains rich local cultural connotations, and the disappearance of a dialect will inevitably make the local culture it conveys shrink and barren. As an American linguist said, "If a language disappears from the earth, it means losing a Louvre." Therefore, from a cultural point of view, Putonghua should be popularized, but dialects should not be allowed to die out.

In Guangdong, a big immigrant province, various dialects are complicated, and there are differences in four townships and eight towns, even at the head and end of villages. No dialect can unify the local accents of three states and six governments. Even if people try to classify it linguistically, it often gives people a short and pithy feeling. Guangdong is really a treasure trove of languages.

According to the survey conducted by the Department of Anthropology of Sun Yat-sen University, 82.86% of Guangfu people, 39. 18% of Hakkas and 38. 18% of Chaoshan people think their dialect is better than other dialects. At the same time, 37.06% of Hakkas and 37.27% of Chaoshan people think that Guangfu dialect is superior to other dialects, while Guangfu people have low scores on Chaoshan dialect and Hakka dialect. It can be seen that in Guangdong, vernacular is absolutely dominant.

The tolerance of Cantonese people is also reflected in language. In the past 20 years, a large number of Hong Kong-style Cantonese mixed with Chinese and foreign languages has entered China, which is difficult to achieve after 200 years of deep cultivation of Cantonese in history. Therefore, in addition to the oldest reputation, Guangzhou dialect has also added a most innovative vocabulary. Cooking, eating, fixing, nonsense, shops, T-shirts, taxis, shoeshine, popularity, criminal record, coquetry, grassroots, sandwich class, all go up in smoke.

For more than half a century, Guangdong has also experienced two immigration climaxes. Once, from 1949 to 1952, the People's Liberation Army went south, the Land Reform Army went south, and a large number of northern cadres entered Guangdong in a mighty manner. The other time was after 1980' s, Guangdong's reform and opening up. Inspired by the slogan "East, West, North and South, Guangdong will make a fortune", millions of northerners went to this hot land of Guangdong with entrepreneurial dreams, forming a trend of rushing to the sea. Cantonese was once a language that people were keen to learn, and many places rushed to offer crash courses in Cantonese, attracting enthusiastic journalists. We can't help gaping at the surging crowd on the southbound train from the TV news, sighing that this is a rare sight for a century.

The influence of immigration tide on Guangdong's politics, economy and culture is interactive and complementary. In particular, the second wave of immigration is still rising. Whether we like it or not, the North and South cultures are constantly shuffling, and the development of folk customs has penetrated into every street, every shop, every company, every family, and everyone's daily life, food, clothing, housing, entertainment, job hunting, marriage and so on. This is an indisputable fact.

As a new city like Shenzhen, from 1982 to 1990, 1642500 people moved in from other places, accounting for 96.62% of the local population growth. Mandarin has almost become the main medium of communication here. According to the traditional standards of Guangfu, Chaoshan and Hakka, it is far-fetched.

Some people think that the influx of a large number of migrants shows the necessity of promoting Putonghua. However, I think it is the influx of migrants that shows the urgency of protecting Cantonese. I read in the newspaper that a CPPCC member in Hangzhou shouted in the proposal of "Protecting Hangzhou Dialect and Preventing the Lack of Connotation in Historical and Cultural Cities" submitted to the CPPCC meeting: "When you came to Sichuan Teahouse, you found that people who put on a dragon gate array could not speak Sichuan dialect; When you are on foreign TV programs, you can no longer hear Minnan dialect; When you come to a tribe in Africa, will you be disappointed when you find that all the aborigines speak fluent English? When all cities speak the same language, the unique attraction of each city is weakened. Therefore, I call for the protection of Hangzhou dialect. "

I can't help applauding this member. At any time, someone in Guangdong can stand up and bravely shout for the protection of Cantonese. I will definitely cheer for him.

Rejected, but also bear the stigma of being rejected.

Cantonese people are xenophobic.

This is a long-standing and deep-rooted misunderstanding of Cantonese by northerners. As a result, many people who have never set foot in Guangdong at all, don't even understand a word of Cantonese, and don't listen to a word of Cantonese, also shout like a dwarf watching a play: "Cantonese is exclusive! Cantonese people are exclusive! " In desperation, people suddenly understand why the story of Zeng Shen's murder and three-man city tiger has been circulated in China for thousands of years, and sometimes the lethality of spreading false information is really amazing.

Whether Cantonese people are xenophobic or not, we might as well go to the Nanhai Temple in Guangzhou. According to legend, during the Tang Dynasty, a group of tribute envoys came here from India and landed at the Nanhai Temple. One of them, an envoy named Daxisikong, planted a Poirot tree on both sides of the temple. Later, the great west sikong missed the opportunity because he coveted the sunrise scenery. All his companions left, but he was alone in a foreign land and soon died of depression. His experience deeply touched the local villagers, so he was named one of the six princes of the South China Sea. Since then, Nanhai Temple has also been called "Polo Temple".

It's a symbolic thing that Xisikong can become the god of China people and be offered incense, which reminds me of Kael of Hualin Temple. Poirot, isn't he one of the five hundred arhats? And Han Yu, who was banished to Guangdong in the Tang Dynasty. Although he stayed in Chaozhou for less than a year, the local people not only built the Han Wengong Temple to commemorate him, but also renamed Chaozhou's landscape as "Hanjiang", "Hanshan" and "Han Mu", and the degree of worship was higher than that of Confucius, and even surpassed that of Buddha. Haifeng's Fangmi Pavilion is to commemorate Wen Tianxiang; Humen also has museums and monuments to commemorate Lin Zexu. None of them are from Guangdong.

The name Ren is familiar to Cantonese. He is a native of Hebei. He served as the first secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee in the 1980 s, and Guangdong's reform and opening up was officially launched during his term of office. Cantonese people have always been obsessed with him. Many years later, when talking about whether Cantonese people are xenophobic, Ren said: "For the vast majority of people, it cannot be said that Cantonese people have xenophobic ideas, let alone' localism' in a general sense. For example, in Hainan Island, which used to belong to Guangdong, there is a martial arts temple. None of the martial arts in the martial arts temple is Cantonese, but a temple built by local people for martial arts. " According to his own personal experience, he said, "I don't think Cantonese crowds me out."

There are countless such examples, which prove that Cantonese people are not exclusive. Anyone who has made meritorious deeds to society can naturally be respected by people, whether he is a northerner or a westerner.

If we look at history without prejudice, who is the most discriminated against and excluded from Guangdong or northerners? If Cantonese people do have xenophobic behavior, is it because of arrogance or because they rebound after being oppressed? Cantonese people call her "Na Man", who has been demonized in all dynasties, and there are thousands of records in history books. Even in modern times, under the revolutionary storm, many outdated old ideas have been peeled off or swept away, but the misunderstandings suffered by Cantonese people for more than 2,000 years have not changed much. Ren's "localism" is a painful example.

A revolutionary old man recalled the past to me. 1949, the people's liberation army crossed the river south and was about to hit Guangzhou. At that time, as the main force of the Guangdong-Guangxi campaign, most of them were Northeast fighters, and this old man was one of them. He told me frankly that at that time, they did have an idea that Cantonese were small vendors and small land lessors "to be liberated". On the way south, there are all kinds of rumors about Cantonese xenophobia. Some people say that there are many leprosy patients in Guangdong. Once infected, it cannot be cured and dies of mildew "; Some people say that "the weather in Guangdong is hot, pancakes don't need to be baked with fire, and they will be cooked in the sun"; It is also said that "northerners can't speak the language of Guangdong, so it is difficult to do the work". Rumors spread everywhere, and the tiger turned pale. Some people simply ask to turn around in Ganzhou and go back to the north.

In order to let the northeast soldiers know more about Cantonese, China Zhongnan Branch held an enlarged meeting in Ganzhou. Ye Jianying, the first secretary of South China Branch, and Fang Fang, the third secretary, both made reports at the meeting, explaining the history and customs of Cantonese people in detail. What they said at that time is still very pertinent and objective today. Fangfang is from Puning, Guangdong. He said at the meeting:

"With regard to people's feelings and folkways, Cantonese people are known for their tenacity and belligerence. A popular Cantonese saying is' Don't be a loser', that is, don't be ashamed of being behind others. Therefore, Cantonese people have a sense of stupidity. There are frequent fights in Guangdong. Between towns and villages, or between surnames, the dispute over feng shui and water conservancy often lasts for several years and even becomes a feud. "

"Guangdong people are generally generous, enthusiastic, like to make friends, adventurous, and dare to fight. For example, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, many overseas Chinese crossed the ocean in wooden boats, which was the spiritual expression of doing their best. Therefore, Cantonese people generally do things boldly and bravely, and take an active part in the revolution. However, residents in some cities in Guangdong have long been adversely affected and arrogant. They think they are civilized early, knowledgeable and smart. They not only look down on mainlanders, but also look down on mountain counties and rural people. "

In order to dispel the misunderstanding of northerners, Fang Fang also explained the clothes, manners and eating habits of Cantonese one by one. "Cantonese people are delicious, which is also a feature of Cantonese people. Cantonese people are famous for their exquisite food. Dress casually. There are all kinds of snacks in Guangzhou, such as snakes, mice, dogs, cats, sparrows, insects ... Many things that others dare not eat or have never seen, and people here dare to eat, and mainlanders will be surprised. "

In terms of customs, "Guangdong does not pay attention to etiquette because of its early contact with foreign countries. Especially under the influence of years of war, feudal etiquette has been greatly destroyed. For example, women in Chaoshan used to like powder, but later they lived a hard life in the war. If they want to go out to make a living, they will no longer pay attention to powder every day. "

Even their bathing methods have been explained in detail by Fangfang. "People generally like cleaning and taking a bath every day, which is different from northerners. Guangdong people only use a basin or a bucket for bathing, because they often take a full-body shower. Because northerners don't wash it often, it takes an hour or two to wash it, which is different from Cantonese. " In many ways, the living customs, social atmosphere and cultural traditions of the north and the south are indeed very different.

At a meeting of senior cadres, it is probably rare to vividly introduce a local person's habit of dusting and bathing in the history of China. Fang Fang said that it was nothing more than telling the northern cadres present: "Some people think that Cantonese people have a special xenophobic tendency, but I don't think that's true. From the Great Revolution to the present, leading cadres and many working comrades in Guangdong are foreign cadres ... They have all led well and their leaders have not met any opposition. Therefore, the unity of foreign cadres and local cadres is only a common problem in the country. "

My hometown is Ye Jianying in Meizhou, Guangdong, and I tell you as a Hakka. In fact, 500 years ago, Cantonese and Zhongyuan people were a family. "Now many people who have settled in Guangdong are not Guangdong natives, but Han Chinese who have migrated from the Central Plains. According to general historical records, during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Han people were forced to move southward and gradually pushed to the coast, and there was nowhere to retreat, so they settled in Guangdong. The Han people who moved south gradually strengthened their internal unity and organization in the double struggle with foreigners and local aborigines. This is why most Cantonese people live together, and the unity of feudal surnames is relatively strong. "

Everything Ye Jianying and Fangfang said was true, but they failed to bridge the gap between the North and the South, and failed to prevent the tragedy from happening. Now many elderly people over 70 in Guangdong are still crying when they talk about the two large-scale "anti-localism" movements in the 1950 s.

At that time, Ye Jianying and Fangfang led the land reform in Guangdong. As the world is settled, they adopted a more moderate policy according to the actual situation in Guangdong, but the result was denounced as "peaceful land reform". The central government believes that the root of this problem lies in the "localism" and "feudal clan concept" of Guangdong people. Therefore, in 1952 and 1957, two anti-localism movements, like the palm of a child prodigy, hit Guangdong people.

In order to uproot the "localism forces" in Guangdong, a large number of northern cadres were transferred to Guangdong to mix sand, covering all parts of Guangdong from the mountainous area of northern Guangdong to the plain of eastern Guangdong. Most of the district party committee secretaries and district heads in Guangzhou are southerners. Local cadres have been criticized, beaten, removed and removed. After large-scale adjustment, 80% of the main leaders at or above the county level in the province are northerners. The main leaders of most prefectural committees have been replaced by cadres from the south and the army, and the main leaders of the party committees in the two districts are cadres from the south and the army. Guangdong cadres who used to be full-time officials were demoted to northerners.

For the first time against localism, more than 7,000 Guangdong cadres were punished.

During the second anti-localism movement, there were nearly 90 cadres at the bureau level to the deputy provincial level in Guangdong, and more than 10000 cadres at the county level.

Ye Jianying was implicated in the first anti-localism and was transferred from Guangdong. Before leaving, he said a very sad sentence: "The commander-in-chief is incompetent and involves the three armed forces." Ye Shuai was saddened by his inability to protect Guangdong cadres from innocent harm. I don't know how many Cantonese people burst into tears because of his words. Gu Dacun, Feng Baiju, secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, who was labeled as an "anti-party alliance" and severely punished in the anti-localism movement, and Fang Fang, who was labeled as "right-leaning, bureaucratic and decentralized", were rehabilitated at 1983 and 1994 respectively.

Originally, Guangdong people suffered such a deep and painful injury, and it is reasonable to be a little resentful. But Cantonese people didn't do this. Let's take a look at whether the door to Guangdong's north is more open or closed since the reform and opening up.

According to statistics in 2004, the registered population of Guangdong Province is 70 million, and the floating population is more than 28 million. In other words, almost 30% of the total population is from other provinces. Don't forget that quite a few people with Guangdong household registration are from other provinces. From 1994 to 2004, the floating population who lived in Guangdong for more than half a year increased at a rate of more than1000000 per year, and in 2003 it set a new record, reaching more than 3.2 million. Guangdong floating population 1/3. On this basis, it cannot be said that Cantonese people are xenophobic and have no conscience. If you are the exclusive host, will your family be a guest every day?

Unfortunately, the facts can't touch some people's conscience at all, and they can't change their prejudice at all. In short, Cantonese people are xenophobic, and I won't change my mind if you kill me. Guangdong people call northerners "fishing pines". Is this discrimination? As we all know, the word "fishing pine" was not invented by Cantonese, but by northerners themselves. In the past, northerners liked to call each other "buddy" when they met, but Cantonese people would call them "buddy" when they heard more, and their pronunciation was inaccurate, which became "fishing pine". This is the same as Cantonese calling chaozhou people "Leng", Japanese "Shelf Guy" and Westerners "Ghost Guy". Although it contains banter, it is too much to make a mountain out of a molehill to elevate it to the category of geographical discrimination.

Xiajiang people in Sichuan, Guanli people in the northeast and Laoguang people in the north are not discriminated against, and Cantonese people call them "Old Song" (dude). I'm afraid that doesn't make sense? Now, even the words "outsiders" and "migrant workers" seem to contain discriminatory elements. If a Cantonese says "you foreigners …", you are likely to be accused of discriminating against mainlanders.

There is another phenomenon on the streets of Guangzhou, which often makes mainlanders very angry. That is, when they ask Guangzhou people for directions, when they hear his accent from other provinces, they often immediately duck and refuse to take a reason. Encountering this kind of thing is simply humiliating in the street, and everyone will feel embarrassed and angry. However, Guangzhou people are not naturally indifferent, but they have encountered too many such examples: a mainlander came forward to ask for directions, and after asking, he said, "Please don't get me wrong, I am a student of a university in the north and came to Guangzhou for an internship. I got separated from my teacher and my wallet was stolen. Can you call me with your mobile phone to contact the school? " If you really lent him your mobile phone in a muddle, then nine times out of ten, the meat buns hit the dog and never looked back.

There are so many such street swindlers that people in Guangzhou are wary of asking for directions with a provincial accent. This is a lesson that I was cheated countless times and paid countless tuition fees to buy it back. Can you blame them?

A friend who is on a business trip in Shanghai told me that there is a newsstand in Shanghai, which reads "Ask for directions and buy newspapers first". In rural areas of Henan and Anhui, some villagers put a few stones on the highway and dare to collect road maintenance fees for a living. They also make sense because the road runs through the fields in their village. The world is big, and there is no wonder. But what is certain is that it is definitely a minority. If we get something like "How about Shanghainese ... How about Henan ... How about Anhui", it will really insult the wisdom of the world.

Today, when you go to high-end office buildings such as Tianhe North Road and Huanshi East Road in Guangzhou, you will find that pink collars, white-collar workers, gray collars and gold collars in and out of skyscrapers are in droves, but the locals are eclipsed; Northerners engaged in insurance, catering, service, advertising and media industries are like crucian carp crossing the river. From the new owners of noble residential areas such as Qifu New Village, Country Garden and Agile to the renters in shipai village, Xiancun, Yangji Village and Sanyuanli Village, northerners account for half of the country. I can't speak Cantonese, and I'm not familiar with the roads in Guangzhou. I actually drive a taxi in Guangzhou openly. Is there a second city in China that can do this? If this is still exclusive, I really don't know how to call it non-exclusive.

I met several young Hunan teachers in Haifeng County. Haifeng is not a prosperous city. Located in Jiuping Lotus Mountain range, the living and working conditions are relatively simple. I asked them, why not go to Shantou or Guangzhou to find a job? They replied with a smile, the people here are very kind to them, and they have feelings for Haifeng and don't want to leave.

When I say this, I will definitely be questioned by some people. Are Cantonese people that noble? There is no discrimination against mainlanders at all? No xenophobia at all? Of course not. Kiss or not, fellow villager. This is the commonness of China people. Some people cite the exploitation of foreign workers in Guangdong and the Sun Zhigang incident. These are all facts, but we must not generalize. I think the unfair treatment of workers and the Sun Zhigang incident are all problems in China, not just in Guangdong. This is a question of reflecting national capacity, a question of legal system, and not just a question of exclusion. Saying that the problem of exclusion really reduces its meaning!

Historically, Cantonese people themselves came from all corners of the country, and inclusiveness is one of her cultural characteristics. Although, in many places in the south of the Yangtze River in the Qing Dynasty, there was a fierce "struggle between locals and tourists", and Guangdong was no exception. The reasons are, on the one hand, different languages and customs, on the other hand, competing for land and causing conflicts. Both sides have paid a very heavy price, but from a historical perspective, this conflict is not a process of local cultural integration. The head-on collision of different cultural systems, in order to achieve integration and coexistence, always have to go through the baptism of blood and fire, from the Qin Dynasty to the Opium War.

However, all this, with the passing of the farming era, has long been a historical memory. Today we speak Cantonese, Chaoshan dialect and Chaoshan Hakka dialect, and we live in harmony. No one rejects or discriminates against anyone's dialect. Cantonese people grow up in step with civilization, so we seldom see the ugliness of foreigners in Guangdong's film and television works. Instead, I often see some works that know nothing about Cantonese people, and I am keen to describe Cantonese people as "thin, covered in gold ornaments, selfish, vulgar, low-level, bedroom, and a Pearl River brand mandarin". We haven't heard any Cantonese say that the north is a cultural desert, but the remarks that Guangdong is a cultural desert are endless. People can't help wondering, who is rejecting who?

-Excerpted from "In fact, you don't understand Cantonese" published by Guangdong Education Publishing House.