What is Kanto culture?

At present, the Kanto culture mentioned by academic circles generally refers to the regional culture formed in Northeast China since Ming and Qing Dynasties. The geographical concept of "Kanto", especially the "Kanto" in Northeast China, originated after the completion of Shanhaiguan in the early Ming Dynasty. For most of the Ming Dynasty, the northeast region, which was called "Shanhaiguan East" by the Ming people, was in a relatively stable state in which Han, Nuzhen and Mongolia were dominant. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, due to the rise of Nurhachi, the formation of the Manchu Dynasty and the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, the Ming people began to use the word "Kanto" specifically to refer to the Northeast. After the Qing dynasty entered the customs, from Shunzhi to the end of the Qing dynasty, Guandong was used to refer to the northeast. Since the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, with a large number of immigrants from the Central Plains and even the north and south of the Yangtze River entering the Northeast, the name "Kanto" has been more deeply injected into the folk consciousness and has become people's idiom. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the word "Kanto" has gradually withdrawn from the historical stage with a unified administrative system. Accordingly, we should pay attention to two points when studying Kanto culture: First, the appearance and use of the word "Kanto", which refers to the northeast, has lasted for a period of time since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, lasting about 600 years, especially in the late Ming Dynasty and after the Qing Dynasty. Second, its development is based on the Han nationality, which accords with the migration tide of a large number of Han immigrants to the northeast. The word "de-orientalization" widely used by the people is the condensation and generalization of this historical trend. The core of culture is people. Judging from the population evolution trend in Northeast China since Ming and Qing Dynasties, the stable population of Kanto culture should be a compound group with the Han nationality migrated from Guanzhong provinces as the main body, including Manchu, Mongolian, Korean, Daur, Oroqen, Hezhe and other ethnic minorities. The formation of this group began in the Ming Dynasty and began in the middle and late Qing Dynasty. Since the late Qing dynasty, due to the expansion and aggression of imperialism, it has joined the races of Russia and Japan. With the evolution of history, a considerable part has been integrated into the population of Kanto culture. Therefore, we can summarize the development of Kanto culture as follows: the historical development of Northeast China and the struggle and migration between ethnic groups from ancient times to Ming Dynasty are profound historical origins of Kanto culture; From the establishment and construction of Shanhaiguan in Ming Dynasty to the rise and entry of Manchu Dynasty, it was the gestation period of Kanto culture, which centered on the dispute between Han, Jurchen and Mongolia and ended with the rise of Manchu Dynasty, the unification of Northeast China and the entry into the Central Plains. From the time when the Qing court recruited people to reclaim land in the northeast to the implementation of the policy of land closure, with a large number of immigrants from Guanzhong and Shandong provinces breaking through the policy of land closure and entering the northeast, the rulers of the Qing court were forced to lift the policy of land closure. From the time when the Qing court entered the customs to the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century, the Kanto culture took shape. From the beginning of the 20th century to the liberation of Northeast China, it was a period of multiple collision and tortuous development of Kanto culture. It took the treaty of shimonoseki and the Sino-Russian Secret Treaty as an opportunity, and with the development of modern cities in Northeast China by the vast number of Han people, Japanese and Russian imperialism extended its claws of aggression to the Northeast. In the long-term aggression and anti-aggression struggle and the conspiracy against Japanese imperialism to annex all of China, Kanto culture has stood the test of blood and fire, and not only melted into it. The Kanto culture formed in the above historical process is different from other regional cultures in China. First, in terms of material culture, its production structure changed from the coexistence of agriculture, fishing, hunting, gathering and tourism in the Ming and Qing Dynasties to agriculture as the mainstay, supplemented by others. After the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, with the large number of Han people going abroad, agricultural production was further formed as the economic foundation of the whole society. With the development of agricultural production, land development and industry and commerce, a number of modern towns have emerged in kanto region. With the promotion of industry by local authorities in Northeast China in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, as well as the invasion of imperialism and the plundering of China's resources in modern times, the capitalist productivity system was formed and developed in kanto region, making Kanto one of the regions with the strongest industrial strength in China. In the long-term baptism and many collisions between blood and fire, kanto region has not only China classical architecture and Manchu architecture, but also left a number of Russian and Japanese buildings. These Russian-style and Japanese-style buildings are built in major cities in northeast China. After the test of the war and the Cultural Revolution, many of them have been preserved to this day, which has become an important feature that distinguishes Kanto culture from the Central Plains and mainland cultures. Secondly, in terms of institutional culture, Kanto culture, as a regional culture formed since Ming and Qing Dynasties, does not have its own independent institutional culture. It has always been under the control of the central political system, and the various systems implemented by the central government in the northeast have played an important role in restricting the formation of Kanto culture. The jurisdiction of the Ming and Qing Dynasties over the Northeast was effective under the historical conditions at that time, but the ineffective policy and system construction of the Qing Dynasty to the Northeast restricted the formation and development of the Kanto culture, which led to the serious consequences of losing power in modern times. During this period, the change of the central political system played an important role in the formation of Kanto culture, which was embodied in the following aspects: the implementation of the lifting of the ban and the immigration policy; The implementation of the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty and the reform of the administrative system in the three northeastern provinces: the establishment of prefectures and counties is becoming more and more perfect. In particular, the addition of a large number of counties and counties has made kanto region and the Central Plains more closely linked and become an inseparable part of China. At the same time, the perfection of county setting has further promoted the land reclamation, population growth and the rise of towns and villages in Kanto. Thirdly, in terms of spiritual culture and behavioral culture, Kanto culture is different from other cultures in the Central Plains and Shanhaiguan, which is manifested as follows: Kanto people are generous, broad-minded, simple and generous, but rarely exclusive, which comes from the influence of Confucianism brought by Han immigrants; Multiple collisions, compatible and inclusive. This feature is manifested in religious belief, which is based on Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and Islam, Shamanism, Christianity, Orthodox Church and Catholicism coexist. It shows that government-run schools, private schools, academies and colonial schools coexist in Russia and Japan, and foreign words are absorbed in language and culture. Kanto culture is an important part of China's multi-cultural integration pattern. It is of great academic value and practical significance to study Kanto culture in depth. Kanto culture is the edge of Confucian cultural circle, and it is also the edge of Russian culture and Japanese culture expansion, so many cultures exchange and collide here. Due to excessive belief in the Treaty of Nebuchadnezzar Chu, the Qing court relaxed its development and construction in the Northeast, and the implementation of its closed policy led to a series of strategic mistakes of the Qing court in the Northeast, leading to empty borders and even serious consequences of losing land and power. With the lifting of the ban and the implementation of immigration in the late Qing Dynasty, the Kanto culture quickly formed and shaped, which not only accelerated the development and economic development of Northeast China, but also curbed the aggressive ambitions of Russia and Japan, and finally maintained the integrity of the remaining territories. At the same time, due to the collision of multi-cultures, there is such a pattern of cultural overlap and division: the vast Han nationality and China ethnic minorities are all over the land of Kanto; After the expansion and competition between Russia and Japan formed a balance of power, it led to the division of South Manchuria and North Manchuria, and the collision and overlap of three cultures appeared. With Japan's annexation of the whole Northeast, Chinese and Japanese cultures have collided and overlapped. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan, Japan was defeated and surrendered, and Sino-Soviet (Russian) cultures collided and overlapped, and it didn't end until the breakup of China and the Soviet Union in the 1960s. This is the unique feature of the multiple collision casting of Kanto culture, which is not possessed by any regional culture in China. Kanto culture is an inseparable part of China culture as a whole, but it is on the edge of China culture, which will inevitably lead to the weakening of China culture and thus produce its own characteristics. On the other hand, from the perspective of Northeast Asia as a whole, Kanto culture is at the core, where various cultures of Mongolia, Russia, Japan and North Korea converge and blend, and China culture also spreads to neighboring countries from here. Therefore, it is of great significance for us to strengthen the study of Kanto culture today, recognize its unique location characteristics, and strengthen cooperation and exchanges between Kanto culture and Northeast Asian countries.