The Connotation of Minnan Culture

Minnan culture, with its unique geographical position, connects the Central Plains and Wu Chu, followed by Taiwan Province Province and Southeast Asia, with a wide coverage and influence. The hard living environment of Minnan people has created the essence of Minnan culture: the spirit of "dare to fight and love to win". The formation, sublimation and further development of this cultural essence has its objective inevitability, which is also a major feature that distinguishes Minnan culture from Central Plains culture and other Fujian cultures.

First of all, Minnan culture belongs to immigrant culture. The core area of southern Fujian is mainly in Quanzhou Plain in the lower reaches of Jinjiang and Zhangzhou Plain in the lower reaches of Jiulong River. Later, with the accelerated flow of Han people in the north and the continuous expansion to the south, it promoted and accelerated the development and development of southern Fujian. In order to adapt to the difficult environment of wandering and trekking, the Central Plains culture took root and grew up in southern Fujian after experiencing fierce collision, social changes and self-sublation, but its integrity was challenged, which made some differences with the local culture of the Central Plains, thus deeply branding it as an immigrant culture.

Secondly, Minnan culture has strong compatibility and openness. On the one hand, in the process of continuous migration and gathering of Han people to the south, there is a blend between Han people who moved in from different origins and different historical stages, and between Han people and local ethnic minorities in southern Fujian. On the other hand, during the Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties, Quanzhou Port's external traffic entered an unprecedented period of prosperity and became an oriental trading port with "international merchants on the rise". It attracts people from many countries in Asia, Africa and even Europe to trade and engage in cultural exchange activities. They not only settled in Quanzhou for business, but also spread Islam and its culture. It can be seen that in the process of multi-ethnic cultural integration and development, this multi-cultural combination is very inclusive and open to the outside world.

The appearance of Minnan culture is deeply influenced by foreign culture and immigrant culture. This has formed the humanistic spirit of Minnan people who dare to take risks, break rules and regulations, make progress and actively explore. This enterprising spirit of Minnan people was fully exerted in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. But under the strong suppression of the feudal government, they also paid a heavy price for it. Southern Fujian has barren land, dense population and many hills and mountains, especially in coastal plain areas. Owning land and farming are no longer enough to support the family. This natural environment, coupled with the influence of immigrant culture, prompted a large number of Minnan people to move overseas and Taiwan Province Province with their wives and children, thus realizing "borrowing the sea for the city". It can be said that Minnan culture is not only a reasonable extension of China culture, but also the result of accepting foreign culture and marine culture. So Minnan people pay more attention to the pursuit and development of wealth. This spirit of mercantilism, paying attention to the continuous improvement of living conditions and being pragmatic and enterprising has played an important role in the business philosophy and enterprise development of overseas Minnan people. (Yan Zheng, Dean of Fujian Academy of Social Sciences, Li Hongjie, Director of Overseas Chinese Research Institute of Fujian Academy of Social Sciences)