From anthropology to ethnology, Chinese academics have relied heavily on the "local knowledge" proposed by the American anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1926-2006), "local knowledge: further essays in interpretive anthropology, basic books, 1984；Wang Hailong and Zhang Jiaxuan [trans.], Local Knowledge: A Collection of Interpretive Anthropology, *Compilation Press, 2000;Yang Derui [trans.], Wheat Field Publishing House, Taiwan, 2002), but it is difficult to capture the essence of his so-called "local place". Geertz left his hometown of San Francisco to study and teach at Harvard University, Princeton University, Uchicago, Stanford University, and UC Berkeley. In a place where these elites are gathered, a doctorate degree is nothing, and the title of professor is the hard currency of the academic world, and it has a certain right to speak. To this end, Geertz followed the example of the sage C. Darwinr.Darwin (1809-1882), who left the United States and the city, plunged headlong into the small islands of Bari and Java in Indonesia, where he stayed for several months and went many times to conduct in-depth and detailed fieldwork. The backwardness and ignorance that advanced civilization has long abandoned, and the innocence and simplicity that have long been forgotten in the bustling metropolis are still preserved on the desolate Indonesian island, where Geertz thought about scholarship and life, and successively wrote and published "Ideology as a Cultural System" (1964) and "Religion as a Cultural System: Anthropological Approaches". to the Study of Religion Religion as a Cultural System: An Anthropological Approach to Religion (1966), Common Sense as a Cultural System (1975), and Art as a Cultural System (1976) Basic concepts such as art have made their own interpretations, swept away the dust of the years that have been obscured on these meta-theories, and made them step down from the altar, rejuvenate their humanity, and sprout a second spring. A series of unique local knowledge about backward countries and their remote islands is unfamiliar and unknown to the mainstream of the United States, so it is impossible to put a beak or a denial, and Geertz has relied on "locality" to achieve great academic success like Darwin.
Rapid urbanization in recent times has devastated countless small places and rendered them non-existent. Hungarian director István Szabó (1938- ) won the 54th Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1982 in the film Mephisto (1981), the actor of Klaus Maria Brandauer (1943- ), who spent his life in a small place in Hamburg, as a second-rate actor, he longed for the big city and dreamed of becoming a famous actor who became famous throughout the country. He seized the opportunity, came to the capital Berlin and successfully signed a contract with the Berlin Bolshoi Theater, and befriended the Nazi general [Rolf Hoppe (1930- )] ** Lindenthal [1949- ] played the role of the devil "Mephistopheles" in Goethe's famous play "Faust", which quickly became popular in the capital and became famous all over the country. After becoming famous, Huffgen was promoted by the Nazi general to the manager of the Bolshoi Theater in Berlin. In order to repay his kindness, he held a grand birthday party for the general, but he was noisy and out of the limelight, and the eyes of the guests were all attracted by Huffgen, and almost no one paid attention to the general, who lacked artistic cells. Hefgen also took advantage of the general's trust in him to intercede for his friend who was engaged in anti-Nazi revolutionary literature and art, and the general was angry and retreated. With all the limelight and his wit, Huffgen completely forgot that he came from a small place, that he was just an actor, and that he was always trying to sway and overshadow the generals who held the military and political power. After the birthday party, the general took Hefgen to the empty square, made him stand in the center of the square, turned on the searchlights in all directions, the harsh light shone directly on Hefgen's face, he could not open his eyes, he blocked the dazzling white light with his hands in horror, showed a look of pain and despair, and made a trembling voice with hoarse exhaustion - "What do you want me to do?"I'm just a joke!"Hefgen woke up too late, the general would not keep him anymore, the Nazis would not tolerate him anymore, there can only be one authority, but not Hefgen, not drama, not art, only Nazi, only politics. Without Hefgen, the Nazi generals could quickly find a replacement, but Germany at that time could not do without the Nazis. The gun went off, Hefgen was executed by the Nazis, and the drama of his life ended, it was just a tragedy, the tragedy of the life of a small man from a small place who was determined to climb up but fell to the ground. Hefgen and his prototype, Gustaf Gründgens (1899-1963), the most outstanding actor in the history of modern German theatre, are like Sisyphus Sisyphus in ancient Greek mythology, like the scorpion written by Liu Zongyuan, the eight masters of the Tang and Song dynasties in China, and like the web-adorned spider written by the modern Chinese writer Xu Dishan. Although it is also a city, Hamburg is naturally a small place in front of Berlin, unable to hold big dreams, unable to hold back crazy ambitions, one by one dreamers and dreamers poured into the big city, and a live drama was staged.
In "Fengshen Part 1: Chao Song Fengyun" (2023) directed by Wu Ershan, Xibohou Jichang (played by Li Xuejian) summoned Dongbohou Jiang Huanchu (played by Yang Lixin), Nanbohou E Chongyu (played by Ding Yongdai), Beibohou Chonghou Hu (played by Gao Dongping) conspired to raise troops to crusade against Yin Shou (Fei Xiang), the king of Shang, but soon after the incident, he not only failed to rescue his son Ji Fa (played by Yu Shi), who had been imprisoned by Yin Shou for several years, and almost lost his life in a foreign land. One of the most touching scenes in this movie is that the elderly Ji Chang is lying on top of the white dragon horse, galloping all the way back to his hometown of Xiqi, back to his own place. Subsequently, the young Ji Fa followed his father's example, ended the humiliating career of exile in a foreign country as a hostage, crossed the mountains and mountains, worked day and night, and finally returned to his hometown Xiqi after more than 20 years of absence. Hundreds of millions of audiences see this, all feel down-to-earth, deeply touched, hometown can always make people feel down-to-earth, feel real, that is the place that truly belongs to themselves, that is the place that really relaxes our body and mind, that is the way of our life, but also the way back of most people's lives.
Homesickness is not only rooted in the hearts of Chinese, but also in the hearts of Westerners. Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (1725-1798), tired of traveling through Europe for most of his life and the unruly pleasure-seeking life of sleeping flowers and willows, returned to his hometown of Venice, Italy, and devoted himself to writing his 12-volume, 10,000-page autobiography, Histoire de Ma Vie My Life (1821), recalling his romantic life that conquered countless women, his love and saint who dominated the social circles of the upper class in many European countries, but also vaguely revealed a trace of regret for ruining life. The most touching scene in Casanova di Federico Fellini, il Casanova (1976), based on the legendary life of the 18th-century adventurer and writer Giacomo Casanova (1920-1993), is not Casanova [Donald Sutherland (1935- )] Walking through the streets and alleys of Venice and going out into the house, it is as if all the houses in the city are connected, and the doors and windows of every house are connected, not that he is delicate and comfortable between many women, nor is it the depressed loneliness and emptiness of the heart under the graceful and luxurious appearance of those noble ladies, but the papprizzio papprizzio from the small Italian city of Genoa, who is ruthlessly teased by Casanova dressed as a fat pig Regardless of his previous suspicions, he used his merchant ship to transport lard, and packed up and took away the people who had offended the Catholic bishops, even the Pope, the mayor of Venice and other magnates, and transported them all back to his hometown Genoa and returned to his own place. The lard merchant is the only sincere and honest person in this movie, the only person who still has good thoughts in his heart, and his dream of finding a daughter-in-law in the big city of Venice is completely shattered by glitz and extravagance, deception and hypocrisy, and he returns to his hometown in frustration. Venice is not a rardo for lard merchants, but small places are a paradise for lard merchants. When Casanova and Francesca Francesca [Olimpia Carlisi (1946- )), a female doctor of law with the pen name "Bernardo Vardy", finally married and sailed to the small place of Genoa on a lard merchant ship, the hot air balloon canvas they were riding in was hung as the sail of a lard merchant ship and rode the wind and waves, and the next "Casanova" (i.e., salvato). Salvador) voluntarily appeared, and some people began to enter the social circle of Venice, and the audience was all impressed that "Casanova" and "Bernardo Vardy" were actually synonymous with the Renaissance, Enlightenment, humanism, and romanticism. Only by staying away from international metropolises such as Berlin and Venice can we stay away from religious precepts and political shackles, and go to small places and the countryside to be free.
It's a pity that Li Bai, who has a lot of career in his life, doesn't seem to have understood this all his life, he has been constantly seeking opportunities to grasp power all his life, and the animated film "Thirty Thousand Miles of Chang'an" (2023) directed by Xie Junwei and Zou Jing completely reproduces Li Bai's (Ling Zhenhe, Xuan Xiaoming) pursuit of power, and also profoundly reveals Li Bai's contradictory life of constantly losing and continuing to enter politics, especially his wrong political judgment that caused him to lose his life - assisting Yongwang Li Lan to rebel. "Old Tang Book" and "New Tang Book" are all contained, after the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, in the fifteenth year of Tianbao (756), Li Longji fled to Chang'an, passing through Hanzhong County, and ordered Li Lan to be the envoy of Shannan East Road and Lingnan, Qianzhong, and Jiangnan West Road and the governor of Jiangling County, but Li Lan germinated the idea of self-reliance, so he rebelled, and was invincible, and Jianghuai was shaken. After the Anshi Rebellion was quelled, in the second year of Zhide (757), Li Heng of Tang Suzong rebelled, and Li Lan fled at night and was killed by the pursuers. Compared with the pride, Li Bai's heart to serve the country is not lost at all, but Li Bai's heart is higher than the sky, and his life is thinner than paper, all because he can't eat politicians and can't see through politics, a scholar always wants to be the emperor's master, Li Bai and Hungarian director Istfan Saab Hefgen in "Mephistopheles" are the same, stealing the limelight of the master, and finally not being tolerated by his master, the fate of the two is the same, that must be ruined by politicians and buried in politics. Li Bai and Hefgen were not as lucky as Ji Chang, Ji Fa, and Casanova, and they returned to their hometown in their later years, and the leaves fell back to their roots, and their souls returned to their hometowns, and the two of them had long forgotten that they came from a small place, and they were just a small person. "Thirty Thousand Miles of Chang'an" accurately pointed out that Li Bai was born in a merchant family, and his father sold illicit salt and tea. In ancient China, agriculture was heavy and merchants were suppressed, and the Western Han Dynasty "ordered the Jia people not to ride in clothes, and heavy rent and taxes to embarrass them" ("Historical Records, Volume 30, Pingzhunshu VIII"), the Jin Dynasty ordered merchants to "wear white shoes on one foot and black shoes on the other" to humiliate them (Taiping Yulan, Volume 697, Fuzhang Department 14), the former Qin Fujian, and Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty also had similar decrees, while the Tang Dynasty directly stipulated that merchants and their descendants could not participate in the imperial examination. Li Bai's background is congenitally destined for him to be unable to squeeze into the tragic fate of the core of Datang's power, and Li Bai is just a passerby in the upper class of the international metropolis of Chang'an, not much better than Youling. Poor grassroots, striving for fame and fortune, chasing fame and fortune, working for half their lives, in the end, nothing more than moths to the fire, bamboo baskets to draw water. Li Bai has traveled all his life in the mountains and rivers, the south and the north, but he has never had an epiphany about the true meaning of the place.
Although they were born in the local area, they despise the local people, and most of them hate their poor background, thinking that it is dragging their back legs, the German director Fw.Murnau (Murnau, 1888-1931) won the first Academy Award for Best Picture in the silent film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927).'Brien (1899-1985) is a typical example of this. Unable to withstand the ** of the city woman [Margaret Livingston (1895-1984)], he was bewitched by him, and tried to push his wife [Janet Gaynor (1906-1984)] into the lake and drown. However, kindness stopped his evil thoughts, and he couldn't do it, but took his wife to the city for a day trip, haircuts, photography, entertainment, and dancing, which was very enjoyable. On the way home at night, lightning and thunder, wind and rain, and the waves overturned the couple's boat, and the farmer tied the life-saving rush grass to his wife's back at the last moment. The boat sank, and the farmer was unharmed, but his wife was nowhere to be found. The farmer thought that his wife was dead, and he was full of remorse, and he tried his best to strangle the women in the city to avenge his wife. Unexpectedly, an elderly neighbor fished up his wife from downstream, and the wife was saved, the husband and wife were reunited, and the woman in the city quietly left. The film's sense of urban-rural dichotomy is very clear, and Murnau's critique of urbanization and modernization is very clear. The most touching scene in the film is that in the middle of the night, the farmer asks for help from his neighbors, and in an instant, dozens of neighbors pour out of the nest, rowing boats, holding lights, shouting, and helping him search for his wife who has fallen into the water;Mistakenly believing that his wife was dead, the neighbors took off their hats and mourned, and were silent and sent the farmer home togetherAn elderly neighbor did not give up, went down the river, and sure enough, found the farmer's wife and rescued her;Such a scene is moving, and the harmonious and warm neighborly affection is suddenly awe-inspiring. In the city, who would be so heartfelt and heartfelt to help neighbors, urban neighbors who live on the same floor and do not know each other and fellow travelers abound, and there are many people in the city who make a fuss in court for their children to fight for real estate, mutual help and mutual love, magnanimity and tolerance, selfless help, and simplicity and kindness are almost extinct in the city, and there is no existence, so you can only go to the countryside to find the most true kindness of these human natures. On the city dance floor, a man helped a noble lady lift her slings on the left and right shoulders many times, and each time he would get the lady's thanks, but the suspenders always slipped, and the man was impatient, so he simply took the initiative to pull the sling down, and was immediately slapped by the lady;The elderly neighbor rescued the farmer's drowning wife, and the farmer's mother hugged him twice to show gratitude, and he took the initiative to be hugged a third time, but was immediately stopped by his wifeThe sense of proportion of these two details is convincing, and the narrative of Karl Mayer (1894-1944), a long-time collaborator with Murnau, is complemented by the various montages created by Murnau in his overprinting. The film is based on the German playwright Hermann Sudermann (1857-1928) by the German playwright Frau Sorge Lady of Sorrow (Literary Society, 1929).Hou Junji and Hou Shaoxiong [trans]. Yunnan People's Publishing House, 1983), drawing material from his prose drama Hometown, Sudeman's realism and local sentiment condensed into a deep locality, making his works full of perfection and excellence.
Places, which can be small towns, villages and towns, Jiangnan, frontiers, and rivers and lakes, are far away from the political center and much safer. The place, close to the hometown, or even the homeland, is much more down-to-earth. ** Out of Beijing down to the locality, the military retired and returned to the locality, the literati were relegated to the locality, and the wanderer returned to the hometown and returned to the local - the local means retreat, means avoidance, means showing weakness, and means not fighting. Locality, can also recuperate, accumulate strength, and make a comeback, and in recent years, there has been a rise of "village evening" and "village super". Although it is remote and closed, although it is coarse cloth and local clothes, coarse tea and light rice, although it is said that the dialect, on the clan, the old etiquette, and the folk customs, although the days are a little poor, the place is quiet, soothing, comfortable, and humane. Locality means non-governmental non-officiality, non-polities, non-ideologies, natives autochthonic nostras, agrestic endemicity, folk popular), nationality and community of ethnic groups, like the old dream of the hometown in the process of modernization, like the spiritual island in the wave of globalization, so vast, so beautiful.
2. January 9, 24.