On the morning of April 22nd, with the opening ceremony of “Cultural Relics Exhibition in Ancient Town”, a lecture by Assistant Professor ZHU Fangcheng about the culture evolution and change was given in the Qingming Bridge Cannel Culture & Arts Gallery. A number of Honors School students attended the lecture and searched for cultural memories and customs in the historical relics.

After the opening ceremony, the students went to the exhibition hall of historical relics where there is a gathering of more than 1,000 pieces of cultural relics with scientific, historical and art values. The relics which cover jadeware, chinaware, bronzeware, gold and silver articles, bamboo and wood carvings have well demonstrated the evolution of Wuxi material civilization. The students are amazed in particular by the “chair exhibition” on the second floor of the hall. All students are absorbed in the graceful curves of ancient chairs, appreciating the profound civilization of China through the exclusive technique of the craftsmen. With the guidance and explanation of ZHU, the students have not only learnt about the cultural relics in the exhibition hall, but also experienced the history of Wuxi as well as the charm of WuYue culture.

After the visit, ZHU gave a lecture titled “The Continuity of Spirit Flame and the Dissimilation of Culture”. Taking Shanghai regional culture as a starting point, ZHU focused on the elaboration of culture distinction, merging, evolution and dissimilation. The ZHU pointed out that there exist great differences between nomadic and agricultural peoples in various aspects including language and life, and these differences have caused cultural distinction and merging. By observing the pictures of “chairs” in the photo exhibition, the students have become acquaint with the evolution of the Qing style chairs engraved with dragon-shaped lines, and have learnt about the gradual merging of culture during communication. In today’s world where the economy develops at a vast speed, what contemporary people pursue is different from those in the past. Much of the culture dissimilation that changed the original intention has led to destructive consequences. What is more, this dissimilation may even, in return, dominate people’s aesthetic consciousness, misleading them into the depth of ignorance where they cannot make correct judgments on truly valuable things. Based on the variety of shows that are extremely popular today, ZHU expressed his concern with the fact that modern people show too much ambition for entertainment. The popular things are not necessarily good things, and many of them could possibly ruin our traditional culture. We cannot prevent the fast development and change of this society, but we sincerely wish that excellent traditional culture, civilization and social morality can be passed down. This is also the wish of ZHU for the students in Jiangnan University to stick to.

The visit to the exhibition and the lecture came to the end in the spring afternoon sun. Through the manifestation by assistant professor ZHU, students of Honors School have acquired their own special experience and understanding on the inheritance and development of culture.