Perhaps Beijing's architecture can best represent the characteristics of the capital culture. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Zhongjing was written as "Attached Map". The shape of the word "attached map" is a magnificent building, located on a high hill. This building is reminiscent of power, wealth and dignity, as well as the capital culture that has been passed down for thousands of years.

In the history of China, the capitals of past dynasties were mainly distributed in the vast areas north of the Yellow River, such as Xi 'an, Kaifeng, Luoyang and Gyeonggi, and all of them were used as capitals for a long time. However, the spirit of kings in Xi, Luoyang and Kaifeng can only be found in the tombs at sunset. Only Beijing, as the capital, has the longest time span, and since the establishment of Nanjing in Liao Dynasty, the king's pulse has basically continued to this day. Therefore, it can be said that Beijing is a model for studying the capital culture of China.

In the eyes of China people, Beijing is the center of state power, the representative of national image, and the holy land of worship. Tourism in Beijing is a typical cultural tourism in the capital. The ancient Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Beihai and Summer Palace, and now Tiananmen Square, the Great Hall of the People and the flag-raising ceremony are all values of the capital culture. Therefore, when foreigners come to Beijing, they should first take a photo in front of Tiananmen Square and have a look at the Great Hall of the People, because it is a symbol of the motherland. The word "capital culture" has spawned many unique cultural phenomena that only Beijing has. For example, they care about current affairs, have a strong sense of participating in politics, have a high cultural quality, gather elites, are bureaucratic, despise business interests, have a good face, like to put on airs, pretend to be lofty, and be blind and arrogant. Next, let's talk about choosing important people.

A strong sense of political responsibility

As the ancient capital of several dynasties, Beijing has long been the seat of the highest authority in China and the political center of China. There are many government agencies in Beijing, and embassies from all over the world gather. As a result, the major policies related to the national economy and people's livelihood are released here, all kinds of domestic and foreign information gather here, and even all kinds of gossip spread in all directions from here. Under the influence of this atmosphere, the political sensitivity and political consciousness of Beijingers are naturally higher than those of locals as a whole. There is a popular jingle: "Beijingers dare to say anything, Northeasters dare to do anything, Shanghainese dare to wear anything, and Cantonese dare to eat anything." A few words pointed out the cultural differences in different regions. "Dare to speak" means that Beijingers dare to criticize current politics and have a strong sense of political responsibility. For example, in teahouses, it was inevitable in the past that southerners drank tea to talk about their parents and business, while Beijingers drank tea to talk about state affairs. So when Mr. Lao She designed the set of the drama Teahouse, a prominent detail was that he posted such a notice on the wall: "Don't talk about state affairs." It can be seen that Beijingers have a fine tradition of caring about current politics and the future and destiny of the country. This is why Beijing has become the source of many large-scale mass political movements in history.

Second, high-quality civic culture.

Beijing, as the capital, is also a center of science, technology and culture, where elites gather. A set of figures may illustrate this problem: there are 65 institutions of higher learning and 388 national scientific research institutions in Beijing. Every year, 654.38+million high-quality talents are sent to the society, including more than 80,000 scientific and technological personnel, and 50% of academicians of the two academies of the State are in Beijing, ranking first in the country in terms of talent indicators. Children in Beijing have unique educational conditions. Due to the large number of colleges and universities, the admission rate of Beijing college entrance examination candidates is over 70%. Beijing has the highest management talents in China, the largest number of doctors, masters and undergraduates, and the highest compulsory education penetration rate. It is obvious to all that Beijingers are of high quality. Therefore, every move of Beijing residents often shows high cultural taste. Look deep, think far, not tired of short-term interests, be generous and ambitious. This is from Beijing. Economically, although Beijing is a typical consumption-oriented city, it is the largest output-oriented city in China in terms of science and technology and cultural industries. This determines that the direction of Beijing's future economic development should be cultural industry and high-tech industry.

Third, the official style of doing nothing but talking.

Beijing has become a land of three pillars, where dignitaries gather, which is also a major feature of the capital culture. As a result of many officials, the habits and styles of officialdom have penetrated into every corner of the capital, and even ordinary people will make a few bureaucratic words from time to time. The ancients said that there were seven officials in front of the prime minister, not to mention the foot of the son of heaven. You can't help but believe the old saying when you listen to the drawl of the old Beijingers and look at the measured steps of the old Beijingers walking around the corner.

The most obvious manifestation of official-oriented culture is that Beijingers pretend to be lofty and despise business and profits. Beijing's service industry is well-known throughout the country, and Beijingers treat everything as "officials". When a customer goes to the store to buy something, the salesman has the right to sell it or not, so the customer should smile and say thank you, as if he had approved it and sold it to you; When passengers get on the bus, the conductor is your leader. No matter how many people there are, you have to squeeze into him to buy tickets, because the door is his desk. Do you want to take a taxi? It depends on where you go. People refuse to take you in traffic jams. In the minds of most Beijingers, no matter what you do, making money is not the most important thing. In their eyes, decency and dignity are above everything else. In the eyes of Shanghai and Guangzhou people, Beijingers are really a bit stupid. How can there be a truth in the world that money is not earned? It can be seen that the negative influence of official style on Beijing culture can not be underestimated. In Beijing, although there are many ordinary citizens, there are not many who are really shabby. In other words, there are differences in words and deeds between ordinary citizens in Beijing and ordinary citizens in other cities. These differences come from the subtle influence of the official atmosphere on the lives of ordinary citizens in Beijing.

Another manifestation of official-oriented culture is that it is easy to put on airs. As far as I know, the word "play" came into being in the Qing Dynasty. Originally, I wanted to show people the genealogy, but it was not derogatory. Historically, Manchu people loved to put on airs. As Manchu is one of the ethnic groups that have their own written language in the history of China, due to the scattered tribes, the history of Manchu has no general history of its own, and most of its historical records are realized through the detailed records of its own genealogy. One of the basic ways for elders to tell their descendants about history is to tell their own genealogy to their children. Manchu people have a famous saying, "Old people don't talk about the past, but young people lose their happiness." However, after the Manchu entered the customs, the unequal ethnic policy made this hardworking and militant nation become a privileged class overnight. They don't work, don't do business, don't farm, and don't work. No matter who they are, as long as they are banners, they can be exempted from all exorbitant taxes and levies, and they can also receive considerable money and food on a monthly basis. The carefree life of getting something for nothing has gradually made many children of the Eight Banners lose their true colors of diligence and courage, become idle grandfathers and parasites who have made no contribution to society. The only capital they can show off is to look for the past glory of their ancestors in the Eight Banners Manchu genealogy, so as to show the glory of their family. Therefore, counting ancestors has become a fashion. After the Revolution of 1911, although the rule of the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, the legacy of the Eight Banners has been affecting Beijingers today. People often say that Beijingers have a good face, and the reason is probably related to their good mentality. Imagine if everyone was either an emperor or a famous minister and did a "disgraceful" job, even his own face could not pass, let alone the face of his ancestors. Beijingers often complain that foreigners have made all their money. In fact, there are many employment opportunities in Beijing. The reason that affects the employment rate is not the lack of jobs, but the vanity and laziness that Beijingers inherited from their ancestors. The key to solving the employment problem of Beijingers is not to vacate many jobs, but to change the traditional ideas in Beijingers' minds. If the concept is not changed, it is useless to vacate more employment opportunities.

Another manifestation of the official-oriented culture is tact, saying more and doing less. Before liberation, there was such a folk song: "Jing Youzi, Wei Zuizi, the running dog of Baoding Prefecture." The so-called "Jing Youzi" means that Beijingers are smooth, do things smoothly, talk like water, and ask for no merit but no fault. This style of honesty, peace, idleness and mediocrity was very popular in the officialdom of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is said that Cao Zhenyong, a veteran of the Three Dynasties in Qing Dynasty, is familiar with this. Cao Zhenyong made a list of officials, and one's proteges were all over the court. When someone asked him how to be an official, he said, "Nothing else, just kowtowing more and talking less." When people write poems to satirize the officialdom in the late Qing Dynasty, they say: "The minister's economy is calm, and he does not show his political achievements, let alone loyalty; All personnel should be hazy, and there is no need to refute or discuss. There is nothing in all directions, the country is rich and the people are strong, the official movement is smooth, and everyone praises harmony, good and bad. " The legacy of officialdom in the late Qing Dynasty has always influenced Beijingers today. There are many state organs, institutions and state-owned enterprises in Beijing, and there are obviously more people who eat public meals and serve iron rice bowls than in other cities. This mechanism is the soil for the continued existence of official-oriented culture. Therefore, Beijingers often "wake up early, get up late, talk more, do less, and fail to do it". "Beijing has policies, and the field is more typical." Policy is the behavior of the government and has nothing to do with civilians, but if Beijing is not typical, it has to be said that it is the problem of Beijingers. As long as we look back at the road we have traveled in the past 20 years, we will find that after the central government's policy came down, foreigners have been working in full swing, while Beijingers are still studying at meetings, learning to hold meetings and understanding the spirit of the central government. "Words without deeds" has become a stumbling block for Beijing to walk ahead of other provinces and cities economically. To change this situation, we must advocate hard work and be brave in practice.

Fourth, the closed and arrogant siege complex.

Some people say that Beijing culture is multicultural, which makes sense, because the northern minorities have entered the Central Plains several times in history and settled in Beijing, which has caused many great ethnic migrations and great ethnic integration, and its influence on Beijing culture is obvious to all. In our daily life in Beijing, such as "Hutong", "Corner", "Sloppy" and "Dally" in dialect, boiled sheep's head, instant-boiled mutton and roasted whole sheep in diet are typical remains of nomadic culture in the north. However, careful observation reveals that the nomadic people's transformation of Beijing culture is mostly confined to the surface culture of food, clothing, housing and transportation, while in the deep culture, it is more assimilated by the Han nationality. Environment determines culture. Once the nomadic culture leaves the grassland and loses its living environment, it will be replaced by the agricultural culture in the new residence, which is independent of human will. It can be said that the core of local culture in old Beijing is farming culture.

There is a great difference in mentality between farming people and nomadic people. Sima Qian said in Historical Records that the nomadic people in the north are "not ashamed of losing". Because northern nomads themselves don't like to settle down, grazing cattle and sheep can't settle down. If you go to war with neighboring countries, once you lose, take your wife and children, drive cattle and sheep, and walk away. It's no loss for him, the most is to change the pasture in advance. So the concept of nomadic territory is weak. However, the farming peoples in the Central Plains are different. If defeated, they will leave their homes, not only lose their houses, but also lose the land on which they live, with nothing. The harsh environment forced them to fight for their own survival. For these farming peoples who are not good at fighting, the best way is to surround themselves with layers of city walls. Therefore, the agricultural ethnic groups in China, especially the northern agricultural ethnic groups adjacent to the powerful nomadic ethnic groups, have long had the habit of building walls, from the Great Wall in Wan Li to the battlements in towns and then to the courtyard walls of residents. For safety, sometimes there is more than one wall. Over time, the closed and conservative tradition of small-scale peasant culture in China has been formed.

Beijing is a typical urban world. The number of city walls in Beijing is probably second to none in the world. The Beijing City built in the early Ming Dynasty has three walls, the innermost layer is Miyagi, which is called the Forbidden City, the second layer is the imperial city, and the third layer is the capital city, with a circumference of 20 kilometers (km). In the thirty-second year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty, an outer city with a total length of about 14 km was built in Zhengyangmen, Xuanwumen and Chongwenmen. Everything has advantages and disadvantages. These strong city walls not only block the enemy, but also hinder people's contact with the outside world, thus forming a closed cultural mentality. As the center of power, the culture of the capital is really tasteful. In front of many villagers, city people are undoubtedly the representatives of civilization. This innate sense of superiority has caused the people in the capital to be blind and arrogant, making them pampered and complacent. And this kind of psychology virtually prevented foreign civilization from coming from afar. Beijingers can become Beijingers precisely because they have been living in the biggest besieged city in China.

Now, the walls of Beijing have almost been torn down. While we feel sorry for it, we can't help asking: What should we tear down? Do the walls of Beijing still exist? Today, with the reform and opening up, Beijing people's thoughts have also undergone tremendous changes, but compared with the southern coastal cities, they are still slow to accept foreign cultures and new things. Traditionally, people call Shanghai "the beach", which symbolizes the open marine culture. Calling Guangzhou a "city" symbolizes an active business culture; And calling Beijing a "city" still represents a conservative capital civilization based on the small-scale peasant economy? ! Perhaps different names inadvertently reveal different cultural characteristics among the three cities. The slogan of Beijing's 2000 Olympic bid is "Open Beijing, Welcome the Olympic Games". We hope that the ancient Beijing culture can ride the east wind of the Olympic bid, open her broad mind and enter the new century.