Why Has Guizhou Been Shaped into a Land of Infinite Diversity by People Across Time and Space?

During the Anti-Japanese War, the "Lower River People" from all corners of China, who retreated three thousand miles to avoid becoming slaves of a conquered nation, crossed paths with the locals of Anshun, Guizhou, united by the "national crisis." Thus, in the childhood memories of Guizhou cultural elder Dai Mingxian, there were youths performing *Thunderstorm* and *Sunrise*, and schoolchildren singing "Broadswords Chopping Down on the Devils' Heads." In Dai's writings, though he had never left Guizhou at the time, his nostalgia already echoed the melodies of Jiangnan and the misty rain of Suzhou's gardens. Behind these small stories lay a grand era where nearly ten universities and over a hundred renowned scholars brought China's "New Culture," born from the May Fourth Movement, into Guizhou. At that time, Guizhou became a vibrant cultural hub. This epitomizes how Guizhou's culture was shaped by migration and fusion, much like the province's founding era, when the monumental influx of hundreds of thousands of military settlers during the "Northern Migration to Fill the South" profoundly influenced Guizhou's cultural landscape.

The Jiaxiu Tower in Guiyang was built to promote "scholarly excellence" in Guizhou.

Over its 400-year history, it has witnessed Guizhou's magnificent cultural and intellectual development.

A historical photo of Jiaxiu Tower (west side) from the 1920s, courtesy of the Guizhou Youth Photographers Association.

A contemporary view of Jiaxiu Tower (east side), photographed by Zhang Jinming.

Guizhou is a province of immigrants. Looking back, its history includes the "wealthy elites" of Bashu during the Han dynasties, large clans since the Tang and Song, military settlers of the Ming, migrants from Huguang filling northern Guizhou (then part of Sichuan) in the late Ming and early Qing, merchants arriving after the "Tusi Abolition" in the Qing, wartime refugees during the Anti-Japanese War, the southbound armies of the Liberation War, and the builders of the "Third Front" campaign. These diverse immigrants turned Guizhou into their homeland, repeatedly advancing and reshaping its cultural evolution. Rewinding 1,600 years to the Jin and Southern-Northern Dynasties, China's first large-scale ethnic integration occurred, with four ancient southern ethnic groups migrating to Guizhou. Over millennia, they rose and fell, scattered across the mountains, adapting to local conditions. Combined with Guizhou's formation from parts of four neighboring provinces, their cultural legacies accumulated, endured, and blended, crystallizing into many cultural treasures.

The foundation of Guizhou's vibrant cultural tapestry lies in the convergence of people from all eras over the past two millennia!

If you randomly select 1,000 Guizhou natives,

How rich are the cultural treasures of Guizhou's people?

As children of the mountains, Guizhou's people thrive in their highland homes, displaying extraordinarily diverse lifestyles. Historical social systems forged their ethnic identity and unity-in-diversity; language, scripts, and epic legends etched China's ancient heritage into daily life while recording their own journeys; and the myriad forms of Nuo opera vividly represent Guizhou's cultural splendor. These intangible spiritual traditions embody the "thousand faces" of Guizhou's cultural landscape.

The diverse people of Guizhou and their multifaceted folkways.

Photo by Lu Xianyi.

Mountains and hills cover 92.5% of Guizhou. The historical pattern of "dual governance by native and imperial systems," coupled with its rugged terrain of deep valleys and dense forests, allowed indigenous groups across Guizhou's vast landscapes to develop unique social systems, organizational forms, and ways of life.

Opening a book on Guizhou's institutional history is like stepping into a time tunnel. By the Qing dynasty, the same era saw the Yi people of northwestern Guizhou practicing a semi-feudal "clan branch" system akin to Zhou-era rites, blending farming and herding in large settlements; the Miao's "drum societies" and Dong's "Dong covenants" flourishing in southeastern valleys and slopes; and the White Pants Yao's small-scale "oil pot" communities ("those who eat from the same pot") in southern forests, preserving ancient customs from primitive societies.

*The Hundred Miao Illustrations* is a historical pictorial treasure depicting the lives of southwestern indigenous groups.

Beyond the Miao, it also portrays the clothing and customs of Guizhou's other native ethnicities.

Though most such institutional cultures have faded, village-level ethnic identities endure in Guizhou's mountains. For example, visiting a village, you might find it empty—locals would explain everyone is next door celebrating at a wedding, drinking, dancing, and singing. This harmonious, egalitarian solidarity is rare in the world.

Some remnants of these systems also carry archaic cultural origins, underpinning Guizhou's "thousand villages, hundred festivals" tradition. For instance, after Ming military garrisons dissolved, descendants of Han settlers around Anshun preserved early Ming customs, forming the unique "Tunbao People" community. The Dong's grand "Sama Festival" at drum towers stems from matrilineal clan society traditions.

Figs. 1-2: At Rongjiang's Sama Festival, a solemn "Sacrifice to Sama" ceremony is held,

honoring ancestors' virtues that brought prosperity to the village.

The most important festival of the Miao people, the Drum Festival (also known as the Guzang Festival, the same below), held once every twelve years and lasting for three years each time, is a ceremony that unites villages into the "Drum Society" organization. In the past, those who had the authority to initiate drum rituals to worship ancestors evolved into one of the leaders of Miao clans. Large families formed by bloodline and kinship maintained the social relations of the Miao people. With social development, the Miao established villages based on these families, and functions such as worship, production, and marriage, originally controlled by families, shifted to the village organization "Drum Society," giving birth to the Drum Festival.

Cattle are closely related to the Miao people and hold an important position in the Drum Festival.

The diverse institutional culture and social forms embody the pattern of "large mixed settlements, small concentrated communities" among ethnic groups in Guizhou. These complex social systems and organizations have long been incorporated into the central government's vision of "dual governance by native and imperial systems." Thus, the remnants of the native chieftain system culture echo the "unity" between Guizhou and Central Plains culture.

The glazed ceremonial pottery figurines from Yang Hui's tomb consist of horse figurines and foot figurines.

Based on lifelike dynamics, they are a true portrayal of the Bozhou chieftain culture.

The Yang chieftains, who significantly influenced the development of education and culture in northern Guizhou, left tomb inscriptions that attest to their close ties with Central Plains culture.

The burial pottery figurines in the Yang Can tomb complex vary in style, reflecting their status. The epitaphs follow a standardized format, embodying the Confucian practices of Zhu Xi's family rituals. The waist pit contains complete sets of the Four Symbols—Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—representing the four directions of the chieftain's burial site, showcasing the free-spirited cultural elements of Daoism.

The stone carvings in Yang Can's tomb feature smooth and harmonious lines, representing a masterpiece of Southwest Chinese stone carving art.

Figure 1: The stone carving "Deer Holding a Branch."

Yang Jia, son of Yang Can, was the first chieftain leader to introduce imperial examinations in Bozhou. The cultural fusion in his tomb is even more evident. On his wife's head, a phoenix crown with pure gold hairpins, phoenixes, and ear ornaments was discovered, reflecting the style of the Southern Song court. Interestingly, Yang Jia's tomb also contained incense, tea, and wine utensils, breaking the stereotypical image of chieftains. The four leisurely pursuits of Song Dynasty literati were burning incense, tea tasting, hanging paintings, and flower arranging, while tea drinking, incense burning, and wine tasting were also the daily pursuits of chieftain leaders at the time.

Multiple gold phoenix crowns have been discovered in the Yang chieftain tombs.

This demonstrates their high level of identification with Central Plains culture.

Beyond the opulence of the chieftain families, the Dasongshan tomb complex, one of the "Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries of 2022," encapsulates the lifestyle of Guizhou's common people. Central Plains-style seals, Southeast Asian bead necklaces, and even "European-style" glassware all contain vivid stories of "Guizhou people" spanning over 1,400 years from the Jin and Southern Dynasties to the Yuan and Ming periods.

Daily artifacts of Guizhou people unearthed from the Dasongshan tomb complex.

Language, script, epics, and Nuo opera

The memory of Huaxia culture in the daily lives of Guizhou people

If social institutions are the foundation of Guizhou people's "thousand faces," then the vibrant languages and scripts, along with tangible or intangible epic memories, systematically frame the colorful cultural landscape.

Language records the dynamic rhythms of daily life.

The three major dialect regions of Guizhou—Chuanqian, Qiandongnan, and Qiannan—are far from sufficient to summarize the diversity of Guizhou dialects. The "cosmopolitan" people of Guiyang speak a mix of dialects, and across Guizhou's nine cities and prefectures, local accents vary. For example, along the Qingshui River in Tianzhu County, people speak the "Sour Soup dialect" with a Hunan flavor, while in the border area between Qianxinan and Liupanshui, the "Laba dialect" is spoken. Just the names of these branches give a sense of the charm of Guizhou dialects.

However, the most unique "Guizhou dialect" is undoubtedly the Anshun dialect, which blends the Jianghuai accents of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who migrated during the early Ming Dynasty's "Northern Transfer to the South." Anshun people's speech is rich in imagery and metaphors, carrying an ancient flair—expressing helplessness with phrases like "What can we do? Bite the sky?" exuding an irresistible humor. To describe the principle of "a scholar prefers death to humiliation," they say, "Better to lose the head than the ears," conveying a more down-to-earth power.

The Ground Opera Script "Xue Dingshan's Expedition to the West"

It tells the story of the famous Tang Dynasty general Xue Rengui.

It reflects the cultural connection between the people of Anshun and the Central Plains.

Words carry the memory codes of the Guizhou people.

The Yi documents in northwestern Guizhou encompass everything, the mysterious and ancient Shui script customs in southern Guizhou, the Yao "Guoshanbang" stone carvings imitating Chinese characters, and the Dong people using Chinese characters to record Dong pronunciation—all demonstrate cultural communication and integration. Among these, the Shui people, with a population of just over 370,000, possess an independent writing system. The Shui script customs are a "living fossil" of ancient Chinese writing.

The Shui script consists of three parts: oracle bone character forms, pictographic symbols, and drawings, with a complexity no less than that of cryptography. To decipher the Shui script, one must first master a set of oral formulas, which are not recorded in writing but are passed down orally and personally by Shui script masters (priests). Over time, the Shui script has become an encyclopedia guiding the Shui people in weddings, funerals, major life events, and even festive ceremonies.

The symbolic system of the Shui script is highly complex and not easily decipherable by ordinary people.

The Shui people's "Guoduan" festival often begins during the harvest season from August to October and is conducted in seven batches across different villages. People beat bronze drums, play reed pipes softly, and race horses in the mountains, celebrating for about fifty days—the longest New Year celebration among Chinese traditions. This custom is based on the calendar recorded in the Shui script.

Shui people celebrating the festival are writing couplets.

In fact, this calendar, which marks the New Year in autumn, subtly aligns with the ancient meaning of "celebrating the New Year"—celebrating the harvest. The "Shuowen Jiezi" explains, "Nian (year) means the ripening of grain," and the oracle bone character for "nian" also carries the meaning of drooping grain ears. Today, in Central Plains customs, the New Year is a spring festival. However, the Shui people, through their unique Shui script system, preserve an even older Chinese memory.

Horn-fighting dance of the Shui people in Xingzhai Village, Sandu County.

The spiritual world of the Guizhou people transcends the boundaries of language and writing, spanning the vast mountains and rivers of China.

The Dong people, known as the "singing ethnic group," have a lyric that goes, "Rice nourishes the body, songs nourish the soul," showing that singing has long been part of their daily life. "The Han people pass down their culture through written books, the Dong people pass down theirs through songs." The Dong people's voices not only mimic the sounds of nature but also carry the legacy of their history and culture.

The Dong grand song is often performed by hundreds or thousands of people,

in a polyphonic, a cappella chorus.

The ancient Miao people had a spoken language but no writing system, so they developed a rich imagination. The "Ancient Songs of the Miao" from southeastern Guizhou recount how their ancestors, while migrating across rivers, faced strong currents and said:

"Words were bitten into the belly with teeth... so we rely on our hearts to remember."

Meanwhile, the Miao people in northwestern Guizhou say their writing fell into the river while crossing and was left to dry on rocks:

Without writing, what could they do? Dozens of Miao branches across Guizhou commonly chose to record their epic memories on their clothing. The Miao are one of China's ethnic minorities with the most culturally rich clothing traditions.

Miao embroidery is vibrant in color and rich in techniques,

The Miao people often possess a set of "treasured" garments, with patterns passed down through generations.

For example, the square patterns on the back of Miao clothing in northwestern Guizhou actually record their ancestors' homeland—a city embraced by towering mountains. The pleated skirts popular among Miao communities across regions are also condensed history. The batik geometric patterns at the hem, often consisting of three lines, represent the Yellow River, the plains, and the Yangtze River, while the white in the middle symbolizes the sky. This method of recording migratory memories is far more vivid than written descriptions.

Batik is also an essential part of Guizhou's clothing culture.

Beyond this ancient migratory epic lies an even older cultural relic—Nuo opera. Guizhou, a "cultural secret realm" nestled in the mountains, is one of China's provinces with the most diverse and well-preserved Nuo opera traditions.

The richness of Guizhou's Nuo opera reflects the province's cultural geography, characterized by a "three-tiered staircase" pattern—higher in the west and lower in the east. It serves as a microcosm of Guizhou's multifaceted culture. Whether evoking primordial chaos, leaping beyond the clangor of war, or traversing the landscapes of the Nine Provinces, Guizhou's spirit connects with all things in the universe, past and future, through these Nuo performances.

Photo by Lu Xianyi, Graphics by Jiuyang

On the first "step" of northwestern Guizhou, the Yi people's "Cuotaiji," performed only in Bandi Township, Weining County, is formally known as the "Transformation Play." Wearing rough wooden masks, participants not only recount their ancestors' distant developmental journey but also pray for bountiful harvests and worship heaven and earth. This ritual records the earliest evolution of Nuo opera.

The masks of Cuotaiji are very simple.

On the second "step" of central Guizhou, the Ansen Dixi of the Tunpu people integrates rituals, drills, and entertainment once popular in the Ming Dynasty army, representing the highest level of Guizhou's Nuo opera. Emphasizing "victory, not defeat" in its libretto, Dixi carries the responsibility of ensuring Tunpu descendants practice martial arts for generations. "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms skips the defeat at Maicheng; The Story of Yue Fei skips the tragedy at Fengbo Pavilion." Perhaps it is through such "hardcore" art—devoid of sentimentalism but full of patriotic fervor—that generations of Tunpu people, far from their homeland and guarding the frontiers, have united, preserving six centuries of cultural memory.

The protagonists of Dixi are often famous generals from stories like The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Story of Yue Fei.

Photo by Liao Yongzhong

Across the vast "third step," Nuo opera is a shared passion among Guizhou's Miao, Dong, Buyi, Gelao, and Tujia ethnic groups. The Wuling Mountains, at the junction of four provinces, form a "utopia" of Nuo opera. Along the Tongren line in northeastern Guizhou, hundreds of Nuo opera troupes and thousands of performers remain active, creating a unique Nuo opera cultural belt.

Local Nuo opera steps are often called "Yu Steps" or "Treading the Nine Provinces." Just the names hint at their ancient origins. Once the performance begins, acrobatic feats known as "Nuo skills" emerge—scaling knife mountains, treading fiery pits—blending the romantic mystique of Chu culture with the wild imagination of indigenous peoples.

Photo by Li Guiyun

From social organization to language, and from epics to the spiritual world behind Nuo rituals, every word, action, and performance of Guizhou people forms a diverse cultural tree.

How have Guizhou people influenced China through culture and education after leaving the mountains?

One of the most fundamental meanings of "culture" is "to civilize through education." Guizhou's journey from developing its own education to influencing the nation's reflects another facet of its culture—transcending mountains and striving endlessly.

How did Guizhou people "break the southern wilderness" with poetry and books?

In the 11th year of the Yongyuan era (99 AD, subsequent years noted numerically only), the Guizhou region was still a "wild land." A 20-year-old youth named Yin Zhen gazed north from southern Guizhou and made a monumental decision—

He traveled thousands of miles to study under the Confucian scholar Xu Shen, who was compiling China's first radical-based dictionary, Shuowen Jiezi. Thus, a Guizhou native intersected with the Central Plains' literary lineage during this foundational era of Chinese script.

"Studying in the north of China, breaking new ground in the southern sky,"

Yin Zhen (styled Daozhen) is commemorated in many places in Guizhou.

Along with Sheng Lan, who was friends with the great fu poet Sima Xiangru and listed in the Book of Han, and She Ren, who had high literary attainments and annotated the Erya, Yin Zhen is counted among the "Three Sages of the Han Dynasty." They returned to Guizhou to establish schools and teach students. In the mountains and rivers beyond the reach of official education at the time, private schools founded by Guizhou people marked the beginning of Guizhou's cultural and educational development.

As the saying goes, "Even in rugged and remote places, poetry, books, rites, and music are always connected." A thousand years have passed, and the cultural and educational energy accumulated since the Han Dynasty has continued to grow. In the early Ming Dynasty, when Guizhou was established as a province, it was a time of flourishing culture and education. However, for more than 100 years after the establishment of the province, Guizhou students who wanted to take the imperial examinations had to go to Yunnan or Sichuan. The journey took at least a month, and the number of admissions was far lower than in their home province.

In the ninth year of the Jiajing reign (1530), Tian Qiu, a Guizhou native who had passed the provincial examination in Yunnan and entered officialdom, deeply felt that Guizhou's backward cultural and educational situation was incompatible with its provincial status. He submitted the famous "Memorial Requesting the Opening of Examinations to Promote Culture and Education" to the court, which eventually led the Ming government to schedule separate provincial examinations in Guizhou. In the 16th year of Jiajing (1537), Guizhou held its first provincial examination. Nearly a thousand students gathered in Guiyang, and 25 scholars stood out. The deputy chief examiner, Wang Gao, exclaimed, "This is a grand ceremony that has been absent for over 170 years!"

A statue of Tian Qiu in Tian Qiu Primary School, Sinan County, Tongren.

In addition, Tian Qiu wrote the "Memorial Requesting the Establishment of Schools in Wuchuan, Anshun, and Yinjiang," which was also approved by the court, laying the foundation for the development of official schools, prefectural schools, academies, and private schools throughout Guizhou. Guizhou not only gained an increasing number of provincial and metropolitan graduates but also, due to the new educational landscape, activated the spiritual core of struggle and challenge.

Character storage towers were facilities used in the past to burn paper.

Following Tian Qiu's footsteps, in just a few hundred years by the late Qing Dynasty, Guizhou had achieved the remarkable feat of producing "6,000 provincial graduates and 700 metropolitan graduates." Among them were Shen You, who died for the country; Sun Ying'ao, who took charge of cultural and educational responsibilities; and Li Duanfen, a pioneer of reform... Guizhou's metropolitan graduates either left their names in history, joining the central court, or became local leaders.

Guizhou's provincial graduates also produced many outstanding figures, such as Yang Wencong, renowned in Jiangnan for his "three excellences in poetry, calligraphy, and painting" and counted among the "Eight Great Masters of the Chongzhen Era"; Wu Zhongfan, whose "person and poetry" resembled Qu Yuan and Du Fu; and even the "Great Confucians of the Southwest," Zheng Zhen and Mo Youzhi... The abundance of talent in Guizhou at that time is evident.

The number of metropolitan graduates from the Ming and Qing dynasties, based on Guizhou's current administrative divisions.

Chart by Liu Yunshuo.

Even the small village of Shaitan in Zunyi, covering just a few square miles, produced hundreds of Guizhou scholars in the hundred-plus years since the late Qing Dynasty.

Zheng Zhen and Mo Youzhi were great Confucians of the Southwest. The Zunyi Prefecture Gazetteer they compiled was praised by Liang Qichao as "perhaps the best among prefecture gazetteers." Although Li Shuchang never passed the imperial examinations, he stood out in the secretariat of Zeng Guofan, a leader of the Westernization Movement. He could write Tongcheng-style prose and, after traveling in Europe, wrote Miscellaneous Notes on the West. He also served twice as envoy to Japan, leading a life of remarkable diversity... No wonder when Zhejiang University relocated to Meitan, Zunyi, a professor compiled the New Zunyi Gazetteer, stating that "Shaitan... was once a nationally renowned cultural area."

A statue of Li Shuchang in Shaitan Village, Zunyi.

Whether native Guizhou scholars or those who came to Guizhou, all carved out their own paths in this land. Wang Yangming spent three years in Guizhou, becoming the most influential non-native scholar in Guizhou's cultural and educational history. He not only founded the School of Mind, which influenced the world, but also nurtured many disciples of the "Guizhou Wang School," establishing academies throughout Guizhou and benefiting the people.

The "Three Immortalities" are virtue, achievement, and words,

the highest life ideals for Confucian scholars.

How profound was Wang Yangming's influence on Guizhou? In the 13th year of Jiajing (1534), more than 20 years after Wang Yangming came to Guizhou, Wang Xing from Fenghua, Zhejiang, arrived in Guiyang and saw local villagers singing Jiangnan folk songs taught by Wang Yangming, all rushing to Longchang in Xiuwen to pay homage to him. This disciple of Wang's philosophy built the Yangming Academy here, published Wang Yangming's collected works, and followed Tian Qiu's footsteps by planning and implementing Guizhou's provincial examinations, building examination halls, and carrying forward his teacher's legacy.

Once an important place for cultural and educational heritage.

In fact, visiting scholars to Guizhou, impressed by the local people's passion for learning, often wholeheartedly taught and imparted knowledge. The cultural and educational development of Guizhou gradually flourished through the interaction between local scholars and visiting elites. By the time of the unprecedented changes in the late Qing and early Republican era, the people of Guizhou either authored influential works, nurtured talents, or joined revolutionary causes, sharing the nation's fate and breathing the same air.

In 1847, Lin Zexu was appointed Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou. His state of mind at this time was vastly different from when he first set foot in Guizhou over twenty years earlier. The destruction of opium at Humen eight years prior and the Opium War seven years earlier had altered the fate of the entire nation.

"To save others amidst the storm, I vow to steer the ship of mercy through mighty rivers," Lin Zexu wrote while passing Huangguoshu Waterfall on his way to assume office, expressing his resolve. His determination to serve the world was, in fact, a reflection of the collective spirit of the people of Guizhou at the time.

The Wenchang Pavilion, a cultural landmark in Guiyang, was built during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty.

It bore witness to the flourishing of education in Guizhou at the time.

During the imperial examination era, Guizhou produced many outstanding figures. In the great upheavals of the following century, the people of Guizhou dared to break free from the shackles of the old system. Whether in military studies, political reform, or engaging with "Mr. Science" and "Mr. Democracy" during the New Culture Movement, Guizhou people not only kept pace with the pivotal moments of China's modern transformation but also, with their resolute character, achieved remarkable feats that influenced the nation.

When discussing the elite scholars of Guizhou since the Self-Strengthening Movement, Ding Baozhen, a native of Zhijin who emerged from the mountains of Bijie, stands out as the most notable figure.

He was a key figure in shaping China's modern history.

Mention Ding Baozhen, and people often recall the legend of his invention of "Kung Pao Chicken," a fusion of Guizhou, Sichuan, and Shandong cuisines, as well as his wisdom and courage in executing the Empress Dowager Cixi's favored eunuch, An Dehai, "receiving the imperial decree at the front gate while beheading him at the back." In truth, as one of the most capable provincial officials of the late Qing, Ding Baozhen's impact on modern China rivals that of top figures like Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang!

As a leading figure of the Self-Strengthening Movement, Ding Baozhen established schools and improved water conservancy in Shandong, reformed the salt administration in Sichuan, and invited Western-educated experts proficient in machinery to pioneer modern industries in both provinces. As a politician with military strategic vision, he fortified coastal defenses in Penglai, Yantai, and Weihai before the First Sino-Japanese War. During the Sino-French War starting in 1883, the aging Ding Baozhen volunteered to defend the coast against the French, mobilizing weapons and ammunition produced by the Sichuan Machinery Bureau to support anti-French generals.

Photo: The Ding Baozhen Memorial Hall in Zhijin County, Bijie, Guizhou.

Photo provided by the Zhijin County Party Committee Propaganda Department / Photographed by Chen Zhongyong.

Later, Ding Baozhen dedicated himself to strengthening border defenses in Sichuan and Tibet, passing away while serving as Governor-General of Sichuan. Touching is the fact that despite his high salary of a thousand taels of silver monthly, his generosity in supporting education left him in dire financial straits. During his tenure, he often pawned his own clothes, waiting for his salary to redeem them. This renowned statesman from Guizhou, at the plea of Shandong's people, had his coffin transported to Jinan, where he was buried beside his wife at the foot of Huashan Mountain. The people of Shandong built a shrine in his honor—such was their admiration and praise.

The Self-Strengthening Movement was the first step in China's efforts to catch up with the West. Embracing new ideas and expanding education were visionary acts of self-renewal. From this perspective, the influence of Guizhou people on modern education and the formation of new national thought has been vastly underestimated!

Guizhou figures who advanced China's cultural and educational progress in modern times.

For example, Zhang Zhidong's father, Zhang Ying, emphasized education during his tenure in Guizhou. While serving in Xingyi Prefecture (today's Anlong, Guizhou), he sent officials to patrol the city, adding oil to the lamps of students studying late at night—a gesture that gave rise to the phrase "add oil" (jiāyóu, meaning "keep up the good work"). Zhang Zhidong himself vigorously promoted modern education. He helped draft the first modern school system, the Guimao Educational System, and authored the influential 40,000-word "Exhortation to Learning," urging national progress, with over two million copies printed. Additionally, in 1903, he and other high-ranking officials submitted the "Memorial Requesting the Gradual Reduction of the Imperial Examinations," repeatedly advocating for reforms that eventually led to the abolition of the examination system and the rise of modern schools.

By 1907, Guizhou Province had already established modern schools.

The image records the academic performance of a student in Guiyang.

Among the Guizhou figures who most profoundly influenced modern Chinese thought, Li Duanfen stands out.

In 1896, Li Duanfen submitted the "Memorial Requesting the Expansion of Schools" to the imperial court, advocating for the establishment of Peking University and a nationwide system of modern schools offering Western subjects, alongside libraries, instrument institutes (for Western scientific equipment), and translation bureaus. He laid the systematic foundation for China's modern education system.

Figure 1-3: Li Duanfen had a profound influence on the development of local education and culture in Guizhou.

The image shows the site of the renowned modern Dade School in Guiyang.

This high-ranking official, who rose to the position of Minister of Rites and served as the chief examiner for imperial examinations in multiple provinces, discovered numerous talents across the country. Two key figures of the Reform Movement, Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei, had deep connections with him.

While serving as an examiner in Guangdong, he mentored the 16-year-old Liang Qichao and, valuing talent, facilitated Liang's marriage to his own cousin. In 1897, when Germany seized Jiaozhou Bay, Kang Youwei submitted his "Fifth Letter to the Emperor," earnestly advocating for reform. No official dared to forward it except Li Duanfen, who risked submitting it alone.

A statue of Li Duanfen, with the words "Peking University" behind him,

marks his founding of the Imperial University of Peking (the predecessor of Peking University).

After the failure of the Hundred Days' Reform, Li Duanfen was exiled to Xinjiang but was pardoned midway and returned to Guiyang. There, he persisted in establishing the Jingshi Academy, continuing to teach Western academic ideas. Conservative scholars were appalled, condemning him with the words, "Even at death's door, he refuses to repent, daring to compare Confucius and Mencius to Rousseau." Despite widespread criticism, Li Duanfen held firm to his convictions, embodying the spirit of Chinese self-strengthening and renewal.

How can 38.56 million Guizhou people "ignite their passion for Guizhou"?

The October Revolution brought Marxism to China, awakening the masses and transforming the cultural landscape. During this time, the resilient people of Guizhou began to overtake others, evolving from followers to pioneers of the era.

The Lou Mountain Pass bears witness to the Red Army soldiers' indomitable spirit in overcoming formidable barriers.

The image shows a stone wall inscribed with Mao Zedong's poem "Recalling the Qin E: The Lou Mountain Pass."

In 1917, the 16-year-old Deng Enming left his Shui ethnic village to study in Shandong. He later became a delegate to the First National Congress of the CPC and one of the earliest organizers and leaders of the Shandong Party branch. Deng was executed at just 30, leaving behind a heroic final poem: "I fear not dying first, for successors will comfort me in the afterlife."

Wang Ruofei from Anshun, Zhou Yiqun from Tongren, Kuang Jixun from Sinan, Long Dadao from Jinping... These heroes from Guizhou emerged from the mountains to serve the nation. Another notable figure, Zhou Suyuan, founded Guizhou's first daily newspaper, joined the 1911 Revolution, and at 57, enlisted in the Red Army's Second and Sixth Corps. He fought across the Wumeng Mountains, climbed snow-capped peaks over 5,000 meters, and reached Yan'an, becoming one of the oldest participants in the Long March.

In January 1946, Wang Ruofei (center) participated in the famous Chongqing Negotiations.

The image shows the site of Dade School, where Wang Ruofei once studied and taught.

When discussing Guizhou's red culture, people often think of the Zunyi Conference. But the countless Guizhou revolutionaries form the true foundation of this legacy.

During the Anti-Japanese War, over 700,000 Guizhou "straw-shoe soldiers" left the mountains for battlefields like the Shanghai and Western Yunnan campaigns. Their blood and sacrifice carved a place for Guizhou in Chinese history. Guizhou had the second-highest enlistment rate per capita during the war, a period scholars identify as pivotal for the formation of a distinct "Guizhou identity." The heroic image of Guizhou people continues to shine through history.

Countless revolutionary martyrs emerged from Guizhou's mountains.

Two thousand years ago, the sage Yin Zhen could never have imagined that Zhengan, the cradle of Guizhou's education he pioneered, would become a "City of Music" through the efforts of its people—now producing one-seventh of the world's guitars.

In the 1980s, Zhengan people pioneered mass entrepreneurship among Guizhou locals. "Three Hundred Women Marching South to Guangzhou" became a local legend. Thirty years later, tens of thousands in the county tied their livelihoods to guitar manufacturing. This "Hometown of Chinese Guitar Making," where everyone plays and bands abound, embodies Guizhou's contemporary musical potential.

Young people making guitars in Zheng'an Guitar Town.

Guizhou people like this, strolling steadily and exploring new cultural trends, are now rising vigorously across Guizhou, even on national and global stages. There are "book lovers" who expanded a small bookstore from Zunyi nationwide, a Qiandongnan director who brought Guizhou's landscape charm to international film festivals, sports stars who ignited China's summer from deep in the mountains, and steadfast builders in the grand narrative of China's "thousand bridges," shouldering the backbone of Guizhou people's journey beyond the mountains.

At the Village BA site, a cultural fusion performance of "Miao Disco."

Together, they embody the diverse yet striving face of Guizhou culture, which is also part of the pluralistic unity of Chinese culture. That unhurried ease, seeking poetic leisure rather than great wealth, has a long history; that resolute determination to traverse mountains and serve the nation remains fierce!

In 2023, "Authentic Fengwu" presents

"Colorful Guizhou: Humanistic Landscapes · Peaks of Time" – a Guizhou culture feature!

Click the link to revisit the first article in this series—

How to understand the colorful cultural epic of China's first mountainous province?

The theme is interpreting the cultural face of Guizhou.

"Why Do Ancient and Modern People Shape Guizhou's 'Thousand Faces'?"

Take you to explore the colorful cultural face of Guizhou.

"Among Guizhou's 'Countless Mountains and Rivers,' How Did Guizhou People Open China's Eyes to the World?"

Take you to experience Guizhou's modern educational and cultural achievements.

">>>Click for an Immersive Cave Adventure<<< Guizhou's Cave Exploration!"

Take you to appreciate the profound cultural world within Guizhou's caves.

Image Editor | Chen Jinyu

Uncredited Photos | Chen Weihong

Graphics | Fish One, Jiuyang

Header Image | Huang Zhen, Liu Gang, Gu Jiajun, Feng Dawei, Chen Weihong, Li Lihong

Cover Image | Feng Dawei, Liu Gang, Gu Jiajun

Cover image provided by | Organizing Committee Office of Colorful Guizhou · China Original Ecological International Photography Exhibition

Former Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Guizhou Provincial People's Congress

Former Director of the Guizhou Provincial Research Institute of Culture and History, Chief Editor of "Guizhou Library"

Former Director of the Institute of History, Guizhou Academy of Social Sciences

Former Director of the Guizhou Provincial Local Chronicles Office

Member of the Guizhou Provincial Research Institute of Culture and History, expert in biographical history, author of "Six Thousand Juren and Seven Hundred Jinshi"

Zhou Su, Research Fellow at the Guizhou Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

Zhang Xiaosong, Former Dean of the School of International Tourism and Culture at Guizhou Normal University, Vice President of the Guizhou Tourism Association

Wang Xiaojia, Du Xia, Wang Hui, Wei Xing'e, Guizhou Provincial Nationalities Museum

Gu Ji et al., "Overview of Chinese Regional Culture · Guizhou Volume," Zhonghua Book Company

Pang Sichun, "Six Thousand Juren and Seven Hundred Jinshi," Guizhou People's Publishing House

Zhou Sheng, "Corners of Guizhou History—Little-Known People and Events in Guizhou's History," Confucian Academy Press

Qian Liqun et al., "Guizhou Reader," Guizhou Education Publishing House

Tu Guanglu, "Compilation of Characteristic Words in Guizhou Chinese Dialects," Guizhou University Press

Zhang Xiaosong, "Symbols and Rituals—An Illustrated Guide to Guizhou Mountain Civilization," Guizhou People's Publishing House

Zhang Xiaosong, "On Mountain Culture," Guizhou Education Publishing House

Dai Mingxian, "Old Stories of Anshun: A City's Memoir," People's Literature Publishing House

Official website of the Guizhou Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism

Guizhou Provincial People's Government—Statistical Yearbook

Official website of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China History Research Office

"The 14th Five-Year Plan for the Protection and Development of Ethnic Characteristic Villages in Guizhou Province"

Publicity Department of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee

Publicity Department of the CPC Zunyi Municipal Committee

Publicity Department of the CPC Bijie Municipal Committee

Publicity Department of the CPC Qianxinan Prefectural Committee

Publicity Department of the CPC Qiandongnan Prefectural Committee

Publicity Department of the CPC Huichuan District Committee

Publicity Department of the CPC Qixingguan District Committee