THE CONSTRUCTION OF WEN ZHOU LOCAL CULTURE AND THE YONGJIA INTELLECTUAL TRADITION DURING THE QING DYNASTY

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the construction and spread of regional elite culture in poetry, philosophy, and examination preparation in Wenzhou during the Qing Dynasty, as well as the negotiations of cultural identity between official ideology and elite local consciousness. In the process of cultural construction, not only did Wenzhou elites fall back on local cultural resources such as the Yongjia intellectual tradition to express their identity and build regional cultural landscapes, but they were also influenced by factors outside Wenzhou including national policy and academic trends.

The complex and varied cultural activities in Wenzhou challenge the conventional wisdom of understanding the Yongjia School in the 19th century as a sudden response to external factors and equating the Yongjia School as the unchanging and dominating cultural representation of Wenzhou. In short, this study does not intend to explore what Wenzhou's local culture is, but to consider the process of how it was shaped.