A promo video on Nanjing’s bid to become a United Nations City of Literature has gone viral on the Internet. The promo highlighted Nanjing’s literary heritage that is expected to make the city the first UNESCO City of Literature in China.
UNESCO's City of Literature program is part of its Creative Cities Network which was launched in 2004. The Network was born out of UNESCO's Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity initiative which was created in 2002. Its aim is to "promote the social, economic and cultural development of cities in both the developed and the developing world." The cities in network promote their local creative scene and conform to UNESCO’s goal of fostering cultural diversity.
To be approved as a City of Literature, cities need to meet a number of criteria. In essence, these include the quality, quantity and diversity of publishing in the city, the quality and quantity of educational programs focusing on domestic or foreign literature at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, literature, drama and/or poetry playing an important role in the city, hosting literary events and festivals which promote domestic and foreign literature, existence of libraries, bookstores and public or private cultural centers which preserve, promote and disseminate domestic and foreign literature, involvement by the publishing sector in translating literary works from diverse national languages and foreign literature, and active involvement of traditional and new media in promoting literature and strengthening the market for literary products.
So far, UNESCO has designated 20 cities of literature, including Krakow, Edinburgh, Heidelberg, Iowa City and more. If approved, Nanjing would become the first Chinese city to receive this honor among UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network.
The 2,500-year-old Nanjing has been recognized as a city of poetry, a city of Buddhism and a hub of literature with a history of literature of over 1,800 years. The sacred arch at the Confucius Temple reveals that Nanjing has been the center of literature since ancient China.
With the sun setting in on Wuyi Lane, children were seen reading books quietly inside the Junhui bookstore, which is rebuilt on a model of a traditional building. Elders were seen practicing calligraphy on the park ground, and the eyes of students were sparkling from reading literature books in their schools.
Every moment in the promo is lifelike as if it were a piece of painting. The first interviewee in the promo is made with Mr Bi Feiyu, the winner of Mao Dun Literature Prize, one of the most prestigious literature prizes in China. “The city’s heritage with literature is quite natural.” said Bi, “From my point of view, Nanjing is the city of literature and arts with so many outstanding men of letters such as Wang Xizhi, Li Bai, Can Xueqin, to name just a few. They all had a connection with this city and left behind their foot prints here.”
Ye Zhaoyan, a renowned writer native to Nanjing, wrote an inscription “The city of literature” to endorse Nanjing’s bid. Ye said that no other cities in China are more qualified for the title than Nanjing, adding that from the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty examples of Nanjing’s heritage with literature are innumerable, illustrated by such writers as Li Yu, Yuan Mei, Wu Jingzi, Zhang Henshui in the Qing Dynasty. These men of letters from other provinces came to Nanjing and did a great job to make their works eternal classics. They became part of the city’s Art History, the Cooking History, the Literature History and the News History. Each place has its streams in from all over the country, and Nanjing was the center of literature.
“From the perspective of either time or space, Nanjing has the potential to be the city of literature, as the city is full of the sense of literature.” said renowned author Lu Min, “And people in Nanjing have developed their view from an international aspect and they have the patience to read. They respect authors.” Nanjing has the history and the basics for international communication. Gérard Gréverand, the French writer and leader of the French Alliance in Nanjing has fallen in love with this city since he came here, and the tidings of his life in Nanjing have become the source for his books. “Nanjing deserves to be selected as the city of literature.” said Gréverand.
People in Nanjing are endorsing Nanjing’s bid for the title. “Running ostrich” reposted the promo by adding a hashtag “I’m proud of introducing Nanjing to the entire world as a lot of Chinese idioms have their roots in Nanjing.” “Wind blowing rain” from Yunnan said that “Each time I came to Nanjing, I had a special feeling that was very hard to express but I can feel it by heart. Perhaps that was the feeling of culture and history."
（Editor / Chai Yixuan Zhou Anqi）
