Chapter 26 introduction

 Everyone says their hometown is good, and everyone says their hometown is beautiful.However, when I talk about Suzhou, I often feel that my writing is insufficient. This is because it is difficult to explain the changes in contemporary Suzhou in a few sentences and chapters.On this point, even the folks who live and fight in this hot land agree with me. What is contemporary Suzhou?Some people say that Suzhou is a model, some people say that Suzhou is a kind of spirit, and some people say that Suzhou is the road and direction of China's socialist modernization.In fact, from the day when Wu Zixu built "Helu City", Suzhou was destined to be a unique culture, a spiritual home engraved with China's unique culture and progressive pursuit.

The meaning of "paradise" mentioned by people is probably the spiritual home and destination of this unique oriental culture and striving pursuit. The term "heaven" has existed since ancient times, and it is the highest state of life pursued by the Orientals.We now use "moderately prosperous society" as a pursuit goal in this life. "The people are tired, but they can live in a well-off life." These words come from the book. It can be seen that the concept of "well-off" has existed in Eastern philosophy thousands of years ago. "Well-off" is a longing goal of the oriental people for the present life, and "heaven" is a kind of dream pursuit of the oriental for the future world. "Well-off" and "paradise" contain a kind of life philosophy pursuit of the oriental people for the real life and the idealized world in the future.

Suzhou has been called "paradise on earth" in ancient and modern times, and contemporary Suzhou is also a model and model of building a "moderately prosperous society" under the characteristics of Chinese socialism.I do feel somewhat underwhelmed.Because no matter from which angle and which aspect you tell about the development history of Suzhou in the past 30 years, it may be a masterpiece. Someone said to me: You should write about the history of education development in Suzhou.After a little research, I found that Suzhou in this area was so dazzling yesterday and today.

Yesterday's education in Suzhou can be said to be brilliant. There is Sun Wu, an ancient military educator, whose thirteen "Art of War" has been passed down for thousands of years.It is said that the king of Wu at that time wanted to test whether Sun Wu's art of war was effective, so he ordered him to train the maids. As soon as Sun Wu ordered the flag to come out, the two concubines of King Wu laughed and laughed, and Sun Wu immediately killed them. The court ladies who had no military knowledge Immediately drilled in awe, with a neat military appearance.Since then, Sun Wu's Art of War has become famous all over the world, and until today, it is still regarded as a classic by Chinese and foreign military academic circles.As a native of Suzhou yesterday, another educator I admire is Fan Zhongyan, a great thinker, statesman, and writer in the Song Dynasty.Fan Gong's "worry about the world's worries first, and enjoy the world's joys later" inspires people to put the world first and then the individual, which has become an eternal motto.When he was an official in Suzhou, he chose a place to settle down. As a result, Mr. Feng Shui saw it and said, "This is a treasured place for dragon heads, and the descendants of the Fan family will be high officials for generations."When Fan Zhongyan heard this, he immediately changed his mind. He funded the construction of a Confucian temple and a school by himself, creating the first county school in China to train high-level talents at that time. "I, Su, have the best county in the world, the best learning in the world, and the best talents in the world, that's great!" Fan Zhongyan praised in "Sujun Confucianism Xingxiu Ji".Since then, the style of study in Suzhou has been "the best in the world", so Suzhou talents have emerged in an endless stream, and it has become the cradle of outstanding Chinese talents.Later, the education trend in Suzhou was even more prosperous. Famous educators such as Kuang Zhong in the early Ming Dynasty, Kuai Xiang, the designer and architectural educator of the Forbidden City in Beijing, Feng Menglong, a literature educator, and Ye Ye, a medical educator in the Qing Dynasty Gui, Yu Yue, a character educator, and Shen Shou, an educator of Suzhou embroidery.There are more educators in modern times, such as Gu Jiegang, Ye Shengtao, Yan Wenliang, Xia Jianbo, Tan Jiazhen, Shi Jun, Qian Weichang, Zhang Guangdou...their existence has made the style of study in Suzhou, a rich land, a common practice. .When I was a child, I often heard adults often say "school bag turned over", which means that only by going to school can you liberate yourself, change your poor and humble status, and achieve your ideals.Emphasizing education and talents is the consistent concept of Suzhou people, and it is also the scripture that Suzhou has been able to flourish for thousands of years.In recent years, when I interviewed in a foreign land, I always heard a rhetoric: no matter how hard it is, children must not suffer, and no matter how poor, education must not be poor.That’s not what Suzhou people say. Suzhou people say: No matter how rich you are, you have to study hard, and if you are poor, you have to study hard.In the past dynasties, it goes without saying that Suzhou scholars were famous and became officials.Suzhou has always been the number one scholar in the old days, and there are even families like Weng Tonghe who have produced two or three champions.In contemporary times, Suzhou is also the area with the most academicians; and there are countless famous scientists, such as the famous founder of China Radio Li Qiang, the "two bombs and one satellite" fathers Wang Ganchang, Wang Daheng, Cheng Kaijia, chemical expert Zhang Qinglian, physicist He Zehui, water conservancy expert Lu Youmei, electronics scientist Wei Yu, Nobel Prize winners Li Zhengdao, Chu Stevens and great architect I.M. Pei are all from Suzhou.According to a survey conducted by relevant departments in Suzhou in 2005, it was found that among the nearly 100 academicians from Suzhou at that time, most of them were from poor families and were children of ordinary families. So it has become a model of "schoolbag turning over".

I know that in the eyes of my old family, money in the pocket is not something to show off, but if there is a child who studies well in the family, it can be greatly shown off.In the mouths of cadres, your GDP is not the most worth boasting of capital, but your school is well built, you have a lot of "champions", and your college entrance examination scores are among the top in the province and city, but you can do whatever you want. show off.There is another thing that Suzhou cadres can show off, and that is the collection of books at home.Every year in Suzhou, there is a book collection exhibition organized by the people spontaneously, and the judges of the "Book Fair" will comment.When the leaders of the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee and comrades in the Propaganda Department talked about this matter, they could chat with me for hours, and they would dance and dance, because they were all "number one scholars" in book collection.Suzhou people advocate reading and collecting books, which has added a lot to the civilization construction of this ancient and modern city, and at the same time injected a lot of knowledge into the quality of the citizens.

Someone told me that you should also write about the changes in urban construction in Suzhou.In fact, this is a question that is not in dispute at all.In the words of Professor Ding Zhaozhong, a Nobel laureate: “The shape of the old city of Suzhou has not changed, but the content has changed. Outside the old city of Suzhou is the new city of Suzhou, and the new city of Suzhou is the successor and innovator of the old city of Suzhou. Suzhou outside the city has long been an extremely beautiful city." These words sounded a bit convoluted, but Professor Ding gave an overview of the city of Suzhou today.

Compared with the "Helu City" built by Wu Zixu more than 2,500 years ago, the current Suzhou City has undergone great changes in both area and style, which is an inevitable historical development.But fortunately, Suzhou has put in unprecedented effort and capital investment in protecting the old city over the years.If you have the opportunity to visit Suzhou, you will find this.The protection of the ancient city is a big question, especially for a world-famous tourist city like Suzhou: on the one hand, it is a city whose overall style needs to be protected according to the regulations issued by the State Council; on the other hand, it has to It needs to be in line with modern civilized society.Protecting and transforming the ancient city is an arduous task for Suzhou people.Smart Suzhou people take the attitude that the old does not move. Not moving does not mean that it is absolutely the same. To keep it the same, you have to work hard when "moving".In order to "move" and "not move", the leaders of the recent Suzhou government have used their brains a lot, and have even been under various pressures.However, the effect of this kind of pressure is to allow the world to see the beauty, profundity and charm that flow between tradition and modernity, ancient and innovation in the ancient city of Suzhou—of course, the smooth flow that has the characteristics of an oriental water city. The charm, depth and beauty of culture and folk customs.They are still Guanqian Street, Ganjiang Road, Canglang Pavilion, Lion Forest, Huqiu Pagoda, houses with white walls and black tiles, alleys with fragrant flowers and trees, leaning towers of pavilions and gardens, small bridges and flowing water in our memory... Birds singing The flowers fall in the west and east of the house, and the cypress smoke and green taro are red.

The human way is that I live in the city, and I suspect that I am in the mountains.One day I was standing on the overpass at the intersection of the old city and the new city at the Ximen of Suzhou, and I couldn’t help but think of this poem written by the famous monk Wei Ze in the Yuan Dynasty. Suzhou people will have the feeling of "I live in the city as a human being, but I suspect that I am in the mountains"? The current Suzhou City has become one city and three bodies, that is, the original ancient city, the "New Suzhou" centered on the Suzhou High-tech Zone on the shore of Taihu Lake, and the "Old Suzhou" centered on the Suzhou Industrial Park bordering Shanghai on the east.They have three different characteristics of ancient, Chinese and foreign, which constitute the style and appearance of Suzhou City today. Its area is hundreds of times larger than "Helu City", and it has completely changed compared with Suzhou City 20 or 30 years ago.Residents living in Suzhou today are particularly happy. They can not only enjoy the charm of classical scenery, but also breathe the breath of modern cities, and can also integrate with the most perfect material civilization in the world today.If you want to relive the old city scene in Gusu, you can take a bus to Renmin Road, and then go for a walk on Guanqian Street; if you want to change the air and watch the blue sky, white clouds, birds singing and streams, you can ride or drive Go to the embankment of Taihu Lake next to the Sun Wu Pavilion, where you can return home at night, or enjoy the romantic atmosphere for half an hour or one afternoon; of course, if you are young, it is best to go to Jinji Lake in the east, where the age of The water yachts in the square and the lake can make you passionate...

Over the past two decades, Suzhou City has undergone historic changes, but one thing remains unchanged, that is, the protection of the ancient city.For this reason, the price paid by Suzhou people is also extremely expensive.Because history and reality, protection and reconstruction, are actually full of contradictions and oppositions.A Suzhou official told me that the people of Suzhou have such a strong sense of affection and protection for the old city that if you don’t have a good reason to convince him why he wants to move a brick or a tile, he will directly write a letter to Beijing Zhongnanhai to complain.I heard that there was a mayor of Suzhou City who was in office for three years and was scolded by the people for three years of "demolition".Later, the mayor was transferred away, and after the renovation of the old city and old streets that he advocated to transform, the common people often talked about his good work.This incident made me deeply understand the true meaning of "it is not easy to be a cadre in Suzhou".

The last sentence of "It is not easy to be a cadre in Suzhou" should be: Suzhou cadres must be good. The former is not easy, the latter is more difficult. However, the cadres in Suzhou rely on Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of "Three Represents" and the scientific outlook on development to guide their work, and have perfectly completed the task of governing one stick after another for decades, and one stick is stronger than the other. From the mid-to-late 1970s to the early 1990s, Suzhou achieved a great leap by vigorously developing township enterprises and created the famous "Southern Jiangsu Model".However, with the continuous deepening of reforms and the rapid rise of China's private economy, especially after the emergence of the "Wenzhou Model", Suzhou's township enterprise economic model has been greatly challenged.This happened in the mid-to-late 1990s, and Suzhou people at this stage were extremely painful.There are two roads before them: either continue to stick to the collective economic form dominated by the development of township enterprises and make a final struggle, or abandon it and take a new way to take off.Sticking to the old road is obviously ready to accept the reality of being outdated, and re-entering the new road may also face the fate of "death", because Suzhou has been at the forefront of national economic development before and has formed a well-known "Southern Jiangsu model".

It was a metamorphosis.A transformation that means self-denial, a transformation that means starting from scratch and starting from scratch. Whether the phoenix can be nirvana or not, the mountains and rains are about to come in and out of Gusu city... "Whoever dares to smash our machines, we will smash their skulls!" At that time, it coincided with the major adjustment of the national textile industry, and the state issued an order to "smash" tens of millions of spindles of textile machinery and equipment. Textile enterprises are the areas that bear the brunt of "smashing" textile machinery.Armed with shovels and hoes, hundreds of workers in a certain township blocked the factory gate and stood guard for three days and three nights. They wanted to fight to the death with the cadres who came to smash the ingots, and declared that they would "defend the achievements of socialism with their lives and blood"! The spinning machine still needs to be smashed, and it is smashed to pieces... The workers wailed. Another scene of workers crying bitterly: a group of workers angrily tore up their new work permits, shouting the slogan "Become a working class worker in a socialist enterprise, not a stinking coolie under the whip of a capitalist".They couldn't figure out why the system was changed, and they couldn't figure out that the factory they had built with decades of painstaking efforts would become a company under the name of someone overnight. The "capitalists" of the "capitalist"... Suzhou people's deep feelings for the "collective economy" are too strong, and many people did not fully realize that due to the unclear property rights, the extensive township enterprises were close to the direction of their own development. Doomsday facts.Of course, there are also some people who are worried that their jobs will be completely smashed, so they feel pain in their hearts. "Transformation!" "We must change the system with a fixed time and fixed tasks!" The death order of the municipal party committee, the death order of the county government, the death order of the town, the death task of enterprises and factories that have to be completed even after closing their doors! Heh, in those days, Suzhou was like a big ship floating on the sea, suddenly broke its mast and sail, and sailed around on the windy sea without knowing where to go... "Come on, take a look and see if you can go swimming in this small river..." "Come on, you guys smell why the river is smelly, and see if there are any fish swimming in the water..." "Come on, let's see why this peach blossom is no longer red and pink, but looks like it has been painted with ashes..." The cadres patiently led the former farmers who are now township enterprise workers to the riverside and the embankment, so that they can experience what they should pay attention to while developing and getting rich. Polluted rivers can be cured, peach blossoms covered with ashes can regain their fragrance after the rain, small fish can still swim happily when the rivers and lakes are cleared, but the products are wrong, the capital cannot be turned over, and the factories will close. This is the real self-sufficiency Perish! The cadres and masses in the whole city of Suzhou had to let go of the halo on their heads and began to reflect painfully... "Private enterprises in Zhejiang are very popular. Why do our products become more and more problematic? Others' enterprises are becoming more and more prosperous? What is the secret?" "There is no mystery. People's surnames are private, and our surnames are public: the difference in one word, the benefit and efficiency are ten times and a hundred times different. The competition in the market economy is so fierce, it is no wonder that we are undefeated!" Some people have "quietly revolutionized" in private - slowly decomposing the rigid enterprise distribution system and property rights system into collective, individual, and business owners, and even a complete private contracting system and a partial rental system ... The wind was blowing from the southeast corner, and it was blowing harder and harder.There was a strong "Wenzhou taste" in the wind, and it first blew to Shengze, the hometown of silk where Suzhou's township enterprises are at the forefront. "Across the river, their raw materials, their sales costs are low and low, and their profits are several times higher than ours, and the boss can cash them on the spot, even if they sell hundreds of thousands or millions of cash, there is no violation of regulations or discipline. But for us, the factory manager invited the merchants to a meal because there was no invoice, but he was said to be corrupt! I had no choice, and I was captured by Zhejiang people under such circumstances..." A person on the ground in Suzhou Having been cheated for 15 years as the factory manager of a township enterprise, he couldn't bear the temptation of Zhejiang people's annual salary of 50,000 yuan. He took more than 10 backbones across a small river of about ten meters, and settled in a private textile factory in Jiaxing, Zhejiang.In less than half a year, the factory director received a "dividend" of 200,000 yuan, and the more than 10 key employees also received a "bonus" of 40,000 yuan a year. A small river can separate two operating systems, but it can never separate the ears of ordinary people.So another ten or a hundred people from Shengze crossed the ten-meter-wide provincial river and came to Jiaxing and Huzhou in Zhejiang Province. They either joined the ranks of local private owners, or simply rented a few houses to start their own work up... "How is it? Which one is better for the benefit of the collective here?" "Needless to say! In the past, we did it for 'everyone', but now we do it for ourselves. What do you think is better than paying taxes?" People crossing the river said to those on the other side of the river. Then, another group of people crossed the river.This time, it is no longer just people from Shengze, but also people from Zhenze, and even people from Kunshan and Changshu outside of Wujiang, as well as people from Zhangjiagang and Laowu County. Suzhou felt an unprecedented crisis. This crisis not only reflected internal divisions, but also attacked and disputed the essence of the development of township enterprises by machine guns from outside. Radical negation is idealistic.Township enterprises in Suzhou have grown from scratch until they have become "half of the country". No one who seeks truth from facts can deny the huge accumulation and contribution it has brought to the country, the collective and the broad masses of the people - the small western-style buildings built by farmers in those years , The muddy rural ridges in the past have turned into concrete roads extending in all directions, and the great changes in public welfare undertakings such as schools, hospitals, libraries, etc., are they exchanged for gold and silver falling from the sky? No, nothing would be possible without a thriving, bustling, and fruitful township enterprise economy! People in Suzhou knew it well, and people outside Suzhou knew it later on—"paradise on earth" is not given by God, and heaven also depends on people's struggle and hard work. But at this time, Suzhou people are more aware of another point: any kind of innovative things will become rigid sooner or later, and sooner or later they will go to the opposite; only continuous innovation can maintain vitality forever.The achievements of ideological emancipation can only achieve sustainable development through continuous ideological emancipation. This is true of the "Southern Jiangsu Model", as well as other models.All patterns are but a signpost along the way.Self-denial of reality does not mean complete denial of history, but more respect for history and responsibility for the future. "It's time for township enterprises to reinvent themselves! The market competitiveness that doesn't separate government from enterprises, doesn't allow private capital to enter the production field, and doesn't pay attention to products are all obstacles to an open market economy. We need to adjust and continue to innovate." The leaders of the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government are clearly aware that the world industrial revolution after the 1990s has shown obvious characteristics of a globalized economy, and openness is its main feature; . Since it is an open type, our development direction cannot be a single "panacea".In other words, we want Zhejiang's private economic model, but we also need to absorb a large number of foreign-funded enterprises and take the road of export-oriented economy! "Opportunities always favor the prepared mind." Einstein, the founder of the theory of relativity, said so.At the severe historical turning point, the smart Suzhou people were more sober and superior than others: on the one hand, they dispatched thousands of cadres to help the township enterprises to transform their systems in an all-round way; Economic projects... Clenching two fists so tightly, with the force of thunder, over 98% of township enterprises have been transformed in just a few years, and enterprises of a certain scale have been concentrated in industrial parks above the township level , and at the same time adjust the industrial structure, "we need not only mountains of gold and silver, but also clear water and green mountains."This is a lesson learned by Suzhou people in the process of developing township enterprises, and it is also a hidden pain that has been black-painted in the halo of the "Southern Jiangsu model" - only when there is pain, can we learn from it.Preventing environmental pollution and protecting land resources: These are two major problems in the rapid development of Suzhou.The huge economic output and the influx of labor force make Suzhou people even more "uneasy despite being rich".For this reason, they set an iron law for themselves: the red line of 3.8 million mu of basic farmland protection that no one can touch.Then they put forward the experience that was later spread throughout the province and even the whole country - the "three concentrations" of industries concentrated in industrial parks, population concentrated in towns, and residential buildings concentrated in communities.Therefore, there is a rigid indicator of "land investment intensity" in attracting investment: the investment in each mu of land must reach more than 5 million yuan, otherwise there is no way to get started. "Green Suzhou", "Ecological Suzhou", "Cultural Suzhou" and "Safe Suzhou" were proposed one by one under such circumstances, and each one was actually implemented. Greening and gardening are the traditions and expertise of Suzhou people.With their unique intelligence and wisdom, Suzhou people once again used the skills of building classical gardens to outline a new territory of modern economy. This new territory of Suzhou was fully formed in 2004 and 2005. In 2001, Suzhou was selected as the top ten most dynamic cities in China and won the only annual award.By the end of this year, the green coverage rate of urban Suzhou will reach 40%, and the per capita public green area will reach 8.6 square meters.There is a small amusement park 350 meters away for residents in the ancient city.The city has built 2 provincial nature reserves, 19 scenic spots above the county level and 5 forest parks above the county level.The protected area accounts for 10% of the city's area, and the overall environmental quality index of Suzhou City reaches 87.4 points, ranking among the best among key cities in the country. In the eyes of ordinary people in Suzhou, there is another new scene of development: the buildings have been converted into small villas and small manors, the river water has begun to see the bottom, fish are playing on the water again, and egrets are flying all over the lakes and ponds... In that year, the US "Newsweek" published an article, recommending nine emerging technology cities in the world that are considered important in the information age.They are Oakland, Omaha, Tulsa, Huntsville, and Akron in the United States, Campina Grande in Brazil, Barcelona in Spain, Suzhou in China, and the French Riviera.Coincidentally, the "New York Times" shortly afterwards also named the top 10 cities with the most competitiveness and best investment in the world, and Suzhou was also listed. At this time, many overseas media evaluated Suzhou as the first place in the investment environment of Chinese cities. In 2005, Suzhou was even more remarkable: the city's GDP was equal to the national total in 1982.As soon as the GDP statistics of this year were released, Suzhou's ranking among large and medium-sized cities in the country jumped from seventh to fourth.The total output value of industries above designated size has jumped from the sixth place in the country to the second place in the country (after Shanghai), and the net income of farmers is the first in the country... The "Southern Jiangsu Model" seems to have not dissipated, while the "Suzhou Phenomenon" has once again become the focus of the country and attracted worldwide attention. "Suzhou is developing well. It should take the lead in realizing a moderately prosperous country and basically realizing modernization in the whole country." The two general secretaries Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao respectively issued orders to Suzhou in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Comrade Li Yuanchao, who was the Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee at the time, got the order, and in the past two years, in order to guide Suzhou's "two firsts", he ran to Kunshan no less than seven times. "Suzhou has the ability and strength, so it should take on this mission!" Li Yuanchao always emphasized this sentence every time he came to Suzhou. The Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and Li Yuanchao are telling the truth and doing practical things. "Two take the lead" in their hands is not a simple slogan, but a hard-hitting "4 categories, 18 items and 25 comprehensive indicators".The first category is economic development indicators, which specifically include per capita output value, the proportion of secondary and tertiary industry added value in regional GDP, urbanization level, and urban registered unemployment rate. "The core issue of realizing a well-off society in an all-round way is to improve the quality of life of the people. We must give priority to enriching the people, take the people's personal experience as the basis, and take the satisfaction of the broad masses of the people as the standard." The provincial party committee document clearly stipulates this.Li Yuanchao put it more bluntly and resolutely: "Farmers whose net income is less than 8,000 yuan will be vetoed by one vote!" Huang Quanbao, a villager in Jinghe Village, Kunshan, has the deepest experience in this regard. Just after the New Year in 2003, a distinguished guest came to Huang Quanbao's home. He was Comrade Li Yuanchao, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee.That day, under the guidance of Lao Huang, Secretary Li walked upstairs and downstairs, front and back of the house for a long time.Then Secretary Li had a knee-to-neck chat with him, and asked Lao Huang how much "well-off level" he felt.Lao Huang talked about his feelings with the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, just like chatting with his brothers, such as feeling that "the income is a little bit less", "the roads in the country are not good enough", "especially the trees are a little less"... Li Yuanchao He listened carefully, nodded frequently, and wrote down Lao Huang's words in a small notebook from time to time.Three years later, on February 10, 2006, Huang Quanbao received Secretary Li Yuanchao again at his home.This time Secretary Li met and asked seriously: "Do you think the current life is considered well-off? Are there more trees than 3 years ago?" Huang Quanbao did not expect that Secretary Li would remember what he said about "chatting about family affairs" three years ago So clear, he nodded again and again: "The income is high, there are more trees, and the life of our people can really be called a well-off life!" Then he pointed his fingers and said to Secretary Li: My family opened a packaging company with an annual income of 10. The annual income from house rental is 30,000 yuan; plus other income such as dividends from the Fumin Cooperative, the annual income is about 180,000 yuan. "There is income security and social security, so I feel that my life is really well-off!" Lao Huang smiled happily, which also made Secretary Li Yuanchao show a gratified smile on his face... In fact, during the three-year "two first" construction, the vast majority of Suzhou people felt the same as Huang Quanbao.They deeply realized that under the leadership of the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government with Secretary Wang Rong as the squad leader, various tasks and fronts in Suzhou will be better achieved with higher revolutionary enthusiasm and down-to-earth spirit under the guidance of the scientific outlook on development. It has carried forward the tradition of being brave in reform, innovation and striving to be the first, especially in improving the living standards of the people, promoting the harmonious development of the society, and enhancing the competitiveness of the region.They lived up to the expectations of the party leaders and superiors.By 2008, the city's GDP will be 2,230.302 billion yuan, the total fiscal revenue will be more than 150 billion yuan, the per capita disposable income of urban residents will be 23,867 yuan, and the per capita net income of farmers will be 11,680 yuan. Such a series of numbers may not feel much in the eyes of ordinary people, but if you are a ruler or leader of a place, you know its weight.First of all, Suzhou is compared with itself. The GDP in 2008 was more than 45 times that of 1978 (15 times the national rate year-on-year). Suzhou’s average growth rate in the past 30 years exceeded 14%, which was more than 4 percentage points higher than the national rate in the same period.With less than 0.1% of the country's land area and less than 0.5% of the population, Suzhou has created 2.3% of the country's GDP, 2.4% of its fiscal revenue and nearly 10% of its total import and export volume.Secondly, the level of GDP per capita is far ahead of the whole country.In the early stage of reform and opening up, Suzhou was only about two-thirds higher than the national level, but now it is five times the national average level, and has entered the ranks of high-income countries and regions designated by the World Bank.It took only 6 years for Suzhou to raise its per capita GDP from US$3,000 to US$10,000, while Japan and the "Four Tigers" in Asia took an average of about 10 years.The third is that the level of affluence is ahead of the whole country, and the income gap is lower than that of the whole country.Suzhou's current urban residents' disposable income and farmers' per capita net income are about 50% and 150% higher than the national level, respectively.The income gap between urban and rural areas in Suzhou is 2:1, and the current national index is 3.33:1, which means that while Suzhou has created an astonishing amount of social wealth, the majority of the people have fully shared this wealth. This is Suzhou today! What does it mean to enrich the people and strengthen the country?What is the creation of a nation?What is the great spirit of the times? Suzhou is.The development of Suzhou contains all the signs of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Suzhou's contribution, creation, and spirit of Suzhou are just like today's China's contribution to the development of the world economy and its role in the progress of human civilization. You cannot ignore it, nor can you not be impressed by its brilliance and greatness.However, many people don't really understand Suzhou, or what the "Suzhou spirit" is.They simply regard Suzhou as a "good place" - good natural conditions, smart people, and many opportunities.They don't know that these "good natural conditions", "smart people" and "many opportunities" in Suzhou are not born, but the sweat of Suzhou people, even bloody sacrifices, and thousands of years of trials and setbacks. What has been exchanged is the self-cultivation, spirituality, culture and philosophy that surpass others through such thousands of years of trials and setbacks. In fact, the self-cultivation, spirituality, culture and philosophy possessed by Suzhou people have already begun to appear from their ancient ancestors—— It is hard to imagine that if the two brothers Taibo and Zhongyong hadn't come to the Jiangnan wetlands at that time because of humiliation and bearing humiliation, "cutting hair tattoos" and developing the wilderness, how could Wu be so great?What is "broken hair tattoo"?It was because Wu land was full of barren waters at that time, and long hair fluttering was not conducive to working, so I had to "cut my hair".At that time, Wudi, which was close to the sea, was often flooded. People in the ignorant age thought it was a "water monster", so they tattooed patterns on their bodies and dressed up like monsters, trying to resist the attack of water monsters with poison.It is said that Zhongyong had a little granddaughter named Nvhong, who was sewing in the inner room next door that day, and heard that his grandfather Zhongyong accidentally pricked his finger with a needle when he was discussing with the villagers how to reduce the infection caused by "tattooing". , blood dripped on the cloth.In order to cover up the bloodstains, Nuhong embroidered a plum blossom on the bloodstains with silk thread.Unexpectedly, this accident gave her a sudden inspiration: why not tattoo the pattern on the body on the clothes?Touched by her own inspiration, Nvhong embroidered a patterned dress with multicolored silk threads for seven consecutive days and nights.The person who tried on the embroidered clothes was none other than her grandfather Zhong Yong.Putting on the embroidered clothes, Zhong Yong couldn't wait to jump into the water to see the effect. It is said that the water snakes and others fled in fright when they saw this beautiful "monster".So Zhongyong happily ordered Gouwu to promote this kind of embroidered clothes to replace tattoos.From then on, embroidery flourished in the state of Wu, and no one was afraid of the "water monster" any more.The earliest "Su embroidery" was born in this way, and the former embroidery lady was also called "Nvhong".There is another theory about the birth history of "Su embroidery".The first local chronicle of Suzhou, "Wuyue Spring and Autumn" written by Zhao Ye of the Han Dynasty, said: "Yu Nai climbed the mountain, screamed to the sky, and suddenly fell down. Because he dreamed of a man in red embroidered clothes, he called himself the envoy of Xuanyi Cangshui. "This article tells that Dayu, who came to Wu before Tai Bo and Zhong Yong brothers, had to run around naked all day long in order to mingle with the natives, suffering unspeakably.So Dayu thought hard about the solution.One day Dayu claimed to have dreamed of an envoy sent by God, wearing dragon pattern embroidered clothes.The superstitious ancient people learned from angels as soon as they heard it, and since then they have worn embroidered clothes, replacing the previous custom of tattooing.It seems that no matter who invents embroidered clothes to replace tattoos, the birth of "Su embroidery" has the price of blood and tears. It's hard to imagine, if Wu Zixu didn't suffer the pain and shame of killing his father and family, how could he, as the son of a minister of Chu State, be a beggar on the streets of Wu State?It is precisely because of the heavy use of the king of Wu that he wrote a letter "To build a strong country, you must first build a city", and spent seven years "similar to the soil and taste the water, like the sky and the earth", and built the "Thursday Eleven Li Twenty-one With a step of two feet, there are eight Lumen gates, and the second has buildings. The "Wu Dacheng" of the eight water gates is the ancient Suzhou city, also known as "Helu City".Gusu City, which has lasted for more than 2,500 years, is still amazingly called the "Oriental Water City" of paradise on earth, because its design can be called "advance and retreat", "attack and defense" and a classic architectural design that is convenient for life and extends in all directions. .Wu Zixu is not actually an architectural expert, but his strong desire to revitalize Wu and conquer Chu made him devote himself to Suzhou City far beyond the wisdom and art of any great architect.Those who are interested can still experience the superb art of making the most of the situation when Wu Zixu built the city while walking through the old city of Suzhou. "Chess stands in squares and cities, and bridges stand side by side."Neighborhoods and rivers in the old city of Suzhou run parallel to each other, with one street and one river. Streets, alleys, bridges, shops, temples, houses, ports, government offices, etc. are all arranged facing the street and water.The front door is along the street, the back door is facing the river; the front door is a royal car, and the back door is boarding a boat: it has a unique water town scene of the "double chessboard" pattern that Suzhou people often say now that "people walk on the stone street in front of the door, and boats in the river behind the house".This "double chessboard" pattern later played an important demonstration role for Suzhou and even the entire Jiangnan water town. "Twenty-eight city gates opened the way, and five thousand soldiers and horses led the banners."There were eight gates in the ancient city of Suzhou, which played an extremely important role in restraining the invasion of foreign enemies, reaching all directions, and helping the people to strengthen the country.Yangliu Changmen Road, the long and sloping water bank.Take a boat to the mountain temple, and wear shoes to the fisherman's house.The ancient city of Suzhou can leave the poetic and picturesque feeling of "little bridges, flowing water, and people" that will never be forgotten by today's people, which is a kind of eternal object culture and flowing philosophical meaning.Every river, every city gate and every street brick in it contains the profound traces of years of honing and the joys and sorrows of the world. Most people think that Suzhou, a water town in the south of the Yangtze River, only has water and bridges, or only rivers, lakes and ponds.In fact, there are many mountains in Suzhou.Although these mountains are not comparable to the five mountains of China, almost every mountain in Suzhou is full of spiritual beauty.Although Wushan Mountain by the Taihu Lake is not high, it stretches for dozens of miles. Because it lies on the edge of the Taihu Lake waters, it is often reflected in the vast lake water, as if it is a natural picture.Lingyan Mountain in the northwest of Mudu, a famous town, may be a representative of the mountains in Suzhou. It is surrounded by peaks and ridges. From north to west, there are Tianping, Saishan, Yinding, Qionglong, Xiangshan, Qingming and other mountains. From south to east, there are Hengshan Mountains. Huangshan, Shishan, and Lengjiashan can be described as the genus of peaks and ridges, which may rise or fall, while Lingyan lives in the middle, independent and tall, so it is called "the first peak in Wuzhong". Many mountains in Suzhou grow in the water of the lake. For example, there are seventy-two peaks in the vast 800-mile Taihu Lake.It is so beautiful that you can only know its indescribable beauty by sitting on a boat on the lake or sitting quietly by the fishing dock. Someone compares the seventy-two peaks of Taihu Lake to green snails floating in a crystal plate, which is an excellent metaphor.Just imagine, you take a boat on the lake, close your eyes, and then suddenly open them again, only to see the rippling Taihu Lake under the blue sky and white clouds is like a huge crystal plate, and the emerald green peaks are as big as snails, The small ones are like snails, one here, one there, adsorbed on this plate, how pleasing to the eye, how poetic!If you can observe patiently in the morning and evening, you will also find that the "green snail on the plate" is moving and changing, sometimes it is high in the sky, sometimes it hides on the ground, sometimes it fluctuates with the waves, and sometimes it solidifies into a The lake itself... This is Miaoshan, the spiritual peak of Suzhou.It looks silent, but it often brings us unexpected and unpredictable changes; it seems quiet and dull, but it suddenly surges with passion, moving and shocking the world. "Mountains use water as their blood, vegetation as their hair, and smoke and clouds as their spirit. Therefore, mountains are alive with water, lush with vegetation, and beautiful with smoke and clouds. Water takes mountains as its face, pavilions as its eyebrows, and fishing as its Spirit, so the water is beautiful when it comes to mountains, bright when it is a pavilion, and open when it is fishing. If you have water, you will be happy; all the water in the world will stop when you have mountains.” Only when there are mountains and waters, and the mountains and rivers depend on each other, can there be intoxicating scenic spots. The mountains in Suzhou are just like that.The mountains in Suzhou also remind me of an ancestor in Suzhou, who is of course Sun Wu, the creator of the art of war. Before Wu Zixu came to the state of Wu, Sun Wu lived in seclusion in the mountains and forests near Huqiu by Taihu Lake.Later, together with Wu Zixu, he helped King Helu of Wu defeat Chu and dominate China.But later the king of the country, Fuchai, refused to listen to Wu Zixu's persuasion, and was perished by Goujian, the king of Yue who had been struggling for ten years.Sun Wu looked coldly at the current situation, especially at the tragic death of his good friend Wu Zixu, and was deeply saddened. Since then, he has lived in seclusion in the mountains for decades.Sun Wu devoted himself to revising the 13 Art of War written in the past to make them more perfect.This military book made Sun Wu one of the three greatest thinkers who were as famous as Confucius and Lao Tzu in the Spring and Autumn Period of China, and it will shine for thousands of years. I often think that people say that the character of Suzhou people is made of water. It is cultivated by the softness of water, the fertility of the land and the abundance of sunshine. It seems that they can succeed in everything.Is this really the case?No also.After listening to the story of Sun Tzu, maybe you will have another understanding of where Suzhou people's intelligence comes from. The greatness of Sun Tzu's Art of War is that it is full of simple materialism and dialectics.Sun Tzu believes that everything in the world is constantly moving and changing, and emphasizes that conditions should be actively created in war, and people's subjective initiative should be brought into play, so as to promote the transformation of the opposite side in a direction that is beneficial to oneself.What a superb art of thought for the ancients!We are most familiar with Sun Tzu's famous assertion that "know the enemy and know yourself, and you can win a hundred battles without danger". His profound philosophical thoughts and dialectics are not only military theories, but also magic weapons used by human beings in various social activities.The famous American economist Hodgiz pointed out in the book "Enterprise Management": "Many principles and principles revealed in "Sun Tzu's Art of War" are still unbreakable and still have their application value." "The Art of War Management Encyclopedia" pointed out: "It is more reasonable and effective to use the Chinese art of war thought to guide the management of enterprises than the American enterprise management method." Since Sun Wu taught the art of war for thousands of years, military, diplomatic, economic Many of the various battles between cultures and cultures can be resolved by using the thought of Sun Tzu's Art of War. Suzhou people are the descendants of Sun Wu, they are the most thorough and familiar with the art of war left by their ancestors.People who have mastered such skills can overcome even the greatest difficulties they encounter. I also thought of another great ancestor of Suzhou. He was Fan Zhongyan, a reformist thinker, writer, military strategist, and upright official in the Song Dynasty. In 1014 AD, Song Zhenzong, who was obsessed with Taoism, led his officials to Bozhou to make a pilgrimage to the Taiqing Palace.The mighty cars and horses passed by Nanjing, causing a sensation in the whole city, and people rushed to see the emperor.There was only one student who stayed behind closed doors and still buried himself in his studies.Seeing this, the classmate called him: "Go and see, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." But the student who was immersed in the book said casually: "It's not too late to see you in the future." He just continued to read his book.Sure enough, in the second year, the student became a Jinshi and met the emperor.He was Fan Zhongyan who later became a famous prime minister in the Song Dynasty.Fan Zhongyan is from Suzhou.Due to the early death of his father, Fan Zhongyan had a very difficult life when he was a child, and he went to Shandong with his remarried mother when he was a baby.The little Fan Zhongyan, who was dependent on others, was aggressive and loved learning. Later, he never forgot the sufferings of the people after he became an official, and advocated reforming the old ways to cure the country's ills. That's why he had the saying "worry about the world's worries first, and enjoy the world's joys later". Great ideals and minds.他“不以物喜，不以己悲”的崇高人品和闪光思想在那篇传世之作的《岳阳楼记》中淋漓尽致地得到了发挥升华…… 吴国之地的苏州，历史上出过无数伟大的思想家。他们的产生与存在，注定了这块沃土的富饶与强大，丰收与壮美。 继承，可以使并行者比别人多一份智慧和聪明；而不断地创新与追求更使自己比他人具有更多的本领、耐力和勇气。苏州人属于这种人，属于这样的一个群体。他们总比别人走得快些，攀得更高些，并且永不停步地奔走在前面——几千年来始终如一…… 不再像二三十年前从京城回一趟老家要走一两天，现在两三个小时就能抵达，借助手机、网络和电视的帮助，想了解故乡的每一天情况和每一个进步，极其便捷。因此像“小安小富，不满小胜，不守不成”这样的话，我常听老家的干部和群众说。何谓“小安小富，不满小胜，不守不成”？言下之意是：现在的苏州是追求的大富、大胜和大成。 呵，大富、大胜、大成者苏州也。 呵，大富、大胜、大成者自然是苏州，自然是我的那可爱、可敬的父老乡亲！ 然而有谁将苏州人的大富、大胜、大成者的品质与其来源真正挖掘和总结出来了呢？ Have.但似乎又很不够。 新中国成立以来，特别是改革开放30多年来，苏州的发展与进步举世瞩目。有人也对此总结和提炼出了诸如“苏南模式”、“苏州精神”、“苏州之路”等说法，可什么是真正的“苏南模式”、“苏州精神”和“苏州之路”的灵魂与核心呢？又是什么东西真正形成了这种“苏南模式”、“苏州精神”与“苏州之路”呢？ 答案并不明了。 我是苏州的儿子，苏州是我的故乡。我想寻找这种答案，寻求故乡进步与发展的灵魂与血源——