Tang Dynasty Crossing Guide: Chang'an and People's Life Manual

Chapter 2 Crossing the language barrier first (1)
Want to travel to Chang'an for overnight life?Uncle Chengguan welcomes you!

night ban system
When you have successfully traveled to Chang'an City or other cities, open your eyes and pay attention, first check whether it is day or night.

If you are lucky and there is a bright sun in the sky, you can safely praise the unpolluted tile-blue sky, pure white and pure white clouds, and fresh and refreshing air... If you are unlucky enough to land in the middle of the night, you will still If you are wandering on the 38 main streets of Chang'an City, don't look at the stars or the moon, from poetry to philosophy of life, hurry up and find a corner to hide!
So what if you don't hide?It's...not much, but after a while, teams of urban management on horseback come over to patrol and arrest people.Even if you escaped the police in the open, there are still some policemen visiting in the dark—the group of guys named Marquis Wu at that time.

If it falls into their hands, they will give you a slap in the face and knock out a few teeth, then they will be in a good mood and attack lightly.If you meet someone who just finished arguing with his wife and knelt down in the dice bowl, and beats you to death with a stick, or even hacks you to death, it will be considered as a normal performance of official duties, and maybe you can make a small contribution and get some rewards .

You deserve it, who told you to commit a night ban.

If you want to travel back to the Tang Dynasty and visit the night scene in Chang'an City, unless it is the "Shangyuan Festival" on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year, or if you have a good face and can get a special pass, you can go on the street after sunset. Walk legally.Otherwise, if you go out in the middle of the night, you will be raped or stolen, whether it is an official or a civilian, you will be caught, and you will be smoked without discussing it.

Are you afraid?What are you talking about, where can I hide?
This, you have to think about it carefully.The city of Chang'an was divided into more than 38 residential areas (squares) by 100 horizontal and vertical streets, and each residential area was surrounded by square walls and square gates.After the sun goes down, all the city gates and square gates are closed together, so if you want to sneak into any residential area to hide, it is technically difficult.

Come on, let me give you an idea.First of all, you try to run south along the main street. The people in Chang'an City live concentratedly in the north (where the palace and the government are located), and the population in the south is sparsely populated, so the city management will not be so intensive in patrolling.Then, make sure there are no patrols nearby, and you can try to climb the walls to enter the workshop—the walls of the workshop are not too high, and some may not reach people's shoulders, and it is still possible to climb over if you try hard.

But when climbing the wall, don't use too much force.Because those walls are made of rammed earth, they are easily loosened by the wind, sun and rain. If you accidentally knock down a large piece of soil and fall to the ground, the movement may attract crowds of onlookers.There is a Wuhou shop on every corner of the square, that is, the police station, and the policemen in the area also come out to watch, and your wall is considered to be in vain.

So is there any way to avoid the night ban without climbing the wall?Well... this... is also available, but I'm afraid you will be more reluctant to use it.

The main avenues in Chang'an City are very wide. Zhuque Avenue is as wide as 150 meters, and there are wide and deep drainage ditches on both sides of the street, with a depth of two to three meters.So, if you can hold your nose and jump into the gutter on the side of the street, soak in the sewage and rainwater, and curl up under the wall near the street to marinate all night, it is dark and there are no street lights, it is estimated that the city management who are running around on the street They cannot see you.

Of course, for a long time after that, I am afraid that wherever you go, people will smell you.

No matter what, if you are lucky enough to escape the night patrol team and stay tired, afraid, dirty and smelly until dawn, you will be able to witness a very spectacular sight—the bells and drums all over the city are announcing the dawn.

At three o'clock in the fifth watch on a winter night, and at two o'clock on a summer night (in ancient times, one night was divided into five watches, and one watch was divided into five o'clock), on the tower of the Chengtian Gate, the main entrance of Taiji Palace, the first sound of the Dawn Drum rang. The Drum Tower on the north-south street follows in turn.As the sound of drums spread from the inside to the outside, the gates of the imperial palace, the gates of the imperial office area (imperial city), and the gates of the various lifangs were all opened one by one.At the same time, more than [-] temples in the city will also ring the morning bells. The passionate drumming and the deep and distant bells are intertwined to wake up the entire Chang'an city and welcome the morning sun gushing out from the eastern sky.

How many times does the dawn drum sound?There are records of three hundred sounds, and there are records of three thousand sounds.However, no matter how many sounds, they are not knocked out all at once, but are divided into several waves, and the duration is relatively long.I estimate that if the residents were woken up by the first wave of drums in their sleep, slowly got up, put on clothes, washed their faces, combed their hair and went out, and walked to the gate of the workshop, it might be the time when the second and third waves of drums sounded. Not long after opening.If someone likes to stay in bed and sleep late, get up only at the end of the fourth drum, and rush to clean up, maybe he can go to work before the fifth drum is over.

Of course, there are also those who like to get up early and rush out of the workshop.Before dawn, there are often some people in each workshop gathered in front of the gate, waiting for the sound of Dongdonggu (the Changan people's oral and common name for Street Drum) to open the door and let them go.

Beside them, the snack bar in Fangmenli started to do business.The firewood under the stove is jumping brightly and warmly, and the shirtless barbarian master is making sesame seed cakes bang bang; the white air in the steamer is rising hot; When you bite into the cake, the oil flows smoothly into your mouth; the big bowl of soft noodle soup (bótuō) can be sour or spicy as you like.I'm so busy on the road that I don't want to fight for a moment, so why don't you have some breakfast first?If you are in a hurry to go to the pilgrimage and are afraid of being late, the shop also provides a take-away service!Of course, if the censor sees you eating pancakes on horseback while going to court, and you are impeached and demoted, it has nothing to do with the shop. ①
When it comes to commercial services in Chang'an City, if you want to go shopping and consume, there are two wrong impressions that must be corrected.

One kind of impression is obtained from modern town bazaars or "Surfing the River During the Qingming Festival". It is believed that there are many shops and stalls lined up on both sides of the main avenue of Chang'an City, soliciting business from passers-by, forcing the traffic flow on the street to concentrate on walking. Mixed with the shopping flow of passengers, it appears to be very popular and bustling.

It's a pity that you can't see this kind of scene after traveling to the Tang Dynasty.

① The allusion comes from Zhang’s "Chaoyeqianzai": "Zhang Heng, who was born in Lingshi... because he retired from the dynasty, he saw steamed cakes on the side of the road that were newly cooked, so he bought one of them, ate them immediately, and was played by the censor. Then the sky issued an order: 'Born out of the country, you are not allowed to enter the third grade.'" Then he fell into the armor.

Walking on the 38 main streets of Chang'an, you can see the compacted loess road under your feet, elm trees and locust trees lined up on both sides of the road, and the deep drainage ditch beside the road. Outside the ditch are the walls of each square. Inside the walls are deep houses and courtyards, temples and Taoist temples with cornices and heavy buildings.Occasionally, I can see a very imposing house, with its own gate opened on the wall of the square, with two rows of halberds lined up at the gate, guarded by soldiers and slaves.This is the home of princes, nobles, relatives and senior officials of the third grade or above. The door can only be opened to the street after special permission from the system. The doors of ordinary people can only open to the inside of the workshop.

Shops are not allowed on the streets, so where do you want to go for shopping—please ask how to get to "East Market and West Market", which are the two CBD central business districts in Chang'an City.

The Chang’an man who was stopped by you to ask for directions, told you kindly that you should first go to Zhuque Gate, the south gate of the imperial city, and walk along the East-West Street, and the place where you walk three lanes to the east is Dongshi, and you walk three lanes to the west. The place is the West Market—hey, noblemen, don’t panic, it’s still early, even if you rush to the East and West Markets, the market drums won’t sound until after noon, and the shops won’t be open.

There are market management committees (city bureaus) set up by the governments in both the eastern and western cities. Every day at noon, the drums in the two cities are beaten three hundred times, and the shops start to open.Seven quarters before sunset, when the gong is struck three hundred times, the shop is closed and the customers go home, and night shows are not allowed to play all night.After nightfall, there will be market security patrols, fire prevention, theft prevention and passer-by.

You said that the central business district is only open in the afternoon, and the time is too short?Alas, this is also because of the night ban.Citizens only start their activities every morning. Civil servants have to go to work in the morning, and businessmen have to stock up in the morning. The city of Chang’an is too big, and there were no cars and subways at that time. East City, West City.The pace of life in the whole society is slow, and it is neither necessary nor economical to operate 24 hours a day.

As for what you can buy in the east and west markets in the afternoon?That's a lot.Ladies like to shop in silk and satin clothing and hat stores, jewelry stores, rouge powder stores, gentlemen go straight to mule and horse stores, knife and gun stores, saddle and bridle stores, and scholars can go to graves and bookstores, and farmers carry fruits and vegetables The rice and wheat are sold in the market, and then the iron hoes and pottery bowls are bought. The merchants take money tickets to deposit and take out at the counter shop... You like to watch the excitement, there are acrobatics, a hundred operas, playing the piano, singing fortune-telling and divination on the street, and you are thirsty for walking. When you are hungry, there are restaurants, restaurants, fruit shops, pancake dumpling shops and other food places. If you don’t want to eat out, you can go to the fish shop butcher shop to buy raw materials and cook at home. If you can't sleep, there is a coffin shop.

In short, food, clothing, housing, transportation, life, old age, sickness and death, everything that mortals use is here. By the way, we now use the word "thing" to refer to everything in the world. There are many theories about its origin. The second city contains everything, so everything you buy is a purchase.

When it comes to the East Market and West Market, it is necessary to mention the second wrong impression that many people have about the commercial services of Chang'an City in Tang Dynasty.

Some people say that since shops are not allowed to open on the street, businesses are concentrated in the east and west markets, and the second city is closed at night, then Chang'an is a city without nightlife.There are no shops in the residential area of ​​Lifang, and the city is very deserted and boring, and there is no prosperity at all.

① Tomb Dian, the combined name of the three tombs (that is, the books of Fuxi, Shennong, and Huangdi), and the five canons (that is, the books of Shaohao, Zhuanxu, Gaoxin, Tang, and Yu), and later turned into a general name for ancient classics. In the Tang Dynasty Already refers to ancient books.

② Jisi, a shop that sells funeral supplies, quoted from the legendary novel "Li Wa Biography" of Tang Dynasty.

Don't listen to them, just think about it with your toes, how big is the scale of commercial activities in a big city with a population of over one million, how can the second city (Sifang, which only occupies more than 100 square miles in the city) be able to fully satisfy it? Woolen cloth?
As mentioned earlier, the East and West cities are only equivalent to the CBD central business districts of Beijing and Shanghai.In the more than 100 fang residential areas in the whole city, each fang has its own small commercial service facilities, which are equivalent to convenience stores, canteens, tailor shops, laundromats, vegetable markets, etc. in each community.

Moreover, the night ban in Chang'an City mainly targets the 38 vertical and horizontal arterial roads, and there are urban management patrols that prohibit walking on the streets at night.Once the gates of each workshop are closed, the night ban inside the workshop is not so strict.You are walking on the cross street in Fangli, and when you see a group of policemen coming from the opposite side, you quickly turn around and run into the alley, making a few circles, the Marquis Wu may not be able to catch you, and often Just open your eyes and close your eyes.The Fangli snack bar mentioned above is open to sell sesame seed cakes before the street drum is ringing before dawn, so no one cares, right? (I guess it is inevitable that the store owner will give the policemen some favors.)
So this caused a strange phenomenon: at dusk, the street drums sounded, about [-] beats in five waves, and the night fell and the market closed.On the streets of Chang’an, there is only the moonlight. In the two major CBDs, there are no lights and no human voices, but the neighborhoods are still lively.Some high-ranking officials stay up all night in their mansions, drinking and having fun, and the guests staying in the hostel drink some wine in the restaurant of the same square, flirt with the orchid who serves the wine, and make QQ videos, and they will not be swept up by the police. .

There are also some lifangs, the situation is a bit more special, such as Pingkangfang, which is adjacent to the west side of Dongshi, which is the most famous red light district in Chang'an City, and the famous flowers commonly known as Beili live here.In the Tang Dynasty, there was no rule that officials forbid prostitution. As for the scholars who came to take the imperial examinations, visiting confidante friends in Pingkangfang was a semi-official activity.So after nightfall, although the gate of Pingkangfang is closed, the Qinlou and Chu Pavilion in the square are still brightly illuminated, singing and dancing, going out and going in pairs, pouring lightly and singing softly...

Chongrenfang in the northwest of Dongshi is a place where hotels are concentrated.After you travel through time, if you are rich and powerful, but have not yet bought a house in Chang'an, I advise you to go to Chongrenfang to find a mansion to live in first.To the west of this square is the imperial city (the seat of government agencies), which is very convenient to go to the official election examination; to the southeast is Dongshi, which is convenient for shopping; to the south is Pingkang Square, which is convenient for talking to geisha ladies... Because of these benefits, This square has become the residence of literati who came to Chang'an from other places to evaluate officials and take part in the imperial examinations. The attached restaurants and restaurants and other service industries are also extremely prosperous and developed. It is full of noise day and night, and the lights are endless, just like the center of Chang'an City. Center for nightlife.

If you live in this square, you can invite friends you know over for dinner or something, and you won’t have to worry about finding an open hotel.But it should be noted that if your friend lives in another house, you can’t go back after dinner. You have to prepare a room or bed for them in your own place, or sleep on the same bed and look out at the stars from the window. Look at the moon, from poetry to philosophy of life, and enjoy the hard-won nightlife in Chang'an.

References & in-depth understanding recommendations for this article:
Yang Hongnian. A Study of the Two Capitals of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Wuhan: Wuhan University Press, 2005
Yang Hongnian. Sui and Tang Dynasties Two Jingfang Lipu. Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1999
(Qing) Written by Xu Song, updated by Li Jianchao. Added and updated Tang Dynasty and Two Capital Square Research (Revised Edition). Xi'an: Sanqin Publishing House, 2006
Wu Yugui. General History of Chinese Customs: Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties Volumes. Shanghai: Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, 2001
Who is calling "Taiba Huang"?That was Du Fu calling "Brother Taibai"...

Middle Chinese
When you traveled to the Tang Dynasty, what was the biggest difficulty you faced?

Hungry?Do not know the way?I'm afraid not, the folk customs of the Tang Dynasty are still very honest, and it is not too difficult to find someone to ask for a way to get some food.But the question is, can people understand what you are talking about?

If you don't believe me, let's try.

After landing, you find yourself in a dark courtyard.A bright moon in the sky illuminates the rockery, flowers and trees, and corridors on three sides in the courtyard.In front of the screen wall in the south, there is an old man with a shriveled face and a sad face, who is reciting the poem on the screen wall with his back:

"The gun really shines, and the mud smells fragrant. Gadou python fairy socks, I have to think about it-ah, it's too bad..."

This sigh is really lingering for three days, it's so faint... Why are you getting mosquito-repellent eyes, my guest?Can't understand what this old man is saying?Hey, how could it be possible, he read the most familiar and kindest Chinese, the Tang poem that a three-year-old child can speak aloud, the first chapter of early childhood education for young children!Let's take a closer look, what is written in the flying calligraphy on the wall?
"Looking at the moonlight in front of the bed, I suspect it's frost on the ground. Looking up at the mountains and moon, looking down at my hometown." ①
Wipe away your tears, it’s all right, the pronunciation of the ancients is quite tricky, it’s understandable if you don’t understand it... You ask this old man what does "Tai Ba Huang" mean?Uh, he is calling "Brother Taibai"...

Speaking of which, do you think the old man's appearance, clothes, and posture are familiar?Looking at his sad posture of sitting with his knees ②, looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, you can't help but see him carrying a carbine on his shoulder, riding a bicycle, riding a skateboard, riding a broom, playing basketball, carrying a bucket, playing computer, etc. Various heroic poses playing the guitar... Du Fu!Isn't this Du Fu, the poet saint who has become popular on the Internet recently and is so busy!
It's not easy to meet a historical celebrity in time travel!Hurry up and hook up!How to hook up?Of course, it is to recite other people's works by mouth, and go up to express the admiration accumulated for more than 1000 years.

What?You said that you can’t remember Du Fu’s famous works for a while?
① Li Bai's masterpiece "Thoughts at a Quiet Night" was in this version in the Song and Yuan books, and it was gradually changed to the more familiar version in the Ming and Qing Dynasties: "Moonlight in front of the bed... raise your head to look at the bright moon..." version.The specific process of textual research can be found in the article "Man Shuo "Quiet Night Thoughts"" by Xue Tianwei, No. 1984, 4, of "Knowledge of Literature and History".

② Sitting, a sitting posture in which the soles of the feet and the buttocks are on the ground, and the knees are raised.

Let me remind you, "Two orioles singing green willows" will always be memorized, right? —Wait, don't rush up, even if you can memorize, you speak pure 21st century mandarin, even Lao Du can't understand you, maybe you are a barbarian from somewhere!Our company provides a special service for the translation of ancient voices, but there is a charge... You can first provide a trial translation service for a poem, such as this poem "Two Orioles Singing Green Willows". Comrade America thinks so:

(End of this chapter)