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

Chapter 35 We celebrated festivals like this more than 1000 years ago (2)
You make excuses to stroll through this long fleet, hoping to peek at the tightly strapped boxes on the big cargo ship in the middle when no one is looking, but the guards on the ship are very vigilant and the packaging is too heavy It is so strong that it is impossible to tear it apart by yourself. (You murmur in your heart: It would be great if the courier company was so responsible when I was shopping online before crossing.)
I have no choice but to ask the servant to drink a jar of wine, and one night, I invite the "mirror officer" in the fleet to come over, drink a few big bowls of yellow soup, make him dizzy, and reveal the secret to you.

Yangzhou's skillful craftsmen are well-known all over the world, and mirror caster Lu Hui is a master of them.One year when he was casting mirrors, an old man came suddenly, claiming to be named Long Minghu, who knew how to make "true dragon mirrors". He entered the casting furnace room and closed it for three days. A piece of plain silk, on which it says: "Plating dragon, panlong, hidden in the mirror. There are images in different fields, and the changes are endless. Clouds and fog are blown, and rain produces wind."

Lu Hui then carried the casting furnace onto a big ship and moored in the center of the Yangtze River. On the fifth day of May that year, it was cast into a precious mirror and presented to the palace.The mirror is nine inches in diameter, green and dazzling, with a dragon pattern on the back. It is said that a few years later there will be a severe drought in the world. There is a Taoist holding the mirror to make it. From then on, Yangzhou will cast a batch of bronze mirrors in Jiangxin on the fifth day of May every year, polish them over the years, and present them to the capital at the Dragon Boat Festival the following year.

Of course, it’s too shabby for the officials of the feudal borders to give gifts to the emperor. Just sending mirrors is too shabby. The fleet is also loaded with gold and silver colored satin, delicacies and medicines, special products in the south of the Yangtze River, and rare birds and animals. The boat enters Hangou ① in a mighty manner, turns to the Huai River, enters Tongji Canal, blows willows in the wind during the day, and sings poems under the moon at night, and plunges straight into Luoyang.

It is not easy to enter Guanzhong by water from Luoyang. We have to abandon the boat and land, move the goods to the car, enter Tongguan by land, and transport them to Chang'an at the end of April.

It was near the Dragon Boat Festival, and the city of Chang'an was already very hot.Under the scorching sun, you escorted this group of trucks to walk on the wide street with flying loess, and sent them to the Zhongzang warehouse in Miyagi for storage. You also have to report the list of tributes to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and forward them to the emperor Lao Er Laughing, it was very hard work.

But this is not the end, according to the unspoken rules of my celestial dynasty since ancient times, it is absolutely not acceptable for local tributes to Beijing to be sent to the emperor alone.As early as when you boarded the ship in Yangzhou, your boss, the governor of Yangzhou, ordered people to divide the tribute into N parts, and arrange them all in one color. One car will be sent to Li Xianggong, another box will be sent to Zhang Shangshu, and another box will be sent to Mr. Yang Ge. ...Accompanying the gifts, there are often letters written by the governor himself. It is inevitable that you, the offering envoy, will visit them one by one and visit them in place.

Cannibals are short-mouthed, short-handed, and those who receive gifts can't be in vain. The masters of each family have a few polite words with you.Although most of them are talking about "the weather is so good these days", there are also those who have a deep friendship with the governor, turn around and warn you in a low voice, be careful when you see your majesty in a few days.

"A certain heard the rumors in Beijing that there was a censor who impeached the Yangzhou government, and the Dragon Boat Festival was exhausting the people, wasting money, and delaying the farming season. When you are playing in front of the imperial court, Yuyin may inquire about this, so you should make preparations early."

You immediately get dizzy, thinking that I have only been here for a few days, and it would be great if I can understand what you are talking about, and you want to deal with the emperor's interrogation for a leader who doesn't know what he looks like?The censor is really full and has nothing to do. They have a dragon boat race during the Dragon Boat Festival, so why is it hindering you?To write a petition for impeachment for this matter, isn't the paper of the Tang Dynasty very expensive?Don't you waste it!Increased carbon emissions and global warming are all your fault.

① Hangou (hán'gōu), the name of the ancient canal.

While cursing secretly in my heart, I have to thank others for this kind reminder, at least it gave you time to prepare a cheat sheet in advance.As soon as I left the mansion, I immediately called my colleagues who had traveled all the way from Yangzhou to ask what was going on with the Dragon Boat Festival boat race, which was a waste of time and money.

This colleague is a native of Yangzhou, and said contemptuously: We have been playing dragon boat races in the Dragon Boat Festival for 1000 years, what can happen?That censor is a northerner who has never seen the world. Last year he was ordered to inspect Jiangdong, and he was frightened by the grand scene of our boat race. When he slapped his head, he felt that gathering so many strong men to row the boat would definitely delay farming and silkworm breeding. —Ahem, probably because you are dissatisfied with the Cheng Yi ① sent by our governor?Anyway, after returning to Beijing, I came looking for something on purpose.

Is the dragon boat race in Yangzhou bigger than the scene in Luoyang, Chang'an?Ask a sentence, and you will immediately feel that your brain is showing off.The water towns in the south of the Yangtze River are full of river boats. Of course, it is more suitable for rowing and regatta than the dry land in the north.

"Except for the land of Jingxiang (about today's Hubei and Hunan provinces), there is no place in the world where the grandeur of the Dragon Boat Festival can compare with that of our Jiangdong." The colleague replied proudly, and then talked about the customs of his hometown with joy.Families pooled their money to buy dragon boats, and before launching into the water, they sacrificed the boat with three or six animals.It is necessary to smear the bow and stern of the boat with oil, stipple and paint Longqing. The rich and noble family even smeared the clothes of the rowing boatman with tung oil, so as not to wet the clothes and impede his strength.

By the fifth day of May, countless families had already set up colorful buildings and mat sheds along the river, stretching for tens of miles on both sides of the river, filled with villagers and ladies in splendid costumes, waiting to watch the game early in the morning.The government erected a red flag at the starting point of the dragon boat, set up a post building archway at the end point, and hung a championship on the archway.The drums beat three times, the red flag was raised, and the dragon boats jumped out in twos, gliding on the water like flying light and electricity.The silk, bamboo, flute and sheng on both sides of the strait are full of shouts, intertwined with the sound of bow drums, boatman's chant, and oars hitting the water, forming an exciting and intoxicating dance music every year.All of a sudden, there was a sound from the post building like thunderbolt mountains and a tsunami. The boat had reached the finish line, and the drummer swung the drumsticks to hit the championship.

A few days before and after the Dragon Boat Festival, there will always be two-two dragon boat races in the river. The winner will be rewarded with colorful satin by the government, and a pair of silver bowls will be rewarded for those who mark on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival.Since Dr. Qu threw himself into the river, it has been like this every year. The people in the south of the Yangtze River take it as a matter of course, so what is there to impeach?
Even so, after all, a few colleagues got together to discuss for a long time and helped you draft the words to play back to the emperor, so you are a little relieved.

In the next few days, it was said that you, a native of Chang’an, had been out of Beijing to serve as a foreign official for many years. When you finally returned home, your relatives and old friends all came to visit you. Time passed like this.

① Cheng Yi is travel expenses. In ancient times, superiors, relatives and friends wanted to travel far away, and as subordinates or relatives and friends, they gave him a sum of money to spend during the trip.

On the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival, there will be a banquet in the palace, and festival gifts will be presented to important ministers above the third rank and the officials of the frontier. Your boss, the governor of Yangzhou, is also on the list of recipients.Inevitably, you have to go to the palace to attend banquets, receive rewards, and thank you on behalf of him. When the emperor saw Yangzhou's envoy, he asked casually: "I heard that the Dragon Boat Festival in the south of the Yangtze River is too expensive and endangers farming?"

Hurry up and come up with a set of arguments you have prepared. Why do the villagers race to wish the emperor a long life? Why do the southerners have such a habit for thousands of years? If it is banned, it may cause trouble. Why do the people of Yangzhou believe that dragons come out of the water during the Dragon Boat Festival? Harm to the world must be suppressed by a boat race, otherwise the animals will be in trouble... The emperor finally coaxed the emperor Longyan to ignore the matter, and even picked up a pen and wrote a big letter on a white round fan. I ordered you to take the round fan back and give it to the governor of the south of the Yangtze River.

This is considered a special reward, and immediately caused the hall and the banquet officials to praise and envy.There was a Su Confucian who had read poetry and books and went out to sing his praises. He said that during the Zhenguan period, Emperor Taizong Wen wrote the words "Luan", "Phoenix", "Butterfly" and "Dragon" on the plain fan with Feibai script on the Dragon Boat Festival. Awarded to grandson Wuji, Yang Shidao and other pro-old ministers, the Qing, thrifty and elegant have been passed down to this day, but today we see a good story about the prosperity of the world.

You don’t bother to listen to the pile of classical Chinese books below (you can’t understand it), kowtow to thank you, take the round fan from the eunuch with both hands, and think about how to bring this thin thing back to Yangzhou intact.Packaging is also a technology.

In addition to this broken fan, the emperor also gave the governor of Yangzhou a black tortoiseshell belt (this is for the civil servants, and the military officer gave a black and silver belt); It’s pretty pretty (you weep silently: in such a hot weather, you’d walk thousands of miles with your food to send it off to others, it’s no wonder that it’s not sour or bad halfway, you might as well enjoy a jar of kimchi, even if it’s sent to the Haidong Peninsula not afraid to go); a small box of calamus, mugwort leaves, realgar, stalactite and other medicinal materials; a bunch of colorful silk.

In general, compared with the tribute, it is a big loss.What makes you even more depressed is that these are all gifts for your boss, the governor, and without your share, you are a legendary courier.

When the banquet was over, all the officials in the palace thanked each other, all of them were happy, like birds out of the cage, calling friends and friends to chase after the joy, and this really created a festive atmosphere.You are very popular in Chang'an, and you have relatives and friends who come to invite you.

You have just passed the dragon boat replay and feel a little tired. Just about to decline, this old friend put his arm around your shoulder mysteriously and asked, "Do you want to see the fox fairy?"

"Fox Fairy?" You suddenly became interested, "Where is a Fox Fairy?"

"Do you still remember that boy Wang Jiu?" The old friend asked with a smile, "He passed the entrance examination when he was appointed governor of Songzhou, and he went to Beijing to wait for transfer. This is not a big deal. But people say that he brought a bride from Chang'an , is the fox fairy I met halfway, today is the Dragon Boat Festival, why not go and find out together?"

Such a fun thing, of course you have to get involved!Immediately, he made a promise, ordered his servants to send the gifts back home, and kept them properly. He got on the horse and followed his old friend to Wang’s house—but have you ever thought about why everyone went to inquire about it during the "Dragon Boat Festival"? What kind of thing like a fox fairy and snake demon?

After the Dragon Boat Festival, it will be a serious summer. The temperature rises, mosquitoes breed evil, and plagues are prone to spread.The ancients called the fifth day of May "Evil Day", thinking that on this day evil and sycophants are in power, and the five poisons come out at the same time, so every household hangs wormwood, puts cattail swords in the door, wears pomegranate flowers, and drinks realgar wine. It is you who escorted you from Yangzhou to Beijing. That batch of "Jiangxin mirrors" was also selected for casting on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, which was also a precious royal tribute.

In this environment where evil spirits are everywhere, those demons and ghosts seem to be caught in the vast ocean of the people's war, and it may be more difficult to cast their magic power than usual, so the upright and awe-inspiring monster-hunting envoys have come out one after another, such as your group of four or five A young gentleman.

How about you, to put it nicely, you are all nobles with strong physique, courage and skill, but to put it bluntly, you are the evil young men in the capital who have nothing to do and have nothing to do.You hit the horse to the door of Wang Jiu's house, and Men Yan notified you to come in. While waiting for the master, you carefully inspected the surrounding environment, and you couldn't help but feel your chest suffocate.

I saw a large bunch of garlic and wormwood braided into human shapes hanging on the door of the Wutou of Wang's house like a gourd, and the leaves of calamus were shaped like swords and inserted upside down by the door, and there were also long five-color silk threads twisted into strands, blowing in the wind. - There are all kinds of Duanyang evil wards for serious people, and there are many of them. It seems that the lady of the Wang family is not afraid of these at all. She must be a thousand-year-old demon fox with high magic power, very difficult to deal with.

Just as he was thinking about it, the owner, Songzhou Inspector Wang, came out, greeted warmly with a smile on his face, and asked them to sit down in the main hall one by one.

Obviously, the family had prepared a lot of drinks and food for the Dragon Boat Festival banquet. The slaves laid out the tables and set up a table, bringing some rice dumplings, millet, cattail wine and crisps, and the guests and hosts drank and laughed happily.The hall also set up the most popular in Beijing in recent years, which is said to be the "shooting powder ball" play from the palace: peel off a few yellow rice horn millets soaked in moxa ash juice, cut into small pieces of powder balls, and place them on the In the large lacquer tray, let the guests shoot the powder balls with special slender bows and arrows, and those who shoot will be eaten.

The surface of the dough is smooth, and it is cut into small pieces. The arrowhead will be crooked at the touch, and it is not easy to get stuck in.A noble young master who is proficient in this way is shot with an arrow, and the whole hall cheers.The person who hit the shot also had a look of color on his face. He picked up the arrow and directly put the powder on the arrow into his mouth, biting down and chewing.

It's lively and joyful, but you're not here to eat zongzi.

The wine was hot and the lust was high, the most impatient guest finally pointed out to the host with a salivating face: "I heard that Qilang Xinna's lady is knowledgeable and polite, and she looks like a fairy, can you please come out and let the foolish brother wait to see the sister-in-law?"

Wang was not surprised at all. With a chuckle, he quickly ordered his servants to enter: "Go and ask the lady to come out to meet the guests."

While waiting for the make-up, the guest and the host briefly talked about the marriage process. It was just that Wang Jiu stayed overnight in an ancient temple on the road to Beijing, and met a beautiful woman by chance. Love arises from my heart, and I recommend myself as a maidservant and concubine.Just as he was talking happily, the rings behind the screen jingled, and two rows of maidservants stepped out one by one, surrounded by a graceful lady in the middle, and bowed to all the guests.

The guests stood up one after another to return the salute, and they bowed in response to "Wanfu, my wife".Wang also stood up, introduced the identities of the visitors one by one, motioned for the woman to sit beside him, and invited the guests to return to their seats.Looking at it twice, the woman is graceful, expensive and elegant, and she behaves elegantly and freely. She is not much different from ordinary ladies, except for a pair of beautiful eyes, which are as bright as autumn water, and occasionally the eyes waver, which seduces the soul.

She didn't come out empty-handed, the two rows of accompanying maidservants held red lacquer plates in their hands, and there were some kits, incense, flowers and plants, and people's wins on the plates, and they were given to the visitors one by one.This "fox fairy" also pays respects to the guests one by one. In front of you, a maidservant in a red dress presents a plate of gifts, and her hostess says: "The bride will live on forever."

You were taken aback, thinking that "extend your life" means "take your life". Then you saw that everyone else looked normal, and the hostess smiled warmly, and it didn't look like she was going to take your life.The maidservant in the red dress put down the lacquer plate, picked up the rope made of red, green, blue, yellow, and white silk threads on the plate, and wrapped it around her arm for you with her own hands. , retreated lightly like flowing clouds and flowing water.

Cough cough, what, wipe off the saliva, and here I will tell you what "survival" is all about.The five-color silk thread tied by the maid, also known as "Zhu Suo", "Longevity Thread", "Continuing Life Thread" and so on, was the most common Dragon Boat Festival ornament in the Tang Dynasty. It was usually hung on the door and on the bed. , Wrapped around the arm, it is said that it can prevent being caught by evil spirits or injured by weapons.Later, the meaning of the word was expanded, and all the gifts given to people on the Dragon Boat Festival were collectively referred to as "extended life". age".Hello, guest, are you listening?
The maidservants brought out by the "Fox Immortal" to present gifts were also the domestic prostitutes she had kept. After delivering the life-continuing gifts, they shook their clothes and formed a team.Your eyes have been fixed on the girl in the red dress who tied your lifeline just now. When she turned around, she also gave you a handsome guy a lot of glances. The eyes of the two of you squeaked in the air. An arc of millions of volts.

The girl in the red dress combs her hair with double dolls, her eyebrows are curved, her red lips are dimpled, her low-cut upper skirt reveals a large piece of snow-white skin, and her light gauze and wide sleeves flutter back and forth with her dancing posture. I have never seen such a moving beauty, and I couldn't help but fly into the sky, except for this graceful figure in the eyes, everything in the world has returned to dust.

Caressing the multicolored silk thread on the arm, whether she is a vixen, a snake, or a spider, I just fell in love with this girl, okay?If I don't let my brother take her away today, my brother will never survive this gate, what are you doing, Wang Jiu!Give me a good word!

①Adornments worn by the ancients were usually ribbon-cut or engraved with gold foil in the shape of human beings, which were pasted on screens or worn on hair for auspiciousness.

Well, the master Wang applauded.Since Wan Sima fell in love at first sight, how could my younger brother be reluctant to be a prostitute?But please ask Mr. Lang to compose an impromptu poem. If it is really elegant and elegant, with deep affection and meaning, and I will offer you the dowry, how about it?

The ultimate life-saving skill for traveling through the Tang Dynasty—poetry writing—has come in handy again.If you are a guest who has been specially trained by our company's devil, you will be overjoyed when you search in your mind at this moment.

Xi Shi 谩 road Huanchun yarn, jasper is now fighting Lihua.

(End of this chapter)