In the fourth year of Zhenghe (89 BC), the second year after Emperor Wu of Han's brother-in-law Li Guangli surrendered to the Xiongnu, Shan Yu of the Xiongnu wrote a letter to the Han Dynasty, which is recorded in the Book of Han and the Biography of the Xiongnu as follows:
Shan Yu sent the envoy Han Shuyun: "There is a great Han in the south and a strong Hu in the north." Hu, the proud son of heaven, does not bother himself with small gifts. Now I want to take the Han woman as my wife, and give me rice wine and ten thousand stones, five thousand rice, and ten thousand horses, and if it is as promised, it will not be stolen. ”
There are two places in the middle that are not easy to understand, Yan Shigu's ancient note: "Min, read and open the same." "Rice wine" is used as wine, the taste is particularly sweet, millet rice, millet rice also." "That's what we're talking about today. At this time, the Huns had been beaten by the Han Dynasty to some extent, but they were still talking very bullishly, asking the Han Dynasty for trade, wives, wine, grain, silk... Just give them these things, and they can coexist peacefully with the Han Dynasty. In addition, people can also see the message that the Huns consider themselves "Hu", and Hu not only does not have any pejorative meaning in their hearts, but also means "proud son of heaven".
The proud son is god's darling. The Huns "did not bother themselves with small gifts" and did not take the etiquette and rules of the Central Plains into account, but the four words they said were still preserved and carried forward - today, people have given a special meaning to the "proud son of heaven": those who have made outstanding contributions to mankind, changed the cognition of human traditions, and have epoch-making significance in spiritual thought and faith; or directly contributed to human beings in peace, life technology, health and happiness.
What an interesting hu! When today's erhu sounded, in the historical vision, there were also three hus, which were not only a musical instrument, but also slightly earlier than the three ethnic groups of the Xiongnu - Donghu, Lou Fu and Lin Hu. The nationality theory is actually a later and even modern concept, Dong Hu, Lou Fu and Lin Hu, this kind of Hu, is actually divided by region of the three kinds of people: Dong Hu is the northeast people at that time, is the Bao Xi Tai Hao Fu Xi descendants of Dong Yi after the migration of Dongyi and the local people after the integration of the local name; Lou Fu and Lin Hu living area is more than the East Hu directly north, located in the northern region of today's Inner Mongolia.
Lou Fu is a branch of the Northern Di, founded around the Spring and Autumn Period, its territory is roughly in the northwest of present-day Shanxi Province, Baode, Ganlan, Ningwu area, this group of people in history left a place name for China for thousands of years - Lou Fu County (now Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, Lou Fu County), although "Lou Fu" was mistakenly written as "Lou Fu" in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, but it is still the place, that name. Lin Hu is well understood, they are the Hu people living in the forest area, also known as the forest people, the area of activity is the eastern part of the Ordos Plateau, including the present-day YijinHolo Banner, Dongsheng District and Jungar Banner and the East Yue Yellow River to the Northern Jinbei Mountainous Forest Area.
These three hus have sounded like musical instruments in our history, and this sound is the well-known Hufu riding shooting, which is the story of King Wuling of Zhao in the Warring States period who promoted "Hufu" and coached "riding and shooting" for the sake of the country's strength. No matter how people understand it today, this is a process of learning from the ethnic minorities in the border areas of the Central Plains, and the most direct result is that in addition to enhancing the combat effectiveness of the army in the Central Plains at that time, it has also affected our clothing to this day.
"Riding and shooting" is very clear, not difficult to understand. "Hufu" is the general term for the costumes worn by the ancient Zhuxia Han people to the Hu people of various ethnic groups in the west and the north, that is, the costumes of the Xirong and Donghu ethnic groups outside the Saiwai, which are quite different from the Han costumes of the Broad Belt Style in the Central Plains at that time. Later, it was also referred to as foreign clothing other than Han costumes. Beards generally wear close-fitting shorts, long pants and leather boots. Tight and narrow, easy to move. In ancient times, common hu costumes include round collar robes, dragging, high-waisted skirts and other costumes. The pants we wear today are about that time, first just to facilitate the shooting, this simplicity is more than two thousand years, when we wear pants actually wear that period of history.
After the Three Hus, the Five Hus appeared in history. Sanhu or Wuhu is not directly related, but it was also a period of time when the Hu people became "climate"—at that time, the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Xianbei, Qiang, and other ethnic groups invaded the Central Plains and established political power. Therefore, this period is customarily called "Five Hu Sixteen Kingdoms". From the perspective of ethnic integration, at this time, the people of the Central Plains were somewhat unfriendly to the Hu people. There has been a saying similar to "non-my race, its heart will be different, Rong Di zhi state, not the same as Hua", in the contradiction between the enemy and ourselves, the hu people's title obviously has the meaning of contempt and contempt.
However, we want to emphasize that, in fact, Hu is not a disparaging name for nomads. It is only a nomadic term. Later, it became a generic term for foreigners or foreigners living in northern and western China. "The righteousness of 'Spring and Autumn', inner Zhu Xia and outer Yi Di" (Jiang Tong's "Theory of Migration"). Zhuxia is the Central Plains, and the concept of the Hu people is also based on the perspective of the Central Plains, which is not mixed with emotions. To put it more closely, "Hu" means "human" in the Languages of the North Asian Peoples. The Hu people originally referred to the nomadic ethnic groups north of the Great Wall of the Central Plains, and later the term Hu was used as a generic term for foreigners in the north and west.
Knowing this, there will even be some more touching the meaning of happiness, for example, we eat flax, pepper cake, courgette, and sleep on the hu bed, when the taste, you can also add some hu, such as pepper; romantic time can also come to some hu le, such as huqin; to make it more affordable, you can also come to some hu dance to exercise, good health, eat anything fragrant!
There is a saying that the bright moonlight in front of the bed is suspected to be the frost on the ground. Look up at the bright moon and look down at your hometown. It is said that Li Bai's poem should be written on a pony or a bed outside the door at night, he feels homesick, if he sleeps indoors, not to mention that the ancient windows are small and cannot be transparent, even the action of looking up and looking down does not make sense. This beard bed is actually what we call a folding camp bed today, friends who have not been soldiers may not have seen it, and most of the accompanying beds in the hospital are adopted in this way. The beard bed - the human bed - how wonderful!
In this way, we living today are clearly enjoying the fruits of national integration, and we are all the darlings of God! (Wen | Lusheng)