What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
During the Song Dynasty, banquets and drinking activities held by local governments for the purpose of carrying out official duties were very common, and they were routine matters in the operation of state government affairs.
In the third year of Jiayou (1058), Zhou Dunyi, while serving as a magistrate in Hezhou, mentioned the government affairs of the time: "The new shou is coming, and everything must be prepared", and it is common for "a little day of free time, then either passing by, or festivals, or meetings from time to time." Poetry is composed at each meeting, and the form is also exhaustive", revealing the frequency and triviality of daily hospitality and banquet activities. Coincidentally, Hangzhou is also the same, "the envoys of the ministry are mostly in the state, each has a public fund", "the two members of the state, the public affairs sub-committee of the capital hall Zhu Cao, the number is nothing, the day accompanies the envoy to the outer stage of the banquet and drink". During Su Shi's tenure in Hangzhou, he was "overwhelmed by cups of drinks" and "tired of coping", regarding it as a "hell of wine and food", revealing the frequent and extravagant phenomenon of local drinking and banquet activities from a certain level, and excessive hospitality increasingly became a prominent problem in government affairs at that time.
When it comes to local official receptions, we have to mention the minister's money. During the Song Dynasty, the goods and expenses required for the opening of official banquets should come from the appropriations of governments at all levels, which were called minister money at that time. Minister money is divided into two types: positive gift money issued by the imperial court and local self-financing. The money given by the imperial court is allocated by the name of the province, and the non-right money is allocated by the local government to the local income of the non-province. The state has quite strict institutional regulations on the use of minister's money, and institutions and personnel at all levels cannot abuse it without authorization. Civil and military officials at different levels have the right to receive and use the money of the minister. The status of official offices, the size of the administrative office, the rank of bureaucracy are different, and the amount of money used is also different, and the overall features are hierarchical.
Minister's money is mainly used for official business to be sent to the set-up, the usual banquet, the allocation of office facilities, etc., that is, "the public facility, so the laborers and the guests are also paid.". During the Song Dynasty, the use of minister money for banquets and hospitality occupied an important position.
In the Song Dynasty, the phenomenon of excessive entertainment at official banquets in various places was quite common. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Bao Zheng accompanied the Liao envoys on their way back and forth through Hebei, and when talking about the official hospitality of the local government, he pointed out: "But if you can add the kitchen to the passing, welcome and send people, and qu to serve the guests, it is competent, then the reputation is heard", "If it is slightly different from this, then the slander is mixed, and often the deposed people are there", perhaps slightly exaggerated, but it tells the prominent problems of local official hospitality.
In response to this phenomenon, as early as August of the fourth year of Jingde (1007), Zhenzong had ordered the reinstatement of various prison officials, clearly stipulating that "states and counties shall not welcome parties." At the beginning of Emperor Renzong's reign, he once again stressed: "All the ways keep their ministers, and they must gather and drink from time to time, so as to obstruct official business, and borrow the people's household utensils, and transport the secretary to investigate; His transfer envoys were sent to the deputy inspectors, except in the event of a public feast, to sit down. During the celebration of the calendar year, in view of the reception matters along the border where Hebei is located, it is clearly stipulated: "The Hebei Prefecture Army has minister money, except for the reception of messengers by the leading school, and there must be no subtraction, the rest of the feast will be welcomed and sent from simplicity." In the "Qingyuan Articles and Matters", there are quite detailed regulations on the time of the official reception banquet, the specifications of the banquet, the frequency of participation, the use of music and dance, and even the specific matters such as firewood, charcoal, oil, candles, and wine and food. All of the above is intended to curb the phenomenon of excessive local drinking and banqueting from the institutional level, but what we actually see is that drinking and feasting everywhere is inevitably excessive.
The Song Dynasty government had relatively perfect institutional norms and management measures for all kinds of official banquets and drinking activities set up by the localities, and supervised them through supervision, impeachment, legal sanctions, financial management (budget compression, strict auditing), and honest government propaganda (edicts, official proverbs) and other measures. However, excessive hospitality phenomena such as extravagant expenses and frequent openings caused by official banquets and drinks in the localities have been repeatedly prohibited.
The specifications of the banquet directly reflect the respect and welcome of the guests, and highlight the enthusiasm of the place, which cannot be ignored. As one of the important ways of socializing, feasting and drinking are ushered in such local official receptions as those sent to, although it is inevitable that they will be suspected of coping with government affairs, but it is difficult to be affectionate under the grand invitation, and it is advisable to fulfill the friendship of the host. If there is an oversight or a poor response, it can even lead to trouble.
In the third year (1000) of the Luling people, Ouyang Guan Xianping ascended the throne, and was appointed as the governor of The Military Prefecture of Daozhou, and the examination period expired, and the former official was moved to Sizhou. The transport envoys inspected his place, and Ouyang Guan was "proud and did not see it", "the county guarded the food, and did not go when summoned", so he was impeached on the grounds of laziness and moved to Xiqu Prefecture. In the fourth year of the Qing Dynasty (1044), Teng Zongyu of Quanzhi Fengxiang Prefecture was deposed, one of the reasons for which was to supervise Yushi Liangjian to play his "Banquet in Yingzhou and the establishment of various armies in Jingzhou, which was unfair, although Fan Zhongyan defended it afterwards, but revealed the fact that the matter of local official banquets and banquets was crucial, and the banquet was sumptuous and respectful was a more appropriate and popular regular mode of reception."
The social extravagance of the Song Dynasty was pervasive, and it was inevitable that feasting and drinking as a way of life would be. Officials are greeted with a wide range of reception banquets, although they are rich and frugal due to the actual conditions in different places, but with the spread of social extravagance, there is an increasing trend of extravagance and waste. Especially in local receptions, extravagant things become the norm. With the passage of time, the simple and simple banquet atmosphere of the early Song Dynasty has changed significantly. During the Qing Dynasty, the Hebei Zhuzhou Army and the General Administration Division and other "competed for the decoration of the kitchen, to treat the envoys, to eat the fruits, all seeking more products, to praise each other", "accumulated habits into the trend, a little cut, so that the defenders had to be", there was a great tendency to intensify, but the overall situation was still within the acceptable range. Until before Yuanfeng, although the prefectures and counties had a treasury of ministers, "they were all afraid of clear deliberations, honest and thrifty, and non-guilds did not dare to enjoy it." However, since Yuanfeng, "the kitchen has become more and more abundant, the reward is flourishing, and the superintendent is particularly thick", and the wind of extravagance of banquets has spread rapidly, and it is gradually difficult to curb.
As early as February of the seventh year of Xining (1074), Wang Anshi had a fierce discussion with Emperor Shenzong about the dismissal of Ju Zhenqing of zhiheZhongfu because he was "not ruled in the county, and drank more than ninety years old in Yan". Wang Anshi pointed out: "The old custom is more or less like this, and His Majesty is diligent and thrifty, and this custom has been reformed, and when the two systems in Beijing are not repeated, they are just obedient." Faced with the reality of local hospitality, Shenzong sighed helplessly: "The pavilion has also changed", it is under the influence of customs and customs, and the local government can only go with the flow. Once too frugal, it will lead to dissatisfaction, and even lead to contradictions, the so-called "passers-by blame, often rejoicing", has formed a common phenomenon of local official hospitality. During the Xining period, the new law cut the minister's money, and Su Shi, who served in Mizhou, also had "Who persuaded me to come here, and the strings and strings were born and clothed." The green ants have no hundreds of lips, and the locusts have been swept in the face three times", and the words are full of some discomfort for the local reduction of hospitality specifications. Not only Su Shi, but other officials were also quite critical of entertaining Qing Jian. In the early northern Song Dynasty, some ministers reflected on the shortage of money for ministers in the Sichuan and Shu regions: "Now the minister's money is 30,000 yuan old, and he is often worried about the lack of money. For example, the giant sleeps in a narrow slit, with his toes outcroped on his shoulders, and his left is left and right, which is even ridiculous. This pan is more than the old province, Leyouzhi also killed again, and if it is abolished, it is not the intention of the Son of Heaven to pay a corner to protect the distant people. While emphasizing the necessity of local official banquets, he pointed out that the banquets such as fengzupan and leyou were related to the intention of the Son of Heaven to favor distant people, and also needed great attention, highlighting the disadvantages of insufficient money for the minister. In fact, from one side, it reflects the world style, and the local official reception and banquet as a necessity for official daily government affairs naturally cannot be too frugal.
Local banquets and drinks held for the purpose of carrying out various official activities have their necessity and rationality. When colleagues and friends gather at the canteen of the county government, they can not only correct the position of the people and talk about the important matters of political affairs, but also obtain the joy of friendship through the relatively relaxed and active atmosphere of the feast, which can be described as a double effort, and praise the construction of canteens in the county and the gathering of staff and friends. During the Song Dynasty, such banquets and gatherings of officials and friends were more common at regular or irregular intervals for local government affairs, which were common in the operation of state government affairs, and the political functions contained in them were much richer than those referred to by Liu Zongyuan.
The various banquets and drinking activities set up by the local government for the sake of need are not only to deal with complicated official entertainment matters, including the arrival and delivery, but also have the meaning of political propaganda. Su Shi once discussed the local feast in a note to Emperor Shenzong, saying: "The scholar donated relatives and abandoned the grave, so that he could obey the eunuchs, and in addition to exerting his strength, he also wanted to have fun, and this person was also very affectionate." If the withering is too much, and the kitchen is rumored to be depressed, it is like the ugly wind of the dangerous country, and it is afraid that it is not the grand view of the Taiping. The implication is that ensuring the quality of local banquets is the need to stabilize the hearts and minds of the people of the officials, and the propaganda of the image of the country's "peace and prosperity" should not be too simple or even formal, emphasizing the necessity of its existence. Su Shi's views on the setting up of local official banquets have relatively broad representative significance.
In addition to creating a prosperous scene of ruling the world in one party, the setting up of local official banquets is another means of appeasement. For example, the public money of the border states and counties is mainly used to receive state envoys and to set up soldiers and ministries, which has the unique political effect of stabilizing border security.
During the Song Dynasty, the various banquets and drinking activities set up by the state to facilitate local official business appeared the contradiction between the necessity of its own existence and the repeated prohibition of excessive hospitality, and the emergence of contradictions did not happen overnight, but became a common phenomenon of local official entertainment in the Song Dynasty.