In "Journey to the West", Sun Wukong once served as an official in heaven, but when he was invited to heaven by Taibai Venus, he did not know what kind of official "Bow Ma Wen" was, and later learned that he was the lowest and smallest petty official who raised horses, so he made a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace and returned to Huaguo Mountain.
Although there was no official position named "Bow Ma Wen" in ancient times, the official positions involved in the Journey to the West were all official systems of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty was in charge of the Imperial Horse Division, Zheng Wupin, and the appearance of "Bow Ma Wen" in classical novels was because "the Horse Classic" said that the stables and the female monkeys of the stables were plagued by horses, and there was a heavenly decay flow grass month by month, and the horse food was never diseased." ”
The official system has a long history, since the formation of the state and will gradually constitute a set of official system, Qin and Han "three dukes and nine secretaries", Sui and Tang "three provinces and six ministries system" and so on are official systems. Thousands of years of feudal dynasties, thousands of official names, then what is the official of "prince washing horses"? Is it really just a groom? It may not be the same as you understand it.
Many people call "prince washing horse" "tài zǐ xǐ mǎ", but the correct pronunciation is "tài zǐ xiǎn mǎ", this official position is not low, not a casual person can become, nor is it responsible for washing the prince's horse, but the official position of teaching the prince's political affairs and liberal arts.
During the Qin and Han dynasties, there was a "first horse", perhaps later someone mistakenly wrote it, it became "washing horses", "first horses" metaphorically refers to the horse galloping forward, the prince traveled as the guide, the Han Dynasty ranked more than 600 stones, and the eastern Han Dynasty washed horses for 16 people.
In the famous recital "Table of Feelings", there is "The edict is specially issued, worship the minister Langzhong, seek the grace of the country, and remove the subject to wash the horse", which means: The imperial court issued a special edict again, appointing me as Langzhong, and soon after accepting the state's favor, appointed me as the prince to wash the horse.
In the Book of Jin, it is also recorded that "Li Mi, Zi Lingbo, Qian wei Wuyang ren ye, a pious ... Shao Shi Shu, for Lang. The number of Wu, the talent to argue, the Wu people call it. Shu Ping, Tai Shi Chu, Zhao Zheng washed horses for the crown prince. Mi Yi's grandmother was old and had no one to raise her, so she was not ordered. ”
In addition, many people think that "Langzhong" is a doctor who treats patients, in fact, the official position "Langzhong" is a senior official after Xiang Xiang, Shangshu, and Shilang, which has appeared in the Warring States period, and the subordinate officials of Shangshu after the Eastern Han Dynasty, initially known as Langzhong, after one year, called Shangshulang, and three years later called Shilang.
The use of "Langzhong" as the title of doctor began during the Song Dynasty, on the one hand, because of the proliferation of official titles after the five dynasties of the late Tang Dynasty, and on the other hand, because of the southern dialect.
There is also the official name "washing horses" By the time of the Ming Dynasty, there were already many people who believed that the official position of "washing horses" was an official who washed horses, and the late Ming scholar Jiao Zhu recorded in the "Yutang Congyu": "In Jingtaijian, Liu Zhongjingsheng washed horses, and Wang Wei, a soldier's attendant, said: 'How many horses a day does Mr. Liu wash? Liu Yingsheng replied: "The great Sima Ye is washed, and the young Sima is still washed, and it is not clean." The crowd was stunned. Later, the Lord said quietly: "All the people are false sons, and the sir is a true son." ’”
During the Qing Dynasty, although there was no prince official subordinate, the official position "washing horses" was still preserved, which belonged to the Zhan ShiFu, which was only a step from the Five Pin Officials, which was actually only a Hanlin official transfer ladder.
In addition to the official names "washing horses" and "Langzhong" will cause misunderstandings in later generations, there are also official names such as "pedestrian" and "walking", which will also surprise people.
The official position "pedestrian" was first established in the Spring and Autumn Period, responsible for receiving the gifts of the princes and the princes, and during the Ming Dynasty, the official position "pedestrian" was re-established, and the "pedestrian" was in charge of issuing edicts, sealing the imperial chamber, giving the four parties, as well as rewards, condolences, and relief, etc., as the zhengjiu pin official.
The official name "Walking" appeared in the Qing Dynasty, but there was no specific job title.