Eunuchs are the products of the period of feudal society in China, they were persecuted by the feudal etiquette system and lost the reproductive function of men. This also created many characteristics of eunuchs in ancient history, such as the screaming voice different from that of normal men, the flattery of emperor officials, and so on. In addition, the most eye-catching thing is that eunuchs often hold a long-haired stick in their hands, which is also reflected in many modern costume dramas, in fact, this stick has a unified name, called dust.
Dust was originally the first thing used by Taoists, I believe we have also seen in many costume science fiction dramas, the immortals of the Fairy Wind Dao Bone often hold this kind of thing in their hands, so why do two seemingly unrelated characters hold the same thing? What is the role of dust in the hands of eunuchs?
Dust was introduced to our country from other countries and has undergone a series of improvements
To talk about the history of dust, it is some years, the earliest can be traced back to the ancient Indian period, when india was located in the weather is very hot and humid, thus breeding many mosquitoes, this time let the local residents miserable, and at that time the Indian people also advocated Buddhism, even if they suffered from mosquito bites all day long, they could not bear to kill, then someone came up with a tool that avoids killing and can drive away mosquitoes, that is, dust, so the dust first appeared with a tool to drive away mosquitoes. And there is no other special significance.
Later, with the wide spread of Buddhist teachings, the flame of Buddhism gradually appeared in China, and at the same time, things related to Buddhism also spread, and dust was able to enter China.
The original dusty shape is very rough, there is no beauty to speak of, in our country a series of improvements, the original wooden handle using a variety of wood instead, the use of carving, skeletonization and other techniques for decoration, in the top of the handle added a cage flower, so that the top of the long hair is not easy to scatter, it looks very delicate, in addition, people also use the animal's long hair instead of the original cotton hemp silk hair, so that it is more flexible.
At first, Taoism used this tool, then its role is not a single repellent of mosquitoes, Taoists will also use it to dust away books, tables and chairs, and the word "dust" as the name suggests also has the meaning of removing dust and calming the mind, and the small and light dust began to be carried by Taoists every day.
Dust began to appear in the hands of eunuchs and became an indispensable tool for daily life
Eunuchs as the lowest status in the palace, many chores will often fall on their heads, in ancient times, there were many mosquitoes in the summer, and there was no special tool to drive away mosquitoes in the palace, at this time the dust naturally played its most primitive use, then who should do this work, naturally still rely on eunuchs.
Therefore, in the play, we can often see that the eunuchs who follow the emperor around often have a duster in their hands, in order to drive away mosquitoes in time and protect the emperor and other characters from this intrusion.
In addition, the dust can naturally be used to clean, the emperor's ministers are noble, and they must maintain a good environment everywhere they go, if there is a little slackness in the weekdays, then they may not know how they died.
So where the masters go, these eunuchs must be thoughtful, up and down must be well done, in order to maintain a clean environment, but also can not bring a rag on the body every day, at this time the dust has played a good role instead, before their masters sit down, the eunuchs usually use floating dust to pat a few times, although for particularly dirty places may not play any substantive role, but in the eyes of the master can also be regarded as this heart.
Moreover, the dust itself is also very easy to carry, it is more convenient to use, the light long hair sound is small, and it will not disturb the people around it, it is precisely because of this series of daily uses that the dust has gradually become a symbol of the ancient eunuchs, and in addition to these daily uses, there are actually some sayings inside.
In addition to the daily tools, the little dust also hides mysteries
Eunuchs are of humble status, often enter the palace to work alone to death, there is no family around to rely on each other, then in such a long period of time, they can only move their attention to other directions, thus obtaining spiritual comfort, power is the goal of many eunuchs, and in ancient times, not all eunuchs were qualified to hold the dust, only the group of people who served the master closely could use it, and such people were often very favored by the master, so the dust was also a symbol of power.
Dust is actually divided into three, six, nine and so on, the more expensive the material used, the higher the natural grade, the ordinary dust whiskers are generally made of sack rope, and most of the whiskers used by the eunuchs around the emperor are made of deer tail hair and horsetail hair, which also directly indicates the status of the eunuch.
In addition to these, dust can also be used as a weapon at a critical time, once the master is in a moment of crisis, the nearest eunuch is naturally desperate to protect, and at this time there is a handful of dust in his hand, although it can not achieve the purpose of counter-killing, at least not empty-handed, how to say that it can also resist for a while, leaving time for the master to escape. Later, with the passage of time, dust also appeared in the homes of ordinary people, becoming more and more popular.