In ancient times, because of the limited productivity and science and technology, the ancient people did not have mobile phones to play, television to watch, and the most important way to obtain information in daily life, or "entertainment" was mainly based on reading.
After all, after the rise of the imperial examination system, reading has also become the biggest pursuit of many people's lives, so reading can not only increase insight, improve consciousness, pass the time, but also get an official, why not enjoy it?
In fact, the ancients loved books as fate, and they also paid attention to the maintenance and display of books every day, so they became popular with a kind of "book festival".
Image: Stills of ancient people posting books
First, the two legends behind the book
1. Originated from the "Heavenly Feast" of Song Zhenzong
There have always been different theories about the formation of the Book Festival in the academic circles, the first theory, which is also the one that later scholars verified a relatively high degree of credibility, saying that as early as the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, there was a Tianyi Festival, and its origin can be traced back to the Song Dynasty.
Legend has it that Song Zhenzong was an emperor who was quite obsessed with the gods and Buddhas, and one year on the sixth day of the first month of June, he said that he had received a heavenly book under the protection of heaven, and in order to thank the heavens for his mercy, he designated this day as the "Heavenly Feast".
He also asked the craftsmen to build a magnificent palace at the Dai Temple at the foot of Mount Tai, named "Tianzhao Hall", but this festival disappeared not long after it became popular among the people, and was replaced by the custom of "sunning" that every family liked.
Originally, in the Jiangnan region where the literary style is very popular, due to the frequent occurrence of continuous plum rainy weather, the moisture in the air is very large, and on the sixth day of the first month of June every year, it coincides with the highest temperature of the year, the sun is abundant in nature, and the sunshine time is long, so every household will take out the damp bedding, calligraphy, paintings, books and other items at home to be exposed to the sun, so that it can effectively prevent the items from mold, this custom is called "sunburn".
In the folk, there is also a popular saying, "On the sixth day of the first month of June, every family is red and green." Interestingly, in some areas, on the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, there is also the habit of bathing their own kittens, puppies and other livestock, which is said in a folk proverb: "On the sixth day of the first month of June, cats and dogs bathe together."
Image: Stills of a man posting a book
2. Alternative "Book Festival"
The second theory is relatively interesting, it is said that the famous scholar Zhu Yizun of the Qing Dynasty, lying next to a lotus pond on the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, and exposed his fat belly there lazily basking in the sun, who knew that this scene happened to be seen by the Kangxi Emperor who was visiting Weifu privately.
Kangxi thought this person was very interesting, so he went over and asked, "Why do you show your belly when you are basking in the sun?" Zhu Yizun sighed and replied, "I was lamenting that I had a stomach full of books but they were completely useless, and I felt that these books were going to be moldy, so I couldn't take them out to dry and dry them for the sun!" ”
Image: Screenshot of belly data
The Kangxi Emperor was immediately attracted by his interesting answer, and while he was happy, he also realized that the other party was likely to be a well-educated person, although he did not identify himself on the spot and did not give any attitude, he remembered the name Zhu Yizun in his heart.
After the parade, the Kangxi Emperor returned to the Forbidden City and summoned Zhu Yizun at the first time, after talking between the two sides, the Kangxi Emperor found that he did not look away, Zhu Yizun was talented and full of economy, so he was appointed as a reviewer of the Hanlin Academy, and also gave him the task of compiling the "History of Ming".
This incident soon spread among the people, and many readers were deeply inspired, and also imitated Zhu Yizun in drying his books on the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth lunar calendar every year, of course, they also did not dry real books, but their own belly, just like this, the "Book Festival" appeared.
Photo: The Kangxi Emperor summoned Zhu Yizun to still
II. Ancient and Modern "Drying Books"
1. The "drying book" record in ancient books
In many ancient texts, there are records about the book festival, such as Gu Lu said in the "Qing Jia Lu": "On the sixth day of the first month, people will place books and pictures in the courtyard to expose them to the sun, so as to avoid being eaten by insects and ants." ”
Pan Yijun said in "Books on the Sixth Day of June": "When the three days are three volts, although people want to escape the heat, they will only take out the important books at home to dry, thinking that these books are heirlooms, properly preserved, and are valuable wealth left for future generations."
Sun Defu recorded in the "Compilation of Wanliye": "Every year on the sixth day of the first month of June, it was not a special day, but the officials of the inner government in the imperial palace would take out various historical books, important archives, and imperial anthologies to dry them, and this was the case every year, and it was never changed."
Chen Kangqi said in "Lang Qianji Wen Chubi": "The Tianxia Shuge has the habit of drying books every year, most of which is set for the sixth day of the first month of March, which has begun since the era of the Kangxi Emperor."
From the above ancient book records, it can be seen that China has had the practice and tradition of "drying books" since ancient times, whether it is official or civilian, drying books is one of the important ways for ancient people to preserve classics, although this tradition is no longer popular now, but it can be fully seen from the ancients' attention and love for books, and regard books as a valuable spiritual wealth, worthy of generations.
2. Precautions for drying books
Finally, to give you a science about the relevant knowledge of drying books, of course, this is only for friends who have this habit or have this idea, now we plan to dry books, we must pay attention to two conditions, one is space, the other is the sun.
Dahui believes that the most ideal is to have an empty yard, in the autumn noon when there is no wind and little rain, the sun is hanging high, you can spread out all the books at home like drying corn, if you have time and energy, you can turn it over regularly. If you don't have such a large space, just in a narrower room, then it is best not to dry books.
Image: Stills of the sun spread out the book flat
Here also need to pay attention to a point, if it is a hardcover book, you can directly spread it out in the sun to dry, turn the page at the right time, if the book is thicker and can stand upright, then directly unfold the page into an umbrella, and then you don't have to care about it later.
If it is the kind of glue book that is not easy to spread, it is recommended that you can open it from the middle, let them "pickpocket on the ground" row by row, and never stack books and press books.
Image: Screenshot of the book material directly spread out
If you have a relatively long clothesline, the house also has a weight-bearing guardrail, you can fix the two sides of the rope, let the book "ride on it" in a row to dry, it looks very eye-catching.
Article author: Dahui
The entire graphic was produced by the team of the Big Cafe Say History Studio!