Beggars in the Qing Dynasty used three tricks of "begging for money" every Spring Festival, especially the third trick, which often made themselves very rich. What's going on here? If you want to know, let Xiaobian reveal the secret for you:
(All pictures in this article, all from the network, thanks to the original author, if you infringe your rights, please contact the author of this number to delete.) The picture has nothing to do with the content, please do not enter the seat)
Among The traditional festivals in China, which one is the most important to the public? The answer is very unified, it is the annual Spring Festival. The origin of the Spring Festival originated from a legend about the "Nian Beast". Legend has it that the "Nian Beast" is a terrible monster that specializes in eating living people, but is very afraid of loud noises, so people will expel the Nian Beast by setting off firecrackers to spend the Spring Festival. Of course, from a rational point of view, the emergence of the Spring Festival also means the beginning of the new year, which is an important symbol for people to leave the old and welcome the new, and it is also an important node for people's expectations for life, showing people's inner enthusiasm.
The Spring Festival is a day of reunion, and every household must unload the burden on their shoulders and live a good reunion year. Whether it is visiting relatives and friends or eating a lot, it makes the New Year's flavor fill the air. But "a few joys and a few sorrows", the beggars who are frozen and hungry on the street, but they can never meet their relatives, let alone have fish and meat to eat, but will become short of food because of the New Year. In desperation, they can only try their best to find leftovers and survive the days of hunger and cold. What are the ways for beggars to ask merchants for money during the Spring Festival? Let's talk about it:
The first way beggars ask for money is to raise cattle. What is a scalper? Scalpers are the most common pastoral cattle in farmers' homes, and the beggars play the role of scalpers. Ancient social productivity was low, and farmers almost all lived by farming, so the strong cattle became an important production and means of transportation, and became the "god of wealth" in the minds of ancient people.
In order to win the sympathy of the merchants, the beggars will often be cooperated by two people. A man clasps a sack on his head and bundles the two corners of the bag into a bundle to act as a bull's horn. The beggar who plays the scalper is led by another collaborator, wandering back and forth in front of the door of the merchant's house, the morning glory shouts "the scalper is coming, the business is good, the boss of the husband earns the yuan treasure...", after each shout, the beggar who plays the scalper will learn to shout the cow's cry "whining" until the merchant pulls out the money. If the merchants insist on not giving money, they will perform until dusk, showing their poverty and pain, in order to attract the sympathy of the boss.
The second way beggars ask for money is to perform cash cows. In folklore, the wealth accumulated by rich merchants is not earned, but is changed from the "cash cow" and "cornucopia", so the ancients often called the rich "cash cow" when describing the rich. A cash cow is a big tree that can produce money, and as long as you shake the branches of the tree, you can sprinkle thousands of dollars of money. In the quanzhou region of the south, beggars perform "cash cow" programs at the end of the year. The beggars who performed the show formed in groups of three or five, carrying a bunch of branches with leaves, and using a red thread to tie four or five strings of copper coins, and once shaken hard, the tree body could be crisp, so that the beggars could go door to door begging.
When the beggars are begging, they will sing with the cash cow: "The money tree, the money tree shakes straight, the red umbrella, the golden chair!" The money tree shakes loudly, and the money left over can buy the field! One shake prosperity, two shake fortune, three shake twin noble sons, four shake four generations and two princes, five shake five men and two women, six shake six kingdoms Su Cheng Xiang, seven shake seven sons and eight sons-in-law, eight shake eight immortals dynasty elders, nine shakes yao nine shangshu, ten shake ten sons and ten daughters-in-law - Wishing you prosperity! After this shouting, the host family had already opened their eyes and smiled, and they all took out money to tip.
The third way beggars ask for money is to perform a lion dance. Lion dance is one of the traditional folk art forms in mainland China, especially in Guangdong, and it is the birthplace of lion dance. In order to be able to fill their stomachs, beggars also have a lot of research on lion dances, and they even do not hesitate to damage their bodies and practice dangerous movements that professional lion dancers dare not practice to make a living. At the time of the New Year's Festival, the beggars in the lion dance dress up and perform at the entrance of the merchants. Generally speaking, the lion dance performance is very exciting, especially some thrilling moves, not surprising, so the owner will also earn enough face, naturally, the bounty will be much higher.
Compared with ancient times, the lion dance performance in modern society has become an art, and the beggars who danced lions in the past have become artists in the new society, no longer a class marginalized by society. It can be seen from this that the new society is enlightened and advanced, and the old society turns people into ghosts, while the new society can turn ghosts into people.
References: "Chinese Beggar Gang" by Lei Fang published by Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House
Wen xiucai, editor-in-chief of Wenlan Hairun Studio, written by: Special history writer: Changshan Zhao Zi worm