Author: Lao Tan, Source: Tang Poetry song poetry ancient poems (ID: tsgsc8)
In this season of revival of all things, there are so many weddings that we attend and record in the circle of friends.
There are four major folklore in ancient China, all of which are related to love and, more specifically, to marriage. Among the four legends, the story of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" was the earliest, the most widely circulated, and the most influential. After all, because of this story, even the traditional Chinese Valentine's Day was born.
After listening to the story of the cowherd and the weaver girl, almost every reader will sigh at their tragedy. But we rarely seem to think about how the marriage of the cowherd and the weaver girl became a tragedy.
There must be some readers who say that it is the evil Heavenly Emperor or the Queen Mother who is at work, and it is they who have broken up this pair of immortals. However, even in mythology, no one is a black and white being, if the Emperor of Heaven is so completely bad, why allow the cowherd and the weaver girl to meet on the seventh of July?
There are too many mysteries in the cowherd and the weaver girl, and in this spring of marriage, let's first discuss the marriage of the two.
1. Origins
The legend of the cowherd and the weaver girl, which originated at the earliest time, is not a lie. In the Book of Poetry, the ancient working people recorded their names:
There is Han in the heavens, and there is light in the prison.
The weaver girl, seven times a day.
Although it is seven, it is not a newspaper.
Look at the morning glory, do not serve the box.
In their literal sense, these verses are translated as follows:
The Milky Way in the sky is wide and wide, like a mirror shining brightly.
Vega constellation is three-legged and moves seven times a day.
Although it is busy moving back and forth, the weaving pattern is not the same.
The morning glory is shining and cannot be used as a driving vehicle.
Contrary to our traditional understanding, in the Book of Verses, the earliest weavers could not weave cloth at all; the earliest cowherds were not very good at driving, they were just vain.
There are also scholars who are unfair to them, not because the cowherd weaver girl is not good at labor, but because she is too tired and inefficient. The "Preface to Mao's Poems" verifies that "Dadong" is a satirical poem.
In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou Gong went on a crusade to quell the rebellion and increase taxes on the various princely states in the east. And this poem records the living conditions of the working people after they were oppressed; it reflects the dissatisfaction of the eastern princely states with the rule of the Western Zhou.
Qing Dynasty scholars have said that the living burden of working people is large, "suddenly look up to see the stars, can't help but touch the heart, call the sky to complain", they because their machine is empty, turned to complain that the weaver girl can not weave, "because the weaver girl virtual machine, and complain and morning glory drum is difficult to drive the suit box."
This kind of complaint is like a flu virus, layer by layer, not to mention, but also contagious. I have to say that in this story, the weaver girl and the cowherd became the "innocent lying gun masses", did not harvest love, and were disliked.
The legend of the cowherd and the weaver girl is at most a broken topic in the Book of Poetry. After solving the problem, there is a long silence. It was not until the Han Dynasty that their story was revived, and the two were given the characteristics of men and women in the world.
The historian Ban Gu wrote the "Xidu Fu", which has the following sentences:
Set in the yuzhang of the universe, near the pool of Kunming.
The left morning glory and the right weaver girl are like the endless clouds of Han.
What "Xi Du Fu" focuses on is the magnificence and grandeur of the Chang'an capital city, and the malaise and luxury of harem life. According to scholars, the "Kunming Pond" in Bangufu is also real, it was built in the han wudi period, originally for the training of sailors, and gradually became a lakeside for nobles to play in the boat.
On both sides of the Kunming Pond, there is a stone statue carved, which is a morning glory and a weaver girl. Ancient carvers used different hair ornaments, shapes, and expressions to show the difference between men and women. These two pairs of statues are also one of the earliest large-scale stone sculptures in China, so they are called Shi Po and Shi Father by later generations.
Through these two statues, the story of the cowherd and the weaver girl gradually spread from the court to the people. Eastern Han agronomist, when describing the folk customs of the time, there are the following sentences: "Set up preserved wine, seasonal fruits, scattered incense powder on the feast, pray to the river drum, weaver girl." ”
In the Book of Poetry, cowherds and weavers are more like "tool men"; in the legends and stories of the Han Dynasty, they begin to be given human characteristics.
Since we are born as human beings, we must naturally know personnel affairs and practice human feelings. Marriage is the most important ceremonial activity, both ancient and modern. How did their marriage begin and perish?
2, folk customs
Allow me to sell one more off. Since the story of the two originated in the Han Dynasty, it is first necessary to introduce the marriage customs of that time. After all, even if it is a myth and legend, it is also taken from the folk and derived from life.
When the Han Dynasty was first established, there were hundreds of wastes to be rebuilt, the people were poor and rich, and the history books said, "Since the son of heaven cannot have alcohol, but will take the ox cart or ride on the ox cart", even the emperor of the rich world could not make up a carriage of the same coat color, and the prime minister even had to rely on the ox cart to travel. It is conceivable that the folk customs at that time were also relatively simple.
Just as recorded in the history books, in the early Han Dynasty, "its people were eager to learn, still polite and righteous, and heavy incorruptible", and its customs were "thick", "thick", and "heavy". Let me say that it is not that the people are "heavy and shameful", the overall standard of living is low, and there are no conditions for moral degeneration.
The emperors of the Han Dynasty conformed to the will of the people and continued to resume production, the people gradually lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the customs of society began to transform into luxury. In the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the people were indeed "lost", and the Book of Han said: "The county and the country are spoke, there are many floating eaters, and the people are at the end." ”
The people's good life, manifested in customs such as marriage, means that more and more dowries are received. During the Zhou Dynasty, the "bride price" of marriage was mainly based on symbolic gifts such as geese and bundles, and during the Qin and Han Dynasties, especially after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the bride price became a more realistic item such as money and physical objects.
Moreover, if you do not attach importance to the wedding, you will even be condemned by the imperial court. The tenth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Xuan of Han, issued an edict, "Marrying and Marrying without Alcohol and Food", which reads:
The marriage ceremony of the husband is also the greatest of the people; the meeting of wine and food can also be performed and enjoyed. The present county of the country of two thousand stones, or unauthorized forbidden, forbidden people to marry are not allowed to have wine and food to greet the summons.
The edict was written to officials, and the next few sentences mean that some officials in various princely states who had reached 2,000 stones of qilu had arbitrarily enacted harsh decrees prohibiting the people from setting up a banquet at the wedding ceremony. Obviously, this is not right.
Forbidding the people to enjoy themselves, in the eyes of the emperor, meant harsh government. In his edict, Emperor Xuan of Han also quoted verses from the Book of Poetry:
The people's loss of morality is to be ashamed.
There is wine to me, no alcohol to me.
The text of the Book of Verses is difficult to understand, and the author still translates it in the vernacular:
Why have people lost their friendship? Don's hospitality was not thorough.
There is wine at home to take out, no wine hurry out to buy.
Inspired by such a policy, what was the specification of the marriage of the people at that time? Or more directly, how many bride price gifts did the Han Dynasty mother-in-law generally ask for?
Historians mainly record the life of the ruling class, and from the scattered records in the historical materials, we can still see some clues.
In the early years of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang could not even find the same era of hair-colored horses, and the system at that time stipulated that the dowry of the empress was ten thousand pounds of gold. "Queen Lou, ten thousand pounds of gold". By the time Lü Hou married his daughter, this number increased to 20,000, and since then it has become customized.
In the last years of the Western Han Dynasty, when Wang Mang married his daughter, the dowry was in addition to gold, "for money 20,000 yuan." In order to gain a good reputation, Wang Mang "discounted" himself to 40 million yuan. There is no doubt that this is also a huge amount of money.
Sima Xiang of the Han Dynasty may be one of the few examples of "empty gloves and white wolves". He did not spend much money when he got married, and later, the dowry that Zhuo Wangsun gave to his daughter included "a hundred servants, millions of dollars, and his clothes and belongings when he married." Relying on these dowries, Sima Xiang thundered like a flat ground, suddenly and richly.
Due to the prevalence of "luxury", for the people at the bottom, getting married once may mean ruining the family. According to the records of the literati at that time, the "cost of a meal" on top of the people's banquet even brought them the result of "breaking the foundation of life".
From this point of view, the officials who practiced "harsh government" in the edict of Emperor Xuan of Han did not seem to be so hateful.
3. Bride price
What is the identity of the Weaver Girl?
The saying in the "Chronicle of History": "Weaver Girl, Heavenly Daughter Sun Ye." Sima Qian's statement, that is, the Weaver Girl was the granddaughter of the Heavenly Emperor.
In the Southern Dynasty Liang Yinyun's "Novel", Yun said: "There is a weaver girl in the east of the Tianhe River, and the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor is also." "That is, the Weaver Girl is the daughter of the Emperor of Heaven.
Whether it is a granddaughter or a daughter, the weaver girl and the "Emperor of Heaven" can always be related. Therefore, according to the "market" at that time, when the Emperor of Heaven married a weaver girl, how much "bride price" was relatively appropriate?
Don't think that the old talk is joking, it is really recorded in the ancient books. In the 31st volume of the Taiping Imperial Records, the Book of Wei records a sentence - this is also the earliest record of why the Heavenly Emperor separated the two in the legends that can be seen.
In the Taiping Imperial Records, Yun said: "Morning glory marries a weaver girl, takes twenty thousand yuan from the Emperor of Heaven, prepares gifts, and does not return it for a long time, and is driven to the Suga Chamber." The meaning of this sentence is that Niu Lang was very poor and not as talented as Sima Xiangru, and when he married a weaver girl, he borrowed twenty thousand yuan from the Heavenly Emperor, because he had not returned it for a long time, and the Heavenly Emperor was furious, which broke them up.
Compared with the statistics above, when the folk emperor marries his daughter, he often has "twenty thousand pounds of gold", and the more honorable heavenly emperor in the sky only asks for a mere twenty thousand dollars when he marries his daughter.
Needless to say, because Niu Lang had no money, the Heavenly Emperor even lent him. Borrowing money but not repaying it is Niu Lang's "credit problem".
After looking up the information, I always have a certain feeling: in the oldest stories, the cowherd and the weaver girl seem to be a little lazy. The two men in the Book of Poetry are not good at labor; the cowboy in the Taiping Imperial Records does not work hard and owes money for a long time.
When the time came to the Liang Dynasty, Yin Yun said in the "Novel": "(Weaver Girl) weaves servitude year after year, weaving into a cloud brocade coat. The Heavenly Emperor pitied him for being alone and promised to marry Hexi Morning Glory. After marriage, the weaving was abolished. The Heavenly Emperor was furious and ordered him to return to Hedong. ”
Yin Yun means that weaver girl's job is weaving cloth, and the Heavenly Emperor is distressed by her and marries her to Niulang. After marriage, the weaver girl is lazy and no longer works. Therefore, the angry Emperor tiandi ordered her to return to the "work workshop".
For a long time, we tended to condemn the evils of feudal society. Frankly, in today's environment, we should be happy to meet such an empathetic boss.
Following the idea of "Niu Lang owes money", those ancient poems written by Han and Wei poets are simply impossible to read.
The poems of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Nineteen Ancient Poems, have clouds:
Roundabout Morning Glory, Kyaukgyao River Han Girl,
Fibrous hands, Zaza lane machine.
All day long, weeping like rain.
The reason why the Weaver Girl "wept like rain", in addition to missing the cowherd, may also be because of the money owed...
The "Short Song Line" written by Cao Pi during the Three Kingdoms period has the following sentences:
The bright moon shone brightly on my bed, and the stars flowed in the west at night.
The morning glory weaver girl looks at each other from afar, and Er Du he limits the river beam.
In the poem, Cao Pi expressed the question: What sin have you committed when you were blocked by the Tianhe River? According to the legend at that time, we seem to be able to answer Cao Pi: Niu Lang committed the crime of not paying back the money and not paying it back.
The above legends and stories are from the earliest records of history books and notes. With the passage of time, the image of the cowherd and the weaver girl has gradually changed, and this change is not within the scope of today's discussion, and I hope you will know about it.
Teacher Fan Wei's words, "I don't want to know how I came here, I just want to know how I didn't." When we consider that in the oldest legend, the reason why the love of the cowherd weaver girl "disappeared" was because she "couldn't afford to marry", anyway, the author was still a little sad.
What a realistic, sad story!
Resources:
1, Peng Wei, Yang Zhenhong: A General History of Chinese Customs: Qin and Han Scrolls
2, Edited by Xu Jieshun: History of Han Customs, Volume II
3, Ban Gu: Book of Han, volume 8, Book of Han, Eighth Xuan Emperor Liu Qing
4, Zhao Kuifu: "On the Origin and Theme of the Story of the Cowherd Weaver Girl"
-Author-
Always talk, always talk, always talk about people, nothing else.