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Ancient China has long been an agrarian society, and people rely on the sky for food, and if nothing else, they basically can't escape the one-acre and three-point land for a lifetime. As a result, population movements are slow, and only the household registration system is needed to count and record the population and employees.
But for people with status at that time, especially for people such as scholars, ID cards were necessary.
In this matter, the identity cards of various dynasties and generations are rich and diverse, especially in the anti-counterfeiting aspect of superb craftsmanship.
In addition to proving identity, ID cards were also a status symbol in ancient times, and elites only need to glance at ID cards to know how this person compares with their own social strength, and in the later period, they use gems as evidence to highlight personal status.
So what did the ID card look like in ancient times, and how did people build an identity system with the help of ID cards?
The earliest "identity card"
In today's China, each of us will go to the ID card when we are an adult and get a thin, easy-to-carry ID card.
But the item of ID card is not produced from modern times, and the ancients also had "ID cards", more accurately identity certificates.
This "identity card" can be traced back to the era of the Shang Martingale reform law in the Qin Dynasty, and in 359 BC, the Duke of Qin Xiao appointed the Shang Martingale to carry out the reform of the law.
One of the most important elements of the martingale law is the compilation and entry of household registration, the main purpose of which is to facilitate the governance of the country and deter civilians with severe punishments, especially through joint sitting and mutual reporting.
At the same time, with the household registration, the wandering criminals and fugitives can be well monitored, and at that time, people without household registration certificates cannot take horse-drawn carriages on the road and cannot stay overnight in inns.
The so-called household registration certificate is the earliest "identity card" of ancient people, and it was also called "photo sticker" in the Qin Dynasty.
The whole body is made of bamboo board as a carrier, the surface is polished smooth and clean, and the person is carved on it with a knife, who the person's surname is, what work he does, and even his portrait and anti-counterfeiting official seal.
It sounds similar to the current ID card information composition, and there is an additional occupation, but these are all hand-carved, which is a modern craftsman's production.
After the implementation of the post in the Qin State, it had a huge impact, and even Shang Martin himself was killed by the identity card he promoted.
We can try to imagine what would happen if it was the Qin Kingdom now, and then he accidentally lost his post?
First of all, we will get the title of "hooligans", which can be separated in ancient times, one word represents one meaning: "stream" refers to those who have left their homes and are helpless, and "gangsters" refer to ordinary people, which together are ordinary people who are displaced.
The evidence to prove that you are a citizen of a country is missing, naturally there is no way to know whether you are a native or not, you can travel freely in other countries, and you are not controlled by the Qin State, so the word "rogue" is really appropriate.
Before the appearance of the poster, only officials in the imperial court needed to prove their identity with various tokens, including but not limited to special seals, documents, etc., which was very cumbersome and inconvenient.
But civilians do not need identification, because they have no status and do not have strong financial resources, and if everyone comes to hand over materials, the threshold of the official office will be trampled.
After the appearance of the photo post, it does provide great convenience for officials to prove their identity, but at the same time, for some people who are accustomed to it, they are absolutely unwilling to apply for the photo post.
In order to make the entire country operate efficiently, Shang Martingale must observe the population situation within the Qin State at any time, and if necessary, draw the population to capture the strong Ding Army.
In the end, the poster can be promoted nationwide, but in fact, Shang Martingale used the public power of the state to enforce it, because if someone is unwilling to do it, he will be arrested as a thief or spy of another country and directly executed.
After the people of the Qin State have a photo, the monarch of the Qin State only needs to know how many people he has under his hands through the household registration booklet, who are in each industry, and it is also convenient to calculate the annual tax.
In the Warring States period, it was also able to quickly deploy soldiers to fight, with strong mobility, so that it was difficult for the Qin State to not want to win, coupled with the fighting method with other countries, it would not fight without fighting.
At this time, some people may think that this photo post was originally carved with a bamboo knife, if your craftsmanship is good enough, can you forge one, but also forge it for others, and even reach the point of doing business.
In fact, no one in the Qin Kingdom was willing to do this, which was completely thankless. Forging a photo sticker, the cost of seal engraving is very high, and the requirements for hand art are very high, but no one buys it, even if it is sold, it is impossible to pay a high price, and each photo post has the seal of the posting agency.
Forging official seals is a capital offense, one person commits a crime, the whole family sits and obeys the law, and if there is still an act of covering up the ignorance, the neighbors will also suffer.
After Shang Martin's own self-issued photo post was promoted for several years, in 338 BC, Shang Martin's biggest backer, Qin Xiaogong, died, and Prince Si became the monarch of the Qin state, also known as King Huiwen of Qin.
Shang Martin offended too many nobles when he changed the law in the early years, and when Qin Xiaogong died and he declined, these remaining nobles spread rumors in front of King Qin Huiwen, saying that Shang Martin was not old and wanted to rebel.
Originally, after the success of the Shang Martingale Reform Law, he accumulated a lot of prestige in the imperial court and the people, and his status was very high, and as a newly appointed king, he naturally feared the generals who worked hard and did not want to be turned into puppets by him.
Therefore, King Qin Huiwen pondered in private how to clean up the merchant martingale to revive his sovereign power.
After learning the news, Shang Martingale hurriedly packed his luggage and fled in a hurry. He kept fleeing and fled to the border of the Qin Kingdom, at this time it was late, and if he continued to walk, he might encounter tigers, wolves and jackals, so he decided to stay overnight and continue tomorrow.
Shang Martingale had just stepped into the threshold with one foot in front of him, and before his back foot had stepped in, the innkeeper saw him from a distance, and the first thing he said was to check whether he had taken his own example.
Shang Martin definitely did not dare to take out his photo post, because his escape must have been spread throughout the country by King Qin Huiwen, and he is no longer the minister of state, just a wanted fugitive, and taking out the photo post is completely throwing himself into the net.
Shang Martingale could not get a photo, and the innkeeper did not let Shang Martingale enter the house, and told him about the new law promulgated by Shang Martingale that if the boss stayed overnight without a photo, the guest would also be implicated and punished.
In desperation, Shang Martingale could only hide in Tibet and stay on the streets at night, he originally wanted to rely on his knowledge to become anonymous and become a teacher.
However, the people at that time regarded the court officials as teachers, and he had escaped from the imperial court, how could he return, he took out the last hole card, and after dawn, he set out to join the Wei state.
Unfortunately, because he kidnapped Gongziyin in his early years to deal with the Wei state, the king of the Wei state had long since diswelcomed him. Desperate, he returned to his fiefdom and decided to fight and rebel with his men.
Shang Martingale's move was nothing more than a death throes, and King Huiwen of Qin sent a large number of soldiers to surround him, and in the end, Shang Martin was defeated and died.
After his death, his body was also brought back to Xianyang by King Huiwen of Qin, and the car was cracked in public, and the Shang Martin family was also destroyed.
The cruel punishment formulated by Shang Martin eventually became a weapon to kill him, but the photo sticker he invented still prevailed in the Qin state, and even had an impact on later generations.
Talismans of the ages
After the Qin Dynasty, the common people abandoned the photo, after all, this thing is like a portable monitor and a bomb, carrying it is not, not carrying it is not.
But officials still need proof of identity to act, and that's when the talisman comes in handy. The origin of the rune tablet can be traced back to a jade ritual vessel called "tooth fang" in the Xia Shang period, and gradually derived "runes" and "runes" in the process of sacrificial use.
During the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, the use of the tooth roe developed into a talisman as a commanding soldier, showing itself as a symbol of the commander of the first army.
During the Qin and Han dynasties, the role of runes remained in military operations, and from the Sui and Tang dynasties, the shape of runes and the system of representation changed, and people gave runes the symbol of status.
So the Sui and Tang Dynasties opened the beginning of the Shidafu family using talismans as proof of identity and building an identity hierarchy.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the talismans were made in the form of fish talismans, rabbit talismans, and turtle talismans, and the most commonly used talismans were "fish talismans".
After Li Yuan led his army to destroy Sui and entered Chang'an to establish the Tang Dynasty, he abandoned the old identity system of the Sui Dynasty and changed the "bamboo envoy talisman" of the Sui Dynasty to a silver rabbit talisman, and then changed it to a copper fish talisman.
The original use of the Bronze Fish Talisman in the Tang Dynasty was to mobilize the army and appoint and dismiss officials, and the primary role of such talismans was to symbolize power, followed by status symbols.
There are two types of fish symbols, the cross-fish talisman and the patrol talisman, and the fish talisman usually appears in pairs and is divided into two parts. The use of fish talismans in practice is relatively cumbersome, and this practice is mainly to be able to have a basis for correspondence and facilitate the proper implementation of many matters within the imperial court.
The left talisman of the fish talisman is usually stored in the inner court as an item such as "bill" and "bottom root", while the right talisman is carried by the holder.
Interestingly, although fish symbols appear in pairs, after a period of development, the number of fish symbols can be different, which is determined according to the number of users and the actual situation.
The Tang Dynasty period was a period of extensive use of runes and fish talismans, and throughout the Tang Dynasty, the use of fish talismans derived five types.
Talismans such as the Bronze Fish Talisman, the Transmission Talisman, and the Jing Festival are all talismans with practical uses, while the Portable Fish Talisman and the Wooden Contract are all symbols that verify and symbolize identity.
The specific use of the fish talisman, in addition to the left and right correspondence, in order to make the fish talisman have practical meaning, rather than a simple status symbol, there must be an edict order that coincides with the fish talisman before it can take effect.
In addition, there are strict rules when the Tangyu talisman is only used as a status symbol, and only officials above the fifth rank are eligible to wear the fish talisman to show their status.
These fish talismans are made of metal, with small holes chiseled for easy wearing, and the names of officials, places of employment, and grades are often engraved on them.
At that time, officials above the fifth rank used gold and silver fish talismans, and officials below the sixth rank were issued copper fish talismans, which could not be worn.
The fish talismans held by officials above the fifth rank are also equipped with specially stored fish bags, and the fish talismans at this time play the role of identity verification and facilitate the entry and exit of the palace when summoned.
Even the envoys of the various kingdoms attached to the Tang Dynasty at that time also had runes issued by the Tang Dynasty, which were separated by male and female, male talismans were stored in the imperial court, and female talismans were brought back by the envoys to facilitate future communication.
The Tang Dynasty's own crown princes also had ID cards, but they did not use talismans, but jade, also known as "jade contracts", sometimes the Tang Dynasty emperors went out to personally fight, and the princes or princes and ministers stayed in the imperial court to manage affairs, and at this time they would also be distributed dragon talismans and lin talismans as power permits and status symbols.
It can be seen that the Tang Dynasty was very active in the promotion of the ID card system, and even subdivided the specific types of runes, and there were strict regulations and hierarchies for the use of runes.
Dynasties after the Tang Dynasty continued this ID card system, but there were many changes in the specific items used.
ID card other than the symbol
The development direction of ID cards after the Tang Dynasty was mainly towards light and aesthetic, and at the same time there was a downward trend in class. The types of identity cards are also divided from a single grade ID card to professional ID card and temporary ID card.
After the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty abolished the fish talisman, mainly because the fish talisman was made of metal, and it was heavy to hang around the waist, which did not look beautiful.
However, the Song Dynasty retained the tradition of wearing fish bags, so people made a fuss about the pattern of the fish bags themselves, and the color of the fish bags matched the color of the official uniform. Fourth-grade officials wear purple robes with goldfish bags, and seventh-grade officials wear red robes with silverfish bags.
In the Ming Dynasty, people completely abandoned things such as fish talismans and fish bags, and used tooth tags to show their identity. At this point, "symbol" and "card" are separated, and "card" independently assumes the function of status level symbol.
A tooth tag is a plate made of ivory as the main material, similar to a photographic sticker. The dental tag contains the personal information of the holder, because the dental tag is long enough to engrave the person's past history.
The Ming Dynasty's tooth tags were not only worn by officials, and in Ming Ren Lu Rong's "Shuyuan Miscellaneous", it was recorded that as long as people who entered and exited their inner house, regardless of their status, they were equipped with tooth tags to avoid being regarded as infiltrated thieves.
It can be seen from here that the identity certificate of the Ming Dynasty is no longer the exclusive domain of officials and aristocrats, but gradually becomes an identity certificate for the general public.
In the Qing Dynasty, people of all walks of life used precious gemstones on the top of their hats, showing their power and status through financial resources and the value of gemstones.
For example, a first-class master can wear a ruby top on his hat, and a show can wear a hat with a copper ball top, while the hat of ordinary people has no inlaid items, and a hat knot can generally be tied with satin.
In addition to the hierarchical ID card and professional ID card, such as monks who want to travel far away need to bring a du mu, the customs clearance document in "Journey to the West" is this thing, and today's passport is similar.
Temporary ID cards, such as "road guides" and "door tickets", have strong timeliness, more like a letter of introduction written by one person to another.
To sum up, identity certificates have developed in ancient dynasties, and the general trend is top-down, from the imperial court to the public, usually by the material used to distinguish identity.
In modern times, everyone is a thin and light card, and the information is exposed from seal carving to storage implicit through modern technology, with strong confidentiality.