This article is about 4100 words
It takes 11 minutes to read
In the hit TV series "Crazy" during the Spring Festival, the photo of the protagonist Gao Qiqiang riding an electric car to sell fish became popular all over the circle of friends. But have you ever wondered why Gao Qiqiang's original occupation was a fishmonger and not other professions, such as a butcher stall owner or a vegetable vendor? In fact, this is closely related to the multiple images of fish and fishermen in Chinese culture.
Gao Qiqiang, who sells fish. Source: Intercepted by the TV series "Crazy"
A fish that is a symbol of abundance
In Chinese culture, fish symbolizes abundance. The "Classic of Mountains and Seas", which records ancient legends, describes a fish called "wen ray", "its taste is sour and sweet, and the food is crazy, and when you see it, the world is great." "Dai" means harvest, and the appearance of fish is regarded as an auspicious omen for a good harvest in the world. "The Book of Poetry Xiaoya Yuli" has clouds: "Yuli Yuyi, squid shark." A gentleman has wine, and there are many purposes. "Arya Shidi" explains that "Yuli" means "peace of speech, abundant years, and many things", and the whole poem tells that this is a good year of harvest, full of materials and a lot of catch. "The Book of Poetry, Xiaoya, No Sheep" expands the fish representing abundance into people's dreams: "The fish of all the dimensions are actually a good year." "If you dream of fish, it will mean the arrival of a good harvest year." The homonym of "fish" and "yu" further strengthens the connection between fish and harvest in the minds of Chinese people. Even today, many families prepare a fish dish on top of their Chinese New Year's Eve Chinese New Year's Eve meal, which means more than every year. New Year's rice cakes are also made to look like fish, and the fiery red window flowers also have fish patterns, which are the inheritance of fish culture today.
In the play, Gao Qiqiang worked hard in the vegetable market, originally wanting to rely on his own hands to let his relatives live a happy life, and it was fitting to choose fish that symbolizes abundance as his sales item.
The Qing Dynasty court Tibetan boy holding the fish chandelier, with the auspicious meaning of "more than every year" and "many blessings". This lantern is made in response to the lantern viewing custom around the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month. Source: Palace Museum
In addition to symbolizing abundance, fish in ancient China often referred to people, and ordinary fish could be transformed into other more "advanced" animals, representing the possibility of human class jump. Zhuangzi's "Getaway" imagines a big fish, "The size of the kunai is not known for thousands of miles; Transformed into a bird, its name is "Peng", after the fish becomes a bird, it can travel freely and unrestrained.
Regarding the changes in fish, we are most familiar with the legend of carp turning into dragons. According to the "Cocoon Magazine": "The carp is a childish dragon. "It can be seen that as early as in ancient books, people regarded fish as dragons, dragons as fish, and believed that fish and dragons could be mutually transformed. The well-known story of "carp jumping over the dragon gate" was first seen in the "Records of the Three Qins": "A dragon gate in Hejin, the water is dangerous, the genus of fish and turtles can not go up, the big fish in the sea river is thousands of dragons, the upper is a dragon, and those who do not go up point their heads and gills." "The fish that jump on the gate become dragons, and those that can't jump break their foreheads and swollen cheeks.
With the development of the imperial examination system in the Sui and Tang dynasties, "carp leaping over the dragon gate" was officially given the meaning of social class promotion. The poet Li Bai wrote a poem specifically for this purpose: "The three-foot carp of the Yellow River, originally in Mengjinju, does not become a dragon, and returns with mortal fish." "If you can't pass the imperial examination, you can only be an ordinary person. Another Tang Dynasty poet, Zhang Xiaobiao, also wrote a poem lamenting: "The eyes are like real pearls and scales like gold, and the waves are always moving and sinking." You have to go to the dragon gate in the river, and you don't sigh that the rivers and lakes are deep. "If the imperial examination is successful, so many years of hard work will be worth it. Tang Dynasty readers yearn for high school, and Gao Qiqiang in the play also hopes that he can achieve social class improvement by selling fish.
"Reading the List of Scholars". Source/Confucius Temple Network
A fish that is the embodiment of the fate of ordinary people
Of course, fish can jump through the dragon gate, but most fish can only be reduced to the delicacy of human belly, and cannot control their own destiny. Sima Qian's Shiji depicts the scene of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang's "Hongmen Banquet", and Liu Bang planned to leave according to the etiquette even after learning of Xiang Yu's plot to kill him. Now people are swordsmen, I am fish, what words. "You're all fish and meat on someone's clipboard, and you're taking your leave."
Fan at the Hongmen banquet. Source: Screenshot of the TV series "The Legend of Chu and Han"
Even Liu Bang at that time had to be at the mercy of others in front of the overlord of Western Chu, not to mention ordinary people. Later, due to years of conquest and construction projects in the Western Han Dynasty, the small people were overwhelmed and complained. In the folk song "Wusheng Eight Nine Sons" of Hanle Mansion, he once sighed: "Carp is in the abyss of Luoshui, and the fishing rod still has the mouth of the carp." "Even if you hide farther away, the imperial court can find them. The princes and officials who were closer to the people were equally domineering, and the Book of the Later Han, tracing the division of princes and kings in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, described them as "arrogant and insatiable." Fish and flesh the people, in order to satisfy their desires. "The princes and kings frantically exploited the people to satisfy their own desires.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, frequent wars destroyed countless lives, among which Hou Jing, who repeatedly jumped between several countries, was particularly notorious. He first served Eastern Wei, then surrendered to Western Wei, and then defected to the Liang Dynasty in the south, and Emperor Wudi of Liang actually used him as a general and led an army to attack Eastern Wei, and Eastern Wei drafted a letter for this, warning the Liang Dynasty that it would suffer serious consequences: "But I am afraid that the state of Chu will die and the forest will be destroyed, and the city gate will be on fire, and the pond fish will be affected." Sure enough, in August of the following year, Hou Jing launched a rebellion, and Emperor Wudi of Liang, who had originally advocated accepting him, was imprisoned to death, affecting countless ordinary people.
The ordinary people who cannot control their own destiny represented by fish are fully reflected in the play. Whenever Gao Qiqiang wanted Lao Mo to kill someone, the code words he used were: "Lao Mo, I want to eat fish." "Lao Mo, who received the order, would carry live fish to the door and skillfully cut the fish to kill the fish, just as he would do to the victims next. And Gao Qiqiang treats people friendly on the surface, giving a little favor to others from time to time, and doing business in the fish and meat country behind his back.
It is worth mentioning that the brushwork of using fish metaphors is also shown in the classic gangster film "The Godfather", when the godfather's personal thug was killed by the opponent, the godfather's family received the bulletproof vest he wore before his death, which was wrapped in a dead fish, which means that he "sleeps with the fish".
Bulletproof vest with a dead fish wrapped inside. Stills from the movie "The Godfather"
Fishermen and fishermen with complex imagery
In addition to the cultural meaning of the fish itself, it also stems from the complex imagery of the profession of fisherman/fisherman in ancient Chinese culture. There are also three, six and nine among fishmongers. In "Water Margin", Langli Baitiao Zhang Shun monopolized the local fish market, he did not come, and no fishmonger dared to open a market to sell fish. Gao Qiqiang is cautious, but he still has to look at the face of the Tang brothers in charge of market supervision, and he can find some contrast in Mo Yan's short story "Fish Market": Captain Liu, a soldier who bullies the market, a fishmonger who is trying to make a living but has a somewhat philistine atmosphere, and Fengzhu, a beautiful proprietress.
Fishermen depend on fishermen for their livelihoods. In ancient Chinese culture, fishermen were often portrayed as intelligent people. Legend has it that Prince Jiang was fishing near the water, which attracted a visit from King Wen of Zhou. Later generations used the term "Diaoyutai to describe people who are in a stable position and control the situation. Liu Zongyuan of the Tang Dynasty also wrote a fable called "The Fisherman vs. Zhibo", borrowing the mouth of the fisherman to predict the tragic end of Zhibo. Gao Qiqiang's analysis and control of the situation when he was in his prime, as well as the ordinary appearance of driving an electric car to deliver fish every day, really had a bit of the taste of a black fisherman.
At the same time, there was no shortage of negative evaluations of fishermen in ancient China. Because fishermen directly take resources from nature, without the need for long-term hard labor such as farming, maintenance, harvesting and so on like planting, in ancient China, where agricultural civilization dominates, fishermen are often portrayed as unearned gainers, "sandpiper mussels compete, fishermen profit", "fishermen's plan" and "fisherman's profit" have become synonymous with exploiting loopholes and obtaining improper benefits, and this is also in line with the plot of Gao Qiqiang using illegal means to make huge profits in Jinghai City, and from time to time use his strength to fight.
In addition to the evaluation of unjust gain, fishermen are considered potential organizers and participants because they cannot effectively control and monitor fishermen because they make a living on the water. We often use quacks and lakes to refer to areas that are inaccessible to the authorities and lack legal constraints.
The Sun Enluxun Uprising in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Zhongxiang Yang Yi Uprising in the Southern Song Dynasty were based on islands or lakes, and the Ming Dynasty also included many Han people who were also merchants and thieves. In the "Water Margin" that we are familiar with, there are also many powerful people who are ostensibly engaged in fishing, but at the same time involved in the underworld. Among the seven-member gang that hijacked the birthday gang, there were the three Nguyen brothers of Shijie Village. Zhang Heng robbed people of money and killed people on the Xunyang River in the name of ferrying. His brother Zhang Shun nearly died at the hands of Zhang Wang and Sun Wu, who used the same trick.
Not only are fishermen mixed with good and bad people, but they also have the ability to stir up trouble because they are good at working with water. Zhang Zhihe of the Tang Dynasty wrote a poem "Words with Fishermen", which has the phrase "the wind stirs the long air and the waves stir the wind, and the fish and dragons are mixed in a river", which describes the great energy of the fisherman, and also creates the idiom "fish and dragon mixed" that indicates that good people and bad people are mixed in between. Li Jun in "Water Margin" is nicknamed "Mixed River Dragon", and he also has two deputies, one is Tong Wei out of the cave, and the other is Tong Meng who turns over the river, and when you look at these nicknames, you know that they have the ability to turn over the river and the sea.
The character painting of "Water Margin" made by the Japanese fully demonstrates Li Jun's ability to turn the river and the sea
In addition to the fisherman's own professional attributes, the fish itself is also associated with conspiracy. Fish is considered to be mysterious, and in ancient times letters were often made in the shape of fish, because fish is a deep hidden thing that does not leak the content of the letter, and later generations also used "fish intestine ruler" to refer to the letter. When the ancients conspired, they also often manipulated in the belly of the fish. According to the "Records of History", during the Spring and Autumn Period, Prince Guang of Wu Guo found assassins to specialize in Wu, intending to murder King Wu's staff and replace him. Because King Wu's staff was on guard, Gongzi Guang set up a banquet and hospitality, specially hiding the dagger in the belly of the fish, and drawing the dagger when offering the grilled fish, and the blow was fatal. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, when Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were plotting in Daze Township, they wrote the three characters "Chen Shengwang" on the silk drapery with red paint and put them in the stomach of the fish. After the pawns cooked the fish, they found the note inside, thinking it was providence. Gao Qiqiang engaged in criminal activities, naturally he could not put it on the table, so he used selling fish as a cover.
A wooden fish used to deliver letters in ancient times. Source: Tianjin Postal Museum
Compared with the fisherman with rich meanings, the other professions in the vegetable market are not culturally suitable for Gao Qiqiang's personality. Butchers/butchers, though powerful, are often brave and more suited to act as thugs than tricky masterminds. Fan Yu of the Western Han Dynasty was born as a butcher, in stark contrast to a wise general like Han Xin. Zheng Tu in "Water Margin" was cut by Lu Zhishen's various envoys, consumed for half a day, and finally died with three punches.
In the American film "Gangs of New York", which reflects the activities of New York crime groups before the Civil War, one of the gang leaders is "Bill the Butcher", who has the courage to win by force, ignoring politicians' advice that times have changed and Irish immigrants need to be accepted, and eventually dies.
In addition, there is an old saying "every dog slaughterer", after Jing Ke's arrival in the Yan Kingdom, he often interacted closely with the dog slaughterer and drank very happily, which gave the butcher a chivalrous color, which was inconsistent with Gao Qiqiang's behavior in criminal activities. A criminal, no matter how he fights to loosen money, is only a disguise, not a substance. Moreover, the next sentence of "every dog slaughterer who fights righteousness" is "most of the negative hearts are readers", which shows that there is an insurmountable gap between the two in social class, which is inconsistent with Gao Qiqiang's efforts to achieve social class promotion.
As for greengrocers, they are often associated with weakness. In the traditional concept, eating meat makes people brave, eating vegetables makes people weak, and they are pure and unwanted. In "Water Margin", Zhang Qing, the "vegetable garden" who grows vegetables, is obviously controlled by his wife "Mother Yasha" Sun Erniang, and has a low sense of existence. When people want to show that they are not easy to mess with, they like to say, "I'm not a vegetarian." Therefore, the profession of vegetable seller does not fit the image of Gao Qiqiang, who is ambitious and ruthless.
It can be seen that just the protagonist's career setting involves a lot of cultural connotations.
bibliography
Ni Zhengfang, Tang Xiangcong, "Hermit and Wise Man: A Comparison of the Image of the 'Fisherman' in Chinese and Western Literature," Journal of Hunan Institute of Engineering, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2001
Si Shujing: "Fish Complex in Chinese Culture," Journal of Yantai Normal University, Vol. 19, No. 3, 2002
Hao Hongyan, "The Chinese character 'fish' and its cultural connotation," Journal of Luoyang Institute of Technology, No. 1, 2010
Teng Xinxian, Wang Yu, "On Fish Culture in Ancient Chinese Folk Literature," Frontiers, No. 20, 2010
Ningbo, Liu Shun, He Lin, "Metaphorical Imagery and Historical Evolution of Ancient Chinese Fish Culture," China Fishery Economy, Vol. 35, No. 4, 2017
Author | Xu Xiangyun
Edit | Zhan Qianhui
Proofreading | Torch Li Dong Zhang Bin Yanwen