Why did ice frolic become a grand festival of the Great Qing Dynasty? Because it is related to the force and stability of the Qing Dynasty
The Eight Flags system is the core system of the Qing Empire, and the Eight Flags Force is the core force of the Qing Empire to maintain the system of governance, and how to maintain the Eight Flags Force is related to the political stability and legitimacy of the Qing Empire. The Eight Banners were invincible at the time of the founding of the Qing Dynasty and were an important armed force for the Qing Empire to seize the world. However, after the capital was established in Beijing, the military tradition of the Eight Flags gradually deteriorated, and the Eight Banners soldiers were infected with bad habits, and their combat effectiveness declined seriously. The emperors of the Qing Empire came up with various methods to improve the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners, such as the "Ice Frolic" activity established during the Qianlong period, which was undoubtedly an important measure. "Although things are played, and the practice of martial arts and courage is in it", is the main feature of this event, as a "grand ceremony of the national dynasty", "ice frolic" activities have been given more political and cultural significance.
Part of "Ice Frolic Map"
1. Qianlong's previous ice activities
As a general term for ancient ice sports on the mainland, ice frolic has a long history in China. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Murwei people living in the Heilongjiang and Nenjiang river basins "rode on wood" because of "a lot of snow", the Gangsi people "rode on wooden horses on the ice, with boards on foot, houses and wood to support their armpits, and walked a hundred steps, the momentum was rapid", the country of flowing ghosts located in the present-day Kamchatka Peninsula "took wood six inches wide and seven feet long, tied to it, to trample on ice", these living customs are not limited to ice activities, but also include snow sports, at this time the "ice car" takes into account the production function and life value, but can be regarded as the prototype of ice frolic sports.
In the Yuan Dynasty, ice frolic was greatly developed, and even dog-pulled ice carts appeared. At that time, the area under the jurisdiction of Marshal Zhengdong's office was inconvenient, and Shuode adopted "summer boating, winter driving on the ice with dogs" according to the local mountain situation, which greatly improved the local traffic conditions, and the "pole" here is climbing the plow. In order to ensure the normal operation of this dog cart, there was even a special "dog station" in the Yuan Dynasty. In addition, in a place called Gilijith, locals "go hunting on wooden horses" in winter, which refers to something like skis and is a tool used by locals to hunt in winter.
Sledge
In the Ming Dynasty, ice carts became an important way of travel in winter, and even many poor people worked as ice trucks, they "pulled the mop bed to make a living", "When the snow is full of forest Gao, the people who sit on the mop bed are mixed and intertwined". When the Shichahai Sea froze, a bed and a wormwood were placed on a wooden board, and a person pulled a rope in front of him, so that he could move on the ice like a fly, which was a popular entertainment among the bureaucratic class of the time.
In the twenty-first year of Jiajing (1542), the crown prince set out from the Forbidden City to Xiyuan to visit the Jiajing Emperor, because the Tailiu Pool was already frozen, so he took an ice cart through the Tailiu Pool. Xia Yan's "Huan Xi Sha" has a saying: "Yushu Qionglou shines brightly, and the bed sits steadily on the ice." It can be seen that ice frolic sports are not only loved by the people, but also loved by members of the royal family, which laid the foundation for the prosperity and development of ice frolic sports in the Qing Dynasty.
The northeast region is frozen for thousands of miles, thousands of miles of snow falls, and the freezing period of rivers is almost half a year a year. This special natural environment makes the ethnic minorities in Northeast China very familiar with ice frolic. The Manchus, as a people who grew up in the black waters of the White Mountains, regard ice frolic as an official activity and attach great importance to it. On the second day of the first lunar month of the tenth year of the Mandate of Heaven (1625), Emperor Taizu of the Qing Dynasty led a group of Fujin, Baqi Baylor and Manchu, Mongolian and Han officials to "play and play football" near the Taizi River, and there were activities such as Baylor kicking football and Fujin racing. After the Qing army entered the customs, ice sports spread from outside the customs to the Beijing division. During the Kangxi Dynasty, members of the imperial family slid on a trailer on the Tailiu Pond, while many Baqi disciples stepped on skates to play ball grabbing games. At this time, there was a special reward system for ice frolic sports, which opened a precedent for the reward system of the ice frolic ceremony in later generations.
2. The ice frolic movement of the Qianlong Dynasty: the heyday of the grand festival of the National Dynasty
With the development of national strength and social stability, the ice frolic movement gradually became the norm and became extremely popular in the Qianlong Dynasty, and the sport also changed from a banquet form to an important event with political and military significance. The Qianlong Dynasty juxtaposed the ice frolic movement with the practice of Manchu language and good riding and shooting, making it an important means to revive the Eight Banners Force and revive Manchu culture.
As a sport within the royal family, ice frolic in the Qing Dynasty has been separated from the daily life of the people. Since it is related to the royal family, the preparation specifications, performance forms and reward systems of ice frolic sports have formed a set of regulations, and officially become an important system of the country.
In the Qing Dynasty, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was responsible for hosting the ice frolic ceremony, including raising silver taels, performance props, and selecting and training performers. Zhao Shenbi recorded in "Yuchao Miscellaneous" that every winter, the Internal Affairs Office selects good ice walkers from the Eight Flags and the Three Flags of the Internal Affairs Office, provides them with equipment, and after a period of training, these people will perform at the ice frolic ceremony.
The specific process is that every October, 1,600 "good ice walkers" (200 people per flag) are selected from the elite of the Eight Flags of the Beijing Division such as the Forward Battalion, the Guardian Battalion, and the Jianrui Battalion, and a "Skill Brave Skate Battalion" is set up under the direct leadership of the Skate Department. The establishment of the "Jiyong Skate Battalion" is divided into four categories: wing, battalion, team and pile, with one wing with a wing commander and four battalions; One battalion has a battalion general and five teams; One team has a captain and has five piles under its jurisdiction; Each pile has a stack leader. The Ministry of Internal Affairs prepares basic props such as skates, bows and arrows, and ball racks. After the winter solstice, the emperor traveled to the three seas of the West Garden to inspect the training results of the Eight Banner soldiers.
Part of "Ice Frolic Map"
During the Qianlong period, ice frolic sports tended to be extremely popular, and various ice activities were diverse and endless, which was quite representative. The main ones are: grab the ball, grab the ball, shoot the ball, swing the mountain, figure skating, and play the tart.
Grabbing is similar to speed skating now, setting the start and finish points, and the first to reach the finish line wins. His Majesty Pan Rong of the Qing Dynasty said in "Ji Sheng in the Age of the Emperor": "Those who skater on the ice, all their shoes have iron teeth, and they are popular on ice, like Xingchi and electricity, competing to win the standard." "The end of the rush was near the ice bed where the emperor was riding, and the starting point was two or three miles away, and the emperor issued an order to announce the start of the race, and as it approached the end, there were guards to assist in slowing down. Finally, according to the order of arrival, they are divided into first class and second class, and receive different rewards.
As a collective ice event, it is not allowed to kick with the foot, only allowed to throw the ball with the hand, and when grabbing the ball, it is divided into left and right teams, the left team wears red clothes, and the right team wears yellow clothes. After the Royal Guard kicks the ball in the middle, the left and right teams immediately start fighting, each team has a goal, and the one who throws the ball to the opponent's goal in a game wins.
The activity of spinning the dragon and shooting the ball combines bow and arrow bending with skating, which increases the technical requirements. In this event, each of the eight flags is teamed up, and they follow the flag color order to perform various balancing moves on a curved track. The archers are responsible for shooting the celestial sphere and the earth on the gate. As Fan Bin said in "Yandu Miscellaneous Songs": "Too liquid is frozen and hard, and ice frolics are opposite." Curved arc and martial arts, upside shot ball round. ”
Eight Flags Soldier Ding Bing frolic movement
A certain reward will also be given to the eight-flag soldiers who participate in the ice frolic, 1st class 10 taels, 2nd class 8 taels, 3rd class 6 taels, and the rest of the soldiers are 4 taels. Some of them were particularly distinguished by the emperor. A Miao young man, Xi Gui, was named "Swallow on Ice" by the emperor because of his self-created "Swallow Three Points of Water" action, and was specially allowed to join the banner.
Third, the national customs and family law: the political significance of the ice frolic movement of the Qing dynasty
The emperors of the Qing Dynasty took the Jin and Yuan dynasties as a reference, attached great importance to riding and shooting, and regarded it as the root of Manchuria, just as the so-called "training of troops in martial arts, sincerity is the priority", ice frolic sports is an important means to test the level of riding and shooting of the Eight Banner soldiers. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty attached great importance to ice frolic sports, raising it to the height of national customs and family laws, so that ice frolic sports were in the same important position as Manchu and riding and shooting. In the Qing Dynasty, ice frolic sports went beyond the simple meaning of entertainment, and had more political and military significance.
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor believed that ice frolic was conducive to improving the combat effectiveness of the eight flags, so he called the ice frolic "ice technique". He repeatedly expressed his importance to the ice frolic movement in his poems: "Follow the time and Chen national customs, choose the place to look at the majestic", the ice frolic movement "covers the practice of martial arts, and does not forget the family law", the Qianlong Emperor believes that the ice frolic movement is conducive to reviving the martial habits of the Manchus, improving the organizational discipline of the Eight Banners soldiers, and enhancing the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners, thereby maintaining the stability of Manchurian rule.
In addition, the Qing Dynasty would invite some foreign envoys to review the training results of the Eight Banner Soldiers, which not only reflected the courtesy of the Qing Emperor to them, but also took this opportunity to declare the prestige of the Great Qing Dynasty and deter the four Yi. And the extensive reward system has allowed some of the Eight Flags disciples who have lost their livelihoods and are forced to borrow to survive. The Jiaqing Emperor pointed out: "The system of ice frolics, through the practice of martial arts, is rewarded, showing the great intention of benefiting soldiers." "The royal ice frolic activity is mainly held at the end of the year, at this time a large number of rewards are distributed to the Eight Flags soldiers, which can not only solve their problems in the New Year, but also make the Eight Flags soldiers feel the imperial grace, so as to pay more attention to this winter training activity, which is ultimately conducive to the improvement of the combat effectiveness of the Eight Flags."
Wen Shijun said
The ice frolic sport was carried forward in the Qing Dynasty, and was valued by successive emperors and became a custom. The ice frolic movement in the Qing Dynasty was very different from its predecessors, emphasizing more political and military significance, emphasizing the improvement of the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners soldiers to maintain the rule of Manchuria and consolidate the stability of the regime. In the Qing Dynasty, ice frolics were also known as "ice skills", which reflected the national tradition of Manchurian martial arts practice, and also reflected the Qing emperor's inheritance of national customs and family laws.
bibliography
[Qing] His Majesty Pan Rong: "Ji Sheng in the Age of the Emperor", Beijing Ancient Books Publishing House, 1981.
[Qing] Zhao Shenyi: "Yuchao Miscellaneous Knowledge", Zhonghua Bookstore, 2001.
(Author: Haoran Bunshi Shenqi)
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