<h1>introduction</h1>
There is no shortage of depictions of plague in the narrative of Qing Dynasty novels, and the image of the people under the plague is more vivid, which reflects the reality of the plague in the Qing Dynasty on the one hand, and also sees the means by which the people of the time solved the plague on the other hand. The Qing people dealt with the plague by asking witches and praying for blessings, as well as believing in science and seeking medicine. Therefore, the performance of the Qing people in the plague is the comprehensive expression of the historical tradition and the time.
Plague of the Qing Dynasty
When the plague broke out in ancient times, the people would be afraid and wandering due to the limited level of knowledge and the limitations of the times, and under the plague, the people would exhaust all means to survive. Ancient China believed that the epidemic was caused by the plague ghost, especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the image of the plague ghost was more abundant, under the plague of the plague, the people turned to the shaman to pray for the protection of the gods; but at the same time, the Ming and Qing dynasties were affected by the general trend of the world, and the people had a little understanding of modern science and actively exerted manpower. There are many descriptions of epidemics in the narratives of Qing Dynasty novels, and the author intends to start with a civilian narrative that is different from the history of zhengshi to see the views of the Qing people under the plague.
missionary
<h1>The plague god is coming</h1>
The ancients believed that plague was caused by the plague gods. In this regard, the "Zuo Zhuan" of the Spring and Autumn Period has already expressed something, that is, "two verticals". After thousands of years of development, by the Qing Dynasty, the image of the plague god has been very rich, so that in the novel records, the occurrence of the plague is often blamed as the plague ghost plague god. For example, for the cause of the great plague in the Tongzhi period, Li Qingchen's "Drunken Tea ZhiWei" in the Qing Dynasty was written as "several people shrugging off one shoulder." There is a person sitting in the middle of the public opinion, his head is as big as a bucket, his red hair is cloudy, his golden eyes are electric, and his appearance is very strange... Plague God also. "In the evening sunshine when the West opened the door of the country, Chinese still believed that the plague was caused by the plague god, which showed that the plague god was deeply rooted in the hearts of the Chinese.
"Drunken Tea Monster"
Of course, in the Narrative of the Qing Dynasty, the image of the plague god is rich and colorful, and it cannot be generalized, in addition to the plague god who released the plague to kill civilians, there were also good plague gods. For example, after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the Qing army had a pox god apparition in the western counterinsurgency war to help Wang Shi's account. Dong Han's "Three Gang Continuation Strategies" tells that the Qing army in the counterinsurgency at that time was very geographically unfavorable, and there was no logistical supply " suffering from lack of water ... Last night, I fell asleep, and I overlooked a god, (God) said: 'The emperor will be victorious in this trip, and when the drum goes forward'", then the Qing army marched, and sure enough, it was a great victory, and later the emperor learned that this was the manifestation of the pox god, releasing the plague on the enemy army, and the Qing army could win the march, so the emperor ordered "all the pox temples should be rebuilt and the crown statues should be sculpted." In light of historical facts, in fact, it is said that the Qing army suppressed the rebellion of the Dzungars, and the Qing army brought smallpox to the Dzungars in the deep inland, causing a great loss in the combat strength of the Dzungars, and the Qing army was able to smoothly quell the rebellion.
Film and television drama - Kangxi
<h1>Treatment of the plague</h1>
Sending plagues and miracles. Since the plague is caused by the plague god, as long as the plague god leaves, the plague can disappear, which is the thinking of the ancients. Qian Yong's "Words of the Garden" said that in the ten years of Jiaqing, the plague in Sichuan was "in the gates of Chengdu Provincial City, 8450 coffins were counted every day, and there were also more than a thousand utensils... (Jianzhou Thorn Shi Xu Gongding) The five people of the night dream came from the east, claiming to be 'messengers of the epidemic', and will go to Chengdu for the New Year to see the dragon lantern Fang Hui", the dragon lantern is in the first month, it is now summer, then is it not the plague to stay for more than half a year! What to do, Xu Gongding then ordered the people to "take May Shuo as new year's day." Xiao Zhi folk, big lights, extend the monks to chant the prayer, tie the dragon lamp, put out the flower explosion, the folk also help to tie the lantern", the messenger of the epidemic has seen the flower lantern, visited the celebration, and really left "so half a month, the epidemic fruit stopped", this is the typical plague sending ceremony.
Of course, this plague god appeared to say their wishes, the people fulfilled their wishes, the ritual was completed, and the plague disappeared, only in the minority. What if a simple plague rages and the plague god does not give you hints. Then the people's families should pray sincerely, and when they are moved to heaven, there may be miracles and immortals sending medicine. In Yuan Ming's "Zi Bu Shu", there is a story of Lü Chunyang (Lü Dongbin) sending medicine to save people, "There will be a great epidemic in the summer, and chickens and dogs will not stay." I (Lü Dongbin) take the gourd to refine the elixir and save this party." Although this story is too deified, it does reflect the people's desire to pray for the blessing of the gods and the messengers to send medicine under the ravages of the epidemic.
Lu Dongbin
If it is not easy for the people to pray, then it is necessary to use the help of a wizard who can communicate with the heavenly people. Tang Sunhua's "Expelling The Ghosts of the Plague" at the turn of the Ming and Qing dynasties records how the people asked the shamans to drive out the plague ghosts under the plague, "Sending the witches out of the house, they have heard the call of the house." It is said that praying late, the heart of the gods will not be happy in the end", this is because the people pray late, which makes the gods unhappy, and the epidemic is delayed.
Human effort. What if the plague ghost does not go away, then it is necessary to exert people's subjective initiative. The "Notes on Reading Wei Caotang" was written by the famous Ji Xiaolan, and one of the stories is that the villagers of Dongguang South are benevolent and helpful, and they build righteous tombs to help the poor children who cannot afford to be buried, and raise the village harmoniously. Decades later, someone dreamed that more than a hundred people were outside the door, during which one person said, "The plague ghost has arrived, from the king to burn more than ten paper flags, more than a hundred silver foil paste wooden knives, I will fight with the plague ghost to repay the favor of a village." The villagers did this, burning utensils, and a few days later, a plague broke out in the county where the village was located, but the village "heard the noise of the four wilds at night, and the da dan nai stopped, and there was no one infected with the disease in the village", which is not a miracle, but the villagers of the village usually help people with kindness and righteousness, and good people get good rewards, so there is nothing wrong. As an official figure, Ji Xiaolan naturally wanted to educate Li Min, let them obey the imperial court and live in peace, so this story is mixed with the role of persuading the people, but it also reflects the role of manpower in the epidemic, if it is not the help of the villagers in the village, how can they live in peace.
Ji Xiaolan
In fact, the biggest reason for the plague is the presence of pathogens, a pathogen is the mother, infecting a group of people, and the individuals in this group become new pathogens to continue to infect others, so repeatedly, it becomes a disaster. In terms of understanding the source of the disease, the "Qing Barnyard Banknote" written by the Republic of China "has been infected to China since the Black Death, and the name of the chinese people is known as the plague, so it is known that the rat should be hunted down." The Black Death is known to everyone, this is a typical plague, foreigners in the Qing Dynasty came to China, missionaries brought knowledge of the Black Death, and the Chinese people also had an understanding of the plague and began to be vigilant against rat infestation.
Although the plague was raging and the people were trembling and praying for blessings, in real life, the role of man could not be less. The Ming and Qing Dynasty novels "The Evolution of the Fengshen Gods" are well known to everyone, during which it is said that Lü Yue, the plague god of the Shang Dynasty, laid down a plague array, causing heavy losses to the Zhou army. Yun Zhongzi relied on Dan Yao rune paper to protect the army, but it was not a cure for the symptoms, and finally it was by relying on Yang Ren, a disciple of the Daode Zhenjun, to burn all the plague to death with the treasure "Five Fire God Flame Fan", so that the Zhou Army was saved from the disaster. Here we clearly see the contrast, that is, drug treatment is not a cure for the symptoms, if you want to eliminate the plague, you have to start from the source, the pathogen is removed. It can be seen that at least during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the principle of using fire to kill pathogens was recognized.
Yang Ren
In the treatment of patients, the Qing Dynasty Zhaoyu's "Miscellaneous Records of the Xiaoting Pavilion" records that "Daoguang Xin Mi in spring and summer ... There was a major epidemic in Beijing, and the number of daily deaths was in the thousands. The healer uses a needle to prick the tongue and palate to catch the purple blood out, and then take the Huoxiang Zhengqi Pill, and get it harmless" This is to talk about the doctor's method of dealing with the plague, using silver needles and drugs, two-pronged approach, scientific treatment of the disease. The reaction here is that in the face of the epidemic, people do not only pray for luxury, they also cooperate with doctors to actively treat.
<h1>Conclusion</h1>
Starting from the Novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, although the novels are different from the main history, they are also the reaction of the society at that time. The images of plague ghosts and plague gods in Qing Dynasty novels are colorful and mature; the Qing people's treatment of epidemics has both scientific methods of disposal and sacrifice ceremonies limited by the times and the level of knowledge. It can be seen that the records of the plague in the Novels of the Qing Dynasty reflect the treatment of the plague by people at that time, which not only inherited the historical view and used the method of history; but also began to understand scientifically under the influence of the times. In this way, the novel's guiding contribution to historical research is not small.
References: "The Ethical Implications of the Folklore Narrative of plague and night travel gods in the Qing Dynasty", "The Evolution of the Fengshen Gods", "Drunken Tea ZhiWei"