Text丨Fortune Chubby
Editor丨Lucky Chubby
Preface
In many ancient film and television dramas, whenever night rises and the road is empty, there will be mysterious watchmen.
They always held gongs and mallets, and shouted the familiar and loud slogan in their mouths: Three watches in the middle of the night, watch out for the candles!
In fact, many people don't know that in ancient times, beating people was a specialized profession, and the impact on people's work and life was very important.
So where did they come from? Let's explore this mysterious profession of antiquity.
Strict "curfews" in ancient times
If a person lives in ancient times, he will definitely experience the difficulties of ancient people.
Compared with the bright lights at night and the bustling city at night, the curfew system implemented by the ancient people in some periods can make the people complain.
In order to better maintain national security and ensure that the ancient night played an important role in fire prevention and theft, many regions in ancient times would implement "curfews" during special periods.
The earliest known curfew system can even be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty.
It is recorded in "Zhou Li, Autumn Lawsuits": When the night is in charge, the night is divided by the stars, the night is forbidden by the edict of the night warrior, the morning walker, the night walker, and the night traveler.
In ancient times, because there was no more convenient means of transportation and communication, the rulers did not have a good way to manage the city more quickly, so the problem of public security was relatively prominent.
In addition, the frequent changes of dynasties and the unstable political situation led to the implementation of a "curfew" system in order to better maintain social order and security.
Naturally, the timing and scope of curfews vary from era to era. If someone accidentally violates the curfew, the punishment that awaits him will be very severe.
During the Tang Dynasty, if someone appeared on the street without permission, they were likely to be charged with "committing a night crime".
It is recorded in "Tang Law Shu Discussion and Miscellaneous Law":
Anyone who commits a crime at night after closing the door and before opening the door and drum without reason shall be punished with 20 lashes, except for those who have a certificate from the county or the square for "such as the haste of official affairs and the kind of good luck and evil diseases".
Those who guard the neighborhood at night should be released but not released, and those who should not be released and let go will be given 30 lashes. If a thief passes by at night and does not notice it, he shall be flogged fifty times.
In addition to the imperial court would send soldiers to patrol the army, a profession that was specifically responsible for night security management was born: the watchman.
Don't look at the work as inconspicuous, in fact, their efforts were an indispensable part of ancient times.
The mysterious origin of the watchman
In ancient times, there was silence at night. However, there is one kind of person who silently guards people's peace in this dark world, and they are the mysterious watchmen.
The watchmen are like guardians of the night, holding gongs and walking through the silent streets.
Although they are light on their feet, they can break the silence of the night and bring peace of mind to the people, so that they can sleep peacefully.
In ancient times, because there was no precise means of telling the time, if you wanted to know the time at night, you had to rely on the watchmen to play their unique role.
In ancient agrarian societies, most peasants maintained the rule of "working at sunrise and resting at sunset", and cities were no exception.
In order to provide people with information about the time and at the same time maintain a safe and secure environment at night, the watchman gradually evolved into a special profession: the husband.
In that era when there were no clocks and watches, the sound of the husband became an indispensable part of people's lives.
Whether in the city or in the countryside, the gentry would patrol according to the route and time set by the imperial court to ensure safety at night.
As the night patrol work of the Han people, the husbands often work in groups of two, one with a gong and the other with a mallet.
When they play the shift, they cooperate with each other, beat the gong while walking, and shout slogans in some places.
According to the ancient "twelve hours" timing system, the guards would strike the gong five times a night, and the fifth gong was also called the "five watch day", and by this time, the sky was almost dawn.
As a husband, in fact, his role and value are not low!
The role and impact of beating people
The ancient watchman did not just play the role of a timekeeper.
From their roles, it can be seen that an excellent "watchman" can wear many hats and provide important services to ancient cities and villages.
In addition to being responsible for reporting the time, the watchman will also fulfill the obligation to maintain law and order at night.
They tend to patrol every street at night to guard against thieves and other criminal activities.
In ancient society, due to the lack of modern security facilities and police force, the existence of watchmen also became an important guarantee for the personal safety of the people.
In ancient times, they also played a huge role in fire prevention and emergency response.
In the dead of night, they were able to find the source of the fire in time, and organized residents to put out the fire, doing their best to reduce the damage caused by the fire.
If there is another emergency, such as a natural disaster, the guards will also quickly report it to the people and the yamen, which plays a very important role in early warning.
In addition to being able to perform the duties of other important professions, watchmen also had a special place in ancient cultures.
As the guardians of the city's night, they are also very important carriers of cultural inheritance. In their repeated beatings, the ancient history, culture and traditions are conveyed.
Their presence made an important contribution to ancient societies and became an indispensable part of history. Their role in society is not small, so how do they be treated?
What are the treatments of the watchmen?
In fact, the figure of the husband is often active in historical documents.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, it was recorded in the "Zuo Biography": Felling and planting.
This sentence means that during the reign of Duke Lu Zhuang, in order to prevent the attack of the Qi State, the position of "Changer" was set up, responsible for keeping vigil and patrolling.
It is enough to see that in fact, in ancient society, the husband was even an officially established position, although it was an officially established position, but their social status was not high.
There is a record in the "Miscellaneous Records of the Wan Department" that the county government of the Ming Dynasty has a record of changing the husband: the husband pays 20 taels of silver per year, and gives 2 taels of silver for food and 2 taels of rice, and he gets seven coins for a strange day. However, there are many poor and old, sick and weak, and few strong and brave people.
This record in the "Miscellaneous Records of the Wan Bureau" shows that the husband needs to pay 20 taels of silver every year, and will also receive 2 taels of silver and 2 stone of rice.
If calculated according to 7 yuan a day, the salary of this job can be said to be quite meager.
At the same time, he could also see that most of the people who held the position of groom were actually poor and infirm, and few of the able-bodied people were willing to take up this profession.
Although the treatment of the husbands of all dynasties is not exactly the same, it is enough to show that the treatment of the watchmen is not very good, and in that era, it was already a relatively hard and lowly profession.
epilogue
Nowadays, with the development of the times, scientific and technological progress, sophisticated time recording instruments and a stable social environment, the profession of husband has rarely appeared in the public's field of vision.
But in that authentic era, the husband played a very important role in the prosperity and stability of the social environment.
Although the salary is not good, they use their own stories to tell us that there is a group of people who once gathered their meager strength and silently guarded the peace of a society and an era!
The statements in this article are based on reliable sources of information and are detailed at the end of the article
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Resources
[1]周公旦-《周礼、秋官司寇》
[2] Eldest Sun Wuji et al.-"Tang Law Miscellaneous Laws"
[3] Zuo Qiu Ming in the Spring and Autumn Period - "Zuo Biography"
[4] Written by Shen Bang of the Ming Dynasty - "Miscellaneous Records of Wan Agency"
[5] Heilongjiang People's Publishing House-Wang Jingyue, Zhang Yuchun, et al.-Ancient Chinese Folk Customs