The Jinan style of "Records of Smoke and Clouds"
Text/Yang Shuming
"Records of Smoke and Clouds under the Calendar" is a work published in 1927 by Fan Yanqiao, a famous scholar of the Republic of China. The full text is more than 15,000 words, and the main content is to describe the social customs of Jinan in the 1920s. Although the article is not integrated into a volume, and it is not widely circulated and has little impact, it is still an important document in the history of Jinan.
Fan Yanqiao (1894-1967), mingyong, character weishao, no. yanqiao, Jiangsu Suzhou Wujiang Tongli people. He was born in Shuxiang Mendi, although he loved to read since childhood, he did not like eight shares, so he became an adult with many talents, novels, poems, lyrics, and scripts. He wrote a lot of works in his life, and "Records of Smoke and Clouds" can only be regarded as a "sketch" that he "gradually smeared". As for the reason for the writing of the article, he explained very clearly in the text: "Yu uses friendly moves, travels far and wide, and works under the calendar." In May, the spring breeze is like a tiger, the flowers are piled up, and they are tired. There are traces of nostalgia, pull miscellaneous memories, so leave Hong claw also. ”
In the old China of the 1920s, warlords were divided, especially in the melee. Jinan is a strategic place, according to the backbone of Jinpu, and there is a Jiaoji Railway to reach the sea, so it has become a coveted place for various warlords. Zhang Zongchang, who was the governor of Shandong at the time, was originally a warlord of the Feng clan, so he replaced the government with the military, making Jinan "the number of warlord organs that are not available in the provinces, and those who wear yellow appendages are all eye-catching." At the turn of C and Ding (1926-1927, the author's note), there were more than sixty headquarters, and the commercial port hotels were spared (occupied) by fewer than ten. The small flag of recruitment is blowing all over the streets, and the brigade headquarters hopes to become a division, and the battalion headquarters hopes to form a regiment. The biggest reason for this situation is that "those who are inclined to Qilu militarily and dominate their land are important to China, so the four parties are left behind and frustrated politicians come to the meeting in order to make a use of it." In these two years, it was another eventful autumn. Therefore, all the social atmosphere in Jinan is also infected, and the news can be tacitly discussed. From these descriptions, we can imagine that at that time, there were many soldiers, miscellaneous soldiers, and chaotic soldiers in Jinan.
The three major scenic spots are Jinan's business cards, and they will not be bypassed in the "Records of Smoke and Clouds". "Baotu Spring is a giant of the seventy-two springs in the past, with three eyes, suddenly leaping like a boil, and the wonders are also." "Daming Lake is famous for the world, and it is better to meet gu than to see Mingsheng Lake." "The lake is in the city, and the city teeth shine on the water, and this environment has a special flavor." Moreover, "this lake has many springs, so it is also very pure and thick." "There is a Thousand Buddha Mountain outside the South Polder Gate. There is an archway in the middle of the mountain, with the inscription 'Qi Yan Nine Points' four words. More up to dozens of levels, for the Thousand Buddhas Temple. Its land is on a cliff, and there is no land underneath, and you can see the outline of the city. The summit is extremely steep, but there is a mountain Louis. ”
The description of the scenery in the "Records of Smoke and Clouds under the Calendar" is not too much, in addition to the three famous places, its depiction of Qushui Pavilion and Jade Milk Spring is quite worth appreciating. Qushui Pavilion: "Its springs meander and twist and flow into a stream. Left and right of the stream, everyone is home. Every afternoon, an anvil is knocked, and several suspects are in the jiangnan water town. "The Journey of the Old Remnant" is called 'family spring water, household weeping Yang', but the situation here is the most compelling. "Jade Milk Spring:" The wonderful Jade Milk Spring, in the west corner of the provincial office, the water can be sprayed up to a foot, like a cylinder, white as jade, the diameter can be a foot, turned into a chestnut, but like emulsion, caressed warm but not cold, drinking sweet but not astringent, compared to the fountain and taste. "Today, the style of Qushui Pavilion is still there, and the style of Jade Milk Spring is lost.
Since the opening of Jinan's commercial port in 1905, the focus of its economic and social development has gradually shifted from the old city to the west. Although the "Records of Smoke and Clouds under the Calendar" has ink on the old city of Jinan, it has more ink on the commercial port. Take urban construction as an example: "Erma Road (via Erlu Road, the same below) is connected with Pulimen Street and Jiayishi Street, the traffic is the most complicated, and the merchants are the most prosperous, so it is close to the narrow street of Yishi, so that the façade is removed and the street is relaxed, and from then on, from the military office to the west, its road is swinging, and it is a grand view." However, at this time when the people's strength is withering, it is inevitable that people will be embarrassed by this coercive action. Take the development of commerce and trade as an example: "The most lively people are between the latitude of the second road and the latitude of the fifth road, the shops are mostly Tianjin Gang and Ningbo Gang, and refreshments, utensils, cloth, wine and food are all in the works." The façade decoration is still great and majestic, but the display of goods is particularly exquisite, and the complexity of its objects is incredible. Such as Xiang Yun Shou, a silk cloth also, also sell porcelain; welfare companies, a food store also, also sell tobacco, alcohol and white iron supplies, cover all have the nature of a grocery store also. "The merchants' policy of doing both business is a helpless move, and the most lively place is still like this, which shows that the commercial activities at that time were not very prosperous."
In the "Records of Smoke and Clouds", there is also a record of the business situation in the old city: "The city in the city has a different appearance, and the area around Furong Street is the most prosperous." There are antique shops on both sides of the Qushui Pavilion, although The Maoci soil steps, and the Ding Yi are on the shelf, the calligraphy and paintings are full of walls, similar to suzhou's Dragon Protection Street. Every value of two, seven, shanshui ditch has a set, along the street cloth stalls, selling old things, the price is cheaper, but you must get the wonderful products in the morning, because of the small theft of the night, similar to the Nanjing black market, there are many fakes, not eyes, can not get cheap. "Baotu Spring is a commercial market before and after, and the department stores are miscellaneous, as if the City God Temple of Shanghai and the Mysterious Temple of Suzhou are cheaper than other places, so the career is not evil."
Food, clothing, shelter and transportation are the foundation of people's livelihood, and there are many records of this in the "Records of Smoke and Clouds under the Calendar", which is very rare and valuable. "Weddings are old and new, weddings are given gifts, there is no food and drink, there is no kissing, and the honor guard is only a band." "Birthday ceremonies are extremely solemn, things must seek abundance and beauty, friends and friends are passed on, the more the better." "New Year's Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, the three festivals, the reward is extremely complicated. Servants celebrate the festival, the master rewards, and relatives and friends give each other gifts. "Green cloth is the most common clothing, although the family has thousands of gold, there are many people who wear green cloth robes, and simplicity is widely available in other places." "Ordinary people have three meals a day, morning steamed buns or pot cakes, without dishes; lunch and evening steamed buns, or accompanied by millet porridge." "Every October, every family has a stove, and the price of the furnace is extremely cheap, only one-third of the south. There are also large shops, and the fire pit system has been removed and will be removed in February next year. "The style of the house is extremely simple and grassy, the façade is like an ancestral hall, and the new school is a stone library door." "The price of wooden boards is very expensive, so there are fewer people who use the folding wall, and more reed pipe brackets are used, and the paste is red paper." That is, its walls, but also more mud and less bricks. "Ordinary buildings are three, that is, the novel's so-called 'one light and two dark' also." The light is used for food and drink, the 'dark' is for sleeping, and the meeting place is in the left and right rooms. "There are very few people who use glass on the window ledge, and the light is usually weak. The roof has many ceilings, all for winter heating, and the paint is not exquisite. From these descriptions, it is not difficult for us to imagine that the people lived in poverty in those years.
In the era described in the "Records of Smoke and Clouds under the Calendar", those old-fashioned restaurants that I am familiar with have either not yet been established, such as Yanxitang and Jufengde, or they are not very famous, such as Huiquan Lou, so they are not involved in the text. However, his account of the various restaurants in the commercial port is very interesting: "JiyuanLou is like a half-old Xu Niang, still has the charm, if it is a familiar customer, it is doubly warm; XinfengLou is like a new woman, with its own innocence, the west wind is interspersed, and the eyes and ears are updated; the Sanyi Building is like a young woman's beautiful makeup, suddenly increasing the style, has removed the childishness, quite wise; the Hundred Flowers Village is like the rouge of the north, it has not been southernized, and occasionally tries, there is no scenery; the guest feast spring is like a bride, the shyness has been reduced, the charm is unique, the soup of the three dynasties, and the soup of the three dynasties is careful." ”
According to the "1927 Jinan Quick Tour", "The natives of Jinan are diligent and simple and less inert, so there are not many play fields in the Golden Grotto, although they are also very simple. Most women do not leave the gate for life, which is very different from the ports of Tianjin, Beijing and Shanghai. This virtue of Jinan society is beyond the reach of the southerners. After 1921, the number of overseas Chinese living in the country increased, business became more and more convenient, and the local indigenous people inevitably contagious, and the wind of luxury also opened up. "The Record of Smoke and Clouds under the Calendar" has some "real records" about this.
About gambling: "The play of marbles is attached to hotels and western restaurants, and there are also youth clubs, but there are many people and uncomfortable ears." The play of the sparrow is more prosperous than that of the south and the middle, and there are many names, although the bottom is small, and the difference is very large, the so-called 'nothing strange and no' is also; and all of them practice the old law, so the bookmaker is noticed by everyone. There are not many poker, new year and wedding celebrations, then every gambling card nine, a thousand gold, ordinary things, but also in the military and political circles. ”
About opium: "The most unusual thing, opium smoke has almost become an ordinary daily product, and it is a must for Chinese and above to feast." Those who cannot play are regarded as special. Therefore, the upper middle class in the military and political circles is addicted to eight or nine out of ten people. The police department has also banned it, but only civilians can do their best. ”
About brothels: "There are two types of brothels, one in the north and one in the south. The northern class includes Jingjin, the southern class includes Suyang, and the Yuze indigenous class. According to the "1927 Jinan Express", there were more than 1,800 public prostitutes and 530 brothels in Jinan at that time, and the number was staggering. The reason for this, according to the "Records of Smoke and Clouds under the Calendar", is that the cause is that "the prostitutes are haggard, half by the military, and half by the poor", which is more appropriate.
At that time, Fan Yanqiao only stayed in Jinan for more than five months, the time was not long, and his leisure was limited, so what he heard and saw was inevitably superficial or biased, as he himself said: "Therefore, on the surface of Jinan's first port, he can only get its skin appearance." However, even so, the Record of Smoke and Clouds in the History is still a precious historical material in Jinan's modern and modern history.
【About the Author】Yang Shuming, a native of Jinan, whose ancestral home is Yiyuan, is a member of the China Writers Association and the former chairman of the Lixia District Writers Association. He has published nine collections of essays, including "Years Without a Trace", "Flowing Years Like Water", "The Road of the Heart Is Not Far Away", "Time Frozen in Memory", "The Imprint of Time", "My Father and Mother", "The Traces of Famous Scholars under the Calendar", two monographs on the times, "There Are Words to Say", and "Words Spoken by Ming"; he was a columnist of "There Are Words and Clear Words" in the "Qilu Evening News"; the editor-in-chief of books such as "The Taste of Jinan", "The Fall of the City", "Poetic Calendar", "Folk Tales under the Calendar", and won the Bingxin Prose Award, the Qilu Prose Award, and the Quancheng Literature and Art Award.