The civilization of the Two Song Dynasty has its unique charm in Chinese history. Mr. Chen Yinke, a master of history, once pointed out: "The culture of the Chinese nation has evolved over thousands of years, and it was created in the Zhao and Song dynasties." Taste the splendor of traditional Chinese culture, whether it is the brilliance of the material world or the aesthetic interest of the spiritual world, Song culture always makes people feel meaningful. Let's follow "Listening to Song Yun at Night", look back at the two Song civilizations, and taste the essence of culture.
The Spring Festival of the Song people: water and land passage, you can choose
The Spring Festival is a day for family reunions, and people always hope to go home for the New Year after a hard year. The term "Spring Festival" first appeared in the People's Daily in 1980, and it is a social phenomenon unique to the mainland that emerged after the reform and opening up relaxed the restrictions on population movement. Cars, high-speed rail, and airplanes are the most convenient means of transportation for modern people, so how did the people of the Song Dynasty go home for the New Year thousands of years ago?
Song Anonymous "Song People's Water Village Pavilion Picture Page" (detail)
In terms of land routes, if you want to have faster foot strength, you can choose to rent a horse to go home for the New Year, "Tokyo Menghualu" recorded: "Ordinary market officials, a little like the road is tired, from square to lane, bridge city, there are their own fake rental saddle horses, but 100 yuan." It can be seen that in the Northern Song Dynasty Tokyo City, there are many stores specializing in renting horses, at that time, renting a carriage in Beijing Shicheng was as convenient as calling a taxi today, and the price of renting a horse was about 100 Wen, this mode of transportation, convenient is convenient, but for ordinary people, there is still economic pressure, and Baiwen has been equivalent to the income of ordinary citizens in Bianjing for a day. Therefore, officials and wealthy businessmen have more choices, and ordinary people are more likely to choose public transportation or walking. In the Song Dynasty, the public transport was called "Gangyun", the rental of donkeys or mules was called "Mule Gang", and the ox cart ride was called "Che Gang". It is also recorded in "Tokyo Menghualu" that the kind of bullock cart "can also be rented off". The single ox cart is an animal-powered passenger car in the Song Dynasty, also known as a calf cart, which is a van passenger car pulled by an ox. Lu You also recorded in "Notes on Lao Xue'an": "The women of all famous ethnic groups in Chengdu take calf carts when they go in and out. It can be seen that in large cities, it is more common for nobles to travel in short-distance transportation and small cars. If you are traveling across the city, you can choose the "pan car", that is, the three-ox van car, which has double-decker carriages, the upper deck is low and wide, which is sleeper, and the lower deck is high and narrow. The car is pulled by three oxen, with great strength, can carry many people, and is suitable for long-distance travel.
In terms of waterways, ships are the main means of transportation, which is called "Cao Yun". In the Song Dynasty, the water system was developed, and the Grand Canal was an important channel connecting the north and south traffic. There are a variety of boats available for hire. The high-class passenger ship also has a number of cabins, providing tables, chairs, beds, tea and food. Guo Zhongshu's "Xueji River Travel Map" in the Northern Song Dynasty depicts in detail the situation of people braving the snow to go home by boat, which is very expressive. Due to the limitation of roads, people often need a combination of ways to travel over long distances.
Song Guo Zhongshu "Xueji River Tour" (detail)
In 1061 AD, Ouyang Xiu took his family and servants from Bianjing to return to his hometown of Yongfeng, Jiangxi Province to worship his ancestors, took a carriage of more than 700 kilometers, and took a boat of about 300 kilometers, and walked for 30 days in the whole journey, and the travel cost was about 60 taels of silver. Converted into a familiar unit, Ouyang Xiu's "Spring Festival" lasted for one month, and it cost about 60,000 yuan. Fortunately, Ouyang Xiu was a second-class official at the time, belonging to a senior "civil servant", with a very high salary, and an annual income of up to five or six hundred thousand yuan, otherwise it would be a luxury to go home for the New Year.
The Southern Song Dynasty sketch painting "Snow Creek Travel Map" in the collection of the Shanghai Museum depicts the situation of a snowy traveler riding a crank car. In the painting, four three-oxen carts form a convoy, three cars nearby, two cars are crossing a steep wooden bridge, and in the distance, an ox cart is crossing the river, each car is guarded by two or three coachmen wearing hats to prevent the winding carts from suddenly going downhill and weightless, which shows that they are experienced teams. Although the author has no way to verify it, it is this painting that has left us a valuable picture of the "Spring Festival" of the Song Dynasty passenger car.
Song Anonymous "Snow Creek Travel Map" (detail)
Despite the arduous journey, the Song people, who are far away from home, still look forward to being able to cross thousands of mountains and rivers and spend a warm and happy Spring Festival with their relatives, which is no different from the modern Spring Festival.