Before reading this article, I sincerely invite you to click the "Follow" button, so that you can continue to push such articles in the future, and it is also convenient for you to discuss and share, your support is the driving force for us to insist on creating~
Disclaimer: The content of this article is written with authoritative information combined with personal opinions, and the source of the literature and screenshots have not been marked in the article, please be aware.
Wu Dalang, this name is a character that almost every Chinese is familiar with.
Especially in "Water Margin", he is portrayed as a short, ugly-looking cookcake seller.
Whether in literature or folklore, the image of Wu Dalang is full of symbols of poverty and incompetence.
However, is this character really as sloppy as the legend suggests? Is it true that he can't make a decent living by selling cooking cakes?
If we travel back to the Song Dynasty, what would his living conditions be?
The cost of cooking cakes vs. the selling price
In the context of the Song Dynasty, especially the last years of the Northern Song Dynasty, when the story of Wu Dalang took place, China was in an era of relative economic prosperity and active commercial activities.
According to the History of the Song Dynasty, the commodity economy of the Song Dynasty was very fast, especially in urban areas, and the lives of small traders were not so embarrassing.
So, if there really was a noodle vendor named Wu Dalang in the Song Dynasty, what would his life be like? How much money does he make a day selling cooking cakes?
To delve deeper into Wu Dalang's income, we first need to understand the goods he sells – cooking cakes.
In the Song Dynasty, cooking cakes were a very common food, and the price was relatively affordable for the common people.
According to the description of "Water Margin", Wu Dalang picks up cooking cakes and sells them in the streets and alleys every day.
The preparation of cooking cakes seems simple, but in fact there is a certain cost, including flour, fuel, and time, etc.
According to historical data, grain prices in the Song Dynasty were relatively stable, and rice and flour were among the most basic ingredients.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, the price of 1 bucket of rice was about 36 Wen.
Based on this calculation, if Wu Dalang makes 50 cooking cakes a day, he needs about a few liters of rice and some other simple ingredients, and the cost of these ingredients is about a few tens of yuan.
In addition, Wu Dalang also needed to buy firewood or other fuel to bake the cooking cakes.
Although these costs are not high, it is still crucial for a small vendor to maintain a certain profit.
The price of Wu Dalang's cooking cakes is not clearly recorded in "Water Margin", but it can be speculated with reference to the situation of small traders of the same era.
At that time, the price of a cooking cake was about 10 Wen, and Wu Dalang could sell 50 cooking cakes a day, so his daily income might be about 500 Wen.
Of course, this number is an ideal state, and the actual situation may be affected by the weather, market demand, etc., and sometimes his income may decrease.
But overall, Wu Dalang earns much more than he needs to make ends meet.
The price level and household spending
After understanding Wu Dalang's income, we will next discuss the price level and the daily expenses of the family in the Song Dynasty.
As a small vendor selling cooking cakes, Wu Dalang's daily living expenses are not complicated.
First of all, he needs to buy raw materials every day for making cooking cakes, although the cost of these materials is between the dozens of Wen mentioned earlier.
But in addition to this, he also needs to provide daily food for himself and his wife, Pan Jinlian.
This means that the ration expenditure of Wu Dalang and Pan Jinlian is about 32 wen yuan per day.
Secondly, housing expenses are also an important expense in life.
According to the description of "Water Margin", Wu Dalang and Pan Jinlian live in a two-story building facing the street.
But in reality, the house is leased, not their own property.
During the Song Dynasty, renting was a common way of life for the common people, especially small urban traders like Wu Dalang.
According to some studies, the rent of an ordinary house in the Song Dynasty ranged from about 3 to 15 wen per day, depending on the location and size of the house.
The rent in a small and medium-sized city like Yanggu County will definitely be much lower than that of big cities such as Kaifeng and Bianliang.
Therefore, although the two-story building leased by Wu Dalang is facing the street, the rent should not be too high, about 10 yuan per day.
Let's look at the day-to-day expenses. In addition to food and housing, there will be some other expenses in the household, such as clothing, fuel, condiments, etc.
According to the price level at that time, the price of a piece of cloth was about 500 yuan, and the cost of clothing in a year was about 50 yuan to 100 yuan.
In addition, the daily expenses of non-staple food cannot be ignored, although Wu Dalang's income is enough to maintain basic life.
But Pan Jinlian's daily expenses may be more elaborate, such as rouge gouache and occasional luxury spending, which will further increase the financial burden on the family.
Combined with these data, we can deduce that the basic living expenses of Wu Dalang's family are about 100 yuan per day.
This included the cost of food, rent, clothing and other miscellaneous expenses for the two.
And Wu Dalang's income, even if calculated according to the minimum income of 100 wen per day, is enough to maintain their basic life.
If Wu Dalang earns more in a day, such as about 300 Wen, their quality of life will be significantly improved.
Not only can you maintain your daily expenses, but you can also have some surplus to save or cope with unexpected expenses.
Conclusion and reflection
From the previous analysis, we can draw a relatively clear conclusion:
In the Song Dynasty, small traders like Wu Dalang, although their daily lives were not luxurious.
But with the income from selling cooking cakes, Wu Dalang can indeed maintain basic household expenses, and even allow Pan Jinlian to live a life of "full-time housewife".
However, such a pattern of life was not common in society at the time, and it was not necessarily sustainable for a long time.
Pan Jinlian's "full-time housewife" life was very special in the social culture of the time.
Most Song women, even if they were not directly engaged in outside business activities, had some financial or household responsibilities in the family.
And Pan Jinlian completely relied on Wu Dalang's income and lived a life away from labor.
Her dissatisfaction with the status quo is not only related to Wu Dalang's financial ability, but also closely related to her passive role in the family.
From a modern perspective, Wu Dalang's story seems to have some cautionary tales:
The financial support of one partner alone does not guarantee the stability of a marriage.
Even if a family has enough income to make one of the parties a "stay-at-home wife", the relationship can easily break down if there is an imbalance in the feelings and responsibilities of both parties.
Perhaps, Wu Dalang's tragedy is not only that he did his best to maintain his family financially.
Instead, he has never been able to establish a real bond of emotion and responsibility with Pan Jinlian in his family relationship.
The income from cooking cakes is abundant, but it can't fill the emotional void.
This also gives people in modern society a reflection that even if the economic conditions are sufficient, the sense of participation and responsibility of both parties in marriage is also crucial.
Resources:
What is the living standard of the "Wu Dalang"? - The Reader