There are many very famous women in the Ming Dynasty, especially the "Qin Huai Bayan", which is still talked about by our contemporaries. On the Qinhuai River at that time, famous prostitutes were like clouds, and for a time they became a grand view. They are said to be "famous prostitutes", but in fact, they are different from ordinary dust women.
Compared with the dusty women of Fireworks Willow Lane, the famous prostitutes on the banks of the Qinhuai River are not only proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but also have their own love and home story. In 1644, the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself and the Ming Dynasty fell. The following year, the Qing army entered Nanjing, and the Small Imperial Court of Hongguang was also declared over. After the death of the Ming Dynasty, Yu Huai, a famous scholar at that time, wrote a "Banqiao Miscellaneous Record", which recorded the bits and pieces between the literati and prostitutes on the banks of the Qinhuai River.
Yu Huai and "Banqiao Miscellaneous"
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Why did Yu Huai write "Banqiao Miscellaneous"? Called the record prostitute, it is really a reflection on the cause and effect of the fall of the Ming Dynasty</h1>
Ancient Chinese literati have always liked to write books to commemorate the previous dynasty after the fall of the country, but they are more obscure. These people do not directly say, "Oh, I miss the former dynasty", but express their nostalgia for the former dynasty by recording the people and events of the former dynasty.
After the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, Meng Yuanlao wrote a "Tokyo Dream Hualu" to record the humanistic life of Kaifeng, in order to recall the past and express his nostalgia for the old dynasty; after the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, Wu Zimu painted gourds and wrote a "Dream Liang Record" to record the prosperous past of Lin'an, the "capital city" of the Southern Song Dynasty. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Yu Huai also wrote a book commemorating Nanjing.
However, he did not write about the humanities, geography and history of Nanjing, but about the prostitutes in Nanjing. In his view, writing about prostitutes, although despised, is also a nostalgia for the homeland, and it is also a reflection on the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
The bustling life of Nanjing
Why reflection? Because from the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the official prostitute industry was very developed, and by the late Ming Dynasty, the fireworks venues in Nanjing were extremely prosperous. Those prostitutes are not rude people, not only are they talented, they can write and draw, they can write poetry, and they all have a sense of family and country.
After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, some of these people committed suicide, some fled with their husbands, some died in the war, some could not be closed, and some were poor... The fate is different, but the fate of the subjugation of the country is no different; the reality of the first half of the life is drunk and the second half of the life is no different.
Therefore, although Yu Huai is recording the fate of these people, he is actually reflecting on the reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty from the side.
Qian Qianyi portrait
In the book, he mentions that the prostitutes he interacted with were either high-ranking officials and nobles, or literati and rich.
Donglin Party such as Qian Qianyi was also a regular visitor to Fireworks Liu Lane, and later married Liu Ruyi; such a fuxing talent as Mao Peijiang, who was also a fox-slanted person, later married Dong Xiaowan; such a high-ranking government official as Gong Dingzi would also marry Gu Mei back home with a prostitute for life.
Can't the decay of a country and the degeneration of the literati also be seen here? Moreover, the book records that once someone organized a large entertainment event, much like the current Haitian Feast, twelve flower boats cruising on the Qinhuai River, with various literati and government officials on board, and next to the literati were prostitutes who accompanied wine and play. The event cost hundreds of dollars.
Status quo of the Qinhuai River
What is the concept of hundreds of gold? I have roughly calculated that if the price of rice is the benchmark, a hundred gold is equivalent to about six hundred thousand to one million now, and considering the problem of the purchase rate, it may even be more.
But don't forget, at this time, the northeast and northwest are suffering from years of war, and a prostitute activity in Nanjing, that is, spending so much money, of which corruption and degeneration, can be imagined.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > from the life of the prostitute Li Xiaoda, to see the love and home story of the singers</h1>
The Itabashi Miscellaneous Records record many stories of prostitutes. For example, there is a prostitute named Li Xiaoda, the character Wanjun, although she is a woman, she has a big husband. There are more than ten servants in the family, and they usually drink with the literati, play the pipa and guzheng to help them have fun, and when they are drunk, they play the drums with passion.
Li Xiaoda once said: "As long as the idle boys and congjun erlangs in this world come to my house, there is no one who is not overwhelmed." I am also a proud person, so I will not emulate those ordinary women in the world and worry about money with these people. "Li Xiaoda's heroism can be seen.
Later, Li Xiaoda married a woman from Liang, and her first husband was a huge rich man, but there were many concubines in the family, and he himself was busy. So Li Xiaoda is always a little sullen. In the past, there was a person named Xu Sheng who particularly liked Li Xiaoda, so he bought Li Xiaoda's servant and communicated with her. In order to see him, Li Xiaoda pretended to be sick, and his friend also helped him, saying that Xu Sheng could cure diseases, so the two could often meet.
Women and literati of the Ming Dynasty
After the death of this huge rich man, Li Xiaoda married Xu Sheng with money, and the two drank and had fun all day, and their lives were very beautiful. Xu Sheng may have lived such a luxurious life, and may have died of excessive drinking. Li Xiaoda was devastated and lonely.
After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Yu Huai, the author of the Banqiao Miscellaneous Records, met her once, and although she was old, her charm still existed. When the two talked about their past lives, they couldn't help but burst into tears and cry. When he left, Yu Huai wrote a poem to Li Xiaoda on the fan, and Li Xiaoda held the fan and cried non-stop.
This story was very representative at the time. As a prostitute, Li Xiaoda is both talented and heroic. Later, in order to get rid of the nationality and conform to Liang, he married a businessman, but he was unhappy and gradually suffered from depression. Just at this moment, Xu Sheng, who had once admired him, appeared, and the two secretly communicated and finally came together.
This is an era of pursuing luxury life while pursuing the liberation of individuality, which is both a good era and a bad era. Soon after, the Ming Dynasty fell, Li Xiaoda's husband also died, she was once just a dusty woman, only to chant poems against, now the world has been turned upside down, plus she is old, what do you rely on to make a living? Girls can only continue to be taught to dance at the Smoky Willow Place.
Ming Dynasty female figure
When Yu Huai saw her, the two chatted and touched on the good life of the past. The country is dead, and its own good life is over. The two reminisced about the past and cried unceasingly.
This was also the common mentality of the literati and talented women at that time.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > after the fall of the country, different prostitutes had different tragic fates</h1>
Gu Mei, one of the "Eight Yans of Qin Huai", married Gong Dingzi from Lianghou. When Li Zicheng attacked Beijing, Gong Dingzi and Gu Mei happened to be in Beijing. So the two decided to commit suicide by throwing themselves into the well, but they were rescued, and after severe torture, the two surrendered to Li Zicheng.
Later, the Qing army entered the pass, and Gong Dingzi surrendered to the Manchu Qing with Gu Mei. Gong Dingxiao later became an official and prosperous, and he always achieved the Rebbe Shangshu.
Portrait of Gong Dingzi
Gu Mei's life was relatively smooth, but his husband Gong Dingzi was also criticized by later generations. At that time more people went to the other side.
For example, there is a prostitute named Gu Xi, who has a bold personality and a good figure, but her feet are very large. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the end was unknown. Some people say that they married a son with the surname Hou.
There was a prostitute named Ge Nen, who married Sun Kexian from Lianghou. Sun Kexian was a talented and powerful man who was very good at riding and shooting, and he gave himself the title of "Flying General". This was naturally a joke, but at the time of the fall of the country, he did take the lead and rebelled against the Manchu Qing. The later outcome can be imagined - Sun Kexian was killed by the Qing army.
Ming Dynasty literati
Ge Nen did not escape the disaster. It is said that the Lord of the Manchu Qing Dynasty will see that Ge Nen looks good and want to violate her. Unyielding, Ge Nen bit his tongue and sprayed the Lord's face with blood. In the end, all the members of the family were killed.
Looking at the women recorded in the Itabashi Miscellaneous Records, we can have three kinds of endings:
The first is Gu Mei, who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty with her husband, such as Liu Ruyi. But although these people surrendered, they secretly protected many literati. The second is Gu Xi, who either remarries someone else after the fall of the country or disappears. The third is ge nen, who either became a Taoist to show his resistance to the Qing court, or committed suicide or was killed.
Willow is a portrait
Although she is a dusty woman, each has its own story, which makes people feel a lot of emotions.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the enlightenment of "Itabashi Miscellaneous" to our contemporaries: the life of paper drunk fans is the most likely to cause social decay</h1>
Reading "Itabashi Miscellaneous", we can easily find that the literati and talented women in it lived in the life of a drunken fan for the first half of their lives. There are bureaucrats, young students, the Donglin Party, and members of the Restoration Society. There are rich children, and there are poor students. Around them was a group of talented "prostitutes".
They live extravagant lives, gathering, drinking, and having fun at every turn. But what they don't know is that at this time, outside of the harmonious situation in Jiangnan, the people of the northwest and northeast have long been unable to support it.
What kind of era is this?
It was a decadent time. People are full of righteousness and moral articles, but they are drunk and dreaming of death, and they have fallen. Playthings are lost. That's true.
Around them, an angry peasant army quietly rose.
So Itabashi Miscellaneous is a sobering book that is still very inspiring to me and our contemporaries.