In the novel collection "Awakening to the World hengyan" created by the Ming Dynasty literary scholar Feng Menglong, there is an article "Selling Oil Lang Monopoly Flower Kui" that has been widely circulated by later generations, and has been adapted into many dramas and sung to this day. This also allows many people to understand what is a "flower queen".
In ancient China, "Hua Kui" generally refers to the best of the Qinglou women, and the so-called "Hua Kui in the Flower Is for Hua Kui Ye".
These women, who are good-looking, well-read and proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, are often from the families of eunuchs or middle-class families, and are exiled to the dust because of the middle of the family road or the crime of the family, because these girls are often well educated when they are young, so they are not comparable to ordinary Qinglou women. Moreover, these "flower queen ladies" may also find true love among their favorite guests and redeem themselves.
However, there are also a group of women in Japan who are called "Hanakuei", and they may not be so lucky to be the same wind and dust women.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="82" > the origin of the Japanese "Hanakuei"</h1>
Since the shogunate era, Japanese prostitutes have had a unified name: younu. Mainly because these prostitutes do not stay in the same place for a long time, and tend to wander around, hence the name.
The Qinglou place where the wandering women are located is called "Youkuo", that is, a brothel. Since the time of the Muromachi shogunate in Japan, there has been a relatively complete system of official prostitutes. At that time, wandering women were a legal profession, and they would be strictly regulated by the government.
In addition to "bald" and "newly created", the highest rank is called "Taifu", which is the predecessor of Hua Kui.
Although The Japanese Hanakuei are said to be the highest-ranking wandering girls, there is actually an essential difference between the two, because the Flower Kui are basically little girls bought from declining samurai families or aristocratic families, and they are different from the girls of ordinary civilian families, and most of them have a certain good education. Brothel bustards will choose good-looking and high-calibre from them to cultivate, hoping to one day become a super cash cow for youkuo.
Here we can also see the great difference between China's huakui and Japanese huakui: China's huakui is a title of yanfang fang obtained by virtue of its own appearance and talent, relying on popularity and traffic. The Japanese hanakuei is a specific occupation in which these girls are selected to be trained after being sold to youkuo. It is precisely for this reason that the life of the Japanese flower queen will be accompanied by strict training and a strict hierarchy, which can be said to have nothing to do with freedom.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="88" > it is not so simple to be a "flower queen" in Japan</h1>
Girls who are selected in Japan to be trained as hanagi are trained from a very young age to undergo a series of rigorous trainings, from sitting posture, conversation, and clothing to music, literature, calligraphy, dance, and tea ceremony. Even in order to maintain a good posture, even diet must be strictly restricted. In other words, in order to become a flower queen, they have received more training than a noble lady.
It is also under this long and strict tuning, coupled with the appearance of the peerless city, that it can be truly called "Hua Kui". Therefore, there are very few people who can really become flower queens.
In Japan, the status of The Flower Queen is by no means comparable to that of ordinary tourists, and it is definitely an unattainable symbol for ordinary people. Because the time and cost of cultivating a flower queen are huge, they have become the most valuable "assets" of Youkuo.
It is no exaggeration to throw thousands of dollars in order to see the side of Hua Kui, let alone a spring supper.
First of all, if you want to see Hua Kui, it will cost a lot of money, if you have not spent a lot of money in youkuo, and the financial resources have not been recognized by the old bustard, it is impossible to see Hua Kui.
Secondly, if you successfully meet Hua Kui, you can only drink tea and chat first, not only to spend more money, but more importantly, to get the recognition and like of Hua Kui, if the two "don't look right", it is not money can solve.
After passing the current two levels, the final guest must pay a high amount of "taming gold" to get the favor of the beautiful people and summon them to the bed.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="96" > into the "Hua Kui" as deep as the sea</h1>
The ancient Japanese Hanaku had a conventional "unspoken rule" - retirement at the age of 28. Perhaps many people think that these flower queens can successfully "withdraw from the circle" with the large amount of money they saved when they are young, which is a big mistake.
First of all, the flower queens have received rigorous training since childhood, food, clothing, housing and transportation have certain rules, have long formed a habit, once retired means the loss of economic resources, and then want to maintain the original high-end living state can be said to be very difficult.
The most important point: in fact, the flower queens do not have the rich "pension" they imagined. The youkuo who cultivated Hua Kui in the first place were not charities, and the money they spent on Hua Kui needed to be repaid. A considerable part of the money earned after Hua Kui became famous was used to repay debts, and under You Kuo's "careful calculation", it was often a debt that could never be repaid.
Coupled with the high daily expenses, such as the purchase of exquisite clothing; hiring retinues, bodyguards, etc. are all out of pocket. So when it comes to real age, not to mention the pension, it is rare for Hua Kui to pay off the debts of Youkuo.
Therefore, Hua Kui has been doomed to the fate of her "caged bird" since she was sold into Youkuo, or she will eventually be in the cage and squeezed out of the last drop of oil and water by Youkuo. Or wait until old age and decay, retreat into the dust, and spend a miserable life. It can be said that there are very few flower queens who can get a good home.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="102" > the demise of the Japanese "Hanakuei"</h1>
Hua Kui is extraordinary because she is "different", and her demise is also because she is "different".
As the top existence in the tour, Hua Kui naturally has to be different. Even their travels carry a strong sense of ritual. This kind of travel ceremony is called "Hua Kui Dao Zhong".
In this kind of travel ceremony, Hua Kui not only wears exquisite and luxurious costumes, but also brings a variety of carefully matched decorations, plus the old mother, maid, retinue, bodyguard, etc. who serve her, which can be said to be a front and back hug, which is very eye-catching.
And even Hua Kui's walking posture has a specific footwork, and this special footwork can't really be learned in the next few years. It can be said that traveling is a very tedious and slow thing. No wonder the Japanese have a proverb that Hua Kui walks slower than an ox cart.
Although Hua Kui was really beautiful in the 17th and 18th centuries AD, the so-called "too much" is due to the high cost of cultivation, strict hierarchy, and cumbersome rules and restrictions, which have caused them to gradually become disconnected from reality. Eventually, at the end of the 18th century, it was finally replaced by the more popular geisha and went to extinction.
The "Hua Kui" and "Hua Kui Dao Zhong" have been preserved as a cultural ceremony, and now the "Hua Kui Dao Zhong" is presented to the world as a unique form of performance.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="109" > conclusion</h1>
As a special product of a special era, "Hua Kui" is like a fleeting ephemeral flower, seemingly magnificent, and in the end it is only a lamentable sadness.
As the saying goes: "The dream of the wet towel of tears cannot be achieved, and the front hall of the night is singing." The red face was not old before the old grace was broken, and the reclining smoke cage sat until the ming. ”
Whether it is China or Japan's "Hua Kui", it is actually an injustice and discrimination against women in the patriarchal society of the old era. I believe that no girl is born to want to become a "flower queen". I hope that there will be no more such tragedies in the world, no more such helplessness and bitterness.