Don't ask about things| relocate in an annunciation: poetry and far away, in the usual hometown

"The world is not only the present and the present, but also the poetry and the distance", this bowl of chicken soup for the soul stimulates the hormones and adrenaline of many people. So, what did the ancients think about travel? Do you also think, "The world is so big, I want to see it"?

The answer is: the ancients hardly traveled!

Except for coolies, traders, sailors, who are the lowest socially inferior, the ancients did not go far at all!

Why didn't the ancients travel?

The reasons include, but are not limited to, the following three:

First, the beauty of hometown. Chinese are all "hometown treasures", and they all say that their hometown is good, that is, Mr. Fei Xiaotong said in "Native China" that "relocated the land".

The Romanian Nis Milescu told a story in "Chinese Comics": a foreigner bought a Sichuan parrot and wanted to bring it back to his country. When the parrot saw that he was going to be taken out of the country, he was anxious to speak: "Turtle son, Lao Tzu is a Chinese bird, and Lao Tzu is reluctant to live in a foreign country!" "After saying that, I'm dead."

Even birds are not willing to leave their beautiful hometown, let alone a person?

Was ancient China really that beautiful? See what foreigners say.

The Japanese "Chronicle of China - Notes on The Investigation of Ito Tadao's Architecture" reads: "Along the way, I saw that a large area of land had been reclaimed, and buffalo, pigs, geese, chickens, dogs, and other poultry and livestock familiar to me, all of them were leisurely foraging in Mogami Tanaka, and it was a good idyllic scenery." In the current season, it is the peanut harvest Fang Bi, only to see the pig arching in the ground, hoping to find the peanuts left in the soil, and occasionally being arched by it, then grinning at the sky and chewing wildly, it is not happy. Chickens, geese and birds followed, picking up insects in the field. Dogs run forward and after, playing with poultry and livestock that are foraging. The buffalo was held in the hands of a teenage child, and how docile Nair was, it looked like a loyal defender of the cowherd. In this painting, the figure of the domestic cat is not seen, presumably alone at home, perhaps sleeping soundly in the stove at this time. ”

What an idyllic setting! Living in such a peaceful, peaceful and sweet paradise, which one is far away?

Second, there is no money. This is important and well understood. I don't have to eat food, I don't have to wear clothes, what travel!? For in-depth analysis, it is recommended to refer to "Cixi's Menu: 2 meals, 100 dishes per meal; "snacks" 2 times, 40 or 50 bowls of dishes each time, to see what the people at that time could eat 2 meals a day.

That's not poor, it's really poor!

Third, I can't go. This may be the most fundamental reason, not because there is no "poetry and far away" in the heart, but because, to go, can not go.

This includes two aspects.

The first aspect is that China's household registration system has a long history.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Persian Ali Akbar traveled for more than three months in China (mainly Shaanxi) and wrote a book, "The Chronicle of China", which says, "All the armies and people belong to the emperor, and they are registered, without a single exception." "The emperor wants to collect taxes, levy conscription, and arrest Zhuangding, it is very simple, adjust the household registration management system, everything is clear."

Marco Polo came to China early, and in the Yuan Dynasty, the people's doors must be written with the names of homeowners, wives and concubines, children and even slaves, whether there are relatives and friends living in the family, who they are, what they are doing, when they come, and when they are leaving. How many pigs, cows, sheep, dogs, chickens, ducks, geese, etc. are raised at home, and these data are listed on the door. When a man dies, his name is erased; when he is born, he adds his name.

When foreign businessmen come to China, they must list their names, trade names, residence time, departure dates, etc. on the door.

Through this obvious approach, the Great Khan firmly grasped the private information such as population, fixed assets, human resources, and changes in the country, which greatly facilitated the management of the empire.

The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were nomadic people from the grasslands, living in the water and grass every day, herding cattle and sheep during the day, sleeping in tents at night, wandering and wandering, living without a fixed place, and the household registration system should not have been made by them. It must have been created by the innovation and creation of intelligent and idle Central Plains people in some time a long, long time ago.

Matteo Ricci came to China during the Ming Dynasty and found that this household registration system had been inherited and developed, "the people generally have a handwritten household registration book, which includes the situation of each family in the city by street and by household." ”

The household registration management system is not only controlled in the hands of the emperor, but extended downwards, "pressure transmission" and "responsibility sinking", ordinary people also have a handbook, similar to the previous "Yellow Pages", truly realized the "decentralization service", which greatly satisfies the people's beautiful yearning for understanding information, parents are short, men marrying women, entertainment gossip, ventilating messages, and reporting secrets.

The British businessman Archibald John Lide, who was doing business in Chongqing at the end of the nineteenth century, found in Wanxian County, Sichuan Province, people with red sticks in their hands and large wooden planks (called "door numbers") hanging from their backs, who were actually census enumerators who were numbering the house (rén) house (kǒu) and collecting basic population information.

It can be seen from this that the imperial household registration management was unified, institutionalized and standardized earlier, and it is forward-looking to ensure the normal, standardized and orderly operation of the empire, but it seems that the countries of the world have not studied well and seriously learned from it, and perhaps these foreigners who have come to China have forgotten this important matter after returning to China, and have not been able to publicize and promote it well for the benefit of the world.

The second aspect, the previous people, went out a long way, needed to open a lot of proof.

"People without documents can't walk in the city or in the countryside." Written in 851-852 AD, the Tang Dynasty of China, which records that traveling in China requires at least two certificates: one issued by a city administrator such as the mayor and governor, which is used during the trip to prove that he is himself, who are his companions, their respective ages, which clan they belong to, etc., similar to an identity card. The other was issued by the eunuch, and this certificate was used at the checkpoint to prove how much real money and silver and how much goods were carried with him, similar to the proof of funds.

The Portuguese Fernand Mendes Pinto found it impossible for anyone who wanted to travel across provinces unless he could obtain a pass from the governor. Think about it, if you want to go on a trip, you also have to find the governor to prove it. On weekdays, it is too late for the common people to hide from the official, and dare to ask the official to open a certificate, and is it to find the governor to open a certificate to travel? There is no such thing at all! Even if the businessman has these certificates done, he can only stay in a city for 3-4 days at most.

Without proof, can you sneak a tour? The answer is: No! Inside and outside the city, in the streets and alleys, in the inns, in the tobacco houses, and even in the corners of the city, there are always secret agents wandering around randomly, and those who find that they are wandering around the east and west doing nothing, and they must come forward to interrogate them.

Land tourism is not OK. So, is it okay to go sailing?

This one can have. But it must sail along China's own coastline and cannot be derailed. Moreover, the Governor must issue a supporting document stating who his surname was, his appearance (there was no photograph at that time), his date of birth, where he went, what he was doing, when he returned, etc., otherwise he would be caught and exiled.

So, is it okay to go abroad? Absolutely not! No reason, no explanation. The exception is for conscription during war.

Therefore, when those foreigners traveled in China to ask for directions, the ancients often looked confused and cute, and then replied with a silly smile: "Oh yes, the place where you talk should be far away. ”

In fact, the "so far" place is next door, just on the other side of the mountain.

The ancients also had "poetry and distance". It's just that their poems are far away, in ordinary times, in their hometown.

[Note: All corpus used in the text is as of the Qing Dynasty.] 】

Author Liu Xiaocheng

Anchor The Sixth Prince of the Great Saint Divine Gong

Edited/Post-edited by Ling Wenxiu

Find reporters, reports, ask for help, major application markets download the "Qilu One Point" app or search for weChat Mini Program "One Point Intelligence Station", more than 600 mainstream media reporters in the province are waiting for you to report online!