The Beauty of Silk in Ancient Classical Chinese

1. How were ancient silk fabrics made? In principle, there is not much difference between ancient weaving and modern weaving.

The first is raw materials. In ancient times, the masses mainly used linen, while the nobles only wore silk. So, take marijuana for example.

Hemp fiber is cut down first and then thrown into the pool for retting, so that the gum on the hemp skin is decomposed by microorganisms and the fiber is scattered.

Take it out ten days later, tear off the hemp skin and start spinning. The oldest spinning tool is the spinning wheel, a small round wheel made of stone or pottery. By hanging loose fibers at one end and holding them at the other end, the fibers can be gradually elongated and twisted into threads by rotating the spinning wheel.

Part of the fiber raw materials that have become threads are leveled, tightened and wound into warps with wooden frames; Others are wound on wooden shuttles as wefts. Then through some simple pedals and hand-held devices, you can open your mouth, lift the heald and pick the shuttle at the same time. This is the whole process of knitting. The woven cloth is wound on the warp beam and cut into horses after a proper length.

Although modern looms look different from ancient looms, there are many processes, such as drawing warp, winding weft, shedding, lifting heddle, picking and winding. Only human hands and feet have been replaced by machinery and electricity.

2. Seek the record of the Silk Road in the history books. The classical Chinese version is 1403-1424. During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, there were two great feats on China's Silk Road: one was Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Ocean, which created the "Maritime Silk Road" and made him famous in history; The other is that he also lost his trip to the North Sea and found a "Silk Road in Northeast Asia", but it was submerged in literature.

In the history of China, the Silk Road in Northeast Asia experienced six historical periods: Han, Wei, Tang, Song, Jin and Yuan.

The entry of China silk into Northeast Asia can be traced back to the Han and Wei Dynasties in the history of China (202 BC-265 AD). "Biography of the Three Kingdoms and Wei Zhifu" contains: "In China, clothes are still white, white cloth is big, and robes and pants are worn. If you go abroad, you will still be embroidered, embroidered, embroidered, and embarrassed. " Historians have recognized the existence of commercial trade between Fuxi and the Central Plains. In particular, a large number of Han Dynasty five-baht coins and fragments of Han Dynasty white bronze mirrors unearthed between Longtan Mountain and Dongtuan Mountain, as well as pottery pieces with the pattern of Wangmang Huoquan (Li Wenxin: historical relics near Jilin City, published in History and Archaeology No. 1, 1946).) is the best proof. Unfortunately, this Silk Road is not recorded in the history books. Later, due to the "vassal attachment" relationship with the Han Dynasty and the Central Plains Dynasty, Koguryo not only obtained China silk through trade, but also obtained China silk through tribute, gift and plunder. According to Zi Jian, Bai Yan was captured when he fell into the city, and Emperor Taizong took pity on him. "Give five silks to create a spiritual landscape for the long river of history and return it to Pyongyang." "More than 80 gifts are poor." The Biography of Koguryo in the later Han Dynasty vividly recorded the love of Koguryo nobles for silk. "Its guilds and costumes are gorgeous." The tribute road in Bohai Sea was the first time on the Silk Road in Northeast Asia (AD 698-925).

Weihan Huang's "Bohai Kingdom pays tribute to China" said: "The Bohai Sea starts from Tang Yingfu in the east and starts from Chang 'an, the capital of Huhan House in the west, with a history of 8,000 miles. Far-reaching envoys such as China are known as paying tribute, giving thanks, praying for blessings, congratulating others and entering the Dragon Boat Festival. Justice: land travel, crossing Liao into Youzhou; Water line, cross the sea into Qingzhou. "The Tang Dynasty also attached great importance to the diligence of the Bohai Sea and set up reception officers for the envoys of Northeast Asian countries such as the Bohai Sea. In the twenty-eighth year of Kaiyuan, in the early years of Dali, lujun was appointed as the governor of Bendefu, Qing Zi was appointed as the governor in charge of Silla and Bohai, and Mu Zong was appointed as the official post, adding Lupin to be in charge of Silla and Bohai.

Where there is a tribute, there is a reward. Chinese emperors in past dynasties basically adopted the policy of rewarding vassal envoys who came to Korea from all directions more than paying tribute. The Tang dynasty not only gave the envoys of Bohai the favor of dressing according to grades, but also awarded them official positions. "Bohai Kingdom pays tribute to China" contains: "Those who give goldfish bags are given more than two products; Purple robe and gold belt, more than three products are also served; You can wear a robe and a silver belt under five items. " As a result, these Bohai people, wearing official uniforms made of silk, happily returned to their hometowns and inadvertently embarked on a Silk Road. Of course, they not only wear silk, but also carry a lot of silk, brocade, silk, brocade, silk, embroidered silk, silk cloth and so on. "A Record of the Bohai Sea" contains: Sixteen years of Gao Wang (the first year of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty) "In December, I sent Tang to Chang 'an, invited him to enter the city for trade, and went to the temple to worship, and Xuanzong agreed. "What is a market transaction? There is no specific explanation. However, according to the literature at that time, there were good horses, pearls and cooked copper. In the Bohai Sea, all kinds of silk were the main commodities in the Tang Dynasty. The ninety-nine Foreign Affairs Department of the Book House Yuan Gui Juan states: On October 6th of the first year of Jianzhong, brocade (silk, woolen goods), silk, embroidery, fine thread, silk cloth, oxtail, pearl, silver, copper, iron, handmaiden, etc. Trade with foreign countries is not allowed. In Song Dynasty, a large number of silks flooded into Liaoning for free, which greatly changed the folk customs of Qidan people. The records of Liao historian Er reflect the dependence of Qidan nobles on silk at that time. In addition to enjoying the silk of the Song Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty also showed signs of giving it to civilians, governors and tribes. "Five Cases of Daozong in Liao History" contains: Three years in Da 'an, "Five children in summer and April, giving silks to the poor in Beijing." Shen Bing, for the poor in Gu Wu. In February of the seventh year of Daan, Ren Yin ordered the poor in Weizhou to cultivate cattle, cloth and silk. According to the gift of History of Liao Dynasty IV, when the North Korean ambassador visited the Liao Dynasty, he could get three opportunities to get silk clothes after presenting gifts: declaring clothes, giving clothes and giving clothes. Xixia envoys also have the treatment of "giving clothes". Are there any envoys from other countries and tribes? I don't know. It can be seen that the popularization of silk is an indisputable historical fact in Liao country. "History of Jin Dynasty, Food and Goods" contains: "Four years, playing for Shangshu Province, resuming the venues of Si, Shou, Cai, Tang, Deng, Ying, Fengxiang, Qin, Gong and Tao."

I care what you say, but I care what you say in ancient classical Chinese.

Classical Chinese is a processed written language based on ancient Chinese. The earliest written language based on spoken language may have been processed.

Classical Chinese is an article composed of written language in ancient China, mainly including written language based on spoken language in pre-Qin period. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, no articles were invented to record characters, but bamboo slips, silks and other things were used to record characters, and silks were expensive, bamboo slips were huge and the number of words recorded was limited. In order to record more things on a roll of bamboo slips, unimportant words were deleted.

Later, when "paper" was used on a large scale, the habit of using "official documents" among the ruling classes had been finalized, and the ability to use "classical Chinese" had evolved into a symbol of reading and literacy. Classical Chinese comes from vernacular Chinese, characterized by writing based on words, paying attention to the use of allusions, parallel prose, and neat melody, including strategies, poems, words, songs, stereotyped writing, parallel prose and other styles.

The classical Chinese in modern books are generally marked with punctuation marks in order to facilitate reading and understanding.

4. Full text of ancient jokes: "You have to wear satin yarn to be an official" Pu Songling: a wonderful poem satirizing corrupt officials.

In the Qing Dynasty, an assistant minister named Bi Ji invited Pu Songling, the author of Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, and a history book to his home. At the banquet, Shangshu suggested drinking and writing poems, requiring three characters to be the same as the first, three characters on the same side, and no rhyme limit. Biji is the host. He first recited: "Three characters are the same as friends, and three characters are the same as selling sake; It's a pleasure to meet friends and family today and talk about sake. " Because Pu Songling and Shangshu sat opposite each other, he skillfully recited the banquet in the poem.

Shangshu is a corrupt official, usually arrogant and bullying the people. He went on to chant: "The three-character sutra is the same as the official, and the three-character sutra is the same as the satin yarn;" Who can wear silks and satins if they are not court officials? " His poems are full of arrogance.

Pu Songling pondered for a moment and recited loudly: "Three characters are the same as crying and cursing, and three characters are the same as wolves, foxes and dogs; Shan Ye cried and cursed because of all the wolves, foxes and dogs! " The poem uses "crying and cursing" to reflect the grievances of working people, and "wolf, fox and dog" to imply corrupt officials like Shangshu.