How did the emperors and people of the Ming Dynasty eat, drink and be merry?

The entertainment and entertainment industry in Ming Dynasty is the most difficult part of the book. Even today, the tax revenue and the overall situation of the entertainment industry are the most difficult parts to count in all walks of life. In all kinds of works on the economy of the Ming Dynasty, there is basically no separate study on it. The reason is that feudal society often takes a hostile, contemptuous or indifferent attitude towards the entertainment industry. Because, in ancient society, land tax, salt tax and other taxes occupied the main body, while entertainment, handicrafts, mining and so on were driven into "miscellaneous", which was basically difficult to clarify.

Therefore, the taxation of entertainment industry in feudal society will probably be an eternal mystery. However, the entertainment circle is an unavoidable problem. Many supporters of the Ming Dynasty often talk about the development of the entertainment industry in the Ming Dynasty when boasting. As a book about people's lives, the entertainment circle can't help but mention it.

How did the Ming people entertain themselves? What was the living state of the entertainment industry in Ming Dynasty? We might as well start with Zhu Yuanzhang's royal family.

How emperors and people in Ming Dynasty ate, drank and had fun (picture and text)

Music map of Xuanzong in Ming Dynasty

Zhu Yuanzhang loves to play one-word poems.

Chen, Yangzhou comedian. During Hongwu years, he worked in Nanjing Palace. Zhu Yuanzhang likes him very much and often asks him to tell "a joke". What is a one-sentence joke? In the early years of Hongwu, when Chen was visiting Nanjing from Yangzhou, he strayed into the forbidden area of the imperial court and was taken to the streets. Chen hurriedly knelt on the ground "oh, my father-in-law. Please release the villain, I am very grateful. I pray for you to burn incense sooner or later. I wish you good health and all the best! "

Eunuch laughed coldly "let you go? Not difficult. Grandpa, I am sulking today. If your boy can say a word to make our family laugh, I will let you go! "

"Bullshit!" "ah? How dare you scold me! " The eunuch flew into a rage.

"No, no, no, I'm like a fart. My father-in-law asked me to go, but my father-in-law asked me to go! " My father-in-law looked up and smiled.

This is a literal joke. If you want to say yes, you can't do it without enough intelligence. One day, Zhu Yuanzhang asked him to tell "a joke", which worried Chen. After a night of hard thinking, Chen finally thought of a good method. He immediately sent people out of the palace overnight to collect negative drums and blind people. Tell them that the emperor wants to listen to their stories, and all the blind urns are grateful with joy. Everyone practiced and rehearsed all night, waiting for the "glorious moment" the next day.

The next day, a dozen people led a dozen blind urns to Jinshui Bridge. At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang stood not far away and watched. When Chen came to the bridge, he suddenly shouted "goodbye". The blind urn thought the emperor was coming and panicked. Some people fall back when they are nervous, slip and fall into the water. Others don't know why, their minds are in a mess, their actions are even more chaotic, and they have fallen into the water. Zhu Yuanzhang stood not far away and couldn't help laughing when he saw this funny scene.

As an emperor born of a bitter child, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally hated entertainment. In his heart, even in his heart, there is a fear of food and disease. In this fear, entertainment is too extravagant for him. Therefore, he often takes a hostile attitude towards the entertainment circle and entertainment practitioners. On the one hand, this is due to the tradition of feudal society; On the other hand, it is his heart. At that time, officials at all levels of the Yuan Empire were engaged in various recreational activities even when the people were in dire straits.

However, since Zhu Yuanzhang and Judy, the rulers of the Ming empire have never experienced hardships, and there is no "natural resistance" from Zhu Yuanzhang and his son. Second, entertainment itself is too attractive to people. Who doesn't want to be happy? Therefore, since Xuande, the control of the emperors over the entertainment circle has become more and more relaxed.

What is even more surprising is that with the development of commodity economy, especially during the Wanli period. With the gradual formation of the Silver Empire, the foreign trade surplus is getting bigger and bigger. With the unprecedented development of the entertainment industry, women's leisure life has gradually developed. Thus, it broke the traditional concept of commenting on the unprecedented low status of women in the Ming Dynasty.

How emperors and people in Ming Dynasty ate, drank and had fun (picture and text)

Shooting willow in Qing dynasty

Zhu Yuanzhang and his son's game of "shooting willows" and its political bloody case

Although entertainment is a luxury for Zhu Yuanzhang, after all, people need to relax. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang supports some games that can not only exercise physical fitness but also be happy. For example, "shooting willows at the Dragon Boat Festival". Some people say that "shooting willow" originated from Yang in the Spring and Autumn Period. It can be seen that "Shooting Willow" is a military game, which has a lot to do with "hundred steps".

Here, the hundred paces wear Yang, in fact, refers to Yang whose surname is Yang. At that time, when the emperor opened the catchments and Hangou, he planted willows on both sides of the river and named them "Yang". So, willow, willow is willow.

This kind of military game was very popular in northern China during the Song, Jin and Liao Dynasties, and spread to the whole country after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty. In the 24th year of Hongwu (139 1 year), Zhu Yuanzhang led his children to shoot willows at Xinmao Dragon Boat Festival in March of the lunar calendar (139 1 year).

Readers, don't underestimate this record. Although there are only a few words in A Record of Ming Taizu, it is a powerful expression of entertainment. Even people like Zhu Yuanzhang need entertainment. Besides, others can. As a result, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty began to socialize more and more.

1465438+On May 4th, 2003, during the Dragon Boat Festival, Emperor Yongle had many more forms of entertainment. Besides shooting willows, there are also cuju and so on. According to the records of Emperor Chengzu of Ming Dynasty (May 11th year of Yongle), Emperor Yongle had a good life. Those who shoot willows have both colored silks and paper money, which makes all the men make poems to celebrate.

In this entertainment performance, the future Ming Xuanzong, the grandson of the emperor at that time, shined brilliantly. Because the willow was photographed well, Yongle was happy to see all countries coming to the DPRK, and made a picture of the Ten Thousand Jade Silk Fair. He quickly replied, "Unify the mountains, rivers, the sun and the moon." It can be seen that Ming Xuanzong is really not simple. History does tell us that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was a good emperor. Although he has more entertainment projects than his great-grandfather, grandfather and father, he has not delayed the affairs of the state.

During Xuanzong's reign, a great event happened. Xuanzong abolished official prostitutes. As a result, the prevalence of brothel industry and male prostitutes was born in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Press the button first and continue to talk about the "political bloody case" caused by "shooting willow".

Judy rebelled after Wen Jian ascended the throne. In May of the second year of Wen Jian, Judy discovered Linyi after breaking through Dezhou, Shandong Province. This day coincides with Su 'an Ji Gang and Su Mu joining the army. Judy, the prince of Yan, called them to the horse. Holding a whip in his hand, he pointed to Ji Gang and said, "What skill do you have!" Ji Gang replied: "The grass is full of manpower, and the sword and horse are skilled. Taking the enemy's head in the army is like taking something out of a bag. " Judy urged the horse forward coldly. "You said that there is infinite power, which may hinder my progress?"

Ji Gang stepped forward and grabbed the horse's tail with strong arms. In an instant, Judy sat down and caught the horse. No matter how Judy urged, the horse couldn't move. Judy was overjoyed and immediately accepted Ji Gang. Since then, he has made outstanding achievements. After Judy succeeded to the throne, she was appointed commander of the Royal Guard.

However, Ji Gang is cruel and greedy. In the early days of Judy's rule, Ji Gang was mainly responsible for killing tens of thousands of old ministers of Jianwen Emperor and their relatives. What is even more outrageous is that he castrated hundreds of children, or sent them to the palace to become his henchmen, or served himself. Jie Jin, a famous literary master, was drunk by Ji Gang and left naked in the snow to freeze to death.

As Ji Gang is Judy's confidant, he is not only the envoy of the Royal Guards, but also the commander-in-chief, and his power has become a real power figure under one person and above ten thousand people. Wu Hou Yang was almost killed by him because he competed with him for a female Taoist priest, and Zhou Xin, the provincial judge of Zhejiang Province, was framed and put to death because of Ji Gang's crime.

Finally, Ji Gang wore dragon robes in his furniture, privately raised fugitives, built weapons and armor enough to equip tens of thousands of troops, and even secretly built a tunnel leading to the palace. The time is ripe to overthrow Judy. In the 14th year of Yongle (14 16) and the Dragon Boat Festival (May 2nd), Ji Gang wanted to learn from Zhao Gao to see if everyone was United with himself.

He told his men: Tomorrow, I missed the willow branches on purpose, but you broke them and shouted "Master Jiya". Then let's see if anyone dares to raise an objection. As a result, the next day, after Pang Ying shouted "Ji's adult shot", thousands of pairs of eyes were completely blind. However, Ji Gang forgot that his opponent was not Hu Hai. Three months later, Judy suddenly attacked and arrested Ji Gang. Ji Gang was executed by Ling Chi, and his crime was made public.

The Ming emperors after Judy kept this custom. Later, the "willow shooting" and polo match were held at the same time. At the same time, there are more and more court games. Compared with the royal family, the entertainment style of officials in Ming Dynasty also changed with the change of emperors. When it comes to the entertainment of officials, we should first involve the official vacation system, because the main content of vacation is relaxation and entertainment.

In the Ming Dynasty, eagles caught chickens, jumped rope and played golf. "The Rhyme of Jingting" and "The Blind Man with Negative Drum"; Zhu Yuanzhang loves pipa.

There are many forms of folk entertainment. For example, there are all kinds of acrobatics in folk temple fairs, such as flying forks, hanging banners, playing with flower beds, double stones, rough bars, stone locks, tiles, lion dances, pole-making, knife switches, circus, umbrella-making, bobbin-making, harrow poles, stair-stepping (cars, people), somersaults, pills and so on. In addition, there are magic and ventriloquism. For example, China's first magic monograph was published in the 12th year of Chongzhen (1639), which recorded more than 20 kinds of magic performances. Among them, "Bowl Blowing" was a very popular sport in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, both in court and among the people. At first, pounding pills was only popular among the people, and then it gradually entered the palace. Chuiwan developed from tap dance (similar to today's hockey) that appeared in the Tang Dynasty, and was basically stereotyped in the Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, since Song Taizong, a pill contest was held every March. The club used for punching is similar to today's golf club, L-shaped, and the playing style is similar. Rake a small ball made of hardwood with a curved wooden rake, and the outcome will be decided by the number of people entering the cave.

How emperors and people in Ming Dynasty ate, drank and had fun (picture and text)

Ming Chengzu likes playing polo.

Go and chess are the most popular among children of Confucianism.

On the first day of New Year's Day, there are various forms of folk entertainment, which are different from the rigid palace burning incense, setting off firecrackers and horse racing (held in Shuntianfu outside Dongzhimen). Mainly: visiting the flower market (this is a great contribution of the Ming Dynasty), acrobatics, entertainment and so on. The firecrackers in it are much richer than those in the palace. There are dozens of names of firecrackers, such as overlord whip and vole.

In addition to the above, there are some self-entertaining games, such as "catching children" played by children. This game has existed since the birth of mankind, and it is still very popular in some places. A "catch" game played by the author as a child is like this: put a stone in the palm of your hand and throw it up. Then catch it with the back of your hand, then throw it out and catch it with your palm. Repeat this action until you jump out. Let's see who sticks to it for a long time. Of course, this kind of game is generally played by girls, and boys mainly "throw square buds" when they were young. This kind of game did not appear in the Ming Dynasty. Boys in the Ming Dynasty usually kicked shuttlecocks.

The children's collective game, that is, the eagle catches the chicken and jumps on the rope, is still playing today.

There are many ways for adults to play games, such as throwing dice, pushing Pai Jiu, 1: 30, four-color cards, throwing ditties, playing Stud, picking up red dots and other indoor games. Outdoor games such as Liubo, Pot Throwing, Stilts, Pilling, Gyroscope, Bamboo Horse, Eight Pieces, etc.

Lantern Festival is a big festival, so there are many forms of entertainment. For example, there are lanterns and cuju in the palace ("Yun Qi Club" performance organized by concubines in the palace). During the Chenghua period, the influence of folk entertainment forms deepened. Magic and acrobatics began to appear in the palace. Ming Xianzong's Joy and Joy, now kept in the Chinese History Museum, fully demonstrates this point. The appreciation of lanterns in that period was the most distinctive.

Besides Tomb-Sweeping Day's outing, concubines can also play on swings. People continue to perform stilts and acrobatics.

On the Dragon Boat Festival, the palace will hold a dragon boat race in Xiyuan. In addition to the dragon boat race, the most popular among the people is fighting grass. This kind of game is still a folk game, and historical records officially appeared in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. This kind of game belongs to children's games now, and it has been suitable for all ages for a long time. The main play is: winding leaves or grass stalks together, both sides pull hard, and the one with the first broken grass stalk loses.

Like the common people, there will be begging activities in the palace harem on Qixi Festival, which is organized by the war situation of one of the 24 palaces in the palace.

Followed by the Mid-Autumn Festival, the dessert room in the palace should be made into paramita for Buddha; Xiyuan should do something and put on lotus lanterns. As for watching the blooming lotus flowers and fighting crickets, it is also part of the entertainment activities in this moon palace.

The entertainment form of the court in the Ming Dynasty made a qualitative leap in the Five Dynasties. In the third year of Zheng De's reign (1508), he ordered that people who were good at acrobatics, riding and shooting, circus, folk art, opera and singing be sent to Beijing, and musicians' residences should be built in Hejian and other provinces.

Jingting pavilion and the rhyme of the blind with negative drums

There was an old man lying on the grass, bleeding profusely. Holding a sanxian tightly in his right hand, he muttered to himself: China has a true spirit for five thousand years. Emperor Daming lost his life, and the Qing army defeated Nanming in the south. After a long time, the old man woke up, looked around and shed tears. I got up and dusted myself. A burst of laughter, picked up the sanxian, a push away. Singing loudly: Three Emperors and Five Emperors in Morality, the fame of Xia Houshang Zhou Dynasty. The five chivalrous men made an insurrection in the Spring and Autumn Period, and they rose and fell for a while. There are several names on the history of qing dynasty, and there are countless barren hills in the north. Our predecessors' fields were taken away by later generations, and they said something about enter the dragon.

This old man is none other than Liu Jingting, the founder of storytelling, storytelling and other folk arts. Liu Jingting was born in the 14th year of Wanli (1587) and died in the 16th year of Kangxi (1670). This man was born in Taizhou, formerly known as Cao Ming Yongchang, with the word Kwai Yu. Taizhou, Jiangsu province

/kloc-at the age of 0/5, this gentleman fled his hometown because of breaking the law. Because I listen to artists talking about books and like music, I play Sanxian talking about books. Famous in Jiangnan. Later, under the guidance of Mo Houguang, a famous storyteller in Shanghai today, the art industry increased greatly. In the 13th year of Chongzhen, he became the aide and royal artist of Le 'an Zuo Liangyu in the late Ming Dynasty. I am good at communicating with all kinds of people because I have been engaged in Quyi for a long time. Therefore, Zuo Liangyu ordered him to visit Nanking frequently, and to keep good relations with powerful ministers and Ruan Dacheng (known as "General Liu").

In the second year of Shunzhi, Zuo Liangyu Indiana Jones captured Ma Ruan in the name of the Qing army. However, Zuo Liangyu died in the middle of the battle, and his son Zuo Menggeng surrendered to the Qing army, while General Liu Jingting and General Yuan Jixian swore allegiance to the death. Finally, Yuan Jixian was arrested and Liu Jingting almost died in the army. Since then, I have returned to my old job of telling stories. In the first year of Kangxi (1622), because the Qing emperors and princes and ministers especially liked listening to books, Cai Shiying, governor of grain transportation, ordered him to accompany him to Beijing to give lectures to princes and ministers.

Later, when I performed in Beijing, all the musical instruments could not be used for some special reasons. Liu Jingting gave up Sanxian and only said it with his mouth. Thus, a new Quyi was born. He is now a storyteller. Of course, this is the embryonic form of storytelling, and the real founder of storytelling is Wang Hongxing. So far, it has spread to the eleventh generation. He became an assistant minister in his later years and became the founder of Pinghua.

How emperors and people in Ming Dynasty ate, drank and had fun (picture and text)

Ming Xianzong Music Map

Liu Jingting is mentioned because Quyi is rarely mentioned in various works, on the contrary, opera is often mentioned in many works. The main reason is that traditional Chinese opera is regarded as an elegant art by some people, and Quyi, as a form of folk entertainment, is often ignored. In the feudal society where the forms of entertainment were not colorful, the audience of Quyi was much more than that of traditional Chinese opera. The four classical novels we are familiar with, except A Dream of Red Mansions, were basically performed and circulated by Mr. Qu Yi, and were not formed until they were collated and revised by literary masters. This is most obvious in Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin.

Since this book is mainly about people's lives, Quyi can't be ignored. The greatest contribution of Quyi in Ming Dynasty to later generations was to directly promote the birth of storytelling and storytelling.

Like almost all artists in feudal society, no matter how beautiful they are when they are young, they will always be poor when they are old. Take Liu Jingting as an example. He said that the price of a book is one or two pieces of silver, and an appointment must be made ten days in advance. But in his later years, he was sad and poor.

Storytelling was very popular in the Ming Dynasty, and some eunuchs in the palace specialized in this technology. Storytelling at this time is usually accompanied by musical instruments. Moreover, Mr. storyteller, the founding father of the Ming Dynasty, has another feature: current affairs books.

For example, the formation of the book "Popular Romance of Western Sanbao Eunuchs". Every time Zheng He leads a ship out to sea, thousands or even tens of thousands of people will tell the world all kinds of anecdotes. Many storytellers based on these novel things, or join the book or become stories alone. At that time, people called it "watching the scene"

Some of China's famous works have gone through the stage that historians recorded folk communication and finally were created by novelists after the spread of Quyi. The same is true of the book Three Treasures. During the Wanli period, Luo Maodeng polished and processed the contents of Mr. Storyteller into a book. The most typical and well-known are Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Quyi had a great influence on literature and art in feudal society, and it also has a strong entertainment attraction today. For example, as a genre of Quyi, duet, cross talk, storytelling, pingtan and so on. There are countless addicts so far. In the Ming dynasty, folk art was the most popular way of entertainment appreciation, and drama was a more advanced one. Before introducing the drama industry in Ming Dynasty, please read a short story.

Thousands of miles of drought, deep cracks. Crows are chirping in the dry trees, and the croaking sound makes people sad. Amid the cries, a woman in coarse clothes was crying seriously. She knelt down and grabbed the ground with bloody hands. Slowly, the ground was dug out, digging deeper and bigger. Finally, after this huge pit that can accommodate two people, she stood up and struggled to go home.

There are two bodies at home, a man in his fifties and a woman in his fifties. When the woman saw their faces, she couldn't help but lose her voice again. "Dad, niang ah, strange daughter-in-law I failed to filial piety. The most daughter-in-law, the crime of daughter-in-law! " As she said, the woman first put her mother-in-law's body on a broken reed mat and dragged it to the hole dug by her hand.

According to the rules of ancient tombs, you must be sharp. So, the woman dug up again with her hands. The ground as hard as iron makes a woman's heart harder and more painful. Every time she digs, her body is shaking. She said, "Jiro, Jiro! Why don't you always go home! "

After digging the grave, the woman went home to pack a small bag and hurried on the way to Beijing. On this day, she came to the door of Xiangfu to beg. Suddenly I saw a man riding a burly horse and coming with a red face. The woman shouted "Jiro!" The man suddenly saw the woman and trembled all over. "Oh," then he frowned and gritted his teeth. Whispered, "Every man for himself, and the devil take the hindmost! Zhao Zhennv! Cai! If it weren't for my vicious Cai Yong, how could I tolerate you today for my prosperity! "

Thought of here, Cai Yong mentioned the reins, and after several screams, the horse went straight to the woman.

Many people know who Cai Yong is. This is mainly because he has a very famous daughter: Cai Wenji. Cai Yong was a great intellectual in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Unfortunately, because the public has always had some views on intellectuals. Moreover, there are indeed some people who, after gaining fame, abandoned their wives and threw themselves into the arms of rich and powerful people. Therefore, people naturally take a hostile attitude towards some intellectuals. Because Cai Yong is well-known, unfortunately, Cai Yong was chosen as such a representative.

This is the story of Zhao Zhen's daughter Cai Erlang. The drama appeared in the Song Dynasty, and the story spread in the Southern Song Dynasty, especially in Quyi, opera and folk songs. Before the story of "Qin Xianglian" appeared in Qing Dynasty, "Zhao Zhennv" was the representative of the victims of "her husband's ingratitude". There is also a saying that Qiu Menglin and Hu Mengdie, two good friends of Chen Shumei, the prototype of Chen Shimei, the hero of Qin Xianglian story, clashed with Chen Shumei. I was so angry that I suddenly watched Pipa Xing. Because the predecessor of this play was "Zhao Zhen's daughter Cai Erlang", they bribed the playwright to write the story of "Qin Shimei".

In a word, the story of Zhao Zhennv and Cai Yong spread, which influenced Aurora. In this regard, Lu You said in the poem "The boat swims near the thatched cottage and the boat retreats": "The ancient willow village in the setting sun is blind. Who cares after death? Mancun heard about Cai Zhonglang. "

But in the Yuan Dynasty, there was a qualitative change. The story of Zhao Zhennv and Cai Erlang has completely changed. It is precisely because of this change that this drama shines brilliantly under the rule of Zhu Yuanzhang in the early Ming Dynasty.