Bad habits in secular life in old Beijing

"Clothes" and "Things" of Old Beijingers

Yuan Shang

In my spare time, I especially like to read some trivial words from old Beijing, from which we can see that old Beijingers are also very capable of "pretending" and "doing". These things are invisible in official history. In terms of interpersonal communication, old Beijingers are good at pretending.

Although Xia was originally from Nanjing, he went to Beijing to be an official twenty-four years after Guangxu. Since then, he has lived in the capital for a long time. It is estimated that we are from Beijing. In the late Qing Dynasty, he worked in the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Postal Communication and the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce. In the early years of the Republic of China, he worked in the State Council and the Ministry of Finance.

In his Notes on Old Beijing, it is said that it is common for women in the Qing Dynasty to come out to meet guests, not only flag bearers, but also Han people. You can tell by saying that. The author Xia met such a strange thing when he first came to Beijing. After all, when I first came to Beijing, I always wanted to meet my relatives in Beijing. Once, he went to a distant relative's house. The distant relative heard that someone was coming to Beijing to be an official, and the whole family got together and lined up to welcome him. It's really like that. Seven aunts, men and women, old and young, left behind, left behind, all came up. Everyone came forward to ask about the changes in temperature, and even the people in the old summer home have been asking. Finally, even Lao Xia fainted. How did he ask these people? He never dreamed of these people. How did he get home? What kind of relative is this?

Lao Xia thinks I'll ask these people who care about him one by one if they are mistaken. It doesn't matter if you ask this question, and the story of making up a few things appears. When I met one of them, Lao Xia couldn't remember. Afraid of being rude, he asked, "Is your surname Zhao?" The man replied, "Not Zhao." "surnamed Qian?" "Don't be surnamed Qian." "So you are Sun San." "I have no brothers at home." Not bad. I have known him for a long time, and even Lao Xia's family has several old hens and pet dogs. Finally, Lao Xia didn't ask the man what his surname was. The man spoke first: "What's your surname, sir?" It's been hot for a long time, and the whole thing is packed.

In Lao Xia's summary, capital "has a lot of hypocrisy in the field of communication." Beijingers have a habit of having nothing to say, that is, people they don't know. If you meet such people, you have to say hello to them. It's like a joke that an old man just came out of the toilet early in the morning and didn't walk a few steps. When he came up, he just said, "Have you eaten?" , leaves the in the mind very uncomfortable. It turns out that this smelly problem existed in Tongzhi and Guangxu years of Qing Dynasty.

People who are real cows don't pretend to be cows; People who don't like cows always assemble cows. People who are really close, don't pretend; People who are not close pretend to be close. Old Beijingers also have a costume, that is, pretending to be a cow and pretending to be a relative. The records here can be used as social historical materials of old Beijing.

There is such a story in the book that the author has been to a dinner party, among which some people know and some people don't know. After all, dinner is just an occasion for communication. Although Lao Xia was an official in the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, he couldn't carry it all the time, so he met a "friend" during the dinner and they chatted. He could eat and drink in heaven and earth, at home and abroad. A spin, a greeting, it seems that the man really wants to befriend Lao Xia. After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, this friend said to Lao Xia, "You are a friend. I will definitely buy you a drink. Don't come. If you don't come, you will lose face to your friends. Don't say that. " Lao Xia thought that he had just met and was not familiar with it to that extent, so he said it was a little trivial and might not be able to go. The man listened with emotion, "Lao Xia, you look down on me." Lao Xia felt misunderstood. Seeing that people are so sincere, so enthusiastic, so kind, with many friends and many ways, he had to agree. After a round of drinking, before I sat down, my friend leaned in and whispered to Lao Xia, "I drank too much, forgot, I can't explain clearly, I have something to do." "Then the day after tomorrow. There is no business the day after tomorrow, so I will be there. " Xia thought of the place he didn't want to go. He stood up and was about to thank the man. He saw the man, raised his hand, "pen and ink to serve", and a pen and a piece of paper came up. The man seemed to have written an invitation. Ask where to eat and what food to eat. The name and dishes of the restaurant are almost the same as those of the Manchu-Chinese banquet. There is a cross talk called "the name of the dish", and this gentleman has been busy until he finishes eating. The two walked out side by side, and before going out, the old man slapped his thigh. "Oh, I forgot." Lao Xia wondered, what is this? "The day after tomorrow, our family has a sacrificial ceremony. What should I do? " Lao Xia doesn't know what to do. Just then, a friend came to save him and said, "It's not fate. Why are you worried about this time? There is still a lot of time. " Xia hates this kind of dress, and angrily replied, "I have something to do, too." Go ahead, don't bother. "

From then on, Lao Xia just met this passerby and didn't even talk to him. You can say whatever you like in the vernacular. If you are not too tired, just pretend. Afterwards, a friend said to him, "In our capital, people have to invite you at the dinner table. It's just a matter of face. No matter how good a person is, you should refuse at once. This will also give each other face. If you don't refuse resolutely, he will have to find his own way down the steps. " People who pretend to be grandfathers cannot pretend to be grandsons until the end.

Although Xia's Notes on Old Beijing is thin, it can change some people's impressions. Not all the old ones are memorable, and some have to be taken out and severely criticized. Notes, not official history, this feature of Xia is really caught. If you want to know about the social habits of old Beijing, especially in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, then the "vulgar" section in Notes on Old Beijing is an excellent material to read.

He said that at that time, people in Beijing liked to play with birds and were addicted to them. Unconsciously, it became a "bird slave." Over time, they have become waste and the "worst fashion". You see, these things are not common today. A person is sneaking around with a birdcage all day, always with gold on his face, euphemistically called "love birds", and loves birds like grandpa.

Old Beijing dialect, which means resurrection at present, is lively and humorous, but also mean. These mean words are often expressed in different ways. For example, just now I thought it was nice to call the candidate "Haoranzi". But in fact, this means that the house where the candidates live is like a melon, a fool, and the candidates live in it, just like the "pulp" in the melon. The old Beijingers call it "Haoranzi". Candidates failed in the exam for a long time. Old Beijing called these people "bean sprouts". Why? Because all plants are planted first and then grow, no plant is only as long as bean sprouts, so people don't take the homonym of "miss". Originally, people spent a long time trying to fail in the exam, so they were very sad psychologically. Don't interrupt them

The clothes and things of old Beijingers are always mixed together. When they are worn, they are always things; conversely, when they are things, they must always be worn. So, if you look at the men in old Beijing, almost all of them are grandchildren, and those grandchildren may be grandfathers. In today's words, real Beijing grandfathers are low-key, while real grandchildren are high-key.

When I read Xia's words, I feel that these things are not only close to us, but also seem to have changed suddenly in his time. Now some old people write about old Beijing, and then the Republic of China, maybe in the middle. Some people ask around and think that what they hear is all about old Beijing. You look around and brag everywhere, making everything good in old Beijing. In fact, if you look at Xia's books, you will know that there are really many bad habits and problems in old Beijing, not only yesterday, but also today.

First published in Beijing Chronicle, issue 4, 20 10. Kun Li signature.