What do you mean by "official" and "big official" in the Ming Dynasty? Seek an explanation

Officially, the Song Dynasty was an era of cultural exchange between North and South. The appellation between husband and wife is also a dynasty with many appellations. In court, the word "housekeeper" appeared; Among ordinary people, there is the title of "official". Some wives call their husbands "officials". Up to now, the folks still call the newlyweds "the groom's official" and "the bride".

And a big official is a kind of honorific title for men with rich and powerful social status and children of giants. It is more common in early vernacular works, such as novels and plays.

The eleventh time of the Water Margin: "? Lin chong? You see, it's not someone else, it's a whirlwind? Chai Jin? , hurriedly shouted:' save the big officer!' "Chen Ming Ruyuan?" Biography of Jin Ping Mei: "I sent a villain to pick up the big lady and the big official to Beijing. "There are jin ping mei, etc.

Extended data:

It is found that in the Water Margin, some people call some rich people "W". For example, the man who married later is also rich, so he is called "W", that is, Mr. Zhao. However, the addresses of some rich people are different, such as Ximen Qing, who is engaged in medicinal materials business. Rich people, but their addresses are not members, but big officials.

Under what circumstances, a person will be called a foreign official, and under what circumstances, a person will be called a big official. The essential difference between foreign officials and big officials.

Let's start with Mr. W. Generally speaking, Mr. W is actually a local tyrant, that is, the landlord and gentry at that time. However, from the written understanding, or from the situation at that time in the Song Dynasty, Mr. W was actually an official except the instructor.

In other words, foreign officials are also junior officials, but such officials can actually be bought with money, commonly known as donating officials. As long as they have money and are willing to get involved, they can get a foreign official at a certain cost.

Wailang has two popular names, Wailang or Yuanwai, commonly known as Deputy Lang. Since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there has been this official position. At that time, Mr. W's name was Mr. W. Lang. At that time, Mr. W was actually a senior official, equivalent to a six-product official. Even in the Tang dynasty, Mr. W. W. was listed as a six-product official.

However, with the passage of time, the replacement of dynasties and the reform and change of the system, the position of foreign servants gradually became a kind of idle post, which gradually existed in name only, that is, it was no longer linked to the imperial examination;

However, it began to be linked to money, that is to say, it became the survival way of the court. As long as the local rich or wealthy businessmen are willing to pay a large price, they can get an official position like Mr. W.

Unlike Mr. W, a big official is actually a common name for the rich. To put it bluntly, a big official is today's rich man, equivalent to "Wang Million" and "Pan Billion". At the same time, this title also appeared in various literary novels, especially in the Song Dynasty. At that time, the address between husband and wife was a big official. Generally, the wife calls her husband and often calls him a big official.

Therefore, Ximen Qing is not an official, but a rich man, so he has always been called Simon's leading man.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Official Person