The origin of the word "cuckold"?

It originated from the administrators of ancient religious workshops. Their stipulated clothing must be green headscarves. It seems that Zhu Yuanzhang had clear regulations on this.

In Lang Ying's "Seven There is such a description in the "Revised Manuscript": "...People call the wife who has promiscuity a 'green scarf'. Today's happy people, the court made it a rule to wrap their heads with green scarves..." He Mengchun, who was slightly later than Lang Ying, wrote in "Yu Yu" It is also written in "Winter Preface": "The teaching system is for ministers to visit, and they always wear green scarves, and they wear the uniforms of the common people."

Nanfang Shuo's "Joke Reflects Fear" is more comprehensive:

< p>"Green turban", "cuckold" and "cuckold" have been used since the Ming and Qing Dynasties to refer to the husband whose wife cheated on him. This kind of title is not only scattered in novels, but also one of the common people's terms. In addition, there are many jokes about "cuckolding".

Contemporary scholars Chris Powell and Steve Linstead pointed out in the essay collection "Humor in Society - Resistance and Control" that the true meaning of many jokes is to reflect Fear is used to strengthen and reshape moral boundaries to achieve the purpose of social control. According to their theory, perhaps we can think that there are many jokes about "cuckolding" in Chinese society, which reflects the phobia of the wife's affair. Therefore, such jokes have the function of social warning and social control.

Therefore, the name "green turban" should come from the Ming Dynasty. Lehu in the Ming Dynasty was a lowly occupation that was half prostitute and half maid. It was stipulated that they could only wear green turbans, so "green turbans" It became a sign of lowly prostitution. Of course, having a wife to support a man is equivalent to this kind of industry wearing a "green turban".

However, it is not entirely correct to think that the "green turban" originated in the Ming Dynasty. Because as early as the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty, it was stipulated that "prostitutes should wear purple soap shirts and horned crowns. The parents and relatives of prostitutes should wear green turbans." The actions of the Ming Dynasty obviously inherited the Yuan system.

However, if we do a little research on the clothing, colors, and status and class distinctions in ancient China, we can find that the "green turban" in the Yuan Dynasty was not made up by Xiangbi. In earlier times, "turban" and "green" have always been the patents of the lowly.

As for the "scarf", although it originated very early, until the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was an exclusive crown ornament for common people or untouchables. From the "scarf", similar crown ornaments developed, such as the Han Dynasty "帻" in the Tang Dynasty, "帻" in the Tang Dynasty, etc. Zhai Hao of the Qing Dynasty pointed out in Volume 12 of "Public Edition" that as far back as the Spring and Autumn Period, "those with wealthy wives and daughters who begged for food would have their heads wrapped in green scarves to distinguish between high and low". This shows that the "green turban" is early. In the Han Dynasty, "帻" was changed from "jin". When Yan Shigu of the Tang Dynasty commented on the "green gauze" mentioned in "Han Shu" (Dongfang Shuo Zhuan), he also said: "Green gauze is the uniform of a bitch."

Therefore, before the Eastern Han Dynasty, The scholar-bureaucrat class wore a "crown", while the "turban" could only be used by commoners or untouchables. At that time, the "green turban" was already exclusive to the prostitute's house. Umberto Eco, a modern Italian semiotician, once studied the Western color system and believed that although the same color words are used in each era, the colors that these words refer to cannot be the same; that is to say , ancient green and modern green cannot be the same.

This situation is also the same in China. The so-called "green" in the past probably refers to the natural green color of silk cloth. It may be a kind of green color that has been bleached by water and is a little nutritionally deficient. , no wonder it has become a color exclusive to the untouchables. The slave class in the Han Dynasty was called "Cangtou" because the "kerchief" they wore was also this green. This is also the case in Europe.

The blue in the Middle Ages was different from today. It was a moss-like color. The stone walls of the monastery were this color, so it was called "monk blue" in modern times.

Therefore, "green" was the lowest color in ancient China's color rating. In the Tang Dynasty, officials had robes, and the lowest-ranking ones also wore "green" robes. There is a poem written by Bai Juyi (Huaiweizhi) in the Tang Dynasty that says: "We broke up and threw each other by the sea, folding our waists and wearing old green clothes." This can be evidenced.

It is also because the "green turban" is a despicable attire. When Li Feng was the Yanling Order in the Tang Dynasty, "the official was guilty and was not punished with a rod, but he was ordered to be wrapped in green to humiliate him." The number of days will be determined according to the seriousness of the offense."

Based on the above argument, it can be seen that the "green turban" has been a costume used by untouchables or servants for a long time.

Because of this, starting from the Yuan Dynasty, it increasingly became the attire of men in prostitutes' homes. Calling a man whose wife has committed adultery a "green turban", "cuckold" or "cuckold" is the ultimate result of this continuous tradition of dressing up. "Green scarf" and "cuckold" have therefore been upgraded from a symbolic language of clothing to everyday language.