What did the ancients hold in their hands like wishful thinking? What's the use?

Water board is an instrument held by ancient ministers when they went to court.

Water board, also known as hand board, jade board or decorative board. It is a tool for ancient officials to go to the temple to face the monarch. In ancient times, when the ministers of civil and military affairs appeared in front of the king, they held a water bowl in their hands to record the king's life or will, and they could also record the words to be played to the king on the water bowl to prevent forgetting. It is recorded in the Book of Rites that it is "2 feet 6 inches long and 3 inches wide". Because the ancient size is different from today's, 2 feet 6 inches is shorter than today's 2 feet 6 inches. In the fourth year of Wude in the Tang Dynasty, officials with more than five grades held ivory rafts, while officials with less than six grades held bamboo rafts. The Ming dynasty stipulated that officials with more than five grades should hold ivory warehouses, and officials with less than five grades should not hold them. Since the Qing Dynasty, water boards have been abandoned.

In ancient times, there was no paper, so people could only simply remember some things. The most convenient way is to write it on bamboo chips and from bamboo chips and wood chips. The long and narrow one is called Jane, and the wide one is called Big. The ancients called bamboo slips and wooden slips they carried with them proper nouns. It has been widely used since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It was not until the Tang and Song Dynasties, but after the Six Dynasties, water was also called a hand board. In the Tang Dynasty, all officials had to hold water, and officials were no exception. On the one hand, it is to take notes during deliberation, and on the other hand, it is to cover your face to prevent you from being surprised. This culture spread to the Taoist tradition. Cao Guojiu, one of the Eight Immortals of Taoism, holds a water board in his hand. Wudang Taoism also has a water board in hand, which is trampled in the form of fasting ceremonies such as "viewing ancestors".