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Introduction to the General History of China Customs: Volume of Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties

introduce

Ban Gu, a historian of the Han Dynasty, defined the "custom" when discussing the customs of various places at that time, saying: "Everyone believes in the nature of the five permanents, but their rigidity and softness are different, so they are called the wind; Likes and dislikes, movements, life and death, follow your wishes, so it is called vulgarity. " [1] The general meaning of this passage is that the behavior and attributes of people determined by the natural environment are called "wind"; The habit formed by the ruler's will or behavior is called "custom" Add up to customs. Ban Gu's explanation of customs contains many scientific and reasonable elements, but obviously exaggerates the role of rulers in the formation of customs. If the ruler (monarch) is replaced by a social environment, the concept of custom can be expressed more scientifically. That is, custom refers to people's group living habits formed under specific natural environment and specific social conditions.

Custom is the product of group. From birth to death, a person lives all the time surrounded by social customs and is consciously or unconsciously dominated by customs. In a specific sense, people themselves are the product of customs, and it is the customs that people are immersed in without knowing it that determine people's way of thinking and behavior and distinguish people from different times and regions. For ordinary people, most people also know different countries or nations from the perspective of customs. For example, for westerners, when it comes to China people, their first reaction is probably chopsticks, tea and kung fu. The symbols of the Japanese nation are tatami, kimono and cherry blossoms; For children in modern China, KFC, McDonald's and Hamburg mean the West. In modern times when television is widely used, ordinary people in China also know the Tang Dynasty from rich and elegant costumes, and distinguish the Qing Dynasty from horseshoe sleeves, red shirts and cheongsam. The significance of customs to understanding society can be seen here.

On the other hand, no matter how important the custom plays in social life, it is reflected by specific people's thoughts or behaviors. If certain groups of people are excluded, there is no custom. When people emphasize the lasting and ubiquitous influence of customs, they often ignore its changeable characteristics and underestimate the role of people in the development and change of customs. Like other things, customs are always changing. In the long historical process, some customs have died out, some customs have developed into a part of the etiquette system, while others have spread among the people. Although the reasons for the occurrence, development and extinction of different customs are still not fully explained, at least one thing is certain: people are not completely passive and inactive in the face of customs. The ancients in China realized this long ago. For example, in the preface to the Book of Songs, there is a saying of "filial piety, human relations, beautiful education, changing customs". "The Book of Filial Piety" also said that "changing customs, not good at music." The so-called "changing customs" or "changing customs" emphasizes the positive role of people in the relationship between people and customs, that is, abandoning those bad customs that hinder people's lives, developing customs that are beneficial to people's hearts, and promoting the progress and development of human civilization. On the one hand, the study of custom history is of course to enhance modern people's understanding of ancient customs. In addition, providing reference for changing customs should also be one of the purposes of the study of custom history.

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Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties is a very important development stage in the history of China (AD 58 1-960), and also an important turning point in the history of customs. During this period, the old customs of the Han and Wei dynasties and the Hu customs of the Northern Dynasties were further digested and merged, and on this basis, many new customs were formed, which had a great influence on the social customs in the late feudal society, some of which even lasted until the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and their influence has always been modern. As far as the social customs of this period are concerned, there are mainly the following outstanding aspects.

The Infiltration and Influence of Poetry on Social Customs

Poetry in the Tang Dynasty is not only one of the most important cultural heritages of the Chinese nation, but also has a great influence on the social customs in this period. Poetry permeates all aspects of social customs.

Poems and songs in the Tang Dynasty are not simply the product of study, but the needs of life. Tang people like to drink, and drinking is inseparable from poetry. They divide drinking into elegance and vulgarity. Poetry drinking is elegant drinking, also known as "writing drinking", and there are more than 20 kinds of drinking orders alone. Many famous sentences in Tang poetry were written at banquets. The so-called "Li Bai plays hundreds of poems and sleeps in Chang 'an Restaurant" is not so much a description of personal character as an expression of the customs of an era.

Besides chanting and singing while drinking, temples, hotels and scenic spots all have poem boards for people to write poems. Not only do scholars write poems when they go to a place, but the general public always go to these places to browse and recite famous works on the slate when they go to a place. On a whim, the topic spread like wildfire and spread all over the country in a few days. For example, wherever Bai Juyi goes, he must first look for Yuan Zhen's recent works on the wall. He found Yuan Zhen's poem on the wall of the Blue Bridge Post Office, and wrote a poem saying: "Blue Bridge Chun Xue will return to Japan, and I will go to Qinling for autumn wind. Dismount at every post and follow the wall around the column to find your poem. " Every time I go to the inn, I can see poems on the wall. The significance of the poems on the inn wall in the cultural life of the Tang Dynasty can be seen.

If eating and traveling are inseparable from poetry, the wedding of the Tang people can be called a "poetry contest". At ordinary people's weddings, there are poems to urge makeup, open the account and close the curtain, remove the block, fan, prison, hat, flowers, clothes, hair, fingers, curtains, women's husbands and cars, etc. There are many names, and almost all of them have to be sung.

Not only that, the brothel brothel is actually a place for literati to show off their literary talents. On the wall of the brothel and in the box of the prostitute, there are poems left by the prostitutes' scribes; Even some sex seekers write poems on prostitutes' bodies. Military commanders, hillbillies, prostitutes and even thieves, all kinds of people, regardless of their level or literary talent, should write poems to dazzle themselves as long as they don't know anything. People even painted poems written by people at that time and stabbed them in their bodies to show off that they were "poems".

From people's enthusiastic attitude towards Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi's poems, the important position of poetry in social life at that time can be more typical. "Chang 'an teenagers between Chu and Jianghuai imitate each other and compete for new words, calling themselves Yuan and Ti." "There are no books on the post wall of the forbidden temple, and there is no way for princes and concubines to go. Some people write models, some sell them in the market, and some pay for them. "It is said that people selling fish by the roadside in the village, laymen want to buy silk and a half feet, and literati just need to write? Bai Juyi's poems are enough. Poetry can not only change tea for wine, but also change fish.

The fertile soil of folk poetry not only created the most brilliant poetry in the history of China, but also made the social customs of this period penetrate into the artistic conception of poetry and poetic social life customs. There are two stories that help to understand the relationship between Tang people and their living customs and poems.

One is a story about Shangguan Yi's entry into the DPRK. Said: "After Emperor Gaozong inherited Zhenguan (AD 627-649), nothing happened in the world. Shangguan assistant minister is easy to take charge of state affairs alone. He entered the DPRK in the early morning, patrolled the Luoshui levee, strolled on the moon, and recited a poem:' The pulse of Guang Chuan flows, driving horses across Changzhou. Magpies fly to the mountains, the moon is bright, cicadas are singing and the wind is falling. "The rhyme is clear, and it is immortal for everyone to see it." [2]

Another story says that when Li Bai visited the Prime Minister in the Kaiyuan period (7 13-74 1), he sealed a wooden board that read "Li Bai, a fisherman at sea". The Prime Minister asked, "Sir, what should you use to make a fish hook when you are at the seaside?" Answer: "If the storm escapes, Gan Kun will pursue his ambition, with the rainbow as the line and the bright moon as the hook." Ask again: "What is the bait?" Answer: "The bait is heartless!" [3]

The elegant, elegant, elegant and sincere temperament reflected in these two stories embodies the poetic characteristics of social customs in the Tang Dynasty, and only in the country of poetry can such a style of the times be produced.

The prosperity of music, song and dance customs

Like poetry, music, singing and dancing also had an important influence on the social customs of this period.

The prosperity of music and dance is first manifested in the popularity of Le Hu. At this time, there are both Hu music left over from the Southern and Northern Dynasties and music and dance introduced from Sui and Tang Dynasties. In Tang poetry, the so-called "women learn Hu makeup, geisha learn Hu music from Hu yin", "Crows in Chengtou Mountain, every family in Luoyang learns Hu music." This shows the popularity of Hulu music among the people. As we all know, Tang Xuanzong himself is a very outstanding musician and Jie Gu performer, and it is said that the famous Colorful Feathers was adapted by him. An Lushan, Wu Yanxiu and Yang Guifei are also famous for their Hu Xuan dances. Le Hu's influence spread throughout the court and the people.

In some prosperous celebrations, large-scale cultural performances are often held. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty once held a gown in the Qin Zheng Building, and the downstairs was so crowded with laughter and noise that he couldn't hear the sound of "Long Yin Long Yin". Gao Lishi suggested that the singer Xu sing a song "Stop it" and Xu "lifted his head and typed the voice directly." If there is no one, even the square is silent. Another example is that during the Zhenyuan period in Tang Dezong (785-804 AD), a large-scale "vocal music battle" was held in Dongxi Street of Chang 'an in case of drought and rain. People put up colorful buildings, one in each street, and played pipa competitions on colorful buildings. The organizers and participants of this activity are mainly ordinary Chang 'an citizens.

In addition to formal occasions, there are also geisha singing and dancing performances at general banquets. At that time, there were singers and dancers in bureaucrats' homes, and the emperor often gave them to ministers as gifts. Besides, it's like writing poetry when drinking. When drinking, the Tang people also need geisha to lick the wine, and it is also popular to drink, sing and dance. These examples show that music, singing and dancing at this time have a broad mass base and play an important role in people's social life.

The popular custom of stepping on songs in the north and south can better reflect the mass of music and dance customs. After work, young men and women often sing from the bright moon until the next morning. Liu Yuxi's "Treading Lyrics": "On the Chunjiang River, the moon comes out of the levee, and the girls on the levee walk together. After singing all the new words, I can't see them. Xia Hong sings against the tree. " It is a vivid portrayal of this custom of stepping on songs. And every year 1 1 month, the city people take Fang Yi as a disorderly team, naked, filling the road, jumping, splashing water and mud, and partying with the citizens.

Folk songs in this period are also very developed. Wu Biao, starling, Chu Diao and San Pang each lead the way. Many famous works in Tang poetry are widely sung among the people through the media of song and dance artists, which enriches the content of folk music customs. Due to the widespread influence of Wang Wei's famous Fortress Besieged Song, "Fortress Besieged" even became synonymous with folk songs. In a word, this period is a rare period in China's history when the customs of music, singing and dancing flourished.

3. Hu custom and the influence of foreign culture.

The so-called "Hu custom" mainly has two meanings. One refers to the frontier ethnic customs introduced into the Central Plains during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the other refers to the frontier ethnic customs newly introduced during the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties. "Foreign culture" refers to the culture imported from countries or regions outside the scope of "historical China". At that time, people did not make any distinction, and both cases were named after Hu, such as Hu people, Hu food, Hu clothes, Hu music, Hu customs and so on.

The influence of foreign cultural customs can be divided into two aspects: first, a large number of foreigners poured into the territory of the Tang Dynasty during this period, bringing their own living customs; Second, the introduction of a large number of foreign goods not only enriches people's material life, but also adds new content to their living customs.

In different fields of social life, such as diet, clothing, residence, commerce, medicine, music, singing and dancing, they are all influenced by frontier nationalities and foreign cultures to varying degrees. Taking medicine as an example, in the Tang Dynasty, through the prosperity of foreign businessmen, the contribution of foreign missions and the search of envoys in the Tang Dynasty, a large number of foreign drugs were introduced into the territory of the Tang Dynasty. At the same time, many doctors from all over the Tang Dynasty practiced medicine, and the medical skills of foreign doctors and prescriptions of foreign drugs were also introduced, which were widely circulated in the society and eventually included in the official Pharmacopoeia, becoming an integral part of the Chinese national medicine treasure house. The popularity of ophthalmic medical skills and curses, and the appearance of external prescriptions such as Curculigo Prescription, Psoralea corylifolia, Feisan Decoction and Chongpo Decoction all belong to this situation. From the spread and evolution of Le Hu in Sui and Tang Dynasties, we can more clearly see the track of the integration of border areas and foreign cultures in this period.

In the Sui Dynasty, the court Le Yan was divided into nine musical segments: Shang Qing, Xiliang, Qiuci, Tianzhu, Guo Kang, Shule, Anguo, Koryo and Yili. In the early Tang Dynasty, Le Yan and Gao Chang were added, which were collectively called ten songs. Among these ten pieces of music, except Shang Qing and Yan Yue, the other eight capitals are named after regions or countries. Named after the origin of music, it shows that this kind of music still has strong origin characteristics and is not integrated with the inherent music of the Central Plains. Taking Qiuci music as an example, there are even differences among Qiuci in the West, Qiuci in the Qi Dynasty and Tuqiuci due to the differences in region and time.

But in the Kaiyuan period (7 13-74 1), the original naming method was gradually abolished, and the classification of sitting and standing began to appear. Classification by means of performance marks the arrival of a new stage of music culture integration. In the third year of Tianbao (AD 754), Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty changed the names of more than 50 pieces of Hu Ming's music to elegant Chinese names, such as "La Ye in Su Mo" to "Yu Jing Chun" and "Ji Xiu" to "Ke Yin", which further integrated with the inherent culture of the Central Plains.

By the 9th century, many of these early music and dances were considered to be native to the Central Plains. For example, both Hu Xuan Dance and Zhezhi Dance spread from Central Asia to the Tang Dynasty, but at the beginning of the 9th century, Bai Juyi explicitly called Hu Xuan Dance introduced in his early years "Dance of the Central Plains" and compared it with the newly introduced Hu Xuan Dance. He also called the music imported from Guo Si "China and Philosopher Dance". It shows that the early imported dance has completed the integration process with the Central Plains culture. The introduction and integration of foreign music can be clearly seen.

In particular, it should be noted that although the music and dance introduced in the early days have been integrated with the culture of the Central Plains, the source of foreign culture did not end in the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, after some sitting classes appeared, Du You still set up "Siyi Music" in the canon to describe the foreign music and dance at that time.

Others, such as Hu food and Hu clothes, have a great influence on the diet and clothing of the Tang people, and they are even more familiar. Please refer to the text for details.

The richness of holiday life

Compared with the previous generation, a remarkable feature of people's living customs in this period is the increase of festivals and holidays. The Emperor's Birthday, Zhonghe Festival, Sanzang Festival and Buddha's Birthday are all added festivals in the Tang Dynasty, which did not exist in the previous generation. In the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, except for rest days and various holidays, the official statutory holidays were only 47 days, which was incomparable to the previous generation.

In addition to the increase of festivals and holidays, the content of holiday life in this period is also quite rich. Besides drinking and enjoying, there are various recreational activities during the festival. In addition, there is a prominent feature that the festival food in this period is also quite rich, and almost every festival has relatively fixed food, which plays an important role in the festival customs of the Chinese nation.

The diversity of women's social life.

How women live is an important indicator to measure social customs. During this period, children's enlightenment education was mainly completed by women at home. This situation reflects the relatively high education level of women at that time. Li Hua, a native of the Tang Dynasty, was deeply saddened by the phenomenon that women were superior to men and the shadow of the sun dominated. He believes that this is a manifestation of "the world education has been replaced", but even such an old man who insists that men are superior to women emphasizes that "women should also be literate." It can be seen that women's education is more common and is the knowledge of the whole society.

In addition to family education, women participated in various social activities more widely at that time. First of all, women play the most important role in music and song and dance customs. Not only singing and dancing can't be separated from women's participation, but even acrobatics that require strong physique, such as wearing a pole, are mainly undertaken by women. Among the clay figurines unearthed in the main tomb of Jinxiang County in the Tang Dynasty, there are images of women tying poles, and the most famous female artists who tied poles in the Tang Dynasty, such as Aunt Wang and Shihuohu, can tie a hundred feet. Aunt Wu Can's column actually accommodates 28 performers. In his poem, Wang Jian described a performance of a female artist wearing a pole, saying, "A big pole is too big for a hundred people to lift, and it is in the middle of Qingyun. The thin-waisted daughter does not move and wears a straight dance. " According to relevant data, it is not an individual phenomenon for women to wear bars. This acrobatic is mainly performed by women. Even in modern times when culture advocates enlightenment and equality between men and women, it is unthinkable for women to wear pole. From this example, we can see that words such as weakness and pity are not suitable to describe women and their lives in this period.

Similarly, the fashion of women's men's wear, horse riding and even hunting in the early Tang Dynasty also showed that women's living conditions were more open and free at that time. Some famous female politicians, generals, talented women and artists appeared in the Tang Dynasty, and even a unique female emperor Wu Zetian appeared in the history of China, which should be related to the living conditions of women. The diversity of women's social life greatly enriched the content of social customs in this period.

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Once a social custom is formed, it will have a strong appeal and have an important impact on people's social behavior. For example, during this period, Qiqizhai was widely circulated among the people. Yao Chong, the prime minister of Xuanzong, died. His will called Buddhist custom "the great disadvantage of people's livelihood" and urged future generations to follow the Confucian "right path" and not be buried by Buddhism. But he also said: "If you can't completely follow the right path, you must do as the Romans do, and set up seven monasteries from the seventh day to the seventh day." Although I know that fasting on July 7th is an empty talk for me to pursue happiness, I finally decided to set up a fasting meeting in order to "conform to the custom". The prime minister is like this, and the general public can see that social customs have a great influence on people's lives.

Social customs will not only have an important impact on personal behavior, but also have a serious impact and impact on the traditional etiquette system. If social customs are a spontaneous group behavior orientation, etiquette system is a mandatory norm for people's behavior in policies and regulations formulated by the government. Judging from the historical facts of customs in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, when a custom is formed, it often conflicts with the original etiquette system and is prohibited by the rulers. But once it really wins the public, it may be fixed by the rulers in the form of a system and brought into the category of etiquette system, thus becoming a part of etiquette system.

For example, cold food sacrifice was strongly opposed and prohibited at first, and was compared with the folk customs of "funeral marriage" and "funeral drinking". In the second year of Longshuo (AD 662), Tang Gaozong specifically banned cold food from going to the grave for sacrifice, saying that "cold food goes to the grave, and it is joy, and sitting opposite is loose and there is no sorrow." Since the wind is strong, it should be banned. "However, the custom of sweeping cold food is universal and cannot be banned. Therefore, in the 24th year of Kaiyuan (AD 736), Emperor Xuanzong finally compromised this custom and formally incorporated it into the Book of Rites, which became an integral part of the imperial ceremony system. The imperial edict said: "Cold food goes to the tomb, and the ceremony is unwritten. It has been handed down from modern times and immersed in customs. How can a scholar show filial piety if he doesn't like the temple? It is appropriate to go to the grave, pay homage to the tomb, outside the south gate, pay homage, withdraw it, cry, and eat elsewhere. Not funny. It's still in the ceremony. It's always routine. "In this way, the cold food sacrifice has become a custom guaranteed by the government system. Not only does it stipulate that officials from civil and military departments can go out of the city to sweep graves during the Cold Food Festival, but people whose ancestral graves are in other States can also enjoy the holiday of sweeping graves and go home to pay homage. You can provide "public vouchers" and enjoy the treatment of "replacing posts with posts".

The custom of praying for sunshine at the north gate of Guanfang has also gone through roughly the same process. This custom probably arose in the early years of the Tang Dynasty. For example, in the scene between Tang Zhongzong and the Year of the Loong (707-7 10), it rained in Luoyang for more than 100 days, and the north gate of Fangbei was closed to pray for sunshine, which brought great trouble to the trip. At that time, Song had seriously criticized this practice, pointing out that it was a kind of "later superficial kung fu", which was not enough for training. Although this way of praying for sunshine is not effective, it has always been followed. In the second year in Bao Li (AD 826), the wish to pray for sunny days occasionally came true. Jing and Liu Qichu went to the table and suggested that "in the future, every rainy day, Fang Chengguan will go to the north gate to cover the shade." When it is sunny for three days, the order will be fully opened, so that the opening and closing will be regular and permanent. "Tang Jingzong agreed to his proposal, so the custom of praying for sunny days, which was opposed by everyone, also evolved into a mandatory regulation.

The popularity of Yanzi (that is, Shouyu) provides another typical evidence. In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, it was stipulated that family members of officials must wear shoes when traveling. Take the bus to avoid passers-by peeping. However, in a relatively open social atmosphere, this provision has not been well implemented. In the second year of Tang Gaozong Xianheng (AD 67 1 year), the imperial court issued a letter saying: "There are hundreds of officials in the family, and there is salt in advance. As for the road between Qu and Lu, how can there be no obstacles? " Bilai wore more curtain hats and abandoned them? Never take the bus or the eaves. It is imprudent and disrespectful to imitate each other and immerse ourselves in customs. The former has gradually changed, and if you hear its voice, you will never stop hearing it. "It is known that before this, the woman put on the curtain cap, walked out of the car and sat under the eaves. In addition, this very disrespectful way of traveling has become a common practice. After this custom was popular for many years, in the sixth year of Emperor Wen Zong's reign (AD 832), the court formulated the system that "women should ride together and use eaves recently". "Things have become a custom, and teaching is people-oriented." While acknowledging that riding eaves is legal, it has also been standardized in the system, stipulating that women of different grades should ride eaves of different specifications, while "wives of petty officials and merchants are not allowed to ride eaves". The eaves, which were popular among the people in the early years, became an integral part of the hierarchy.

From the development and evolution of social customs in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, we can see the following characteristics of social customs. First of all, the popularity of a social custom often conflicts with the original moral standards and codes of conduct and is opposed by the ruling class or mainstream ideology. Secondly, once social customs are formed, administrative bans are often very weak. For example, the custom of reburial, which prevailed in the Tang Dynasty, was always banned more and more, although the court repeatedly issued a ban. Thirdly, in the face of social customs, the ruling class sometimes makes concessions in practical actions, such as Wendi's attitude towards yin and yang burial. Sometimes folk customs will be included in the category of feudal etiquette, such as the above example. Finally, we should also see that the rulers do not completely passively or completely absorb the contents of folk customs, but selectively absorb them to meet the requirements of mainstream ideology. As mentioned above, the custom of feasting and music during cold food is prohibited while offering sacrifices and sweeping; While accepting the eaves, a whole set of hierarchical content is attached to this customization, and so on. These are obvious examples.