When were there earliest hotels in ancient times?

Inns

There were many types of inns in ancient China, with different names. Due to the differences in the cultural background, institutional structure, living habits of each historical period, as well as people's different understanding and understanding of hotels, there are many names for hotels in ancient China that have a certain origin and relationship with the social characteristics of each historical period. or title. From the earliest hotel names in ancient China such as "Nilv", "Ma Richuan" and "Yizhuan" which appeared three generations ago to "Shangguan", "guesthouse", "delivery shop" and "Inn" during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, In the history of more than three thousand years of dynasty changes, ancient Chinese hotels have had dozens of names or sizes in four categories: "Guan", "Yi", "She" and "Dian". They have evolved with human society. The evolution, inheritance or change of economy, culture and system form a history of hotel name evolution.

"Dian", as the name of a place for accommodation and catering among ancient Chinese people, appeared later than the government-run names such as "Guan" and "She". According to the available written information, hotels in ancient China were named after "dian", and there were roughly four categories: didian, inn, hotel and restaurant.

1. "Di" refers specifically to travel clubs and inns, which originated from the Warring States Period. "Di" entry on page 1686 of "Ciyuan": "Di, the guest house of various countries during the Warring States Period, the residence set up by the princes of the Han Dynasty in Kyoto for pilgrimage." The "di" in the Han Dynasty was specially used for the residence of officials who went to the pilgrimage to worship. The more expensive accommodation places are mostly government-run. For example, the "Barbarian Mansion" on Gao Street in Chang'an during the Han Dynasty was under the jurisdiction of "Dahonglu", one of the Nine Qings, and was dedicated to receiving foreign merchants and officials. Volume 4 of "Book of Han" "Chronicles of Emperor Wen" contains:

"On behalf of the king, he went to Wei Bridge... Taiwei Bo Nai knelt down and placed the emperor's seal. On behalf of the king, he thanked and said: 'We will discuss it at the residence'".

The name "Di Dian" first appeared in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It was a private accommodation and meal place built in towns.

The article "Di Dian" on page 1686 of "Ci Yuan": "In ancient times, it was a store that had the characteristics of a warehouse, a store, and a guest house." The sixth brother of Emperor Liang Wu of the Southern Dynasties, Xiao Hong, King of Linchuan, was under construction There are dozens of residences in Kangcheng that have the functions of lodging guests and storing goods. ① There were also di shops in the Northern Dynasties. After Wuping in the Northern Qi Dynasty (570-575 AD), some people even proposed to levy a tax on di shops. "Yan Zhitui, the minister of Huangmen, petitioned to establish the tax of Guan City and Didian." ② This shows the large number and scale of them. In the East City of Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, there was a store opened by the great businessman Wang Bu. Because "Wang Bu knew books and hid tens of millions of money", he was visited by many business travelers; ": "Built more than 20 stores, taking advantage of them, making thousands of profits every day, and really gained the key points. The store still exists today, and is named Doujiadian." ④In addition to big stores, there are many small stores in the city since the Tang Dynasty. For example, in Chang'an, "in a small alley (small alley) in Dongshi, there are several shops facing the street, which are directly connected to each other and the buildings are very neat." ⑤The emergence and rapid development of various folk restaurants since the Sui and Tang Dynasties attracted the attention and concern of the current dynasties. Volume 83 of "Tang Huiyao" records that in the fourth year of Dali of the Tang Dynasty (769 AD), the government issued an order on hotel taxation: "The people have residences, shops, and furnaces, and they should be added to the official standard." Those who are subject to the second-class household tax should pay this tax. "Despite this, due to economic development, the demand for hotels still exceeds the supply. This is reflected in official government documents. The imperial edict issued in April of the second year of Xiande in the Later Zhou Dynasty (AD 955) reads:

“The Chinese and foreign peoples in Tokyo are diversifying, and water and land are connected. It is moving towards Longping and is becoming more prosperous day by day, but the capital is old. ... In the city, there were only a limited number of residence stores, but there were endless supply of residence stores from outside the city. "⑥ In the Song Dynasty, there were many residence stores, and most of them were private residence stores. Not only were they opened by common people, such as Yang Sheng, a native of Raozhou, mentioned in "Yi Jian Ding Zhi", "Marrying a wife and opening a mansion, the business was very successful", but there were also residence stores opened by royal nobles. Zhao Puyou, the prime minister in the early Song Dynasty, "

The military commander Mi Xinyou said: "The countryside is outside and the diya shop is built inside." 8. He Wanzhong, the prime minister of Huizong Dynasty, "has the most diya shops and ranks first in the capital"; ⑨ Lu Shilun, the Weiwei of the Song Dynasty under Emperor Renzong, "established a restaurant in Chenliu County, Kaifeng Prefecture and made money by operating it"⑩.

In the Song Dynasty, there were many residences and shops, as exemplified by Shi Daoqian's poem "Returning to the Zong Daozhong": "Several days and nights compete, the residences and shops are like cloud villages."

After the Song Dynasty, di shops gradually disappeared, and the names of private hotels were gradually replaced by inns, restaurants, and hotels.

2. Guesthouse The name "guesthouse" first appeared in the Tang Dynasty. Volume 20 of "Changqing Collection" by Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty, "Wang Huai at Night to Recruit Two Scholars of Zhou Xielu and Liu Xue"

Poetry: "The cold lamps are placed high like a guesthouse, and the night fire is hidden deep like a monk's stove." Song Dynasty Meng Yuanlao's "Tokyo Menghua Lu" has many descriptions of "guest houses": In Bianliang City, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, from the streets and lanes east of Zhouqiao to the east, "there are inns all along the city, and southern officials, merchants, and military personnel are all here." "Above". "Qingfenglou" is the "incomparable inn" in Tokyo. There are many inns near Xiangguo Temple where the "Wanxing Trading" is open five times a month. Among them, the "Xixilou Inn" near Dongmen Street of Xiangguo Temple is very popular. The "Eagle Store" on the south side of Panlou Street "only sells eagles and falcons." "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" by Zhang Zeduan of the Song Dynasty also records the scene of an inn in a busy city at that time. "Water Margin" also contains many plots describing folk inns in the countryside during the Song Dynasty, such as "Mother Yaksha Sun Erniang", "Zhang Qing the Vegetable Garden", "Dry Land Green Green Zhugui", etc. are all characters who open shops to accommodate customers. The 46th chapter of "Water Margin", "The Burning Zhujia Inn", also has a wonderful description of the inn on the border of Yunzhou: This inn "is adjacent to the official road in the front and the big stream in the back. Hundreds of weeping willows serve as the door, and one or two trees Plum blossoms stand next to the house, thorns and hazel fences fall around the house, and reed curtains cover the earth pits in front and behind."

A typical feature of a village inn in the Song Dynasty! Chapter 74 of "Water Margin" also describes the prosperous scenery of Taishan Xiangke Inn:

"The (Dongyue) temple is so lively. Not counting the 120 businesses and businesses, there are 1,405 inns. , We have received pilgrims from all over the world, and on the occasion of the Bodhisattva's Holy Day, there is no place to stay, and many inns are full."

A picture of a prosperous pilgrim shop.

Business in the Ming Dynasty was quite developed, especially in coastal areas and big cities. Therefore, there were many private inns in big cities and coastal areas in the Ming Dynasty. Its development surpassed the development level of the Yuan Dynasty and was as complex as the Tang and Song Dynasties