Don’t ask about things｜Relocation: poetry and distance, in ordinary times in hometown

"This world is not only about the present, but also poetry and distance." This bowl of chicken soup for the soul stimulated many people's hormones and adrenaline. So, how did the ancients view travel? Do you also think, "The world is so big, I want to see it"?

The answer is: Ancient people hardly traveled!

Except for people with the lowest social status such as coolies, traders, and sailors, the ancients did not travel far at all!

Why didn’t the ancients travel?

The reasons include but are not limited to the following three:

1. The hometown is beautiful. Chinese people are all "treasures of hometown" and they all say that their hometown is good, which is what Mr. Fei Xiaotong said in "Hometown China" of "relocating to a new place".

Romanian Nis Milescu told a story in "China Comics": A foreigner bought a Sichuan parrot and wanted to take it back to his country. When the parrot saw that it was about to be taken out of the country, it was so anxious that it said quickly: "Son, I am a Chinese bird, and I don't want to live in a foreign country!" After saying this, he died.

Even a bird is reluctant to leave its beautiful hometown, let alone a person?

Was ancient China really that beautiful? See what foreigners say.

The Japanese "Travel in China - Notes of an Architectural Inspection by Chuta Ito" writes: "While traveling along the way, I saw that large areas of land had been reclaimed, and there were buffaloes, pigs, geese, chickens, and dogs. The poultry and livestock we are familiar with are foraging leisurely in the fields on Moshang. It is a pastoral scene. The peanut harvest is just about to be completed at this time. I saw pigs digging in the soil and happily looking for peanuts left in the soil. Occasionally, if he is hit by it, he will look up and chew it wildly, which makes him happy. Chickens and geese will follow him and pick up insects in the ground. Dogs will run forward and backward to catch the poultry and livestock that are looking for food. Playing and playing. The buffalo is held in the hands of a teenage child, so docile. It looks like the buffalo is a loyal guard of the cowherd boy. There is no domestic cat in this painting. It must be watching alone at home. I was sleeping soundly by the stove."

What a pastoral scene! Living in such a peaceful, peaceful and sweet paradise, who would want to go far away?

2. No money. This is important and easy to understand. No food to eat, no clothes to wear, no need to travel! ? For in-depth analysis, it is recommended to read "Cixi's Menu: 2 "dinners" with 100 dishes each; 2 "snacks" with 40 or 50 bowls of dishes each time" to see how ordinary people at that time had 2 meals a day. What can I eat?

That’s not poverty, it’s really poverty!

3. Can’t walk. This may be the most fundamental reason. It is not that there is no "poetry and distance" in my heart, but because I want to leave, but I can't.

This includes two aspects.

Firstly, China’s household registration system has a long history.

In the early 16th century, the Persian Ali Akbar traveled in China (mainly Shaanxi) for more than three months and wrote a book "Travel in China", which said, "All the armies and The common people belong to the emperor, and they are all registered, without exception. "The emperor wants to collect taxes, collect corvees, and recruit young men. It's very simple, just adjust the household registration management system, and everything will be clear.

Marco Polo came to China early. In the Yuan Dynasty, the names of the owner, wives, children and even slaves must be written on the door of the people's houses. Are there any relatives and friends living at home? Who are they and what are they doing? , it is clear when to come and when to leave. How many pigs, cattle, sheep, dogs, chickens, ducks, geese, etc. are raised at home? These data are listed on the door. When a person dies, his name is erased; when a person is born, his name is added.

When foreign businessmen come to China, they must list their name, trade name, time of residence, date of departure, etc. on the door.

Through this obvious approach, the Great Khan firmly grasped private information such as the population, fixed assets, human resources, and changes in the territory in his own hands, which greatly facilitated the management of the empire. "This is sincerely cautious. Wise government."

The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were nomadic people from the grasslands. They lived every day chasing water and grass, herding cattle and sheep during the day, and sleeping in tents at night. They were wandering and had no fixed residence. They should not have invented the household registration system. It must have been innovatively created by intelligent and leisurely people from the Central Plains in an era long, long, long ago.

When Matteo Ricci came to China during the Ming Dynasty, he found that this household registration system had been inherited and developed. “People generally have a handwritten household registration book, which includes records of the city by street and household. The situation of each family. ”

The household registration management system is not only controlled by the emperor, but extends downward, with “pressure transmission” and “responsibility sinking”, and ordinary people also have one copy, similar to the previous one. The "Yellow Pages" truly realizes "delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, and delegating power to power, and greatly satisfies the people's yearning for information, parents' filial piety, marriage between men and women, entertainment and gossip, reporting, and reporting."

The British businessman Archibald John Lidley was doing business in Chongqing at the end of the 19th century. He found a red stick in his hand and a large wooden board (called a "house plate") hanging on his back in Wanxian County, Sichuan Province. ") people, these people are actually census enumerators. They are numbering houses (rén) and houses (kǒu) and collecting basic population information.

It can be seen that the household registration management of the empire has been unified, institutionalized, standardized and forward-looking early to ensure the normal, standardized and orderly operation of the empire. However, it seems that countries around the world have not studied and taken it seriously. For reference, maybe these foreigners who have been to China have forgotten this important matter after returning home, and failed to promote it well to benefit the world.

The second aspect is that in the past, people needed a lot of certificates to travel far away.

"People without documents have difficulty traveling in cities or in the countryside." "Records of China's Indian Experiences" was written in 851-852 AD, which is equivalent to the Tang Dynasty in my country. It records that traveling in China , you must issue at least 2 certificates: one issued by the city manager such as the mayor or governor. This certificate is used during the trip to prove who you are, who is traveling with you, their age, which clan they belong to, etc., similar to an ID card . The other is issued by a eunuch. This certificate is used at checkpoints to prove how much real money and goods you carry with you. It is similar to a certificate of funds.

The Portuguese Fernand Mendez Pinto discovered that it was impossible for anyone to travel across provinces unless he could obtain a pass from the governor. Think about it, if you want to travel, you have to ask the provincial governor for a certificate. On weekdays, it is too late for ordinary people to avoid the official. How dare they ask the official to issue a certificate, and also ask the governor to issue a certificate to travel? There is no such thing! Even if a businessman obtains these certificates, he can only stay in a city for 3-4 days at most.

Can I travel secretly without proof? The answer is: No! There are always spies randomly roaming around the city and outside the city, in the streets and alleys, in hotels and inns, opium dens and brothels, and even in the corners. If they find anyone wandering around doing nothing, they will definitely come forward and interrogate them. If they can't tell the reason, they must be. He was beaten thoroughly, thrown into prison, and served with severe torture.

Land travel is not possible. So, is it okay to go sailing?

This is possible. But it must sail along China's own coastline and not derail. Moreover, the governor must issue a certificate stating who's name, appearance (there were no photos at that time), date of birth, where you are going, what you are doing, when you will return, etc. Otherwise, if you are caught, you will be charged directly. exile.

So, is it okay to go to a foreign country? Absolutely not! No reason, no explanation. Except for those who are drafted to fight during the war.

Therefore, when those foreigners travel in China and ask for directions, the ancients often look confused and cute, and then reply with a silly smile: "Oh, the place you are talking about must be far away, I don't know how to get there." "

In fact, the place "so far away" is just next door, just on the other side of the mountain.

The ancients also had "poetry and distance". It's just that their poems are about the distance, in ordinary times, in their hometown.

Note: All corpora used in this article date from the Qing Dynasty.

Author Liu Xiaocheng

Anchor: The Sixth Prince of the Great Sage

Editor/Post-production Ling Wenxiu