The weather is new on March 3rd, and there are many beauties by the water in Chang'an - Du Fu's "Beautiful People".
March 3rd is the Shangsi Festival. Not only the Han people, but also various ethnic minorities in China will celebrate it on March 3rd. Even countries in the Confucian cultural circle such as Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam have always retained the tradition of celebrating "March 3rd".
Huang E hung the carefully prepared sachet on his waist, looked left and right in the mirror, and then went to pack the box when he felt satisfied.
On the street, Song Ling'er was holding a horse and had been waiting for a long time: "Sister Huang, why did you just go out? You see, Sister Jin has been waiting for a long time."
Next door to the Huang family is the Jin family, with a carriage parked at the door.
Jin Yue, the second son of Jin Gui's family, the right servant of the Ministry of official affairs, and Jin Lan, the youngest daughter, are going out for an outing this time. Anyway, they must be accompanied by a man. It is too dangerous for the daughter's family to travel alone, and it is easy to attract criticism.
Only Song Linger is a wild girl.
Jin Lan opened the car curtain and waved to Huang E, urging: "Little sister Huang, get in the car quickly!"
Huang E climbed onto the Jin family's carriage and asked, "Sister Song, are you going to ride out like this?"
Song Ling'er rode beside her and said with a smile, "What else?"
Huang E always wanted to correct Song Ling'er. She thought that it would be difficult for Sister Song to find a good husband in the future because she was so disrespectful. However, Song Ling'er insisted on this and Huang E couldn't force her. She decided not to persuade her anymore.
Jin Lan leaned against the car window and asked, "Sister Song, do you Miao people also celebrate Si Festival?"
Song Ling'er corrected: "I am from the Zhong family, not the Miao!"
"oh."
Jin Lan stuck out her tongue and asked, "Has your Zhong family lived a good life?"
Song Ling'er explained: "Yes, but we don't call it Shangsi Festival, we call it Song Fair Festival. Young men and women make appointments to sing in the mountains or by the river. Once they see each other, they can become lovers. They just wait for the man to get married.
.”
"Don't you need the matchmaker's words?" Huang E asked in surprise.
Song Ling'er smiled and said, "You can just find any matchmaker. Your parents will basically not object."
Jin Lan said longingly: "March 3rd over there must be very interesting."
The three girls were whispering, while the two young men, Huang Qiao and Jin Yue, were riding far ahead. They were chatting about the cultural gathering. If their parents had not forced them to play with their younger sister, they would have gone to the Shangsi literary gathering.
Already.
From the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty, the Shangsi Festival was a major festival, where men, women, old and young all had spring outings and carnivals.
It gradually declined in the Southern Song Dynasty and then rose again during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang once personally led his ministers to travel on March 3, so Shangsi Festival became a festival for literati to gather.
This is a retro example. The "Preface to the Collection of Orchid Pavilion" was written by Wang Xishang during his spring outing: "In the ninth year of Yonghe, when I was in Guichou, at the beginning of late spring, I went to the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin, Kuaiji to repair the evil spirits."
Xiuyu, also known as exorcism, means offering sacrifices by the river to wash away the dirt on the body and wash away the bad luck at the same time.
It's a pity that the scene of "many beauties by the waterside of Chang'an" in the Tang Dynasty no longer reappears. On March 3rd, when men and women were supposed to be in pairs, now only a bunch of rough men are left drinking and having fun.
It was even worse in the Qing Dynasty. The rough old men were no longer alive. On the contrary, it was the ethnic minorities in China, as well as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and other countries who preserved it.
Arriving at the southern suburbs, Wang Yuan and Jin Lei had been waiting at the official road for a long time.
As for Zou Mu and Zhang Yun, on the third day after the examination results were released, they left the sad place of the capital together with other defeated scholars.
Song Ling'er shook her head and pointed, "That's Wang Erlang."
"Why is he here?" Huang Qiao asked.
Song Ling'er said: "I made an appointment."
Huang Qiao immediately reminded Huang E: "Little sister, put on the gauze for a while so that no outsiders can see your face."
"I know." Huang E replied.
Jin Lan was obviously a good-looking person, and her eyes shone when she saw Jin Lei. She called Song Ling'er over and asked quietly: "Sister Song, who is the fairest born, who is the scholar standing on the right?"
Song Ling'er said: "Jin Lei, courtesy name Boqi, is from Yunnan. It seems that there were more than 20 candidates in this examination."
"Has he ever been engaged?" Jin Lan was very bold.
"It seems not," Song Ling'er thought for a while and said, "I'm not too sure. I just met him a few days ago. Do you have a crush on him? I'll ask you later."
Huang E was shocked by the conversation between the two people: "Can't you be more reserved? People will gossip about you."
"Hehe, whoever likes to gossip, let them do it." Jin Lan said with a smile.
Jin Lan's grandfather used to be the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Pavilion Elder. He gave birth to Jin Gui, his only son, when he was in his fifties. Although Jin Gui had several sons, he only had one daughter, Jin Lan. She was doted on by her parents and grandmother since she was a child.
, she doesn’t care about adhering to female ways.
Mr. Jin is so handsome, he looks like he stepped out of a painting, and he still knows how to audition more than 20 people. Jin Lan thinks they are a perfect match.
"Wang Yuan!"
Song Ling'er waved and shouted from a distance.
Wang Yuan rode up to meet him. Huang E and Jin Lan both covered their faces with gauze scarves, and then got off the car to greet him.
Han family official women cannot be seen easily unless they leave the court. Of course, it doesn't matter if they show up occasionally. There will be no nonsense that if a man sees her, she must marry her.
From this we can see how wild Song Ling'er is, who is out in public and riding horses on the streets.
The four scholars, Wang Yuan, Jin Lei, Jin Yue and Huang Qiao, greeted each other with fists in their hands, and each talked about the time when they entered school.
"Long blessing!" Huang E clasped his hands, placed them on his left waist, bent his knees and saluted Wang Yuan.
Obviously Wang Yuan was not as good-looking as Jin Lei, but Huang E's heart was pounding and her cheeks turned red involuntarily.
Mainly because of the song "Linjiang Fairy", Huang E likes talented people with connotation. She also has an admiration for her brother's friend Yang Shen, but Yang Shen has already married, and Huang E can't marry him and become a little girl.
Concubine.
Jin Lan kept staring at Jin Lei. They made eye contact, but she immediately buried her head to avoid it.
Everyone got back on their carriages and mounted their horses. The men rode in front, the women rode behind, and Song Ling'er rode in the middle.
Not long after, everyone came to a small river.
The maids laid a mat on the floor, and all kinds of cakes and delicacies were laid out, and there were even wine bottles and wine glasses. These girls also drank wine.
Huang E and Jin Lan both took out their kites and ran on the grass with their veils covered, laughing like silver bells from time to time.
On March 3rd, kites were flying all over the sky.
Song Ling'er didn't play such girly games, she just sat next to Wang Yuan and drank with a few men.
Song Ling'er suddenly leaned into Jin Lei's ear and asked, "Do you have an engagement?"
"No." Jin Lei said confusedly.
"That's good." Song Ling'er sat back with a smile.
Jin Yue and Huang Qiao were both Imperial College students, the kind who would have a hard time taking the exams. But it didn't matter. Once their father was promoted and made meritorious service, they could find a minor official under their cover.
Because of this, they had nothing in common with Wang Yuan and Jin Lei, so sitting together and chatting was purely awkward.
Suddenly another group of outing people came to the river. Huang Qiao and Jin Lan immediately stopped laughing, pulled the kite in the sky and came back to sit down.
The atmosphere became more awkward.
Huang E likes Wang Yuan and Jin Lan likes Jin Lei, but they don't dare to speak actively or show any emotion. After all, their brothers are here.
The four men were divided into two groups, each chatting about their own things. Only Song Ling'er could talk to everyone.
"Is that Wang Erlang over there?"
The new group of outing scholars were all Nanjing supervisors who had passed the examination, and some of them had chatted with Wang Yuan on the ship.
Wang Yuan stood up, shook his fists and said, "That's right."
The two parties immediately came together, took out their drinking chips and started to drink, which made it even more difficult for the girls to talk.
Huang E hesitated several times and wanted to chat with Wang Yuan, but she never found a chance. Even if she was proficient in poetry, she could not join in the fun with the scholars, let alone show off her talents easily.
Even if serious women in the Ming and Qing Dynasties wrote stunning masterpieces, they would not show them to outsiders, let alone publish them in books. Because if their poetry works were to be recorded in history, they would definitely be ranked before those who advocated excellence and famous prostitutes.
, which makes them deeply ashamed.
Historically, Huang E's poems have been handed down through Yang Shen's name, such as "Yang Sheng'an and his wife's Sanqu", "Mrs. Yang's Yuefu", and "Yang Zhuangyuan's wife's poetry collection".
If Huang E was drinking and having fun with the scholars at this moment, what would be the difference between him and that Mr. Li?
After playing in the afternoon, everyone returned to the capital together.
Huang E felt more and more helpless, so she said two words to Wang Yuan. One was "Wish you a blessing" when they met, and the other was "I wish you the best in high school" when they parted.
This talented woman took death very seriously. Historically, she liked Yang Shen because Yang Shen had already married a wife, but she refused to marry. It wasn't until Yang Shen's wife passed away that Huang E was already in her twenties, and then she married Yang Shen.
Be careful when filling a house.
Now, it seems that she has identified Wang Yuan because of the song "Linjiang Fairy".
Anyway, Wang Yuan didn't feel it. The two girls in the boudoir didn't speak. Who knows what they were thinking?
In the blink of an eye, it was March 15th. The rebels successively captured Zhili prefectures and counties, and were defeated by the imperial army. After Liu Liu and Liu Qi were defeated, they hid in the village and were almost captured alive. They were so frightened that they threw away the young men and kidnapped them.
, leading only a few thousand cavalry to attack Shandong and Henan.
The date of the palace examination has also arrived, and Emperor Zhengde is gearing up to nominate someone as the number one scholar.
(I’ll take it easy for now, there won’t be any more today, and there will be at least four more updates tomorrow.)