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Chapter 195

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    ?

    Ji Xu, Zhang Jin, Du Shiniang and others returned from Hangzhou to Yangzhou on a painted boat.  Painting boats sail more slowly, and it takes two days to travel five hundred miles.

    [1] "Night Mooring at Maple Bridge" by Zhang Ji.

    The moon falls, the crow crows and the sky is full of frost,

    ? Jiang Feng Yuhuo vs Mianmian;

    ? Hanshan Temple outside Gusu City,

    The midnight bell to the passenger ship.

    On the evening of the first day, the boat arrived at Pingjiang [now Suzhou].

    After dinner, Zhang Jin left his room.  He came to the deck and looked up to the west. In the starry night sky, only the bright first quarter moon on the west half hung in the sky early.  On the bank, there was a flute player playing melodiously a song of nostalgia under the shadow of willow trees.

    Zhang Jin went back to his guest room, took a long coat and put it on, and asked Cheng Xin to move a bed with him and put it on the deck.  He was lying on the bed with his back facing the sky, the lingering melody constantly eroded his ears, the melody touched his nostalgia, and the tears of homesickness couldn't stop flowing down.

    Ji Xu searched for Zhang Jin in the cabin for a long time, but he was nowhere to be seen, so he shouted in the cabin: "Ninth brother, where are you?"

    Zhang Jin wiped away his tears and echoed, "You are enjoying the cool on the boat deck. You can also sit with a small table, and we can gossip."

    "Okay!" Ji Xu responded, and moved a small round coffee table to the deck, put it down beside the bed, and said, "Today is June 6[1]'Exposure Festival', let's air our thoughts, just right  That's the time!" He shook his folding fan and sat down to enjoy the beautiful moonlight.

    Zhang Jindao: "Brother, are you confused? Today is the eighth day of June."

    Hearing Zhang Jin's words choked up, Ji Xu asked with concern: "Ninth brother, what's wrong with you?"

    "I'm a little homesick."

    Ji Xu said with a smile: "It's only been half a year since you came out, and you're already homesick. If you finish reading these three years of books, won't you be in tears?"

    "Brother, I had a dream at noon. I dreamed that my brother was killed and my mother was ill"

    "Ninth brother, dreams are reversed. You are homesick!" Seeing that Zhang Jin was silent again, Ji Xu also understood that homesickness is really uncontrollable!  He said, "Ninth Brother, let me sing you a song. It's a Yi people's song called "Treading the Countryside". It was taught to me by my mother."

    "Is your mother a Yi?"

    "Yes, Lingtang is a Baiyi. Didn't I say that we are half fellow villagers. Because, my mother is also from Dali. Maybe, counting down generations, we are really a family!"

    "How come~? Your mother is a Baiyi, and I am a Baizi. They are not from the same ethnic group at all. How can there be a family?" Zhang Jin smiled again, "Okay, don't be so closeyou can sing  "

    [2] "Treading the Countryside" Mo C. Hagu Lyrics and Music A Silong Group Singing

    [Yi language] "Ah oh last year I drifted away to a foreign country, and now I return to the embrace of my hometown. The elderly mother at home is already gray-haired, and the neighbors are still teaching. The thousands of trees and flowers in my hometown are blooming again. Looking around  Wang Chu felt a lot of emotion in his heart"

    The new moon is about to set, and the shadows in the corners of the houses on the bank are seen, half-bright and half-hidden.

    Zhang Jin's mood improved slightly, and he also sang along with Ji Xuhe.

    [Yi language] "My childhood sweetheart's playmate, I don't know if I'm married to a foreign country? No matter where I go, my nostalgia is still there, and my dearest relatives are still my hometown. No matter where I go, the heart of Wange's son is still the same. I am born to return to my hometown, my soul  I also return to my hometown"

    After singing the Yi song, Zhang Jin asked, "Isn't your mother beautiful?"

    "Of course!" Ji Xu sighed again, "It's a pity that my mother left me early and left When my mother left, she was going to give birth to a younger brother for me. It's a pity If I were brothers, I should  How wonderful, that little brother must be as well-behaved as the ninth brotherthen no matter what I do, I can do it with confidence and boldnessthat's true, there is a brother who can do everything"

    Zhang Jin stood up, and said calmly: "Isn't there a little brother in front of the starling? The little brother must serve the elder brother no worse than a younger brother. I am willing to serve the starling for the rest of my life, just like my starling has a younger brother!"

    Ji Xu took a look at Zhang Jin and said with a smile: "But the ninth brother will finish his studies in the future and will always go home. How can he follow the mynah for the rest of his life?"

    "Mynah, please don't worry, I have many brothers and sisters, and I'm not bad. I'll be with my brother for the rest of my life."

    Ji Xu laughed loudly: "Ninth brother speaks like a child of three or five years old, like asking brother to eat a piece of candy But the child's invitation to brother to eat candy is completely sincere, I know that"

    Zhang Jin thought about it for a while.The famous mutton restaurants and barbecue stalls eat mutton and drink mutton soup, so it is called Fuyang.

    (1) The legend about "June Six"

    There are many legends about "June Six".  Among them, "June 6, please aunt" is a very popular one.

    ? On the sixth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, every household in the countryside invites back married young and old girls, entertains them well before sending them back. This custom arose during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

    According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Hu Yangong, the Prime Minister of the State of Jin, was arrogant, and his son, daughter and relative Zhao Shuai disliked him very much, and bluntly criticized him.  Hu Yan refused to listen, and blamed his in-laws in public. Zhao Sheng was old and frail, and soon died of anger.

    In the second year, the summer grain of the Jin State was hit by a disaster, and Hu Yan went out to Beijing to deliver grain. Before leaving, he told his family that he would go home on June 6th for his birthday.  Hu Yan's son-in-law heard the news and decided to kill Hu Yan on June 6 to avenge his father.

    Hu Yan's son-in-law told his wife about the decision, and Hu Yan's daughter was terrified all day long when she heard the news. On the fifth day of June, she quietly ran home and told her mother the news.  Hu Yan's son-in-law knew that the incident had been revealed, and he was in constant panic every day.

    On the morning of the sixth day of June, Hu Yan came to invite his son-in-law.  After arriving at the prime minister's mansion, Hu Yan invited his daughter and son-in-law to sit at the table, and then said to everyone: "This old man has released grain this year, and seeing the suffering of the people, I know that I have done something wrong in recent years. Today, my son-in-law plotted to kill me. Although it is too vicious, but  It didn't work out. He killed harm for the people and avenged his father. I will never blame him. My daughter saved her father from danger and performed her filial piety. She should be worshiped by me. I hope that my son-in-law will look at me and don't care about hatred.  Reconciliation!" The words made the whole audience both surprised and happy, the daughter and son-in-law kowtowed to apologize, and all the previous vengeance was forgiven.

    Since then, Hu Yan has sincerely changed his ways. In order to remember this lesson, Hu Yan invites his daughter and son-in-law to reunite every June 6th, and Weng and his son-in-law are closer than before.  This matter was publicized, and the common people all followed suit, and they all took back their daughters on June 6th, which should be auspicious for eliminating disasters and grievances, and avoiding disasters and disasters.  Over time, it has become a habit and has been handed down to this day.

    The folk proverb in Shanghai is exaggerated and interesting: "On June 6th, the duck eggs will be cooked in the sun." The intense heat under the scorching sun is very vivid.  In the early years, people often dried sauce and paid melons on this day. In order to prevent moisture and corrosion, people often used tung oil to decorate doors, windows, beams and columns on this day.

    The proverb of the northerners is: "On June 6th, watch the valley show." Generally speaking, whether the crops are growing well or not, and how good the autumn harvest will be, can be roughly determined at this time.

    In addition, there is an interesting story about bathing cats and dogs, which is called "June 6, cats and dogs take a bath together".

    (2) Elephant washing day

    Since the Yuan Dynasty, the sixth day of the sixth lunar month has been the legal "Xiangxiang Day".

    At that time, in order to show majesty, the emperor would set up a huge guard of honor consisting of chariots, horses, elephants, drums, music, flags and umbrellas when he was in court, offering sacrifices or going on tour. Elephants were an indispensable member of every grand celebration.

    In the hot weather, elephants bathe and play in the ponds near the capital, attracting people to watch.  For the domestication and management of elephants, the emperor also specially established elephant houses, elephant performance centers and elephant training centers, and recruited elephant slaves and elephant trainers from Burma.  They are usually raised by elephant slaves and trained by elephant trainers.

    During the Qianlong period, there were as many as 30 elephants, and as many as 100 elephant slaves.  At that time, Xiangfang was located at the base of the city wall on the west side of Xuanwumen. It is said that the former site is now the Xinhua News Agency compound in Xuanwumen, and it still has the reputation of "Xianglai Street" and "Xiangfang Hutong".

    During the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, at the beginning of the sixth month of June, a ceremony of washing elephants was held.  It is recorded in Yang Jingting's "Miscellaneous Songs of the Capital Gate" in the Qing Dynasty: "The cars on the Sixth Street sounded like thunder, and they all came to Xuanwumen at noon. The sound of the drums urged the washing elephant, and the water under the Yuhe Bridge was first muddy."

    On this day, the elephant slaves and mahout trainers in the elephant house with flags and drums lead the elephants out of Xuanwu Gate and bathe the elephants in the moat at the root of the south wall of the city.  On this day, a shed will be set up near the elephant washing place, and a supervisor will be in charge of supervising the washing.  There will also be a lot of tea sheds and food stalls temporarily set up on that day, just like a temple fair.  In order to watch the elephant washing activities, rich people will occupy good seats in nearby restaurants and teahouses in advance to feast their eyes.

    Elephants were a rarity for the common people at that time.  When watching the elephant, the sound of elephants playing in the water, the sound of applause from the audience, and the shouting of small businessmen and hawkers are all connected with laughter.

    Every June 6th, if it happens to be sunny, all the royal palaces in the palace will be exposed to the sun, and the imperial history, palace archives, real records, imperial anthology, etc. will also be placed in the courtyard to ventilate and dry.  Therefore, this day is also known as the "Hanging Scripture Festival".

    Temples and Taoist temples, large and small, all over the country also hold "airing scripture meetings" on this day, and put all the stored scriptures out to dry to prevent the scriptures from getting wet and being bitten by moths and rats.  For example, there are more than 5,000 volumes of Taoist scriptures in the Baiyunguan scripture building in the old capital. From the first to the seventh day of June every year, Baiyun Temple will hold a sutra drying meeting.  All the "Dao Zang" in the store were taken out to ventilate and dry.  The famous Shanguo Temple in Guang'anmen also fasts on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, and holds a "drying sutra ceremony".

    At that time, the people who watched the washing of elephants would flock to Shanguo Temple to watch the scriptures hanging, so a temporary market was also formed in front of the temple, which was very lively.  Folk sedan shops, clothing shops, leather goods shops, second-hand book shops, calligraphy and painting shops, pharmacies, and all kinds of shops all have to dry all kinds of goods.  Limin people in cities and rural areas have to dry their clothes and bedding.  (Remember the site URL: www.hlnovel.com)From the first day to the seventh day of the first lunar month, Baiyun Temple will hold a sutra drying meeting. At that time, the Taoist priests will be neatly dressed, burn incense and hold candles, and take out all the "Taoist treasures" in the Sutra Library for ventilation and drying.  The famous Shanguo Temple in Guang'anmen also fasts on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, and holds a "drying sutra ceremony".

    At that time, the people who watched the washing of elephants would flock to Shanguo Temple to watch the scriptures hanging, so a temporary market was also formed in front of the temple, which was very lively.  Folk sedan shops, clothing shops, leather goods shops, second-hand book shops, calligraphy and painting shops, pharmacies, and all kinds of shops all have to dry all kinds of goods.  Limin people in cities and rural areas have to dry their clothes and bedding.  (Remember the site URL: www.hlnovel.com
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