How do you view the ancient beating people?
In people's impression, the main job of hitting people in ancient times was to patrol the streets at the same time. Of course, you will also work part-time to record people and things you encounter at night. If you find any illegal and criminal acts such as thieves, you must report them in time.
However, from the perspective of reporting time, there is an ancient idiom "Stay at sunset and work at sunrise", which not only depicts the simple life of the ancient working people, but also reflects the regularity of the daily life of the ancients. In addition, in ancient times, every household liked to feed chickens, and the rooster crowed means that it was almost dawn.
If that is the case, why did you set up a career in ancient times? What would happen if no one fought? actually had three main functions in ancient times, each of which was extremely important. If no one attacked, the consequences would be very serious.
First function
Fighting people are called husbands in ancient times, and men are generally responsible for it, and there are very few female husbands. Because laying the updates in ancient times was just the foundation, and patrolling the night was the main responsibility. A city is big, which means that the updater needs good physical strength and endurance.
The ancient nights were divided into five periods: one to five periods. Each period of time the updater would sing or beat gongs to patrol the night, and would shout some slogans. These slogans were summed up by the ancients by thousands of years of experience. At the same time, we can analyze the function of hitting people based on the content of the slogan.
In ancient times, the update was seven to nine o'clock in the evening, and the updater would shout the slogan "The sky is dry, be careful of the fire and candle." Note that most ancient houses were made of wooden structures. Once a small flame appeared, it would develop into a large fire in a very short time.
In ancient times, when fires were most likely to occur, you should know that in ancient times, we used wood-burning stoves to cook. At the first update, people either just fell asleep or were ready to fall asleep. Although the stove has been extinguished, it often fails to extinguish thoroughly.
" Ming Shi " records that in the summer of the third year of the Ming Dynasty, a family in Yi County, Anyi County, Jiangxi Province did not extinguish the fire on the stove after dinner, which eventually triggered a large fire. This fire killed and injured hundreds of people, which was a major fire in the Wanli period.
, and the updater on duty was sentenced to death for dereliction of duty.
Coincidentally, the same situation occurred in Nanjing in the same year, and the updater found out that he quickly beat the gong to warn him. Then, after hearing the news, all the neighbors around him came out to participate in the fire. After the investigation, there were no losses or casualties except for the burning of the kitchen of the household home. There are many cases like
that can be seen when you open ancient historical books and county annals from various places. It can be seen that if there were no attacks on Geng, how many people would die in fires in ancient times.
Second function
Although the fire is terrible, after a while, people fall asleep one after another and the fire on the stove is completely extinguished, this situation will basically not happen. However, another problem also follows, that is, the thief.
As mentioned earlier, many people have not fallen asleep during the first update, but at the second update, from 9 o'clock to 11 o'clock, all households have basically rested.
The ancients slept early, so the time of sleeping was different from that of modern people.
is calculated based on the most heavy sleeping time between 12 am and 3 am when modern people sleep. In ancient times, the second day of the Yangtze River was when people slept the most, and this time became the best time for thieves to commit crimes. So at this time, people will yell "Close the door and windows to prevent stealing and theft" while playing the bangzi.
is to remind those who are not sleeping to take anti-theft measures, and to warn thieves. Of course, if you were accustomed to thieves, you would have figured out the behavior of the updater long ago. Even if the updater patrols the streets, it is difficult to avoid the problem of thieves.
However, once the thief is discovered by the head of the family, the thief will definitely run away. At this time, the stolen head of the family just yells, and the husband will chase the thief after hearing it.
The ancient cities were not all as huge as capitals. Many cities were very small. If you find that the thief chased them all the way, the thief could basically not escape.
Of course, ordinary thieves are fine. If they encounter some murderers, then the updater will become the main force in the first person witness and arresting the murderers. Do you still remember the updater in "Nine-rank Sesame Official"? He is the first witness to the killing of thirteen members of the Qi family in Changwei . Although the updater was bribed, he still told the truth later, leaving Chang Wei no room for refutation.
It can be seen that if there was no attack on the other person, the ancient thieves would have no scruples, which would be a very serious matter.
Third function
Time slowly came from 1:00 to 3:00 in the morning, and in ancient times it was called the third update. At this time, the updater will not remind the fire or the thieves, and the four words "safe and nothing". The simple four words seem ordinary, but there is a huge danger behind it. Especially in some military cities, these four words will make everyone feel at ease.
may be difficult to understand this, so let’s use a real historical event to reflect the importance of these four words. This incident is Zuo Zongtang and listen to the escape. The
incident occurred when Zuo Zongtang recovered Xinjiang in 1876. At that time, Zuo Zongtang's army had already arrived at a military center in Suzhou. Because the soldiers who were rushing to the road for several days were already exhausted, they lay down early to rest.
Although Zuo Zongtang was tired, he still had to formulate an offensive plan and route, so he didn't prepare to go to bed until the third update. But just as he was about to go to bed, the sound of making updates outside aroused his alert. According to the military regulations, the updaters are all with the army. So Zuo Zongtang is very familiar with the voice of the updater. But the sound of the buzzing this time was a little different, and it seemed that it was not played by the same person.
Zuo Zongtang immediately put on the clothes he had just taken off and went out to check. Sure enough, he found that the guest was a stranger, so he ordered him to be captured. Only then did he learn that the original updater had been killed, and he was a meticulous work that had been infiltrated. The army had already gathered outside the city and could attack it immediately.
Zuo Zongtang immediately ordered a night march when he learned about it. Although the soldiers were very reluctant, the military orders were difficult to violate and they withdrew from the town in a very short time. Unexpectedly, as soon as the army retreated, a shocking sound was heard, and an enemy army rushed towards the town.
Everyone is very glad that if the updater works inside and outside to open the town gate, they will become enemies under the sword.
In fact, in history, the situation of discovering and resisting enemies through fighting has occurred frequently, especially in military centers, such as till you know more about the enemy.
So whenever the third day of the day, the husband's voice "Peace is fine", what a peace of mind is. The fourth update of
, "The cold weather is cold" and the slogans such as "Get to bed early and get up early" at the fifth update have not much meaning, and at most it is a good reminder.
summary, thinking behind it
Through the first three slogans above, it can be seen that the updater has a very heavy responsibility. If he does not beat the updater, the consequences will be very serious.
At the same time, I have to admire the wisdom of the ancients. A seemingly inconspicuous position, but it bears the responsibility of people's lives and property safety, as well as guarding towns and the country.
Reference materials: "History of Ming Dynasty", "Draft of Qing Dynasty"
