Beggars in the late Qing Dynasty
Mention the beggars, people often think of the beggars in martial arts novels or movies. Beggars in this kind of literary fictional gang of beggars usually have a sense of justice and have a little bit of fistwork. They often assist the helpers in eliminating violence, upholding justice, resisting foreign bandits, and defending the country. The beggar gang leaders are generally outstanding martial arts heroes. Most of them are superb martial arts, heroic and righteous, dedicated to eradicating imperial court traitors and martial arts scum, and creating a harmonious world and peaceful arena. The beggar gang in the video game
The beggar gang in the late Qing Dynasty is completely different from the beggar gang in the martial arts literature mentioned above. At that time, the gang of beggars also had a gang leader, but the gang leader was not elected by beggars, but appointed by the late Qing Dynasty bureau.
The Qing court at the time was suspicious of all public or secret social organizations, and always assumed that they were rebellious. Therefore, any society or organization is strictly monitored, and the leader of the society or organization is arrested at every turn. This ubiquitous monitoring perspective even extends to a group of beggars like a scattered sand, so the court appointed a beggar gang leader to take care of the beggars. The appointed gang leader must know all the situation of the beggar, so that the government can ask him any time when it wants to know about the beggar, and give a more satisfactory answer.
z16 The real appearance of the
The beggar at the time was very smelly and very annoying. Urban residents could not bear the strong stench emitted by the beggar colony, and they were not allowed to live in the city, so the beggar colony was restricted to a useless open space outside the city.
In the late Qing Dynasty, especially in urban residents, there was a lack of sympathy. If the clothes of beggars were not so tattered, they would not beg any money. So all beggars are dressed very shabby (the reason why they are so forced by life), the clothes draped on them are simply a push of dirty rags, it seems that a gust of wind can sweep away the leaves like autumn leaves. Rag strips. The beggar's hair was not braided, but tangled together in a mess, so loose and messy hair could not be combed. His face is usually skinny and wrinkled, and his hands have accumulated dirt over the years, like a layer of scales, dirty and black like the bottom of a pot.
Most beggars have injuries or congenital disabilities, and many of them suffer from ulcers on their legs. He uses ulcers and pus wounds as signs or signs for begging to attract passersby. He usually walks the streets and alleys to beg, and stretches the injured leg in front of passers-by like a shop owner displays merchandise to solicit customers. There was a huge ulcer on his thigh, the size of the ulcer almost covered the entire front of the thigh, and it kept bleeding out. When a passerby approaches, he will point to the injured leg to show you, moaning and groaning, trying to arouse the sympathy of passersby in order to get charity. Probably because of the long-term living in a dirty and foul-smelling environment, their bodies have gained greater resistance to germs, so the traumatic ulcers on the legs have not improved, but they will not get worse.
"Gourd Characters"
Beggars' "Gourd Characters"
beggars must be dispatched and controlled by the beggars authorized by the government. The helper asks his beggars to harass the store during business hours. When ugly, dirty, and smelly beggars visit the store, they will inevitably discourage customers and seriously affect the store owner's business. So the shopkeeper had to sign an agreement with the beggar gang owner, stipulating that the shop owner must pay a certain amount of money to the beggar gang every month. The gang leader posted a symbol of a beggar-a gourd on the doors of the stores that had signed a payment agreement, as a sign to warn his beggars not to beg here. If a shopkeeper refuses to sign a tribute agreement because the asking price is too high, the next morning, the gang will send fifty or sixty beggars who describe sloppy and dirty to the shop. As long as they stay here, all business in the store will never be done anymore.
The beggars used ingenious and vicious means of begging
. These beggars blocked the narrow streets and affected the traffic. The smell made passers-by turn their faces and hide their noses. At the same time, noisy and chaotic, everyone is telling the tragic fate and cursing the store owner's hard heart. Within a few minutes, the boss had to compromise and agree to the amount planned before the monthly tribute. The helper immediately put a gourd on the door of the store, and the front of the store was cleaned from then on. As for these beggarsFor the compensation of the field, the beggar gang gave everyone a little money, and the beggars were happy to accept the money. Later, in order to save the face of the shop owner, they began to praise the boss for his generosity again. They also said that they came because the boss wanted to meet them personally and gave them some meeting gifts.
Some shop owners can’t pay the price set by the beggars. Such shops are patronized by a group of beggars on the 1st or 15th of every month. When such a day arrives, beggars haunt the narrow alleys in droves, and the long queues are like serpents. They are a mixture of fish and dragons, both lame and blind. On weekdays, they always sneak in the streets and alleys to ask for alms, but today they ask for money from the boss, but they seem confident. The team of
begging is generally led by a sturdy, reckless, fierce and yelling villain. The beggar who followed took the table piano in hand and plucked the strings from time to time. A blind man put his hand on his shoulder. The blind man's eyes are gone, and there are only two deep holes in the eyeballs! He muttered to himself a miserable life experience. One by one, the beggars walked to the counter facing the street, where they took a small amount of money from the boss who couldn't pay the monthly tribute, and then walked across the counter without saying a word. In addition to asking for money from shops and warehouses in the city, beggars also have other recognized earning channels and privileges. For example, in marriages, they can get some money from it, and the amount depends on the financial situation of the married family.
The earliest photography of beggars
The real beggars don’t have much justice to speak of
The fictional beggars in martial arts novels or movies are often well-informed, and any new trends in the court or enemy countries, or major events that have just happened on the rivers and lakes. Can't escape their eyes.
The beggars in the late Qing Dynasty were of course well informed, but they were not concerned with news such as imperial movement or major events, but information such as the time, location, scale and organization of private weddings and the opening of shops there. If the wedding is held by a wealthy family, the question of how much money needs to be paid to the beggar must be carefully negotiated with the beggars, otherwise it will have unpleasant consequences.
For example, a rich man who is known for his stinginess is preparing to hold a wedding for his son. He sends a notice to the beggar gang to pay a sum of money not commensurate with his wealth. The beggar gang leader felt that the money was too little, and returned the money angrily. The two sides quarreled for a long time, and the rich refused to give another copper. The negotiation broke down, and the helper left with a grinning smile. On the wedding day, unkempt, ugly, vulgar female beggars, disheveled, angry, wild male beggars, and haggard smokers and blind beggars came to the guest’s Yingmen’s room one after another, making loud noises. Ask for alms. The guests were panicked, but more and more beggars flooded in. Among them are people with ulcerated legs, leprosy patients with numb faces and twisted fingers that cannot be recovered, and people who have been tortured by hard life and diseases and have turned into terrible looks. These people yelled and made deafening noises. Flooded the room.
The beggars who entered the room and crowded at the door and surrounded the streets totaled more than two hundred people. They all came to the scene on the order of the master. In the process of carnival, these beggars are very cautious, do not steal, rob, or attack or harm anyone, in order to avoid deviant behaviors, so that the beggars responsible for their actions will be punished by law.
They just yelled, pleaded, yelled and begged in various tones. The miserly rich and the many guests were horrified at the sight of the situation, and they quickly sent people to ask the beggars to send the mobs who had made the place so dark. The rich begged to help the owner to disperse these annoying beggars, and eagerly promised to pay him the amount of money he had previously requested. Regardless of the premonition, the host of the beggars waved their hands, and all the beggars filed out and swept away. Only the guests who came to the wedding were left in the room. Then the helper put the gourd on the door of the rich and warned his subordinates that the money has been paid not to harass.
In addition to the beggars who joined the gang of beggars in the late Qing Dynasty, there were also many beggars who beggars alone. Some criminals with serious crimes are exiled to remote provinces, where they must constantly walk from one place to another. Since the country does not pay a penny to support them, they can only make a living by begging along the way. This criminal wears a long heavy chain between his wrist and ankle, and has a begging permit issued by the government. When begging, the fierce face is revealed, yelling, making the chains scream,People feel a little scared when they see it, and often throw away a few money in a hurry. Such criminals and beggars are closely monitored by the law, and they dare not openly commit crimes to others, otherwise the local Pacific Insurance may imprison him at any time. In addition, there are a large number of poor people walking alone begging, begging with violin or clapper. The audience gave them some charity, not to be infected by their music, but just to get rid of them.
The beggars in martial arts are almost indistinguishable from the real beggars
and the fictitious beggars in martial arts literature are mostly martial arts justice. They are often selfless and single-minded to help beggars. They are different from the beggars in the late Qing Dynasty. Almost all court eagle dogs. On the one hand, he was entrusted by the court to strictly monitor and control the gang of beggars and prevent them from doing anything unfavorable to the court. On the other hand, he regarded the gang as a tool for his own wealth. The
helpers use the beggars to force the shopkeepers or the rich to give alms or tribute, and then squeeze money from these poor and destitute beggars. The money earned not only allows the whole family to lead a very prosperous life, but also buys land and builds a house for future generations. The beggars mainly want to keep their position, and they also need to use the exploited money to share with the court officials who appoint or control him. The begging methods and internal distribution rules of
beggars reflect the spiritual outlook and profit-making methods of people in the late Qing Dynasty from one side. At that time, from the relatives and relatives of the emperor to the beggars begging along the street, everyone was using tactics similar to the above-mentioned very ignorant and even despicable money extraction. There are no officials and no greed in the officialdom, bribery of the public, corruption and bribery have all reached the point of open flames, and the power and rent-seeking have extended to the horrible group of beggars.
This is the "hard" begging of the gang of beggars in the Qing Dynasty, and it sounds creepy and scary today. When the beggar gang lost the brilliance of martial arts novels, this is almost the truth of history.
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