"Yangzhou lean horse" means that Yangzhou was the settlement of salt merchants in Huainan and Huaibei in ancient times. Salt merchants were rich in those days, and their luxury was comparable to that of the royal family. Their wealth also supports a large number of industries that live side by side with them, and "raising thin horses" is one of them.
Yangzhou lean horse is produced to meet the abnormal psychological needs of salt merchants.
Title: Yangzhou Thin Horse
Alias of the work: selected from the collection of essays "Beautiful Geography of China"
Year of Creation: 2002
Source: Prose Magazine, No.4, 2002.
Literary genre: prose
Author: Zhu
Thin horse meaning
Thin horse is an insult to women, which means that women can be ravaged at will like a weak horse.
Why is it called "thin horse"? Because couples who are engaged in "raising thin horses" buy young girls from poor families at low prices and sell them at high prices after cultivation, this is the same as the business model of businessmen buying thin horses at low prices and selling them at high prices after fattening, so people call such women "thin horses".
social development
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, "raising thin horses" became a profiteering investment, and a large number of people specialized in this profession.
First invest to buy back beautiful girls from poor families, then adjust their studies, teach them singing and dancing, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and then sell them to rich people as concubines or enter the Qin Lou Chu Museum for profit. Because poor women are so thin, the name "thin horse" comes from this. When I first bought a virgin, I didn't spend more than ten yuan. You can earn as much as 1520 yuan when you get married. When people see that it is profitable to follow suit, it becomes a common practice. In the Ming Dynasty, Yangzhou salt merchants monopolized the national salt transportation industry, which was the richest in the world. Therefore, at that time, the wind of "raising thin horses" in Yangzhou was the most prosperous in the country.
system of selection
There is an extremely strict appraisal procedure for selecting thin horses, and the most important thing for merchants is the evaluation of thin horse feet. There is also a set of very detailed methods to identify this "three-inch golden lotus", and people have also formulated seven standards, such as "fineness, smallness, sharpness, bending, fragrance, softness and integrity".
The fate of thin horse
After these girls are bought, they are taught piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, so that they can become concubines in all aspects.
"Yangzhou thin horse" has nothing to do with horses. Since the Ming Dynasty, a large number of specially trained young women have married wealthy businessmen as concubines. These women are slim and thin, so they are called "Yangzhou Thin Horse". In the Ming and Qing dynasties, "raising thin horses" became a profiteering investment, and a large number of people specialized in this profession.
The popularity of "thin horse" is closely related to the economic development of Yangzhou. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a number of salt merchants emerged in Yangzhou. In Yangzhou city, people are singing and dancing and bustling. Rich people always like some weird and abnormal consumption and aesthetics. After their aesthetic fatigue of "big breasts and big hips", "thin horses" came into being.
There are a group of disgusting flies around those potbellied salt merchants. As long as they reveal a little bit about concubinage, those traffickers will pounce. In Yangzhou, there are 100 people engaged in introducing the "thin horse" profession. In the bustling city of Yangzhou, the "thin horse" was sold all over the country after some rigorous training.
suggestion
In Qing Dynasty, Ding also described "thin horse" in "Continued Jin Ping Mei". Girls with the first-class qualification will be taught to "play the piano and flute, recite poems and write, draw Go, play backgammon and play dominoes, and be smart in all aspects", as well as detailed makeup artists and physical training. Girls with secondary qualifications can also read some words and play some songs, but they are mainly trained as accountants and know how to keep accounts, so as to assist businessmen and become good assistants. Girls with third-class education are not allowed to study, but only learn some sewing and cutting, or "frying, steaming, cooking and setting fruit, each with his own skills" and are trained to be qualified housewives. Of course, all these painstaking trainings are aimed at finding a good buyer and selling it at a good price in the future.
Literary and historical records
In the sales of "thin horses", they are as picky as commodities. "The thin horse home, I sat down to drink tea. My aunt helped the thin horse out and said,' Miss, go and have a look.' Worship. Say,' Girl, go up.' Let's go Say, "Girl, turn around." Turn around and stand out. Say, "Miss, lend me your hand." Do your best, your hands, arms and skin will come out. Said,' the girl is' xianggong'. In the blink of an eye, my eyes came out. Say,' How old is that girl? Say how old you are. Say,' Girl, go again. Pull her skirt with your hand and stick out your toes. However, look at the toes, whoever goes out with the skirt first will be big; The skirt is tied high, and the toes come out first before leaving. Say,' Girl, please go back. One person goes in, the other person comes out. There must be five or six people in a family. It's not salty. "(Zhang Dai's" Tao An Meng Yi ")
Not all "thin horses" can successfully marry into the giants. Finally, some of the remaining "thin horses" had to be sent to Yanhua Lane. On the Qinhuai River, most Yang Bang geisha were born with thin horses.
But those traffickers who "raise thin horses" earn a lot of money. According to "Continued Jin Ping Mei", a first-class "thin horse" can be sold above 1520 yuan. Singing and dancing, fat powder overflowing; It's late at night, and no one remembers how many "thin horses".
origin
Thin horses are not difficult to understand, that is, thin horses are sick horses, and thin horses are also weak women. Taking thinness as beauty, satisfying the aesthetics of wealthy businessmen and making money, this is the story of Yangzhou Thin Horse, just like today's beauty contest. Every thin horse must first buy a thin girl with young teeth and natural beauty from the poor family and start to raise thin horses. The people who raise them are trained. It is not enough to have a thin figure. The thin horse's behavior and smile must strictly conform to the aesthetic taste of wealthy businessmen. For example, walk softly and don't make any noise. For example, eyes, learn to look deeply.
The thin horse raised in this way sells quickly and the price is good. At that time, there were hundreds of people in Yangzhou, like cattle dealers, doing the business of thin horses. Among these people, there are women with teeth, and even women with teeth are middlemen who specialize in livestock trading. When they can't make money as livestock, they come to the lean horse business. Moreover, this thin horse business is promising and profitable, and businessmen are naturally eager for profit. ), if there is news that a merchant wants to buy a thin horse, these women will stare at the buyer like flies and can't get rid of it.
Let's take a look at the description of Zhang Dai, a writer in the Ming Dynasty, in the article Dream of Tao 'an.
..... When I arrived at the thin horse's house, I sat down and entered the tea. My aunt helped the thin horse out.
Say, "Girl, bow down and worship." Worship.
Say, "Girl, go up." Let's go
Say, "Girl, turn around." Turn around and stand out.
Yue: "Miss, lend you a hand." Reach out your hand, reach out your arm and reach out your skin as much as you can.
"Miss, look at Xianggong." In the blink of an eye, my eyes came out.
"How old is the girl?" Say how old you are.
Say: "Girl, go again." Pull her skirt with your hand and stick out your toes. However, there is a way to see the toes. ...
Zhang Dai then introduced the method of identifying feet and a series of processes of detailed selection, payment and home delivery. Look at the thin horse's face, hands, arms, skin, eyes, voice, toes, etc.
And those thin horses who lost the election were even worse. They were homeless and sold to romantic places. Every evening, they put on makeup and dress coquettishly, go in and out of the alley, and wander in front of teahouses and restaurants. This is the so-called "standing off". They are so pale that no one can look. Some of these "poor thin horses" can't find customers until evening. Finally, I left sadly. Zhang Dai wrote: At midnight, I'm leaving, and I feel like a ghost quietly. Seeing a pimp, being hungry and suffering from prostitution are all unknown.
Generally speaking, a thin horse is to cultivate a slim little beauty and sell it as a concubine and a beautiful girl of a rich family ... Those lucky people enjoy their wealth before it fades, but those unfortunate people are shot dead by the wife of a big family, thrown into a well ... and even reduced to vagrants. Yangzhou thin horse is a history of women's blood and tears in the old society.
Final results
Most of the "thin horses" are children of poor families. When I was seven or eight years old, I was bought by traffickers. After that, waiting for them is the long training period of the devil in the concentration camp. The "thin horse" is thin, not only because it is born weak, but also because it is deliberately "hungry". According to congenital conditions, "thin horse" is divided into three or six grades.
Not all "thin horses" can successfully marry into the giants. Finally, some of the remaining "thin horses" had to be sent to the Qin Lou Chu Museum. On the Qinhuai River, "Yang Bang" singers are mostly from "thin horses". And those "thin horses" who are "lucky" to be concubines by officials, businessmen and nobles may not live a happy life from now on.