Our Chinese culture is extensive, profound and has a long history. Below are the articles I have carefully compiled for you. I hope it will be helpful to you.
1. Where did "Long Live" and "Long Live" come from?
We often see ministers shouting "Long Live" when praising the emperor on TV. In fact, "Long Live"? The word was not originally reserved for emperors. A long time ago, "Long live" was just a cheering word that expressed people's inner joy and celebration. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, courtiers often shouted "Long live" when meeting the king, but this word was still not the only title that the emperor was good at. Calling others "Long live" did not matter to the emperor. . When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came, he wanted to take "Long Live" as his own, but when people celebrated events, some people still shouted "Long Live". In the Song Dynasty, the emperor was really not allowed to call others "Long Live". As for the origin of "Long Live", it comes from a story. It is said that after Wu Zetian became emperor, she especially liked others to praise her in order to improve her "unjust" status, but she was not able to speak out. One day, she summoned all the bachelors of the Hanlin Academy in the Jinluan Hall to ask questions and answer them correctly. She blurted out the previous question: Jade girl played the bang bang by the river, bang bang! bang bang! bang bang! All the scholars answered dozens of questions, but Empress Wu was not satisfied, and her intuition was disappointing. At this time, a bachelor who was accustomed to flattery saw her thoughts and hurriedly chanted: "Long live the Jinluan Palace, long live! Long live! Long live! Long live!" Empress Wu was very happy and praised it as a masterpiece. Since then, the word "Long Live" has been spread among the government and the public.
2. When did the amount start to be written in capital letters?
When we write the amount of the bill, in addition to writing the amount in Arabic numerals, we also need to write the number in capital letters. Regarding this regulation The origin must be traced back to the Ming Dynasty. According to historical records, in the early years of the Ming Dynasty when Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, a major corruption case, the Guo Huan case, occurred. Guo Huan once served as the minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. He used his power to collude with local officials to embezzle government money and grain. The total amount of corruption amounted to 24 million shi of refined grain. This number was almost equal to the total number of autumn grain collection nationwide at that time. The case implicated 12 senior government officials, government officials from 6 ministries and many large landowners across the country. Zhu Yuanzhang was greatly shocked by this and ordered tens of thousands of Guo Huan and other criminals to be beheaded in public. At the same time, he implemented strict laws on punishing economic crimes and implemented some effective measures in property management across the country. One of the more important ones was to record records. The Chinese character for the number of money and food is "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten thousand", which is changed to "one, two, three, four, five, six, eight, nine, one hundred thousand" and so on.
3. What is the emperor's speech called? What is the queen's speech called?
The emperor's speech, edicts, orders, etc. are generally called "Lunyin". "Book of Rites" says that if the emperor's speech is compared to a thin thread, its influence will be like a thick rope (originally called "Lun"); if the emperor's speech is compared to a thick rope, its influence will be like a thick rope. The force is like a big rope. Later, "Lunyin" was used to refer to the emperor's speech. As for the queen's order, it is called "Yizhi". Yi (Cantonese pronunciation) means beauty, and it is called a beautiful woman. "Yizhi" refers to the order of the empress dowager or empress.
4. What is the purpose of the beads hanging down from the front of the Yellow Emperor's hat?
In ancient times, emperors had to wear different costumes when attending different ceremonies. The crown used in the most solemn ceremonies is called a crown. Its shape is like the college graduation cap we see today, but the cloth panel on the crown is rectangular instead of square, and the front and rear ends are decorated with pearls. Twelve strings. This kind of pearl is a very interesting prop. They will sway back and forth in front of the emperor's eyes and behind his head, making him extremely uncomfortable. Their purpose is to remind him that he must have a dignified manner and not be frivolous and affect the emperor's due behavior. majesty.
5. Why is there no cat in the zodiac?
The zodiac is twelve animals representing the earthly branches, and is often used to record a person’s year of birth. Except for the dragon, the twelve zodiac signs are basically common animals in life, but why is there no such animal as a cat? The twelve zodiac signs are derived from the chronology of the stems and branches. It is said that they originated in the Xia Dynasty, but there is no conclusive evidence. What can be verified is that at least in the Han Dynasty, the matching system of the twelve zodiac signs and the earthly branches has been fixed. Before the Han Dynasty, there were no real domestic cats in our country. Whether it was the lynx mentioned in the Book of Rites or the leopard cat mentioned in the Book of Songs: there were bears and bears, cats and tigers, they all lived in the wild. wild cat. The ancestors of the domestic cats we raise today are said to be Indian desert cats. The introduction of Indian cats into China probably began during Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, which was the period when Sino-Indian exchanges became more frequent through Buddhism. Therefore, the time when cats came to China was probably thousands of years before the birth of the zodiac system, so cats who came late were naturally not included in the twelve zodiac animals.
6. It is very popular with girls and is called peach blossom luck. Why? Peach blossom? and not other flowers?
Peach blossom has been closely related to women since ancient times. In "The Book of Songs: Peach Blossoms", there is a poem: "The peach is young, its flowers are burning, the son has returned, and it is suitable for his family and family." It describes the scene of a woman getting married, and praises the bride's beauty and character. Cui Hu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, also wrote a poem titled "Nanzhuang of the Capital City": "On this day last year, in this gate, the peach blossoms on the human face reflected each other's red."
The human face has gone nowhere, but the peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze. ? It is said that the word "peach blossom luck" comes from Ziwei Dou Shu. Ziwei Doushu is an important branch of traditional Chinese numerology. It uses the year, month, day and time of a person's birth to determine the position of the twelve houses to form a natal chart, including the brothers' palace, the husband and wife palace, the children's palace, the wealth and silk palace, and the migration palace. , Servant Palace, Guanlu Palace, Tianzhai Palace, Fortune Palace, Parents Palace and other twelve palaces. By combining the constellations of each palace with the hexagrams and lines of the "Book of Changes", one can predict a person's destiny. The "Peach Blossom Luck" in numerology is based on the position of the five elements in the "birthday horoscope": longevity, bathing, crown belt, official position, emperor prosperity, decline, illness, death, tomb, death, fetus, and nourishment. If The stage of "bathing" when the Universiade and fleeting years are in progress is called "Peach Blossom Luck". The ancients believed that encountering "Ziwu Maoyou" is a sign of good fortune. If Ziwu Maoyou appears in the horoscope, it is called "Peach Blossom in Destiny". There are "good peach blossoms" and "bad peach blossoms" in peach blossom luck, so people who have peach blossom luck should also be rational and calm.
7. How long does "one stick of incense" last?
Classical novels often write "the kung fu of one stick of incense", and in martial arts novels, masters often use the phrase "the time it takes to take a stick of incense". ?One stick of incense? is limited. Why is this? It turns out that the ancients measured time by the length of time the incense burned. The ancients needed to borrow tools such as sundials and clepsydras to keep time. Burning incense to keep time was a relatively simple and commonly used method. So how long does a stick of incense last? In fact, due to many factors such as environment, wind, length of incense, dryness and wetness of the spices, the burning time of a stick of incense is not exactly the same, but it is generally about half an hour, that is, one Hour. In ancient times, in addition to using a stick of incense to tell time, a plate of incense or a furnace of incense could also be used to tell time. In ancient times, molds were often used to stamp incense powder into fixed characters or patterns, which were called "incense seals". For example, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, some people pounded the spices into powder, mixed them thoroughly, and sprinkled them on a copper printing plate, making them into the shape of the seal character "heart". When one end was burned, the entire incense seal would burn out in sequence, which was used to measure time. People also carved scales on the incense seals to divide the day and night into a hundred scales. This kind of incense is also called Bai Ke incense and is often used as a timer in temples. The famous astronomer Guo Shoujing of the Yuan Dynasty also made an exquisite "screen incense leak". The length of burning time corresponds to the corresponding scale to measure time. This method is widely spread among the people. Using incense to tell time can be described as the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancients. What better reflects the intelligence and aesthetic taste of the Chinese people is that people make incense into various shapes to express their good expectations for life and express their simple wishes for longevity and congratulations.
8. "Cold" is a well-known medical term, but it first came from the officialdom. How is this?
The cold is also called cold, which is very familiar to modern people. A contagious respiratory disease that mostly occurs in winter and spring. But you may not have thought that the modern buzzword "cold" first came from officialdom. This matter has to start from the Song Dynasty. The highest institution of learning in the Song Dynasty was Taixue, which was affiliated with the Imperial College and was responsible for recruiting officials and civilians' children to study classics. Taixue has strict assessment, promotion systems and management regulations. All Taixue students who need to stay outside due to special circumstances must be registered in the leave book. On the cover of this leave application book, the word "Gan Feng" is often written as usual, so it is called the wind book. The term "feeling the wind" is related to medical theory. Chen Wuze, a medical scientist in the Song Dynasty, first divided the causes of various diseases into three categories: "internal causes", "external causes" and "external causes". Among them, "external causes" are further divided into "six evils". "Six evils" are also called "six evils", namely wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, and fire. These six abnormal climate changes will have adverse effects on the human body. Senfeng means to feel the wind and cold, which means that you have been invaded by wind, the first of the six evils, and you feel unwell, so you need to stay outside. Taipei students usually become scholars or officials after graduation, so the reason for taking leave of absence is "Ganfeng" and naturally enters the officialdom. For example, during the Song Dynasty, there were regulations in the palace that required an official to be on duty every night, that is, to work the night shift. This was a hard job, so officials often used "uneasy stomach" as an excuse to avoid it. After being inspired by the "flu", the reasons why it is not worth staying overnight quickly became diverse, and most of them were written about "infection", "cold", and "cold". By the Qing Dynasty, "cold" became the most common excuse used by officials when asking for leave. Later, "cold" was widely recognized by the public and became a common name for upper respiratory tract infection.
9. Why does talking big mean "bragging" rather than "bragging horses" or "bragging pigs"?
Cows have virtues such as diligence and honesty in Chinese culture. Animals, people often call honest and hard-working people "old scalpers", and people who are willing to serve people are also called "bowed down and willing to be ruzi ox". But how can such a loyal and honest animal be associated with the derogatory word "brag"? Now it means boasting, talking big, etc., but its earliest meaning has nothing to do with exaggeration. Historian Mr. Gu Jiegang once made a textual research in the article "The First Compilation of Miscellaneous Knowledge in History: Bragging, Patting Horses": the word "bragging" was originally from the northwest dialect, originating from Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. The rivers in the northwest were fast and difficult to navigate, so the locals used local materials and blew several cowhide or sheepskin bags into airbags to make a leather raft. They tied the mouths and connected them to form a raft, which was used as a tool to cross the river. The cowhide rafts are connected and can carry thousands of kilograms of weight across the river. It is said that Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, used it in war and achieved great victory.
He once led his army to the west bank of the Jinsha River, ordered the soldiers to kill cattle and sheep, stuff their anuses, and order leather bags to be used as medicine. He crossed the river into the Lijiang area and defeated the Dali defenders. The "Yuan Kuai Le Nang" mentioned in the famous couplet of Daguan Tower in Kunming now refers to this allusion. Regarding bragging, there is an interesting theory that it is related to the life of nomads. The nomadic people live in pursuit of water and grass, and their most valued possessions are cattle and horses. Therefore, people always like to talk about their cattle and horses when they get together, and there is inevitably an element of exaggeration in it. As time went by, the saying "bragging" spread and took on the meaning of big words. Interestingly, in some local dialects, "brag" has other meanings. For example, in the Yunnan dialect, "bragging" means chatting and making small talk, and has nothing to do with talking big.