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“Tokyo Menghualu” describes the four seasons of the Song Dynasty
We can only see the prosperity of the Tang and Song dynasties from TV dramas and history books, but in fact, in ancient times, the people of Kaifeng in the Song Dynasty had a lot of outdoor activities, including street scenes and suburban “parks”.
“Tokyo Menghualu” recalls: Kaifeng’s main road, Yujie, runs from Xuande Building to the outer city in the south. It is more than 200 steps wide and has a masonry inlaid imperial ditch. The ditch is filled with river water, planting lotus flowers, and the imperial ditch Various fruit trees such as peaches, plums, pears, and apricots are planted on the shore, and different flowers are blooming in a mixed manner. Between spring and summer, it looks like a beautiful scenery from a distance.
There are also good places outside the city. There are gardens nearby, and there is no idle place within a hundred miles. Those garden pavilions allow visitors to enter to enjoy the spring. Every year after the Lantern Festival, the weather gets warmer and the countryside is full of spring, and the citizens of Kaifeng go out one after another: the wheels of the ladies slowly roll over the grass, and the horses neigh happily. Looking around, there are ladies laughing on the swings, and men playing Cuju on the grass.
The royal gardens, Jinming Pool and Qionglin Garden, are also open to the common people on the first day of March every year. Jinming Pool was the place where the navy was practiced in the Five Dynasties. During Song Huizong’s reign, some pavilions and pavilions were built beside the pool. It was a scenic spot in Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty. Qin Guan wrote the Ci “Jinming Pond”, and “Jin Ming Pond” later became the name of the Ci brand.
“Tokyo Menghualu” can lead us to visit this royal park in Song Dynasty in detail: people come and go on the fairy bridge, and parasols and green covers are connected to the road, which is very lively. On the east bank of Jinming Lake, there are wine and food shops, gambling, and various skill performance venues. On the west bank of Jinming Pond, weeping willows lightly brush the water, and fragrant grass covers the embankment. There are few tourists, most of whom come to fish. Fishermen buy the brand of Chiyuan first, and the fish they catch can be bought at twice the market price, and they can also be cooked on the spot by the pool. The rich and noble families took the double-cable black lacquered flat-bottomed boats with purple curtains on them, and brought their musicians to the pool to play. Ordinary people can also rent large and small boats for sightseeing.
Qionglin Garden is opposite to Jinming Pond. The roads on both sides of the gate are planted with pines and cypresses, and there are gardens such as pomegranate orchards and cherry orchards on both sides of the road. During the reign of Huizong Zhenghe, a high hill was built at the southeast corner of Qionglin Garden for overlooking. Under the hill, there are pedestrian paths paved with flower stones and a pond built with high-quality stone materials. The flowers planted in Qionglin Garden are jasmine, Shandan, daphne, michelia, tulip, etc. presented by Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and other southern regions. There are also pavilions such as Yuechi, Meiting and Peony Garden on the hill.
Throughout the spring, the people of Kaifeng were having fun. According to “Tokyo Dreams Records”, even if it was windy and rainy, there were always tourists, and there was hardly a day that was free. In addition to going out to enjoy flowers in spring, people in Kaifeng also buy flowers to keep at home. Some flower sellers use horse-headed bamboo baskets to arrange various famous flowers such as peonies, peonies, ditangs, and woody flowers in sequence.
For rural people, solar terms are the timetable for farming and harvest; for Kaifeng people, they are the spectrum of refined life. The Chinese New Year begins to be lively after the winter solstice. Washe performers perform various acrobatics, puppets, zaju, and storytelling along the Royal Street. On the morning of the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the emperor boarded the tower and announced that he would have fun with the people. Citizens who go early can pay their respects to Long Yan standing under the city tower.
On both sides of the city tower are the colorful sheds and curtains of the nobles and ministers, and each family arranges Kabuki performances inside, and there is a lot of music. Below the west stack, the sergeants of the governor of Kaifeng were on guard there, criminals were lined up in front of the curtains, and the common people watched the performance and the verdict at the same time. The carnival will last from day to night, and then move from Xuande Tower to Xiangguo Temple to watch the lantern festival until the next day.
In spring, I am busy looking at flowers and having fun. After the Buddha Bathing Festival, seventy-two restaurants began to sell fresh plum wine. People in Kaifeng have to taste fresh green apricots, eat freshly picked cherries, and drink two glasses together.
The dog days are more comfortable. Except for the hot weather, there are no other seasonal festivals in June. Everyone can slow down the high life mood and cool down. Kaifeng people go to wind pavilions, waterside pavilions, and high-rise buildings to enjoy the shade, eat seasonal Yitang melons, Weizhou white peaches, Nanjing gold peaches, and Xiaoyao plums, eat ice and snow cold drinks, eat sugared mung beans, yellow cold dumplings, Xisuo jelly, Jiang bean cake.
Qixi Festival is also very grand. In addition to all kinds of auspicious toys for the occasion, people in Kaifeng make fake double-headed lotus buds from freshly picked lotus buds to enjoy. They also soak mung beans, small beans, and wheat in ceramic vessels to germinate. Tie the shoots together, called “seeds”. Wealthy families set up begging houses in the yard, let the boys recite poems, let the girls present the handicrafts, and at the same time light incense and worship in turn. Women thread needles and threads against the new moon to seek auspiciousness.
In autumn, it’s time for the whole city to go out to appreciate chrysanthemums. There are many varieties of chrysanthemums in Kaifeng, including “Wanling chrysanthemum” with yellow and white stamens like lotus pods, pink “Peach Blossom Chrysanthemum”, “Woodwood Chrysanthemum” with white petals and light red stamens, and “Wooden Chrysanthemum” with yellow and round petals. Chrysanthemum”, every hotel uses chrysanthemums to make door openings. People in the city climbed high and held banquets in the suburbs, admiring chrysanthemums and drinking.
The delicious food and fun of the year will not converge until the beginning of winter. It is cold in the north, and both the court and the people are busy storing winter vegetables, and the roads are crowded with vegetables transporting vegetables. People in Kaifeng eat seasonal foods such as ginger, red silk, goose pear, clams, and crabs.
Year after year of reincarnation, Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty is a night full of bright lights and bright moonlight. When the auspicious moon is flying and flowers are in full bloom, music is shaking and night banquets of wealthy families. Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty made Meng Yuan feel immersed in it, and also made him feel sad and melancholy: “I think about it today, but I look back and feel sad. Isn’t it Hua Xu’s dream?”
And for today’s people after a thousand years, it is like entering a gorgeous dream: the peace is long, and the characters are prosperous. Children with hanging hair are playing and encouraging, while old people with white hair don’t know how to fight. Throughout the year, watch lanterns and enjoy the moon, snow scene flower fair, Tanabata begging for cleverness, Chongyang climbing. Looking up, there are full of brothels, painting pavilions, and bead curtain embroidery households. Carved cars and BMWs flow endlessly, with dazzling gold and emerald greens, and fragrant Luo Qi…
