Aristocratic beggars, dog-beating sticks are unique
In Beijing during the Qing Dynasty, there was a special social group - the beggar gang. In this group, there is a leader who is revered as the "pole head" or "group head", and they are not beggars in the traditional sense, but nobles among beggars.
Their role is not only to lead the beggars, but also to deal with all kinds of disputes, and if they handle it properly, they can enjoy a life of big houses, good food and wine. Although in old Beijing, to become a "pole leader" was to become an aristocrat, there were also various challenges and competitions in this group.
To become a "pole head", you not only need to have kung fu, but also need to have a backer, and your character must be ruthless. However, these "beggar aristocrats" are not usually active, and once they go out, they will carry a dog-beating stick that symbolizes their status, which is different from that held by ordinary beggars.
Next, let's get to know the nobility in the old Beijing beggar gang.
In the Qing Dynasty's "Dianshizhai Pictorial", we can see the image depiction of the beggar gang and the "pole head". Beggar gangs usually use the most common form of begging, begging along the street with dog-beating sticks in hand.
However, their way of begging is not unskillful, but they are rewarded by saying beautiful things. Although this method is very common, it is not very effective, and sometimes at the end of the day, you can only have a little food to fill your stomach.
In addition, beggars will also take advantage of good days such as New Year's festivals to beg for money. For example, during the epidemic of the Dragon Boat Festival, some beggar gangs would dress up as "Zhong Kui's marrying sister" and perform in front of merchants or large households, hoping to get good fortune.
However, there are also reckless people, such as a beggar dressed as Zhong Kui, broke into a hutong house, scared a woman who was washing clothes in the courtyard, and scared away himself.
In "The Trick of Marriage", a beggar disguises himself as his unmarried son-in-law in an attempt to defraud him of the dowry. There is also a ** who was recognized as a stepfather by a member of the beggar gang and looted his money. Although it is relatively safe to perform talents, there are very few people who are truly talented among beggars.
Some people will only sing some small songs in the book, and even hurt themselves to win money. According to the book, in the old Beijing Tianqiao, there was a thin beggar who would bite his braid in his mouth every afternoon, kneel on the ground, and beat his chest with stone bricks until his chest was red and bleeding.
His hard-working performance made everyone unbearable to look at him, so he got a lot of reward.
In this beggar gang, the new beggar needs to hand over the money he has begged for to the "pole head", who uses the money to make connections and help the weaker people in the gang, and make profits from it.
It is worth noting that the "pole head" also exploits the new beggars, demanding that they hand over all the money they have asked for within three days, and cannot keep a penny for themselves. After all, as the boss of the beggar gang, the "pole head" is usually a person with a capable and background who can stand out in a mixed environment.
The "Pole Leader" is responsible for maintaining the harmony and stability of the gang, and he needs to balance the forces within the gang to prevent bullying. He is the highest-ranking member of the beggars' gang, and there is usually official support behind it.
They do some inconvenient things for the government, and at the same time use the resources of the beggars to earn profits and live a fairly comfortable life. In order to keep the gang alive, they also bring in a variety of talents to teach their skills.
For example, they teach people how to speak to people, arrange music on the spot, or ask samurai to teach kung fu. In addition, the beggars will also prepare a set of tools for blowing, playing and singing, so that they can win money when the new store opens.
In general, the responsibility of the "pole head" is to maintain the harmony of the gang, maintain the internal balance, and at the same time keep innovating to keep the gang alive.
In the old city of Beijing, every newly opened shop invited a gang of beggars to perform on the pole. While beating the drums, they sang the blessing song of "Open the door and enter the wealth, good luck".
The shopkeeper or fellow would take out a string of copper coins and give them to the beggars with a smile on his face. But if you still don't pay a reward after singing for a long time, the beggars' lyrics will become uncomfortable to listen to.
At this time, the shop set a rule for the beggars, and other beggars could no longer beg in the shop. If there is a situation of repeated begging, the shopkeeper will go to the "pole head" to solve the problem.
Among the beggars, the "pole head" is undoubtedly the most influential figure. When it is necessary to replace the "head of the group", it is usually replaced by a successor designated by the "old pole head", just like Huang Rong in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" replaced Hong Qigong.
When the "pole head" dies unexpectedly and no one is left behind, he is usually replaced by a second-in-command with a prominent position in the gang, which can also lead to internal conflicts and struggles.
At this time, the local government will intervene to mediate. The story of a "big pole head" is recorded in "Wonders of the Ancients", whose gang members were numerous, who handed over money every day according to the rules, and he also distributed it in an orderly manner, and never feared to resolve disputes, because of the support of the government.
Under this model of "collusion between officials and beggars", magistrates can not only obtain financial benefits, but also use beggars as their own eyeliner. Such beggars are considered "high-class beggars".
And the identity of the "group heads" is also very special, they can not only live in a spacious mansion, but also keep slaves and maidservants, and even stand shoulder to shoulder with serious merchants.
Among the beggars in Kyoto, the most bullish dantou are not only well paid, but they also have a unique identity symbol - dog beating sticks.
The old Beijing beggars"Pole head", holding a dog-beating stick that symbolizes status, divided into two types: yellow pole and blue pole. Huang Gongzi is a child of the Eight Banners, although he has no worries about food and clothing, he is idle, and often begs for pleasure.
The blue pole is an ordinary civilian beggar's head, with a wide jurisdiction, and even beggars from other places have to come to worship. It is said that the color of the dog stick originated from Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
He used to be a beggar, and because he had the appearance of a true dragon and a heavenly son, he was kindly liked by everyone, and some even provided him with food. This legend has been passed down to this day, and the color of the dog beating stick has become a symbol of identity.
He used to be a "catch-up" big flower seed, affectionately known as "big flower seed". Because of his strong righteousness, he thrived in the beggar gang. When it was a big thing, the brothers of the beggar gang were still secretly helping each other.
After he became emperor, people called the beggars "catch up and eat", which later evolved into "on the pole". In order to express his nostalgia for the past days, he sealed the two people who begged together in the past and promised them ** Houlu.
However, the two men politely rejected his offer, and they were accustomed to the freedom of living in the world, and did not want to be confined to the city of Beijing. In desperation, the emperor had to give each of them a pole.
Among them, the yellow pole is wrapped with a yellow head and hung with yellow tassels, and the blue pole is wrapped with a blue head and hung with blue spikes. These two royal poles mean that they can travel all over the world and beg at will, which is the origin of the legend of the yellow and blue poles.
The begging style of the yellow pole and the blue pole are very different, and the yellow pole is from a noble background, even if it is begging, it also adheres to the noble demeanor. They rarely go out to beg and only appear on major festivals such as the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival.
Their begging methods are like extortion, adopting the rogue attitude of "everyone has money to spend", and they will come to the door of the merchants in groups of three or five, singing and beating drums.
The drummer needs to lay the drum flat and the singer needs to have his hands facing up, which means they are asking for money. At this time, the boss will send a man out, hold up a string of money, and then respectfully place it on the drum board, and the begging will be successfully concluded.
Huang Zhuzi has high requirements for "customers", and if the boss does not respond within five lines, the reward will increase. If the reward is too small or not at all, then the shopkeeper may get into trouble.
The "poles" of old Beijing always like to gather in front of the store to watch the excitement, and once the number of people increases, the owner has to take out the silver taels to calm the situation. These people have an aristocratic temperament, but they strictly follow the rules, and if the shop breaks the rules, they may be burned.
Therefore, most merchants who open stores will choose to take money to avoid disasters and try to avoid conflicts with these "poles".
The rules of the "aristocracy" of the beggar gang: After the merchant pays the "protection fee", the beggar gang erects a pole or sticks a "cover" in front of the store, which means that the store is not disturbed. In addition, the beggar gang also has a "yellow pole" rule, which stipulates that when beggars come to beg, they will sing "Lotus Fall" while hitting the board, and the board is hung with yellow tassels, which looks very formal.
When the store gives money, it should be respectfully placed on the board, and it is considered disrespectful to throw it on the ground. The "head of the beggar gang" not only takes care of the store, but also manages the red and white ceremonies of each family, and the main family needs to report to the beggar gang in advance, and the "head of the group" sends brothers to help take care of it.
These brothers do not do much of a thing, usually they help to take care of the sacrifices that need to be burned during white events, and symbolically look at red silk during red events. The more the brother contributes, the more reward he gets.
Of course, the reward money received will be handed over to the "group leader" for distribution. Among the beggars, the most important ritual is the "Hanako Worship Pole", which is a ritual in the lineage.
Whether it is a yellow pole or a blue pole, as long as you master this pole, it means that it is a symbol of the heir. Therefore, the incumbent "pole head" must carry out this ceremony before taking office.
In the ceremony, the ancestor must first be placed on the incense table, and then the "pole" is placed on the incense table. All kinds of offerings need to be placed on the incense table, and paper ingots are pressed under the offerings, and these offerings and paper ingots are for worshipping the god of money and food.
On the occasion of the handover of the old and new "poles", the gang members need to line up on both sides and stand in accordance with the rules. During the handover ceremony, after the old "pole head" was incensed, the "pole" was raised high and handed to the new "pole head", and the new "pole head" took the baton with both hands, and the two kowtowed together.
Finally, the old "pole head" took out the paper ingots pressed under the offering and burned them to worship the god of money and food. After the ceremony, the beggars expressed their blessings to the old and new "pole heads".
However, there are many rules for the "pole head" among the old Beijing beggars, and the most prosperous period was in the Ming and Qing dynasties. However, with the collapse of the feudal imperial system in the ** period, the influence of "pole head" gradually weakened.
One of the reasons is that the various forces in the capital are complicated, and the "pole head" cannot rely on official support alone. The shopkeeper who pays a "protection fee" to one "pole head" may soon be harassed by another company, resulting in the "pole head" being unable to perform his duty of protection and receive money from the shopkeeper.
With the passage of time, the police in the ** period took a serious attitude towards the beggars who made trouble, and showed no mercy to the "pole head", which gradually reduced the beggar group, and many "pole heads" had to choose to leave the industry.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the rectification and containment of beggars in Beijing was also put on the agenda, and Beijing adopted a policy of "sheltering on the one hand, and guiding and organizing labor on the other".
At the same time, the idea of self-reliance on the hands of beggars was disseminated, and the elderly and infirm were sent to relief houses and shelters, and to factories where people who wanted to learn a skill were sent to learn various skills.
After all-out rectification, by the winter of 1949, it was difficult to see beggars on the streets of Beijing, and no one was freezing to death on the roadside.
So far, the "largest folk gang" after the Ming and Qing dynasties, the beggar gang, has finally disappeared in the torrent of history.
Through the study of the late Qing Dynasty's "Dianshizhai Pictorial", we can gain an in-depth understanding of the image construction of the lower social groups at that time, especially the beggar group. At the same time, we can also learn about the governance of the beggar problem and its historical experience in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, as well as the interpersonal disputes they faced in solving the beggar problem.
These studies provide us with an important perspective on the social issues of the time.