Chapter 28 Three "Servants are not as good as prostitutes"

The various functions of brothels are often not possessed by the family; the various talents of prostitutes are often not possessed by wives, concubines, and maidservants.More importantly, prostitutes are completely different from wives, concubines, and maidservants, so they can do what the latter cannot.For example, you can't let your wives and concubines come out to drink with you, or ask your maidservant to say "I'm a bitch, and everyone is a male monkey" when drinking with you, right? But the above-mentioned things are not the main reasons for the so-called "wives are not as good as concubines, concubines are not as good as maidservants" and "servants are not as good as prostitutes".In my opinion, the reason why wives, concubines, and maidservants are not as good as prostitutes is that only with prostitutes is it possible (of course not necessarily) to establish an unfettered, relaxed and free relationship with friends of the opposite sex.

It is self-evident that it is difficult for men in traditional society to establish such a friendship with their wives, concubines, and maidservants.As I said before, the relationship between husband and wife is first of all a relationship of etiquette.Between husband and wife, respect each other as guests, and salute each other like rituals.Politeness is politeness, but it is also divided; civilization is civilization, but it is also alienated.More often than not, they just cooperate to complete the task of establishing a family or starting a family, rather than exchanging ideas and feelings.In short, between husband and wife, official business is more important than personal love, and etiquette is more important than sex, so it is naturally difficult to become good friends.

The relationship between a man and a concubine is first and foremost a master-servant relationship.One has to be airy, the other has to be careful.In front of her husband, the concubine is only here, respectful, afraid to say anything, if she makes a mistake, she kneels down to apologize first, how can there be an equal dialogue?How can we become bosom friends if we can't talk on an equal footing? The relationship between a man and a servant is first of all a master-slave relationship.As a slave, naturally he is not qualified to "sit on an equal footing" with his master.Even if some "enlightened" masters do not need to treat maidservants as slaves, the other party cannot erase the shadow of "servant" status from the bottom of their hearts.What's more, most of the maids are uneducated, and it is difficult to have a common language with the master who loves her.They can only take care of a man in life and create a comfortable and warm family environment for him, but it is difficult for them to share his worries with him in thought and enjoy himself with him emotionally, let alone sing poems and pipes to answer.A maid, of course, is not as good as a prostitute.

In short, the relationship between husband and wife, concubine, and maid is an unequal relationship.This unequal relationship makes a man feel the superiority of "seeing all the mountains at a glance", but it also makes him experience the loneliness of "being too cold at a high place".Of course, this inequality between men and women also makes it difficult for them to have true love. Because love is premised on equality. So, is the relationship between clients and prostitutes equal?The words cannot be said so simply, but it should be admitted that there is such a possibility.

The relationship between clients and prostitutes is neither a relationship between monarch and minister, father and son, husband and wife, nor a relationship between host and guest, master and servant, or master and slave, but a business relationship.Under the condition of a relatively sound market mechanism, the relationship between buying and selling is actually the most equal relationship, that is, everyone is equal before the price.Whoever pays more will get the best service, regardless of status or status.Apart from money, what can play a role is personal charm, such as age, appearance, demeanor, style of conversation, talent, etc., and it has nothing to do with status or status.Therefore, Song Huizong and his minister Zhou Bangyan prostituted the famous prostitute Li Shishi together, and Shishi fell in love with Zhou Bangyan even more, and Emperor Huizong had no choice.Although Zhou Bangyan was dismissed from office because of "jealousy", Zhou had to be recalled later and appointed as Dashengzheng.This is where brothels differ from society.Outside the brothel, there is a distinction between high and low among people.But once you enter a brothel, no matter you are princes, generals, sons and grandsons, or fallen literati, or wealthy merchants, everyone is the same, and they all have only one identity - prostitute, so they can buy together regardless of their status, etiquette, or whereabouts. Smile, isn't it "everyone is the same, everyone is equal"?

In fact, brothels have always treated their "clients" "equally": the same "everyone who comes is a customer", the same "all with money", the same "smile when they meet", and the same "don't think about it afterwards". ", of course, it is the same as "slaughtering" softly, and after the slaughtering is the same, "as soon as the person leaves, the tea will be cold". "Same" does not mean "equality", but in a society with a strict feudal hierarchy, "same" is always more psychologically balanced than "different".So brothels became the "psychological checks and balances" of feudal hierarchical society.

As for clients and prostitutes, their identities are also "equal": you are a prodigal, I am a slut, you whore, I am a prostitute, everyone is not a "good thing".So, you don't need to put on airs, and I don't need to put on an air, either. I'm naked and naked, but real.No one has to laugh at anyone, no one has to despise anyone, no one has to be afraid of anyone, no one has to be wary of anyone, there is absolutely no need to shy, cover up, put on airs, or put on airs.It can be said that society and families hold "masquerade parties", while brothels and brothels hold "strip parties".The former is civilized, the latter is rough, the former is elegant, and the latter is obscene, but the authenticity can't be counted.

"Dirty" money and sex have created deformed "equality".However, in the feudal hierarchical society, if there is any "equality" between people, especially between men and women, this is probably the only one. Therefore, there is such a strange phenomenon: many sad and beautiful love stories happen to prostitutes. There is no end to this love story. One of the earliest famous stories is about the "Yannv Tomb" in the Liu and Song Dynasties of the Southern Dynasties.The story tells that Yao Yujing, a famous prostitute at that time, married Wei Jingyu, a small official in Xiangzhou. Not long after, her husband drowned and died, and Yujing kept the festival for him.There was a pair of swallows on the beam of Weijia, and a bird of prey caught one of them.From then on, Yujing and Guyan fell in love with each other.Autumn is here, and Yan wants to fly south. Before leaving, she flies to Yujing's arm to say goodbye.Yujing tied a red string around the swallow's feet and said: "The new year is coming, for my partner." The next year, the swallow really came back.Yao Yujing was so moved that he wrote a poem for Yanyun: "I went away without a partner in the past, but this year I return alone. The old man is so kind and righteous, and I can't bear to fly together." Since then, the swallows go south every autumn, and the next spring must come back alone to be with them. Yujing has been with me for six or seven years.After that, when the swallow returned another year, Yao Yujing had already died of illness.When the swallow didn't see his old friend, he wailed around the beam.The Wei family told Yanzi, "Yujing is dead, and his grave is in Nanguo."After hearing this, the swallow flew to Nanguo, found Yao Yujing's tomb, and died on the tomb.It is said that from then on, people can see Yujing and Yan swimming on the banks of the Han River every night when the wind is clear and the moon is bright.

Although this story is close to a "myth", it is about "human feelings".Do you think that swallows still yearn for the loyalty and eternity of love, let alone human beings?Therefore, it is not uncommon for prostitutes to die for love in history.For example, Cui Hui, an official prostitute in the Hezhong government in the Tang Dynasty, was transferred because of her lover Pei Jingzhong, and she couldn't follow each other, so she was "depressed in feelings" and even "went mad and died". Die with a groan."Another example is Liu Suge, a courtesan in the Song Dynasty who fell in love with a man. Because of the confinement of the madam, they could not get married, so they rode out of the city together, climbed to the top of the mountain, faced the beautiful spring, cried with their heads in their arms, and cried to death in the suburbs.In addition, Tao Shier, a prostitute like Jiaojiao, fell in love with Wang Sheng, and Sanle prostitute and Fu Jiu fell in love. Both of them were hindered by the madam, and they could not form a happy relationship forever. One pair embraced and threw themselves into the West Lake, and the other pair met and hanged themselves in a secret room together. Die in love.

This is by no means a temporary impulse, but a persistent pursuit of love, so it can stand the test of time. "Biography of Famous Scholars in Minchuan" records such an incident: When Jinshi Ouyang Zhan traveled to Taiyuan in the first year of Zhenyuan of Tang Dynasty, he met a prostitute, and the two fell in love with each other deeply.Later, Ouyang Zhan went to Beijing to work, and when he arrived in Beijing, he sent someone to pick him up.The prostitute was in Taiyuan, thinking about it day and night, so that she couldn't afford it. Before she died, she cut off her hair with a knife and put it in the box, with a poem saying: "Since the farewell, I have lost my appearance, half thinking about him and half hating him. If you want to know how the old cloud temples looked like, I opened a gold box for my slave." When Ouyang Zhan sent someone to pick it up, it was this box that he brought back.Ouyang Zhan opened the box and saw the hair, and saw his poems. He couldn't help himself with grief, and "died in a moment of grief".As Ouyang Zhan's status as a Jinshi and second official in the capital, why not have three wives and four concubines, whoring and staying with prostitutes?However, he died of a prostitute's injury, which shows the sincerity of his affection and the sincerity of his love.

This is really "a maidservant is not as good as a prostitute". In fact, not only "handmaids are not as good as prostitutes", but also wives and concubines. Those who can get this kind of love are really rare.The reasons for this are worth investigating. Obviously, there are two reasons for this. First of all, we can be sure that no matter whether they are hookers or prostitutes, they do not lack sex.It goes without saying that women in brothels make a living by laughing; and most of those who are eligible to enjoy the prostitutes or enter the brothel have wives and concubines (of course not necessarily by their side).So what are they missing? What men with wives and concubines lack is romance and excitement.As I said before, there is no love process in traditional Chinese marriages.Correspondingly, family life in China is unremarkable, and the relationship between husband and wife is indifferent and boring.So, who would like to drink plain water every day?Therefore, those with higher grades look forward to romance, and those with lower grades long for excitement, and they all pin their hopes on prostitutes.A prostitute is not one's own wife or one's servant, but one can "make love" with her. Isn't this romantic enough and exciting enough?What's more, a prostitute can not only become a sexual partner, but also a good friend, so it is possible to get a real emotion from her.Isn't this extremely valuable to some people who long for true love? A prostitute desires love even more. It should be admitted that, in most cases, prostitutes are used as sexual tools.It is their "profession" and "job" to lean on the door and sell laughter, to send to welcome, to act on the spot, to scold and flirt.This kind of sinful life and hypocrisy will undoubtedly dry up their hearts, numb their emotions, and greatly lose their ability to love.However, prostitutes are also human beings, and they also have the right and desire to love.Moreover, as people in the court of romance, they understand the fickleness of the world and the unpredictability of people's hearts, the weight of friendship and the value of love better than famous ladies and young ladies.Therefore, those mature and experienced prostitutes are unwilling to give their hearts to others lightly: "Don't cling to me, I'm too biased. I'm Qujiang Linchiliu, whoever (this) breaks that person, love for a while "This Dunhuang song actually expresses the heartfelt feelings of many prostitutes: it's not that they don't need love, but they deeply understand that what women like them who use sex and sell their bodies can often get is just "love." for a while".This proves in turn that what they long for is precisely "eternal love".However, they know very well that this kind of sincere, loyal, and eternal love is really too little.Therefore, once they are genuinely moved, they will be extraordinarily passionate and persistent, which is why they have so many "life and death love". However, this kind of love is not widely tolerated in society. Traditional Chinese society is a very strange society full of contradictions.On the one hand, it seems to be more affectionate than the ancient societies of all nations in the world. Father-son love, brotherhood, and friendship are emphasized again and again.Even the relationship between the monarch and his ministers is not so business-like, but emphasizes the need for "friendship" in it.However, on the other hand, it has considerable jealousy and hatred for the love between men and women.It allows men to take concubines, and even whores, but it never allows men and women to fall in love, and does not allow this kind of love to gain legal status. This is really inexplicable and unreasonable. That being the case, the love of a prostitute is inevitably a tragedy. There are two examples that are often cited, the story of Huo Xiaoyu and the story of Du Shiniang.They can be found in the legend "Huo Xiaoyu Biography" by Jiang Fang of the Tang Dynasty and "Jin Gu Novels" by Feng Menglong of the Ming Dynasty.Du Shiniang sinks the treasure chest in anger".We have already told the story of Du Shiniang in the third section of the second chapter of this book, and here we only talk about Huo Xiaoyu.Huo Xiaoyu's mother was originally Huo Wang's favored maidservant, and gave birth to Xiaoyu with Huo Wang.But because the maid has no "title", so when King Huo died, their mother and son were kicked out of the house, and Xiaoyu became a singing prostitute.This kind of life experience made Xiaoyu have a clear understanding of the darkness and cruelty of that society very early on.Therefore, when the scholar Li Yi wooed her enthusiastically, her expectation was only that Li Yi could love her for a few years before the age of thirty, and then he would escape Buddhism forever.Unexpectedly, as soon as Li Yi got an official position, he immediately abandoned Xiaoyu and married another "Clan Jia" Lu.Xiaoyu sells her clothes, entrusts relatives and friends, and searches everywhere, but Li Yi is nowhere to be found.Later, out of righteous indignation, the knight in yellow shirts kidnaps Li Yi to see Xiaoyu.At this time, Xiaoyu's lingering love has turned into intense hatred.She said to Li Yi: "I am a woman, and my life is so cruel; you are a husband, and you have a heart like this." "Li Jun, Li Jun, I will say goodbye to you forever! After I die, I will be a ghost, making your wife and concubine restless all day long!" After finishing speaking, he grabbed Li Yi's arm with his left hand, threw the cup on the ground with his right hand and cried in mourning, several times. The betrayal of Li Yi and Li Jia (Du Shiniang's lover) has aroused the righteous indignation of many readers throughout the ages.In fact, it should be said that the society at that time was the one who was really guilty.According to the marriage law at that time, "all official household slaves, men and women who are adults, should first marry with their true colors." The so-called "natural spouses" means that only people of their own class and class can intermarry.Not to mention that it is difficult for the bureaucratic class to marry prostitutes, even within the feudal class, one must pay attention to the status of the family.In the Tang Dynasty, Cui, Lu, Li, Zheng, and Wang were the top families in the country, and it was the greatest honor for people at that time to marry women of the five surnames.It is actually impossible for Li Yi to give up the "Gaomen Jia clan" of the Lu family and grow old together with the humble singing girls; and the reason why Li Jia was moved by Sun Fu's lobbying was not the first consideration of the one thousand taels of silver , but how to explain to parents after going back.Since they cannot betray their own class, of course they have no choice but to betray the woman who truly loves them.