Chapter 13 Section 13 Ancient Women's Go
In my country's long feudal society, women suffered the most oppression.The feudal system had various restrictions on women, such as women were not allowed to apply for the exam, to join the army, or to show their faces in officialdom, etc.In order to fight for equal rights with men, women had to disguise themselves as men, so legendary figures such as female champions and female generals appeared.In the Han Dynasty, there was an express regulation that women were not allowed to participate in the game of Go.At that time, women playing Go could only be seen in myths and stories.The following is an introduction to the story of an ancient woman playing Go.
During the Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Go was a compulsory course for emperors, generals, and literati, but women were still discriminated against for playing Go.According to historical records, there was a woman named Lou Cheng in Dongyang, Zhejiang, who wrote good articles and liked Go, but because she was a woman, she couldn't go out to meet friends and exchange chess skills, so she felt very depressed.Later, I finally figured out a way to hide it from my parents and brothers, pretend to be a man, leave my hometown, travel around, and look for chess friends.After arriving in the capital of the Southern Qi Dynasty, he competed Go with those dignitaries with status, and was promoted from this to become an official in Yangzhou Councilor Cao.Over time, Lou Cheng has aged and was finally found to be a woman.Someone reported her to Emperor Qi Ming.Emperor Ming ordered her to be sent back to her hometown.When Lou Cheng was forced to put on women's clothes, he sighed with regret and said, "I am so good at chess, wouldn't it be a pity to go home and become an old woman?"
Among the concubines and aristocratic women in the Tang Dynasty, many people loved to play Go, such as Concubine Yang and Mrs. Du Fu, all knew Go.
The poet Zhang Ji has a poem "Beauty's Palace Chess":
Among the ancient tombs in Astana Village, Turpan, Xinjiang, some are the tombs of the Zhang family, a local wealthy family in the Tang Dynasty, and many cultural relics of the Tang Dynasty have been preserved.Among them is a picture of Go ladies, which shows the lifelike images of 11 women, showing the cultural life of noble women in the early Tang Dynasty.In the picture, two aristocratic women are concentrating on playing Go.
In the Five Dynasties, there was a young and beautiful woman in Linqiong named Huang Chonggu [gu Gu], who was good at playing the piano, calligraphy and painting, poetry and prose, and she was also good at Go.Once disguised as a man, he won the first prize in the examination.Later, he was arrested and imprisoned by the county magistrate of Linqiong because of his involvement in the fire incident.At this time, there was a man named Zhou Xiang [Xiang Xiang] who was working in the government office in Qiongnan. He found out that Huang was an omnipotent talent in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. After being summoned, he recommended him to the county officials.Zhou Xiang originally planned to betroth his daughter to Huang, but Huang had no choice but to write a poem to confess that he was originally a woman. Only then did Zhou Xiang find out, and later he chose another husband for her to marry.
During the Five Dynasties, Go was popular in the Southern Tang Palace.When spring comes to the earth, flowers are in full bloom, the wind is sunny and the flowers are red and the willows are green, the ladies of the palace come to the bank of the lotus pond one after another to play chess and fish.Zhou Wenju, a famous painter of the Five Dynasties, once wrote "The Picture of Playing and Catching Ladies in the Lotus Pavilion", which reflects the vivid scene of women in the palace of the Southern Tang Dynasty loving Go.
In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, it was more popular for ladies in the palace to play Go than in the Five Dynasties and Tang Dynasties.Wang Gui's "Gong Ci" has: "Peach Blossom is playing Pingqi, and the miscalculation is the first to be low." In the Song Dynasty, court ladies entered the palace, and learning Go was a compulsory course for them, and some even used Go to compete for favor in front of the emperor.Song Huizong's "Gong Ci" has: "Forget worry and joy in Pingqi, the fairy attack Sui Weiji [ji chicken]. Every time the picture is placed under the window, I am afraid that the announcement will be higher or lower."
There are many scenes in "Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua" describing women playing Go in the Song Dynasty.For example, in the twenty-third chapter, there is a section "see chessboard and bottle to lose money".
It is about that during the Spring Festival, Ximen Qing went out to celebrate the festival and was not at home.Several of his wives and concubines, Meng Yulou, Pan Jinlian and Li Ping'er, got together to play chess.Meng Yulou asked: "What should we bet on today?" Pan Jinlian said: "Let's play three games each, and bet five qian silver on the host. Three qian can buy Jinhua wine, and the other two can buy a pig's head..." The three of them placed Playing chess pieces, played three games, Li Ping'er lost five coins.Pan Jinlian immediately asked people to take money to buy wine and pig's head.
Go has become a fashionable activity among women in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Some girls in boudoirs and famous prostitutes in brothels can play Go. Even Tian Guifei, the concubine of Emperor Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty, and the concubine of Emperor Yongzheng of Qing Dynasty are also good at playing Go.Most of the dramas and novels at that time also included scenes of women playing Go, which became an indispensable part of the love life of men and women at that time.For example, there is "Go Breaking the Game"; "Jade Hairpin" has a section "Hand Talk";Especially in classic literature, there are more than 10 descriptions of Go.The most exciting part of it is a game of Go between Jia Baoyu and Xue Baochai. Jia's chess strength is not as good as Xue's. Xue Baochai.