Chapter 27 Section 10 Ancient Women's Chess
In ancient my country, fewer women liked to play chess, which is of course related to the various restrictions on women in the feudal society.However, in the homes of emperors, generals, and dignitaries, there are still rumors that women like chess.
In the Tang Dynasty, Empress Wu Zetian was a chess fan.According to "The Nine Admonitions of Liang Gong", Wu Zetian slept until the third watch one day, and had a dream. He dreamed that he was playing chess with Daluo Tiannv.The next day, he went to court and asked the ministers, what does this dream mean?The prime minister explained to her that Prince Luling was demoted to Fangzhou for thousands of miles, because there was a son in the game and he was not in the position.Feeling this dream, he established King Luling as the crown prince.According to "Records of Yuanhai", Empress Wu once made a self-made big victory game, which is similar in shape to Shuanglu.In the Tang Dynasty, the chess game similar to Shuanglu was only chess. No wonder Empress Wu played chess even in her dreams, which shows her serious intentions.Li Ruzhen from the Qing Dynasty wrote about women's chess in the Tang Dynasty in the seventy-fourth chapter of her novel, titled "Stories about Chess Playing".Although the chess system reflected is from the Qing Dynasty, the author of the description believes that there was chess in the Tang Dynasty where Wu Zetian lived.
Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, was proficient in all kinds of arts, such as piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, and playing football, he was omnipotent.Under his advocacy, chess was popular in the court of the Song Dynasty at that time, and some concubines also loved to play chess.In the "Xuanhe Palace Ci" written by Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty, there is a poem "Yingxiang Opera" and a sentence "Yuerong relatively warms and shifts voice".In addition, in the "Gong Ci" written by Zhimige Zhou Yanzhi, there is a sentence "Xiangxi palace maids share elegance and joy, round rhinoceros and jade cloth tooth plates", which are all about the scene of women playing chess in the court.
Li Qingzhao, a poetess in the Southern Song Dynasty, was versatile, good at calligraphy and painting, proficient in music, and good at games and various entertainments.She likes chess, and according to her own account, it is because chess is different and unique.The book "The Book of Playing Horses" compiled by her included chess boards for both horse playing and chess, which proves her love for chess.
Before and after the kings of the Southern Song Dynasty traveled to the south, chess activities gradually flourished among women. From the court to the folk, some women participated in this well-known activity, which can be seen from the poems and works of some literati describing women playing chess during this period.
In the "Yougu Jushi Ci" written by Cai Shen (AD 1088-1156) in Putian, Fujian, there is a poem "Linjiang Immortal":
The sentence in this poem clearly refers to chess.Judging from the exquisite chess equipment described in the words, this is a scene describing a young noble couple playing chess.Although the level of chess skills of the beautiful woman is not high, just playing chess to pass the time, but it can explain the hobby of women in some families at that time.
Zhou Zizhi (AD 1082-?), Xuancheng, Anhui, also has a word in "Ruan Langgui": "The lonely shadow of the moon ling [lingling] shines on the beautiful jade plate, leisurely facing the small jade plate. The jujube flower gold bracelets are slender, and the sound of chess beats the cold night . " Judging from the phrase "Zaohua Jinchuan", the chanting is undoubtedly about women's chess.Among them, the "small jade plate" proves the poem of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty "the white sandalwood elephant play is small and flat", and here it refers to the chessboard.
For another example, Xiang Zichen (yin Yin) (AD 1085-1152) wrote about a female Zhao Zonglian, who said she could play chess, write, share tea, and play the piano; Xie Wuyi (AD?— 1113)'s "Nanxiangzi" describes an outstanding female chess player who "dye the light-colored spring clothes, and there are two little geese flying on them. The sleeves are rolled up, the lotus root silk is cold, the jade is thin, and she plays chess and wins a cup of wine in front of her."Neither of the above two poems stated what kind of chess they played, but there is no doubt that some women are good at chess.
It is worth pointing out that in the Southern Song Dynasty, Aunt Shen was an outstanding representative of women's chess players at that time when she played chess with Emperor Xiaozong and others in the court, and taught Gong'e how to learn chess.Among the 10 chess players in the Southern Song Dynasty, Aunt Shen was the only woman, and she was also the first female chess player in history.It is really unique for women in ancient times to be able to achieve such a high level of skill and chess skills in playing chess.
In particular, it should be pointed out that women's chess activities had new developments in the Ming Dynasty.In "Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua", a well-known classical novel of the Ming Dynasty, there are many stories about Ximen Qing's wives, concubines, slaves, maids and singing girls playing chess and Shuanglu.Although the novel itself is a story about the Southern Song Dynasty, it also reflects from one aspect that in the Ming Dynasty where the author lived, chess had become a part of the family life of some women.
In the Qing Dynasty, women playing chess was not only included in novels, but also included in some Tanci.The most famous one is Muyu Shu's ninth gifted book "The History of Two Lotuses".Muyushu is a local tanci in Guangdong, which became popular in the late Ming Dynasty and became very popular in the middle of Qing Dynasty. "The History of the Two Lotuses" is a famous popular literature written in Cantonese.It is written that Bai Lian, a talented scholar in Yangcheng, is poor and down, but suave and suave, and wants to choose her own mate.One day, he disguised himself as a woman and went out to visit Yan, under the pseudonym Tanfang, a bead seller, to avoid the rain and "Yan Zhai", when he suddenly heard the voice of "Jiang Jiang", looking inside through the curtain, it turned out that it was the famous courtesans Hongxiang and Ziyu. Idle chess.The following is a passage from "The History of Two Lotuses":