Poems about the ancient ways of sending letters 1. What are the ancient ways of sending letters
China is one of the first countries in the world to establish an organized information transmission system.
as early as the Shang dynasty more than 3, years ago, information transmission was recorded. Passing the post by horse, post transmission is an early organized communication mode.
The sculpture of "Postman" located in Jiayuguan Railway Station Square is based on the mural tomb of Wei and Jin Dynasties in Jiayuguan. The Postman holds the bamboo slips in his hand, and the post horse flies on all fours at a high speed. This brick mural was used as the theme pattern of a small stamp by the First Congress of the All-China Philatelic Federation in 1982, which shows that Jiayuguan is one of the cradles of information culture in China.
the appearance of ancient information transmission can not be separated from the Great Wall, which is "up and down for 5, years, with a length of 1, miles". The word "Great Wall" first appeared in the documents of the Warring States Period.
In ancient times, there were different construction forms in the Tongguan Dynasty, so the names of this kind of defense engineering were different, such as: Liecheng, Fangcheng, fortress, temporary Luo, boundary trench, side wall, etc., which actually all referred to the "Great Wall". In fact, the Great Wall in a broad sense was for all the giant military engineering systems in ancient China. The basic principle that has been followed in the construction of the Great Wall in past dynasties is "adapting measures to local conditions and causing traffic jams according to risks".
one is to build the project according to the type of land. The second is to make full use of geographical natural hazards to defend the enemy.
the great wall is dominated by walls, including city barriers, passes, barracks, health stations, piers, towers, observation, communication and other comprehensive functions, forming the most rigorous military defense system in ancient times. Among them, the beacon tower located inside the Great Wall is an important part.
in the western Zhou dynasty, in order to guard against enemy invasion, the "beacon tunnel" was used as the contact signal for border defense emergency. In the ancient history book "Zhou Li", there is a record that "on the passage from the frontier to the hinterland of various countries, a beacon tower is built at regular intervals, one after another. There are oranges on the stage, and there are cages filled with firewood on the heads of oranges. When the enemy invades, the beacon tower sets off fireworks one after another to convey the alarm.
Every night early warning, the watchman lights the firewood in the cage and holds it high, which is called "beacon", and the early warning during the day lights the firewood accumulated on the platform to show the urgency with smoke, which is called "embarrassing". In order to make the smoke straight without bending, so that it can be seen from a distance, the ancients often used wolf dung instead of firewood, so it was also called wolf smoke.
It was stipulated in the Zhou Dynasty that when the emperor raised a beacon, local governors must immediately lead troops to rescue them and fight against the enemy. It can be seen that the implementation of the beacon system means that a huge and perfect military information contact network has appeared as early as the week.
from 1972 to 1976, Chinese archaeologists obtained more than 3, wooden slips of the Han dynasty through excavation in Juyan, and excavated the site of the beacon tower, which provided us with rich information about the beacon tower of the Han dynasty. According to the wooden slips, during the Han Dynasty, there were beacon towers from the four counties in Hexi (now Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang in Gansu Province) all the way to Yanze, and the scale was very large, and the management was extremely strict. It was called "beacon towers facing Wan Li", and it was said to be "five miles and one whistle, ten miles and one pier, three miles and one fortress, and one hundred miles and one city fortress".
In addition, various secret codes are used to indicate the number of invading enemies. If the enemy has less than 5 people, one beacon will be fired, and if the enemy has more than 5 miles, two beacons will be fired. In the unearthed "Firefighting Products on the Plug", the regulations of the imperial court at that time, that is, the "joint defense convention", were recorded.
This article provides detailed rules such as the category, quantity, transmission method and how to correct the mistakes when the Xiongnu intrudes on different parts, numbers, time, intentions, changes and abnormal weather. Even the captain has to ask for leave if he is sick. This information transmission method has played a certain role in defending the frontier and resisting the enemy.
bonfires transmit information very quickly. In 119 BC, generals Wei Qing and Huo Qubing led hundreds of thousands of troops to attack in a separate way, taking the bonfire as a signal to March. In just one day, this signal spread from Hexi to Liaodong, thousands of miles away. Due to the rapid and timely warning of the beacon, it remained in use until the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Yantai, Shandong Province, got its name because the Wolf Yantai was set up there in the Ming Dynasty to prevent the Japanese invasion. Although the bonfire transmits military information quickly, it can't fully express the profound and complicated military content. With the development of society and the needs of politics and military affairs, the communication mode of transmitting information by animal power has gradually occupied a dominant position, forming a more rigorous post-delivery system for transmitting government documents and cooperating with beacon warning.
in the western Zhou dynasty, in order to meet the needs of the contact between the king of Zhou and the princes, a post station was set up every 3 miles on the avenue, which was specially responsible for delivering official documents, receiving officials and transporting goods. Confucius once said: "The popularity of virtue is faster than posting."
It means that the moral theory advocated by him spreads faster than sending orders by post. It can be seen that the postal communication at that time was not only quite complete, but also quite fast.
during the Qin and Han dynasties, a whole set of post-delivery system was formed. Especially in the Han Dynasty, the delivered documents were divided into grades, and the documents of different grades should be delivered by special personnel and special horses in the specified order and time.
all these documents should be registered, marked with time, so as to clarify responsibilities. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the cause of post-delivery was developed unprecedentedly.
The official postal transportation line in the Tang Dynasty took Chang 'an, the capital, as the center, radiating to all directions and reaching the border area directly, with a post station about 3 miles away. According to "Six Classics of the Great Tang Dynasty", at its peak, there were 1,639 post stations in China, with more than 2, people specialized in post service, including 17, post soldiers.
Post stations are divided into three types: land post, water post and waterway merger. Each post station is equipped with post houses, with post horses, post donkeys, post boats and post fields. In the Tang Dynasty, there were also explicit provisions on the itinerary of the postal post. The fast horse of Luyi took 6 posts a day, that is, 18 Li, and then it was going to travel 3 Li a day, and the fastest requirement was 5 Li a day. Walking personnel travel 5 miles a day; When sailing against the current, the river is 4 miles, the river is 5 miles, and the other 6 miles; 1 to 15 miles is always stipulated when the water goes well.
The poet Cen Can wrote in the poem "Judge with a word on the way to Longshan for the first time" that "after a post, the post rides like a star stream; Pingming sent Xianyang, the curtain and the top of the mountain. " Here he compares the post riding to a shooting star.
in the 14th year of Tianbao, on November 9th, An Lushan rebelled in Fanyang. At that time, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty was in Huaqing Palace, which was three thousand miles apart. Within six days, Emperor Xuanzong knew the news, and the transmission speed reached 5 miles per day.
It can be seen that the organization and speed of postal communication in the Tang Dynasty have reached a very high level. Song.
2. The ancient ways of sending letters
The ancient ways of sending information were specific.
knotting notes is a common method of original information transmission, and the practice of knotting notes in ancient Chinese society is described in history books. The Book of Changes states: "In ancient times, knotting notes ruled, and later sages easily used them to write deeds. Hundreds of officials rule, and all people observe. "
"Zhuangzi" says: "In the past, Rong Cheng's family ... Zhu Rong's family, Fu Xishi's family, Shennong's family, when the time is right, the people tied the rope and used it." "History of the North" also mentioned: "Hunting is a career, simplicity is a custom, simplicity is a change, not words, just carving wood and tying knots."
the knotting method is widely used in ancient Chinese history and has a long history. When recording the date of appointment, the Gaoshan people in Taiwan Province tie several knots according to the number of days, and untie one knot every night.
The Luoba people in Tibet cut a knot with a knife every other day, until the last knot is cut, it means the date of appointment. When Dulong people in Yunnan travel alone, they often tie a hemp rope around their waist and tie a knot every day to record the number of days they leave.
Yao people often get a verdict in front of the leader when they have a dispute. The method is that the disputants each hold a rope, and whoever tells a reason will tie a knot until the end, and the one with more knots will win the case. In class society, the tradition of knotting rope has also been inherited by businessmen and changed in shape and use.
In shops, hotels, teahouses and stalls of hong merchants, all kinds of covers or signboards are often decorated with various decorative pieces, strung with ropes, embroidered with sapphires, colorful striped fabrics, various beads or rows of flowers, and there are also many unique covers, which are woven by knotting thick hemp ropes. Here, the knot has become a new medium to transmit advertising information.
(2) wood carving. Woodcarving is another symbolic language.
historical records have also recorded the historical facts of woodcarving in various parts of China. For example, in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, "When an adult calls, woodcarving is believed", although there is no text, I dare not violate it. "A Answer from Outside the Ridge" also says: "Yao people have no words, and their offers are carved with wood and two boards. People hold one and keep it."
The Chronicle of Tengyue Prefecture in Yunnan also mentioned: "There is a custom in foreign countries, and all things are borrowed on credit, and the financial period is about everything. I don't know the words, but I only use woodcut as the symbol, and each side holds its own half, so I am rewarded as promised." In the process of commodity production and exchange, the custom of carving wood for memory evolved into the inscription of official or the mark of celebrity goods, that is, the name of official or celebrity was stamped on the goods sold.
if we go back, woodcarving can even be regarded as the source of commodity trademarks and marking advertisements. (3) shows the smoke.
during the spring and autumn period in our country, it was recorded that fire and smoke were used to transmit military warnings. After Qin Shihuang, a beacon tower was built every ten miles on the Great Wall of Wan Li, and dried wolf dung was used as fuel. After it was lit, the fire and smoke soared, which could spread the emergency warning to far places.
The ancient poem "The sunset in Pingsha is in the west of the desert, and the stars in Longshang are high and low; The phrase "watching the bonfire in several places in the lonely mountain, the strong men are waiting for the drums" is a true portrayal of the application of this original information transmission method. This kind of media was also used in the business activities of businessmen in ancient society. For example, at different times, there were records of night caravans and caravans "raising fire for the number".
(4) drums. The original information transmission method has both visual and auditory effects.
The information transmission acting on hearing is mainly carried out by means of sound communication tools, among which signal drum is the most common. In China, the cowhide wooden drum of Jinuo nationality is also hollowed out at both ends of a thick tree, and then tied with a hairy cattle hide, which is hung on the tree and struck with a mallet. Every New Year's Day, men, women and children gather together to sing and dance.
(5) Bamboo number. The Nu people in our country used bamboo trumpets to spread information during the funeral, and played different numbers of bamboo trumpets to report the funeral to the whole village.
The number of bamboo trumpets increases or decreases according to the identity of the deceased: unmarried deceased people play one bamboo trumpet, married people play two, and old people and leaders play five or six. Tribal members immediately rushed to the home of the deceased and sent eggs to mourn.
In the class society, with the differentiation of merchants, merchants walked through the streets and created colorful information dissemination tools such as blowing, pulling and playing. For example, merchants in the Han Dynasty recorded that they sold candies by playing the flute. (6) audio equipment.
The pottery bells, pottery caskets unearthed from Miaodigou site in Neolithic age in China and the three-hole pottery caskets unearthed from Jiangzhai site all have the function of making music. After entering the class society, with the development of commodity production and commodity exchange, the forms of audio advertisements are becoming more and more colorful. All kinds of utensils in daily life may become the media of audio advertisements, such as bowls, lamps and pots closely related to daily life, and flutes, pianos, harps, drums and gongs related to entertainment, which have also become the tools of advertising information transmission.
To meet the needs of advertising, many businessmen have also specially made acoustic instruments that show the characteristics of the industry, such as the rattle of the peddler, the tweezers fork used by the barber, and the copper clappers used by the sharpener. The widespread use of specific metonymy shows that the methods and ways of advertising communication have changed greatly.
With the frequent communication activities and the progress of communication technology, people borrow all available tools or objects to deliver advertising information more effectively and pertinently. The richness of media forms makes human advertising spread in a wider area and conveys richer ideological, cultural and commercial information.
2. Life metonymy (1) draft. Also known as dirt.
this is a natural growth thing, but when it is inserted into the items for sale or sale, it has a logo meaning. In different historical periods of ancient China society, from daily necessities to poor families selling their children because of hunger and cold, they all used mustard.
There have been many references to the cursive script in Water Margin, the most famous of which is the record about Yang Zhi selling knives: "Yang Zhi bought a precious sword that day, inserted the cursive script and went on the market to sell it." The grass sign here has the function of advertising media.
(2) Ears of grain, hedgerows and wickers. It often appears in front of food shops in rural areas, and it can be hung on the door or fence at will, which not only plays a role in marking, but also shows the simplicity and hospitality of the store. Small hedges and wickers can immediately narrow the distance between the store and customers, merchants and passers-by, and it is also an advertising medium with low production cost but excellent communication effect.
(3) bottle gourd ladle and grass broom. Grass broom is also called "grass brush" and "grass pole" and "broom pole".
after the song dynasty, after breaking the restriction of market, shops can be opened not only in residential areas, but also in markets and rural areas. Straw brooms, as advertising signs, often appear in restaurants and teahouses, and there are many records of these things in the literature of Song Dynasty.
3. What were the ancient ways of sending messages?
1. Beacon to send military information
"Beacon" was a communication method used in ancient China to send frontier military information. It began in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, extended to Ming and Qing Dynasties, and learned from each other for thousands of years, especially in the Han Dynasty. At the height of the frontier defense military fortress or traffic hub, a high platform is built at regular intervals, commonly known as beacon tower, also known as beacon tower, pier, smoke pier and so on. Garrison is waiting on the high platform. When the enemy invades, they burn firewood during the day to give an alarm as "burnt smoke" and firewood at night to give an alarm as "beacon" (fire). When one station lit a beacon, the neighboring stations also lit their torches one after another, and passed them one by one, in a short time, in order to report the enemy's situation, dispatch troops, ask for reinforcements and defeat the enemy.
Second, Hongyan's Biography
The story of "Hongyan's Biography" comes from the story of "Su Wu herding sheep" in the biography of Han Su Wu. According to records, in the first year of the reign of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty (1 BC), Su Wu, an envoy of the Han Dynasty, was detained by Shan Yu, a fierce slave. He was brave and unyielding, and Khan exiled him to no man's land in Beihai (now Lake Baikal) to shepherd sheep. Nineteen years later, Emperor Zhao of Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne, and the fierce Han Dynasty reconciled and got married. The envoys of the Han Dynasty came fiercely and demanded to let Su Wu go back, but Khan refused, but he couldn't say it, so he lied that Su Wu was dead. Later, Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty sent envoys to the fierce slaves, and Chang Hui, the deputy envoy who was detained together with Su Wu, secretly met with the Han envoy one night with the help of the jailer, told the Han envoy about Su Wu, and came up with a plan to let the Han envoy tell Khan: "When the Emperor of the Han Dynasty was hunting in Shanglinyuan, he shot a wild goose with a letter written on silk tied to his foot, which said that Su Wu was not dead. Han was very happy after hearing this, so he blamed Khan according to Chang Hui's words. Khan was greatly surprised after hearing this, but he couldn't deny it, so he had to put Su Wu back.
Third, the fish conveys the ruler
In ancient Chinese poetry, fish is regarded as biography.