Author: Yu San Source: "Modern Express" Drawing Yu Xiaoxiang's old friend left the Yellow Crane Tower in the west, and fireworks went down to Yangzhou in March. What do you want to see in Yangzhou? See the beauty of Yangzhou forest? Taste Yangzhou cuisine? Or feel the slow pace and comfort of Yangzhou? No one has forgotten that there are beautiful women in Yangzhou. Since ancient times, almost all people who have been to Yangzhou and those who have never been to Yangzhou will say the last sentence: Yangzhou has produced beautiful women since ancient times. So, does Yangzhou really "produce" beautiful women? Is it the rumor that "3,000 beautiful women brought by Emperor Yang Di lived among the people and improved the genes of Yangzhou people"? Or is it from the training and publicity of the "thin horse" breeder? To solve the secret of "why beautiful women come out of Yangzhou", we must know and understand Yangzhou in all directions and understand the past of this ancient city that is not like a misty cloud ... When did the theory of "beautiful women" begin? The ladies-in-waiting in the beauty pageant of Emperor Yang Di enriched palaces all over the world, and more than half of them were related to water, especially in China. Yangzhou is located in the north of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River with unique geographical conditions. More than 2000 years ago, Fu Cha, King of Wu, dug a canal here to communicate with water transport, and Yangzhou entered the era of building a city. 1, more than 400 years ago, Yang Guang, a great talent with outstanding poetic talent, chose the wrong career with outstanding talent in geography and water conservancy, and also used the advantages of north and south to dig the Grand Canal. Yangzhou was lucky enough to be chosen as the beautiful jade at the intersection of the two waters. The Canal is the only north-south waterway route in China since Sui and Tang Dynasties. In ancient times when traffic was underdeveloped, convenient and fast water transportation became the main mode of transportation. The Grand Canal undertakes two-thirds of the country's salt transportation and about half of its water transportation. It is the main artery of the whole country's economy and materials and an important guarantee of the strategic system. Busy traffic has brought strong economy and rich culture to Yangzhou. By the Qing Dynasty, Yangzhou had become one of the top ten cities in the world. Yang Guang, the emperor of Yang Di who dug the Grand Canal, was buried in Tang Lei, a northern suburb of Yangzhou. Although the cemetery is lonely, the canal he dug has made unparalleled contributions to the Chinese nation. He and Yangzhou, there are many romantic legends, but also a lot of grief and helplessness. Unofficial history said that he came to Yangzhou from Luoyang to dig the Grand Canal in order to see Qionghua. What's more, he said that he dug the Grand Canal to see the beauty of a Taoist. As for the reason, I believe that future generations will give him a fair evaluation. You know, when Emperor Yang Di dug the canal, there were neither beautiful flowers nor famous Yangzhou beauties. However, after Yang Di came to Yangzhou, he was amazed at the developed water conservancy here, almost all farmland in the territory can be irrigated, the people are rich and healthy, and the folk customs are simple, so he built platforms and buildings in Yangzhou to engage in gardens and public greening. Emperor Yang Di named the willow "Liu Yang" after his surname, which is slender, weak and invincible in the spring breeze. With the palace, it is necessary to enrich the maids and maids of beauty pageants. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. This is because the emperor, who was active in people's livelihood but didn't care about the sufferings of the people, learned poetry well, but became a representative of extravagance, and was finally forced to commit suicide. The palace was destroyed and the ladies-in-waiting disappeared. Those Gonge either live in the folk or become wives and concubines of the sergeant. This is just an introduction to "beauty comes out of Yangzhou". How did the real "Yangzhou Beauty" come into being? Castle peak is vaguely green water thousands of miles away, and the vegetation in the south of the Yangtze River has not withered in autumn. Where does the Jade Man teach oral sex at Bridge 24 on a moonlit night? -Du Mu's "A Letter to Yangzhou Magistrate Han Chuo" "Beauty" comes from the poem. The 900-volume Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty was engraved in Cao Yin, proclaiming that the beauty of Yangzhou in the Sui Dynasty had been written in bamboo slips, and the willow in Yangzhou still welcomed the small maple and the bright moon, and ushered in the prosperous Tang Dynasty calmly. Due to the geographical conditions of Yangzhou, a large number of materials are shipped out of Yangzhou or directly northward, resulting in astronomical taxes and profits. Yangzhou quickly grew into the southeast capital of the prosperous Tang Dynasty and became the center of the southeast economic and cultural artery except Kyoto. Scholars who have never been to Yangzhou will be considered as imperfect as pilgrims who have never been to Mecca. On the other hand, her convenient transportation will also create many opportunities for scholars from south to north to stay here. So Li Bai came, Du Mu came, Zhang Hu came, Xu Ning came, and the poets, calligraphers and painters represented by them all came. In the era of poetry and narrative, they wrote a timeless quatrain for Yangzhou-Li Bai's "Old friends stay in the Yellow Crane Tower in the west, and fireworks go down to Yangzhou in March"; Du Mu's "The green hills are full of water, the grass in the south of the Yangtze River is not withered in autumn, and there are twenty-four bridges on a moonlit night, where there are jade people who teach flute playing"; Xu Ning's Xiao Niang's face is thin and hard to beat tears, and the peach leaves are long and easy to worry about. Three-point moonlit night in the world, rogue Yangzhou "; Zhang Hu "ten miles long street, moon bridge to see the gods; Life only coincides with the death of Yangzhou, the tomb of Zen Zhishan Mountain, etc., which are well-known sayings and the best gift they left to Yangzhou ... Just as the repetition in the song is easy to be remembered, later generations omit other sentences that are not so widely circulated or representative for convenience. But reading through the whole poem, most of them are out-and-out love poems or hymns describing beautiful women. Yangzhou has a large number of literati and a solid economic foundation. More than 30 academies have been established and are thriving. "Southeast Academy is prosperous, and Yangzhou is the third (one third)". Among them, famous teachers sit in the town, and scholars from all over the world are bustling. Yangzhou has become the publishing place of various academic works, poems and songs. Among them, Jiangning weaved Cao Yin in Qing Dynasty, aiming at supervising and engraving 900 volumes of all Tang poems in Yangzhou and distributing them throughout the country. Therefore, people who have never been to Yangzhou have felt how beautiful and pitiful the beauty of Yangzhou is from the poems. The girls who can't even catch up with the "ten-mile spring breeze" in the poem, the women whose faces are so thin that they can't help crying, and the urban women who are as beautiful as immortals are simply rare in the world and unparalleled in the sky. In fact, since the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, countless literati have praised Yangzhou, and there are even more beautiful women in Yangzhou. Women who have won the honor of heaven and earth in Huize, through the artistic processing of literati, go where poetry goes. "Yangzhou produces beautiful women", which has been passed down from generation to generation and deeply rooted in people's hearts. Qionghua Qionghua and Paeonia lactiflora represent a beautiful woman, a Leng Yan and a charm in Yangzhou. If there really is a beautiful woman who Du Mu and Xu Ning admire and pity in Yangzhou, what kind of natural and social environment makes Yangzhou have a beautiful woman who is quite satisfied with the creator? Yangzhou is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River, with abundant rainfall, numerous lakes, mild climate and superior natural conditions, and arable land can reach the whole territory. The water levels on both sides of the Yangtze River and several great lakes, which are more than 80 kilometers long in China, are stable and no major disasters have occurred. With such unique geographical conditions, the flowers, trees, birds, animals, people and insects that grow here are all a blessing. Under such circumstances, in the ancient times of pursuing exotic flowers and plants, nothing rare and unique in the world was produced, which wasted the mind of the creator between heaven and earth. Just say two kinds of flowers related to beauty, one is Qionghua, which makes the world flock to it; The other is peony as expensive as Luoyang peony. There are many poems praising these two kinds of flowers in the past dynasties. The most widely known one is the birthday of Yangzhou, Xie Juezai. "The Qionghua in the temple is rich and colorful, and the western wind in the lake is thinner than autumn"; In Li Bai's The Leave of Qin Daughter, "Ximen Qing Qin's daughter is as beautiful as a Qionghua" ... there are countless poems about peony. Su Shi's "Zhao Chang Peony" wrote that "Yangzhou is close to Chiba, which is natural and fashionable"; Han Qi has a poem: "Guangling Peony is really beautiful, and its name is comparable to Luoyang." Qionghua and Paeonia lactiflora are Leng Yan among the green leaves as holy as snow, and a charming and affectionate leaf bottom arises spontaneously. These two kinds of flowers can generally represent the beautiful women (local and immigrant) in Yangzhou. The former is full of emotions and passive avoidance, while the latter is full of colorful merchants and tea shops. There are many varieties and quantities of peony in Yangzhou. When peonies are in full bloom, people around Yangzhou and beyond seem to be invited by Hua Xun to come to Yangzhou to enjoy the flowers. You can not only see peonies blooming everywhere on Yangzhou Road in the spring breeze, but also see that men, women and children in Yangzhou like to wear peony flowers, regardless of wealth. Therefore, in the spring flower market around Ming Kai Bridge, there are flower farmers or dealers selling flowers here day and night. Qionghua is sought after by the world because of its small number, and wants to see its beauty. Since Yangzhou's unique geographical conditions can breed two wonderful flowers, one little (Qionghua) and one more (Paeonia lactiflora), people and women in Yangzhou will certainly give gifts and nourish women who are "immortals". Lin Daiyu in A Dream of Red Mansions is from Yangzhou, whose beautiful scenery and products have created a beautiful woman. Lin Daiyu has seen many kinds of headdresses since she was a child and talked about the natural environment. What about the social environment? What are the unique humanistic characteristics and life breath of Yangzhou's soil and water, and cultivate the world-famous beauty? A Moonlit Night on the Spring River, written by Yangzhou poet Zhang in the Tang Dynasty, was praised by predecessors as a masterpiece of "covering the whole Tang Dynasty with an isolated chapter". The poem expresses deep feelings of leaving people, but vividly describes the rivers, moons, waters and fields in Yangzhou. This poem is a wonderful poem describing women, from a lady to a woman who washes clothes, from a woman who sings at the full moon, from a woman who suffers from parting to a woman who longs for missing. It can be said that this is a group portrait of women from all walks of life. Moonlight fills the garden and flowers are overflowing. What kind of woman is there, facing the flowers and the moon, listening to the flute and the piano, bathing in the fragrant moonlight, why not teach the daughters to look around carefully, step by step, three steps and one graceful and restrained? Beautiful women, like ordinary women, need housing, food, clothes, make-up, beautiful headdresses, embroidered shoes with fragrant powder and even dressing up in front of the mirror. All this, in the prosperous times, Yangzhou is rich in products, and even the flowers on her head and silk flower have made hundreds of patterns, which have become the favorite of court beauties. Lin Daiyu in A Dream of Red Mansions is from Yangzhou. She has seen many kinds of headdresses since she was a child, so she is naturally not interested in picking the remaining pair of palace flowers. Yangzhou flourished in Sui and Tang Dynasties since ancient times, with profound cultural background and strong literary atmosphere. Plus her unique flower, moon and water bridge, jade articles, lacquerware, powder, spices, clothing, shoes, jewelry, headdresses (grass flowers, silk gauze flowers, etc.). ), diamond-shaped mirrors, beautiful scenery, pavilions to live in, music to listen to, opera to watch, singing and dancing ... Even these scenery and things, Yangzhou fried rice is now famous all over the world, and the food is "beautiful". Farmers used to fry leftovers with cold rice. You know, beauty depends not only on dressing up, but also on internal maintenance and nutrition. Who doesn't envy Yangzhou cuisine? Who doesn't eat his belly and waist when he arrives in Yangzhou? Speaking of Yangzhou people's way of eating, it is exactly what Confucius said: food is not tired of fine, food is not tired of fine. Yangzhou people pay attention to food, but it is really not that Jiangnan is better than Jiangnan, and it has lost the rigidity of the north like pavilions. Yangzhou people study diet, not only to entertain guests, but also to keep fit. From wealthy businessmen to ordinary people's homes, from delicacies to fried pickles with shrimps in small rivers, crystal pig's trotters, three-headed (lion's head, fish head and pig's head) banquets, and then lettuce and broad beans with eggs. There is also the famous "water in the bag in the morning and water in the foreskin at night". People in Yangzhou eat healthily, carefully and fastidiously. It is true that jade food nurtures people. Modern science has proved that what kind of nutrition can really raise what kind of figure and face, even the expression will change. Coupled with generations of genetic optimization and social development, it is not surprising that Yangzhou cuisine can nourish generations of beautiful women. Yangzhou people not only like to eat at home by themselves, but also like to play together, which is commonly known as "having a party" and also called a hundred banquets. The host should bring his own ingredients, chef and tableware and perform in front of rich and powerful people. The food has been recognized by everyone, and the host, chef and famous dishes are all famous. Since the Qing Dynasty, "Yangzhou Restaurant" has been particularly developed in cooking Huaiyang cuisine, and its signature shops have been opened all over the country, even in Hong Kong, Macao and abroad. A cage of "Yangzhou steamed buns" and a bowl of "Yangzhou fried rice" have long been famous at home and abroad, and how many diners have been dumped. Don't you know that "Yangzhou fried rice" was originally used by farmers to heat leftovers with cold rice in order to save firewood? But when it comes to rich families, it has evolved into "Yangzhou fried rice", where various ingredients are chopped into cubes and special ingredients are added to the rice. Because of its simplicity, it has become a world-famous delicacy, highlighting another style of Yangzhou, a romantic city. There are not many records about the dishes cooked by Yangzhou chefs in history. What makes them outstanding is that they can make unusual food with the ingredients they usually see. Now there is another restaurant called "Caigenxiang", which means that simple vegetable roots can also make delicious food on earth. There are "Yangzhou School" in profound scholarship and "Yangzhou School" in simple daily cooking. Yangzhou people eat exquisitely, have a good taste, eat romantically, eat happily and eat happily. Watch the scenery while eating, listen to music and watch drama while eating, and handle business while eating. Today's Yangzhou people also have the unique custom of "getting things done on the wine table". The poor family sold their daughter as a "thin horse", which is the tearful history of Yangzhou beauty, or married as a business concubine, or sent Liuxiang to make fireworks. Speaking of beautiful women in Yangzhou, we can't ignore the famous "thin horse" in Yangzhou. A common saying still circulating in Yangzhou is "Marry a horse and a horse", which means to marry a wife. This horse evolved from the word thin horse. Yangzhou was the settlement of salt merchants in Huaibei (Huainan) in ancient times. Salt merchants were very rich in those days, and their lives were as luxurious as those of the royal family. Since the Ming Dynasty, a large number of specially trained young women have married wealthy businessmen as concubines. These women are slim and thin, so they are called "Yangzhou thin horse". Those poor families in Yangzhou city and surrounding rural areas have no food and clothing, so they have to sell their thin daughters as thin horses to spend those helpless days. The "thin horse" was bought by Yangzhou people. After several years' training, we should first teach them to cope freely and behave dignified or elegant, and then teach them to learn calligraphy, painting, piano, chess, singing and dancing. Zhang Dalai, a Qing man, explained in Waiting for a Collection: Yangzhou people buy more girls from poor families and teach geisha to sell them as maids' concubines for as much as 1000 yuan, so they are called "thin horses". There is an extremely strict appraisal procedure for selecting thin horses, and the most important thing for merchants is the evaluation of thin horse feet. There is also a set of very detailed methods to identify this "three-inch golden lotus", and people have also formulated seven standards, such as "fineness, smallness, sharpness, bending, fragrance, softness and integrity". In Yangzhou in the Qing Dynasty, there were businessmen living around the "thin horse" industrial chain. They went from purchasing to training to finding buyers, and even held a wedding for the thin horse with the buyers, providing one-stop service. According to historical records, the "thin horse" bought from Yangzhou, because of formal education, has a skill, got a kitchen under the main room, is gentle, respectful and frugal, and rarely makes other wives and concubines angry or jealous in the host family, which makes men feel at ease. Some actually felt the benefits of Yangzhou's "thin horse" and went to Yangzhou to buy it again and again. At that time, it was not a shame to raise thin horses. Because thin horses are profitable, some businessmen also raise young women. If they meet generous buyers, they will naturally make a lot of money. The beautiful women known as "thin horses" either followed the buyers to the vast world outside Yangzhou, or stayed in their hometown to find a suitable family to marry. But not all "thin horses" can successfully marry into the giants. Finally, some of the remaining "thin horses" had to be sent to Yanhua Lane. On the Qinhuai River, most Yang Bang geisha were born with thin horses. And those "thin horses" who are "lucky" to be concubines by officials, businessmen and nobles may not live a happy life from now on. Some people say that Yangzhou thin horse is the history of blood and tears of Yangzhou beauty. Since there are countless Yangzhou beauties admired by the world because of the delicious food on earth, how many Yangzhou beauties are famous all over the world? Liu Xijun, the "Princess Jiangdu" in Han Dynasty, was the first person promoted by "Princess Jiangdu" earlier than Wang Zhaojun in terms of long history, status and contribution to our Chinese nation. Her father, Liu Jian, King of Jiangdu, was chosen by the then ruling Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, married Wusun (now the upper reaches of Ili River) and became the queen of King Kunmo. Liu Xijun was the first woman in the Liu royal family in the Western Han Dynasty to be sent abroad, 72 years before Wang Zhaojun. She is the first "princess-to-be" in history, and also a talented woman among the first princess-to-be in the Western Han Dynasty. Her elegy still makes people cry. It is said that Liu Xijun's elegy reached the ears of Emperor Wu, and he could not help but be moved. Every other year, an emissary is sent to Wusun to give her a wonderful account. This famous beauty in Yangzhou has set three firsts: becoming the first person to succeed in ancient times; The first person to express his ambition in poetry; A person who pioneered the musical instrument pipa. In memory of her, Anhui Lingbi also has her handprint of stopping to look back at her hometown. Wu Jiangxian, a beautiful woman in Yangzhou in Sui Dynasty, was a female official in Yang Di Palace, and was called Mrs. Kongtong. He is good at painting Emei, and has been known as the "Thrushcross Master" for generations. When Emperor Yang Di was forced to commit suicide, the crimson fairy committed suicide with Emperor Yang Di like the Nine-Day Fairy, and the sweet soul disappeared instantly. She is a model of beauty in Yangzhou, writing a sad song through the ages with loyalty. Teresa Teng in the Tang Dynasty talks about Liu Cai, a beautiful woman who can sing and dance in the Tang Dynasty. She will think of Teresa Teng. She was deeply appreciated by Yuan Zhen, who said that she was "elegant and romantic in speech and humble in manner." When she sings with the army, even the women and pedestrians in the boudoir will cry wherever the song goes. She can not only sing, but also write her own songs. She is a creative artist, who sang more than 120 songs by herself. She also had a romantic story with Yuan Zhen, a great poet, but she didn't know the ending. Mao Xixi, a martyr in the Song Dynasty, was a famous prostitute in Yangzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty, whose ancestral home was Gaoyou. Born into an official family, he studied books and swords since childhood, and he was both civil and military. Unfortunately, the nomads from the south committed crimes, Gaoyou fell and fled to Yangzhou with his wet nurse. Because he is familiar with piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and can sing and dance well, he soon became famous in Yangzhou City. Later, she was forcibly accepted as a concubine by Gaoyou Lianchang Rongquan. Rongquan rebelled. Mao Xi rebuked Rongquan before the banquet and was hacked to death. After the chaos, Song Lizong named Mao Xixi as the heroine's wife. There are many things worth cherishing in the history of the Song Dynasty. The tomb is located in the south of Gaoyou, commonly known as "the tomb of Xi girl in Maoxi". Zhu Niangniang, who made good friends with Guan Hanqing, had a "foreign beauty" Zhu in the Yuan Dynasty. She was an actress in the early Yuan Dynasty, and artists later in the Yuan Dynasty called her "Zhu Niangniang". Make friends with songwriters Guan Hanqing and Feng Zizhen. Later, she married Hong, a Taoist priest in Qiantang, and left Yangzhou to settle in Hangzhou. Tian Xiuying, the most beautiful concubine of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty, was the most beautiful concubine of Chongzhen, the last emperor of Ming Dynasty. She was born when her father Tian Hong met Ren Ganzong in Yangzhou. It is estimated that Yangzhou's aura infected her. Tian Xiuying was born in childhood. She is slim, taciturn and versatile. She plays the piano, plays chess, paints and calligraphy, rides horses and hunts, plays the flute and tunes the silk, and is sweet and lovely. More importantly, she was born with fragrance. "Although she eats hot food in the hot summer or walks in the scorching sun, her muscles are sweat-free, and there is fragrance between her pillows", which won the favor of Wang Zhu Youjian. At the age of 16 (1627), she was chosen as Princess Xin. Time has passed, where have all the beautiful women in Yangzhou told by the poet gone? May be buried in the memory of history. However, after all, Yangzhou has had beautiful women, and the words left by literati and poets are not empty. The unique environment and developed urban economy have not been handed down like the beautiful scenery of Yangzhou. Now when people say that "beautiful women have been born in Yangzhou since ancient times", Yangzhou girls will feel a little stressed and always say "I am a maid of beautiful women" to each other. After all, beautiful women belong to that era. They once had a life like a song and a picturesque past. However, I believe that there will be a famous "beauty of Yangzhou" now, or in the near future. If you wander around the streets of Yangzhou and suddenly turn around, maybe a beautiful woman is looking at you through the carved wooden window ... 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