The origin of old Beijing idioms

Do you know the origin of old Beijing idioms? How did the interesting old Beijing idioms come about? The following are the sources of old Beijing idioms that I collected , hope it helps you.

There are a large number of idioms in Beijing dialect. According to their origin, one type is compiled based on the situation of things, and the other type has classic references. The so-called "classic" is just a metaphor, such as coming from a certain nation, coming from a certain folk custom, coming from a certain historical figure, etc.

The former one is very simple and easy to understand. For example, scallions mixed with tofu, one green and two white. Onion stems are white in color, onion leaves are green in color, and tofu is white in color. When mixed together, it becomes one green and two white. "Qing" has the same pronunciation as "Qing", so it is used to refer to "Innocent", "Clear" and other meanings. Another example is: The ponytail is worn through tofu and cannot be lifted up. The ponytail is so thin and tough that it cannot be lifted up if it penetrates the tofu! So it is used to express that someone, something or something cannot be lifted up. Another example is: The land lord pounces on the grasshopper and panics. The Earth God is a god, and he is in a hurry to attack the grasshopper, so he said that he is panicking. There are countless examples of this, such as frozen tofu that cannot be mixed. Frozen tofu cannot be eaten mixed. "Mix" has the same pronunciation as "manage", which means that something cannot be helped. Another example is: Fried onions are shriveled. When onions are heated and stir-fried, they will shrink. So it is used to mean that people are embarrassed, trapped, etc. This falls into the first category. The second category has classics, some derived from certain folk customs, some derived from ethnic minorities, some derived from certain historical figures, etc. Beijing is the ancient capital of past dynasties. Especially after the Manchus entered the customs, Beijing was the center for more than two hundred years. Manchu folk customs and the political, military, economic and other activities of the Qing Dynasty left a lot of traces in Beijing dialect, forming this dialect. If you have any relevant words, please comment later. This is different from the first category above. It is not directly taken from the shape of things like the first category, but is derived from "allusion". Therefore, if you don't find out the allusion from which it was formed, you will have no idea what the idiom is. How it was formed? I don’t understand why this sentence alludes to the next sentence. In order to explore the origin of Beijing customs, it is necessary to talk about the origin of this kind of idiom. There are many such idioms, and naturally it is difficult to describe them all. Here are some examples to get a glimpse of their origin.

1. The kang of the milk tea shop is narrow and long.

In Beijing dialect, when someone is sarcastic about something that is too narrow and long but lacks width, they often say: "Drink! This is good! The kang of the milk tea shop!" It means to sarcastically say that this thing is too narrow and long.

First of all, we must explain what the milk tea shop is. The ancestors of the Manchu people did not have the habit of eating milk. Later, when the Manchu people were united, many Mongolians were incorporated into the Manchurian banner. As more Mongolians were recruited, they were later organized into the Eight Mongolian Banners. Since then, the Manchu and Mongolian people have produced and lived together, and the Manchu people have learned to drink milk tea. After the Manchu and Mongolian bannermen entered the country, in order to meet the living needs of the bannermen, some people in the Beijing business community opened milk tea shops on the streets to sell milk and dairy products. The milk tea shop is so narrow that only a long and narrow kang can be built along the window. The width is only enough for one person to sit, but the length is enough for ten or more people to sit at the same time. Therefore, the Kang of the milk tea shop is narrow and long. The narrow and long kang of the milk tea shop left a deep impression on Beijingers, who thought it was the most appropriate metaphor for an object that is too narrow but not wide, thus forming this old Beijing saying.

The last milk tea shop to close in Beijing was Xiangzixuan in the south of Xikou Nei Road, Huguosi Street, Xicheng, which closed in 1940.

2. The lame man is trying to siege? He sits and shouts.

In Beijing dialect, people who only use their mouths but not their hands are called "a cripple fighting a siege", and the following is "sitting and shouting". It is said that he only drinks from his mouth but does not do anything with his hands.

This comes from the Manchu hunting method. When hunting, people form several large circles, from far to near, and people form circles from large to small. After the circle is formed, you must first shout loudly. There is a Manchu word "scare the beasts", which refers to this kind of shouting. People form a circle, and the animals surrounded by the circle are afraid and lurk in the bushes. If there are many people and shout loudly, the beast will jump up and run away in all directions. At this time, people holding bows, arrows, swords and spears chased the scattered beasts. When a lame man participates in a hunt, he can only sit on the ground and shout, but cannot get up to chase. Therefore, this sentence is formed. Compare people who only use their mouths but not their hands to a lame man who participates in a siege. He only shouts in vain but does not actually do anything.

3. Sheep visiting the grave? It’s time to risk it.

The so-called risking one's life means risking one's life. This comes from ancient Jurchen customs. The Jurchens and their descendants, the Manchus, killed pigs to offer sacrifices to heaven and gods, but at the graves of the deceased they killed sheep instead of pigs. When the Manchus first entered the customs, they still adhered to this old custom. Until the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Manchus still led sheep to the gravesite to offer sacrifices to their ancestors, and killed them as sacrifices in front of their ancestors' graves. In the late Qing Dynasty, the life of the banner people became increasingly difficult. People could not afford to kill sheep for sacrifice, so they carried mutton to their graves. In short, they insisted on not using pork as sacrifices to their ancestors' graves. People say that a sheep that goes to a grave will never return, and will surely die as soon as it reaches the grave. This sentence has a wide range of uses. It is not only used to risk one's life, but also to risk money, risk losing money in business, and other things. Anyone who is cruel, regardless of the consequences, does not consider the loss, etc., says: "This time I am the sheep in the grave!" Sometimes this sentence is used to express a desperate mood.

4. Papery donkey? Loud voice.

When people in Beijing dialect yell loudly or speak louder than normal, this idiom is often used to express derogation. This originated from Beijing's "shaohuo". Since ancient times, the Manchu people have had the custom of burning clothes and utensils to offer sacrifices to the deceased. After a person dies, the clothes and instruments used by the deceased are burned in front of the grave. "A Dream of Red Mansions" writes that after the death of the second sister You, Jia Lian wrapped up the clothes of the second sister and burned them. This is purely an old Manchu custom. Later, the bannermen were unable to burn real clothes, so the "Ming Yi Shop" was established. The imitation clothes were made into "burning alive" with paper, and they were burned as real clothes to offer sacrifices to the dead. Beijing's Shaohuo craftsmanship is extremely sophisticated, and you can paste whatever you want. A cart must have horses, mules, and donkeys to pull it. Paper mache donkeys and horses only care about their appearance and don’t care about their internal organs. Therefore, the long neck of the paper donkey is regarded as a big voice. To say that people have a loud and noisy voice, a paper donkey is suitable because other things do not have such a loud voice. The paper donkey is the same size as a real donkey, and its neck is just a big empty tube. It is very appropriate that its big hollow neck is bigger than its big voice. People today have never seen burning alive, but if you think about using paper to make a paper donkey the size of a real donkey, its neck must be a big empty tube.

5. Pot fried fish? It’s dead.

Beijing Banner people like to eat a kind of small dried fish in winter, and use it to stir-fry carrot sauce, which is a home-cooked dish for Beijing Banner people in winter. When the Empress Dowager Cixi was in power, the Qing Palace Dining Room included fried carrot sauce on the winter menu to adapt to her taste. This small dried fish is called pot fish. Small fish are caught, dried in the sun, and blasted in a pot. The result is dryer than dead wood. For stir-frying, place dried fish in oil and fry. Because the fish is too dry, it becomes crispy when fried.

In Beijing dialect, it means "gan" when someone's actions or words make others embarrassed, or the language is too harsh and embarrassing. The word "Gangren" means to embarrass others. "Qian" can be used as a verb, for example, "this sentence can really kill people". In response to this kind of situation, Beijingers use the idiom "Guo Pao Yu". Or you can also say: "How did the Guo Pao Fish die? It was fucked to death!"

6. The deer in Haizi? Shocked .

Haizi refers to a lake and connected swamps in Nanyuan, Beijing. It was a royal hunting ground before the Qing Dynasty. It was expanded during the Qing Dynasty and a large number of deer were stocked for royal hunting. In the wild environment, deer must move around in order to find food, and they are active all day and night. In order to avoid being killed by ferocious beasts and hunted by hunters, one must be in a state of extreme mental stress at any time and at any time; the senses of smell, hearing, vision and all other senses must be in full play at all times. The Oroqen and Ewenki people mostly hunt deer in their daily hunting activities. Therefore, they are well aware of the nature of deer and have sufficient knowledge about the alertness and vigilance of deer. There are many legends that are true and credible. This confirms that deer are very flexible. However, deer were captured from the three northeastern provinces and raised in Haizi. Over time, the deer lost their wild environment. There was ready-made grass to eat, and they could eat anywhere. They were not harmed by wild beasts and could not hear the gunshots of hunters. Over time, they were full of food all day long and had no intention of doing anything. Finally, they stood there in a daze, too lazy to move. Nowadays, people have never seen the deer in Haizi, but everyone has seen the deer in the zoo; they are the same. "Haizi's deer" was stunned. This sentence was formed in this way.

Beijing people say that they have nothing to do, no use of mental or physical energy, and they are idle all day long. They often say this afterthought, such as "He has nothing to do all day long, he is really a deer in Haizi", the following is "astonished".

7. Fatty Wang’s waistband is loose.

Beijing dialect refers to the two situations as "sparse". One way is to say to tie loosely, to tie loosely, to pretend loosely, which means literally. The other way is to say that you don't hold on tightly, don't be strict, don't be nervous, don't work hard, etc. This catchphrase can be used in both situations. If you say it's tied loosely, how did you tie it up? It's like Fatty Wang's waistband. Another example is to say that he does not have a tight grip on things. How about saying, "The way he handles things is like Fatty Wang's waistband!" These two sentences mean that the rope is loosely tied; the other means that he does not have a tight grip on things and is loose.

I have long heard from the old man that Fatty Wang is a real person, but he has never found out the details. In 1966, I met a descendant of Fatty Wang in Lang's home in the eastern suburbs of Beijing, and learned that Fatty Wang was a grain worker, carrying rice transported from the south to Beijing through the canal. In the Qing Dynasty, transportation from north to south relied on canals. Beijing Langjiayuan was located at the northern end of the canal, and some households specialized in carrying grain and rice. Fatty Wang is tall and strong, with big arms and thick waist. Because my belly is so big, I don’t need a belt. Lift up the trousers, tighten the waistband of the trousers if you have a thick waist and a big belly, and the waistband of the trousers is only loose. Fatty Wang is famous, and his characteristics constitute this saying.

By the way, a few words about Langjiayuan. It is well known in old Beijing that the jujube sellers in the early years called "Langjiayuan's small jujube". The core of this kind of jujube is extremely small. Langjiayuan is the cemetery of Jueluo Langqiu. Lang Qiu entered the Pass with Emperor Shunzhi and once served as Shangshu. Immediately after entering the Pass, Jodo Luo Shun Cheng Gonghui County King Luck Dehun sent troops to the south of the Yangtze River and moved to the Yangtze River Basin. Langjiayuan is named after Lang Qiu. In 1966, a descendant of Fatty Wang told me that there were only two seedless jujube trees in Langjiayuan's courtyard.

8. Don’t worry about eating Yuanxiao. Look at the lanterns.

Before the use of electric lights, oil lamps and candles were placed on tables or cabinets. It was easy for lamps and candles to be knocked over during various activities in people's lives or when moving tables, cabinets and other objects. Knocking over a lamp was a great danger in those days. Because Chinese houses are all made of wood and papered, it is very easy to cause a fire if the lights and candles fall down. Therefore, people constantly remind and warn each other every day, telling everyone to pay attention to lights and candles and not to knock them over to prevent fires. Furthermore, there were no modern fire-fighting equipment and tools at that time, and there was no running water. Once a fire broke out, it would immediately lead to a catastrophe. Therefore, "Be careful of fire candles" was a major thing that people always thought about.

According to Beijing custom, the Lantern Festival is from the 13th to the 17th of the first lunar month, and the Shangyuan Festival on the 15th of the first lunar month is the official day of the Lantern Festival. During the Lantern Festival, every house hangs lanterns, children hold lanterns, and there are lights everywhere. Tangyuan is called Yuanxiao in the north, and Yuanxiao is a festive food during the Lantern Festival. Therefore, watching lanterns and eating Lantern Festival constitute the two major events of the Lantern Festival, and they also represent the two major characteristics of the Lantern Festival. This gave rise to a saying: "Don't just worry about eating Yuanxiao", which means that there is also the matter of watching the lanterns, and you can't just eat Yuanxiao and ignore the lanterns. When old Beijing reminded people to pay attention to the lights, they said, "Don't worry about eating Yuanxiao." The following meaning is that you have to "watch the lights."

9. The Stove Lord in the outside kitchen is sitting alone. Folks all over the country have printed "god code", that is, paper statues of gods engraved on wooden boards. In the old days, paper shops in Beijing sold divine codes. On August 15, there was the Moon Code. On New Year's Eve, there were the Quan Shen Code, the God of Wealth Code, and the Stove King Code. There are two kinds of Stove God symbols in Beijing. One kind of statue is a man and a woman sitting side by side, called the Stove God and the Stove God. This kind of double Stove King's code is provided by the family. The top of the magic number is printed with "Head of the Family". It is said in old Beijing that the Kitchen God is the eldest in the family. Another type of statue is a single statue, with only one male statue and no female statue sitting side by side. This of course means that there is only the Kitchen God but no Kitchen God's grandmother, that is, the Kitchen God is single and has no spouse. This single kitchen king code is used in outdoor kitchens and shops. There are only men in the shop, but no women. In a shop, from the shopkeeper to the clerk and the apprentice, all men are men, so they are given the code of being single and without a spouse. What is an external kitchen? It turns out that the kitchens of wealthy families in the old capital were divided into internal and external kitchens. The outer kitchen is the kitchen of the whole house, responsible for preparing meals for the whole family. The outer kitchen, also known as the large kitchen, is located outside the inner house. There is also an internal kitchen, also known as a kitchenette, located near the inner house. The inner kitchen only provides meals for some people in the house. Therefore, it can be said that the outer kitchen (large kitchen) is the main kitchen of the whole house; the inner kitchen (small kitchen) is the kitchen for some people in the house and is a partial kitchen. It is said in "A Dream of Red Mansions" that what Liu Wuer's mother finally took over but failed was a part of the kitchen (small kitchen) in Rongguo Mansion. Rongguo Mansion also has a large kitchen, otherwise where would the meals for such a large population be prepared for the entire Mansion?

This forms a postscript.

Whenever there are several people gathering but there is only one seat, or there are many people standing but only one person has a seat, or someone is not humble and occupies the only seat, Beijing dialect would say "Drink! The Stove Lord in the outer kitchen!" Including there is only one seat or one person. The meaning of sitting alone.

10. Selling the red ones in the mountains? There is only one left.

The Huguo Temple, Baita Temple, Longfu Temple in the inner city of Beijing and the Tudui Temple in the outer city have held temple fairs since the late Qing Dynasty. Each temple takes turns holding temple fairs every month, just like a market. It's like the current farmer's market. On the day of the temple fair, there are various department stores, food and clothing, as well as juggling and opera booths and food stalls. Every time the temples in the east and west open temples, there will be several people selling mountain reds standing and selling. Instead of selling them in piles, the mountain reds are threaded into strings like beads. The seller hangs many strings around his neck, and the length of the strings is like the beads hung on the court clothes worn by the emperor. Nowadays, people have never seen Chao Zhu, they just think of a long necklace. It's just much longer than the necklace, hanging around the neck, with the lower end hanging down to the navel. The seller not only has many strings hanging around his neck, but also hangs many strings on his left forearm; only his right hand is left to make movements. His shouting words are very ridiculous. No matter how many strings he has hanging on his arms, he still shouts: "Buy Shanlihong, this is the only one left!" Old Beijing calls visiting temple fairs "going to the temple." On the day of the temple fair, I met an acquaintance and asked him, "Where are you going?" I replied, "I'll go to the temple." On the day when the temple is opened, there will always be people selling mountain red products by the temple gate, so people are used to hearing this sentence.

From this came the catchphrase "Sell the red ones in the mountains", and the next sentence means "This is the only thing left." This word "hang" is used for clothes, and Chinese-style clothes are called "big coat", "small coat", "horse coat" and so on.

Nowadays, there is also the term "gaozi", such as "wearing a uniform gown", which means wearing a uniform top. I've never heard of "suits and jackets". Probably because uniforms have been in China since the late Qing Dynasty and have become "Chinese" over time; suits are new and have not yet become localized. This sentence is used for ridicule, self-effacement and realism. The meaning of ridicule is used to joke among acquaintances, such as: "Brother! I'm wearing this again today! Are you selling mountain red!" It means: "This is the only coat you have left." Being self-effacing means that you don’t have enough clothes, and you don’t have just a single jacket with velvet and cotton. For example: I can’t compare to you. I don’t care what I wear. I sell mountain red. ?It means only this one coat. The realistic meaning is reserved for the bannermen who have no money, food or rice. From the 1920s to the 1930s, most of the houses in Beijing Banner were sold out and their houses were bare, and some even used tiles as dishes. But the banner people are very shameless. After all the clothes are sold out, they have to leave one neat piece of clothing. They only put it on when they go to relatives and friends' houses. When they come back, they take it off as soon as they leave the front door and wrap it up. They go home and collect it for wearing again. This is really "selling the red ones in the mountains", there is nothing left, "only this hanging is left!"

11. The bamboo board bow keeps going.

What should I say first? Jiner?. The strength of the bow is measured in kilograms, which is the unit of strength of the bow. The power of the foot bow is large, and the power of the horse bow is small. This "strength" is commonly said to be "energy". The Manchus used to use strong bows and big arrows when hunting outside the pass to shoot bears and tigers through holes. After entering the customs, during the Yongzheng period, the flag soldiers' archery performance was assessed, and there were still tens of thousands of people who could fire a ten-power bow. Before the Manchus entered the customs, the bows they made were made of birch wood, with deer sinew wrapped around the outside and animal glue added to them; the bow power was extremely strong. After entering the customs, they obtained bamboo produced in the south and used bamboo bodies to make bows. And because he got buffalo horns from the south, he used buffalo horns to embed them on the inside of the bamboo body and no longer wrapped around deer tendons. The bow is made of buffalo horns inlaid with bamboo bodies, which are delicate and beautiful. It is then wrapped with birch bark and painted with colors to make it even more beautiful. However, the power of this kind of bow is slightly worse than that of a bow made of birch wood wrapped with deer sinew, but it can still reach ten powers. The tendon-wrapped bow relies on deer sinew to increase its strength, while the bamboo-laid bow relies on buffalo horn to increase its strength. Since the mid-Qing Dynasty, bows made in Beijing no longer use birch wood wrapped with deer sinew, but instead use bamboo boards with buffalo horns. When making a bow, the selected bamboo board is first processed into a body. When it is not inlaid with buffalo horns, this bamboo board bow body is commonly known as a bamboo board bow, and its strength is one. As the saying goes, the power of a bow is called "Jin'er". The strength of the bamboo bow is "one force", which is commonly said to be "one force". As the thickness, width and texture of the buffalo horns are different, the attraction force continues to increase. From this came this saying.

In Beijing dialect, people are "unchanged", "steady", "persistent" and so on.

For example, to say that someone is steady and not easy to change, and that he knows what he is doing, is to say, "That person is like a bamboo bow", which means that this person is steady, not easy to move, and can hold his strength. In addition, some people refer to "Yi Yi Jing" as "Yi Gong Jing'er" or "Yigong Jing'er". In addition to expressing the above-mentioned calmness and prudentness, "Yi Gong Jing'er" also means "a kind of vigor". But this is not widely used. The commonly used one as a idiom is "Ji Jing'er".

12. Mr. Rabbit fights? Break up the fight.

Nowadays, the image of rabbits in people’s minds is that of the little white rabbit pulling carrots in children’s books, as well as sister rabbit, brother rabbit, etc. They no longer know what Mr. Rabbit looks like. Back then, Lord Rabbit really had a "grandfather" appearance. He wears a handsome helmet with shining gold, and wears silver armor with dazzling colors. The mirror that protects his heart is as bright as the moon, and there are four colorful banners on his back and shoulders. It turns out that Lord Rabbit is a majestic military commander, but the three red lips and two erect long ears tell people that this Lord Rabbit is a rabbit, and he is Lord Rabbit. In the early years, as soon as the eighth month of the lunar calendar entered, rabbit stalls appeared on the streets of Beijing. Especially in busy markets such as Dongsi, Xidan, and Gulouqian, as well as in secondary markets such as Xisi, Dongdan, Xinjiekou, Beixinqiao, and even smaller places, some people have set up a Rabbit Baby stall, which not only attracts children Onlookers refused to leave, and adults also visited the stalls to buy, so it was extremely lively. In the past, Beijingers would not miss a holiday. The lotus lantern stalls closed on July 15th, and the rabbit stalls appeared on the streets during the August Festival. Yandu gets colorful embellishments when he is old.

The Mr. Rabbit stall back then was truly dazzling and colorful. Each of the rabbits is dressed in delicious clothes. The big one is more than two feet tall, the medium one is more than one foot, and the smallest one is about three inches tall. The stalls are three-dimensional, like ladder-shaped, with up to ten floors, and the stalls are very large. They are arranged layer by layer, one next to the other, with the larger ones at the top and the smallest ones at the bottom. People looked at it, wondering why; so many rabbits gathered together to form a big stall. If a fight broke out between the two men, wouldn't all the men break up and eventually break up the stall? So the phrase "Master Rabbit fights" is left, which implies the following "break up the stall". In Beijing dialect, "scattered stalls" are extremely versatile. If several people work together to do something, but the cooperation disintegrates before the success is achieved, it is said to "break up the business". Another example is gathering to do something or gathering to set out, but then disperse without success, it is also said to be scattered. Another example is when a place is closed, closed down, or cancelled, and people are dispersed, which is also said to be scattered. ;