China people are famous for their loud voices. But when it comes to some sensitive topics, even the arrogant bully keeps silent, lowers his voice or makes meaningful eye contact. I remember watching movies when I was a child, I was always impressed by such a scene: when everyone in a teahouse was talking about a certain topic, the teahouse owner would nervously point to the words "only talk about romantic affairs, not state affairs" on the wall, and everyone would shut up or leave immediately. I was too young to understand the mystery. Recently, I saw from the media that several grassroots people were arrested by the company for expressing some of their views, and they were riddled with lawsuits. We know that people in China are loud, although no one usually looks at them. However, their discourse space is limited to rice, oil, salt, wine and wealth, and most of them are concentrated below the navel.
Looking through the history, we can see that the coffee shop culture in Europe has a long history, which has influenced the behavior and lifestyle of westerners, and is also a hotbed of western democratic politics and a classroom for civic training. Nowadays, leisure cafe culture has swept the world. Even in China, where teahouse culture permeates the deepest, modern white-collar workers learn to sit in places like Starbucks and quietly experience the petty bourgeoisie.
However, back to the history of coffee shops in the west, it was a mixed bag of fish and dragons and there was a lot of competition.
/kloc-in the 0/8th century, there was an unfathomable class gap between European aristocrats and civilians. For example, as a place for public and cultural exchanges, salons are presided over by ladies who pursue elegant aristocratic sentiment. It is difficult for outsiders to enter the door unless invited. After all, it's just a flirting and occasionally ambiguous private party.
Cafes were much more easygoing at that time. All the etiquette constraints from aristocratic women have disappeared, and it is open to everyone, regardless of their beliefs, sects or status.
Those who go in can find any empty seat and join the free debate of the people around them. The topic is of course the topic that men have always been most interested in: politics and women.
The owner of the cafe knows the democratic function of the place he runs. His response to this is not that the owner of China Teahouse is cautious, but that he boldly posted a piece of paper on the wall, stating that everyone can express their opinions freely here, so don't worry.
The writer Shadwell described in his play The Woman Leader: "There are many smart people in every coffee shop. They talk about wit and politics while smoking. "
Intellectuals who are good at writing usually come here to listen to the voices of the people and sell their works. Here, intellectuals and the public have a good interactive atmosphere, which changed the literary style with a strong bookworm atmosphere at that time.
In public places like cafes, people learn to evaluate their views, test, give up, change and spread their views. In this process, filtering usually produces some cohesive group views.
People from all walks of life, backgrounds and positions communicate here, urging them to cross their backgrounds, positions and grades, respect each other's views and cultivate the art of listening. It is in the humble cafe that the public has cultivated a new attitude of respecting and accommodating other people's ideas, and the spirit of gregarious and accommodating makes the differences lose their edges and corners.
In the past, people and opinions that were contrary to tradition were despised and criticized by others. Nowadays, people respect and listen to different opinions, discuss with each other, hone and test their own views. Inadvertently, a new era has arrived, people have entered the world of public opinion from the isolated state of independent thinking, and public opinion based on the same view of public opinion was born here.
With the differentiation of people in cafes and the specialization of public opinion places, the voices in cafes have become smaller: there is no need to express opinions with reckless voices, and any ideas can be judged and tested by the public after the debate, accepted or discarded.
In China, tea culture derived from teahouse culture. However, as a public space, the teahouse has not become a springboard for China people to move towards freedom of public speech, nor has it cultivated a gentleman's demeanor of tolerating dissidents and debating on an equal footing.
Authoritarian monarchy hates any different voice.
Without public debate, people of all colors' views of self-verification and judgment are hidden in people's minds, becoming more and more isolated and biased, and people have no room for free games to finally reach basic knowledge. People also have no habits and rules to tolerate dissent and peaceful debate. On the contrary, intense repression and vicious criticism reached their peak in a political farce 40 years ago!
In the history of China, Cai Huangong's fear of illness and medical treatment began to show that "people enjoy themselves, choose good and follow them", which is nothing more than people's imaginary sage demeanor. Later, books were burned to bury Confucianism, and literary inquisition was built in Daxing, forcing smart people to either indulge in extravagance and debauchery or avoid the world to survive. Later, the teahouse "don't talk about state affairs" became a * * * knowledge, and the speech space of China people was generally confined to the crotch. And people's behavior is manifested in: although the voice is loud, it reveals fear and shock.
Looking back on the influence of the two beverage cultures on the direction of the discourse space between the East and the West, we can't help but sigh: a society with diverse interests will inevitably have diverse viewpoints. If we don't give them room to collide freely, they will eventually become isolated and biased, separated and opposed to each other. Without harmonious communication to resolve differences, a society without knowledge can hardly go further!
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Teahouses play a very important role in China's social life and are an ideal place to observe social, economic, cultural and local political changes. At the beginning of the 20th century, the teahouse in Chengdu was an important stage for citizens' daily life. They are not only places for entertainment and leisure, but also places for business, social and political activities. For a long time, teahouses have been mistaken for encouraging people to do nothing and breeding inertia, which is not conducive to the healthy development of society. Therefore, from the autocratic regime to the social reform elite, controlling and transforming teahouses is regarded as an important part of maintaining social order and stability, but their efforts all ended in failure. This not only reflects the social demand for tea houses, but also fully shows its extremely vigorous vitality.
Keywords Teahouse/Urban Social Life/Early 20th Century/Chengdu
Upper guide bearing
Western historians have conducted in-depth research on cafes, hotels, salons and other public places in early modern Europe and America. They pay special attention to people's "public life"-activities outside the family circle, and think that these places provide social occasions for people they know and don't know. This kind of leisure business aims at serving customers, not only for the upper class of society, but also for the working class. These public places are actually the epitome of the whole society, and they are often involved in political and class struggles. Therefore, they often become the targets of social improvement and social control (Note: See Richard Snett's The Fall of Public People: On the Social Psychology of Capitalism (new york: Retro Books, 1977): Perry Duis's Salon: Public Drinking in Chicago and Boston,1880-/kloc-0. Thomas Brennan, Public Drinking and Popular Culture in 18th Century Paris (New Jersey: Princeton University Press,1988); Francis Cuvares, "The Victory of Business: Class Culture and Popular Culture in Pittsburgh", edited by Michael Frish and Daniel Walkowitz. Working Class America: Essays on Labor, Community and American Society (Chicago: University of Illinois Press,1983); Susan Davis, Parade and Power: Street Theatre in 19th Century Philadelphia (Berkeley: University of California Press,1988); Christine Stansell, The City of Women: Sex and Class in new york, 1789- 1860 (new york: Alfred A. Knoff Co., Ltd.,1986); And John Carson, Entertainment Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century (new york: Hill & King, 1978).
There are many similarities between China Teahouse and western cafes, hotels and salons. Its social role is more complicated, and its function has gone far beyond the scope of leisure. The pursuit of leisure is only the superficial phenomenon of teahouse life. Teahouse is not only a place for leisure and entertainment, but also a stage for various figures, and often becomes the center of social life and local politics. This paper will take Chengdu as the object, and investigate the teahouse, the most basic economic and cultural unit in China in the early 20th century, and discuss the evolution and changes of urban society, public daily life and political life in this turning period (Note: China's tea drinking tradition has long been noticed by western and Japanese travelers. In their travel notes, surveys and memoirs, they often describe their deep impression on teahouses. See robert fortune's Two Visits to Tea Country in China (two volumes). London: John Murray,1853; Robert Davidson and Iason Mason, Life in Western China: Described by Two Residents in Sz-chwan Province (London: the Hedley Brothers,1905); George Hubbard, Geographical Settings of Chengdu (Oberlin: Oberlin College,1923); William sewell, People in Cart Lane (South Brunswick and new york: A.S. Barnes Company,1971); Brockman support (editor. ), Canada Huaxi School (released for the Canada School Alumni Association,1974); John CERF, Jin Inch: Memoirs of Grace CERF China (Berkeley: University of California Press,1989); Sakujiro nakamura: a ramble on Zhina (Che Shui,1899); Hongmei Inoue: zhina Customs (Tokyo Japanese Department,1920); East Asian Literature Alumni Association: Quan Zhi, zhina Province, Volume 5, Sichuan Province (Tokyo East Asian Literature Alumni Association, 19 17). Western scholars have made some achievements in the study of tea culture and teahouses in China, such as Walter Messef and Ruth Messef, From Teahouses to Loudspeakers: Popular Artists in People's Republic of China (PRC), Journal of Popular Culture, Vol.8 (1979), No.1 1 issue; John Evans, Tea in China: A History of Ethnic Drinking in China (new york: Greenwood Press,1992); Takeuchi Minoru: Teahouse-World Image of China (Tokyo Overhaul Museum Bookstore,1974); Nishimoto Naito: Living in Chengdu-Seeing the Daily Life of China (Tokyo Press Conference, 1238) Hirohiko Nishizawa: Talking about GS-Tanoshi Chisiki Vol.3 (1985) and Modern China Teahouse-Case of Chengdu, Sichuan, Customs 26 (1988). Fu: "Teahouses in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the Late Qing Dynasty, History, People and Culture —— Collection of Memories of Tadashio Sakai" (Tokyo, 1982) Many American urban historians have pointed out the social functions of teahouses, but they have not conducted in-depth research. See William Skinner, "Marketing and Social Structure in Rural China", Asian Studies, Vol. 24 (1964),No. 1 issue; Gail Hershat, Workers in Tianjin (Stanford: Stanford University Press,1986); William Rowe, Hankou: Conflict and Community in a China City, 1796- 1895 (Stanford: Stanford University Press,1989); David strand, Rickshaw Beijing:1Urban People and Politics in the 1920s (Berkeley: University of California Press,1989); Elizabeth Perry, Shanghai Strike: The Politics of Labor in China (Stanford: Stanford University Press,1993); Frederick wakeman, Shanghai Police, 1927- 1937 (Berkeley: University of California Press,1995); Brina Goodman, Hometown, City and Country: Shanghai's Regional Network and Identity, 1853- 1937 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995). China scholars also have many works on tea culture, but most of them are limited to cultural introduction rather than historical analysis, such as Jin Chen's. Gong Fu's Tea Culture, China Economic Publishing House, 1995.
When Huang Yanpei visited Chengdu in the Republic of China, he wrote a doggerel describing the leisure of Chengdu people's daily life. There are two sentences: "One person has nothing to do in the street, and two people sit in the tea shop from morning till night." Educator Shu Xincheng also wrote that what impressed him most in Chengdu in the 1930s was the slow pace of people's lives: in teahouses, "no matter which one is, from sunrise to sunset, it is a wedding, and there are often no vacancies". Xue also found that "many people living in Chengdu don't make a fire all day, and the problem of eating depends on restaurants and teahouses." After eating in the restaurant, you must go to the teahouse for tea again. This is everyone's life procedure in Chengdu. Eat quickly and drink tea for three or four hours. "geographer g Hubbard felt the same way. He found that Chengdu people "like chatting in the street when they have nothing to do", and people seem to be unable to see the fast-paced life in modern big cities (Note: Jin Chen: Sichuan Tea Shop, 12- 13 pages; Shu Xincheng: The Shadow of Shu You, Zhonghua Book Company,1934; Xue: Travel Notes of Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan, Chongqing Publishing House,1986; Hubbard, Geographical Environment of Chengdu, p. 125.).
It is not surprising that foreigners have this impression of Chengdu, because Chengdu people themselves are consciously or unconsciously promoting such a culture (note: it is like a couplet on the door of a tea shop and pub advising people: "Be busy becoming famous, be busy making profits, take time off from work and have a cup of tea party; Hard work, hard work, and then two or two drinks. " The stall owners who place bets on the street also use their jingles to attract customers: "Don't panic, don't be busy, whoever is busy will get the last." See Zheng Yun's Wonderful Use of One Couplet (Chengdu Scenery 1 Series, 198 1 Year) and the author's interview record in Yuelai Teahouse (1June 2, 19971). ), Chengdu citizens also laugh at themselves that the city has "three more": more idle people, more teahouses and more toilets. The local folk proverb says that "a city dweller is half a tea drinker". Teahouses and their cultures in Chengdu are well-known at home and abroad, and have become a part of their traditions. Chengdu people are also proud of their teahouse culture, and even think that only they can be called "tea customers", and only Sichuan is the real "tea town". If Chengdu people write about their own cities, they can hardly do without teahouses (note: many scenes in Li's "Big Waves Wash Sand" take place in teahouses, see Li Wenxuan, Volume II, Sichuan People's Publishing House,1980; Jin Chen: Sichuan Tea Shop, 32 pages; Zhang Fang: Essays on Penetrating the Earth, The Dragon Gate Array No.3, 1985. )。 People have noticed that as far as the number of teahouses is concerned, I'm afraid no other city can match it (note: there were 454 teahouses in the late Qing Dynasty, 193 1 year, 620,1935,599. One estimate said that there were 6.5438+0.2 million people who went to the teahouse every day (Chengdu had a population of 600,000 at that time). Shu Xincheng said that teahouses account for about110 of all shopkeepers. 1938' s Chengdu tour guide said that there were more than 800 streets in Chengdu at that time, and there was a teahouse every two streets on average, the largest of which could accommodate 200 to 300 people and the smallest could accommodate dozens of people. According to the government statistics of 194 1, there are 6 14 teahouses, and their employees account for the fifth place in Chengdu's industrial and commercial departments. According to the statistics of Chengdu Tea Association in the late 1940s, there were 598 teahouses in Chengdu at that time. Other estimates are as high as 1000, which may include suburbs. See Fu Chongju's Overview of Chengdu, Volume II, Bashu Bookstore, 1987, p. 253; National bulletin19311105; Yang et al. Chengdu Dictionary, Sichuan People's Publishing House,1995,731page; Qiao Zengxi et al.: Overview of Chengdu Municipal Evolution, Selected Works of Chengdu Literature and History, 5 series (1983); Hu Tian: Chengdu Travel Guide, Wen Shu Publishing House, 1938, 69 pages; Chen Maozhao: Chengdu Teahouse, Selected Works of Chengdu Literature and History, 4 series (1983); Gao Shunian et al. The Grand View of Chengdu Market, China Prospect Publishing House, 1985, 1 10; Yao: Chengdu Style, Sichuan Literature (Taipei) 197 1, No.5; Shuxin Town: the Heart Shadow of Shuyou, 142; Jia Daquan et al. History of Sichuan Tea Industry, Bashu Publishing House,1988,366 pages. )。 Teahouses are so important to this city that Japanese investigators in China have closely linked teahouses with the prosperity of this city (Note: East Asian Literary Association: Bie Quan Zhi, zhina Province, Vol.5, Sichuan Province, 63 1 page. )。
Who is a frequent visitor to the teahouse? It is said that there are two kinds of people: one is the "leisure class" and the other is the "busy class" (note: Hu Tian: Chengdu tour guide, 62 pages; Yi: Chuankang Tourism, China Travel Agency, 1943, 194. )。 Generally speaking, the "leisure class" refers to those local literati, retired officials, wealthy officials and other social elites. There are several kinds of "busy classes": first, take the teahouse as the stage, such as storytelling and opera artists; The second is to borrow teahouses as workplaces, such as businessmen, fortune tellers, practitioners, craftsmen, etc. Third, the teahouse is a market, such as small traders and coolies are employed. However, we should realize that the concepts of "idle class" and "busy class" are very loose, and there is no strict class division. Although we often use the word "leisure class" to describe those who have no serious jobs and enjoy life, they are not an independent class and can have different economic backgrounds. However, the words "busy" and "idle" do include all kinds of people in the teahouse. Whether it is the upper elite or the lower class, the rich or the poor, the idle or the busy, they are all active in the public space of the teahouse.
Teahouses are also an entertainment center. Many artists make a living by performing arts, and teahouses also attract customers by wonderful performances. In fact, the early theaters in Chengdu were all produced in teahouses (note: at first, teahouses provided venues for artists, and later teahouses evolved into theaters. Keyuan is the first official theater in Chengdu, which was rebuilt by Yongni Teahouse. 1906. Later, a new type of theater, Yuelai Teahouse, was set up, and then Yichun and the first-class teahouse theater were opened ("Fu Chongju: An Overview of Chengdu", 279 pages; Hot daily191February 1 1). )。 Every night, the alley is dark, and the lower class people gather in the bright and crowded teahouse to listen to storytelling. Mr. Storyteller's superb skills attract the audience to listen to books in the same place day after day, even year after year. Mr Storyteller not only provides entertainment, but also popularizes China's historical knowledge. They unconsciously spread orthodox values and instill loyalty, filial piety, reason, wisdom and faith into uneducated people. Therefore, they are also educators of the masses. Various folk artists have enriched the teahouse culture. Most of them are locals, but some of them are mainlanders. For example, most people who sing drum books are from North China. Most of these artists have fixed performance places, and the audience knows where to enjoy their favorite plays or actors. Others, such as cross talk and money board, are scattered in various teahouses. Dancing "six consecutive six" is regarded as obscene entertainment in the teahouse by the elites. The performer holds a bamboo pole with several copper coins tied at both ends and beats his body rhythmically while drinking. It is said that its language is "unbearable", and the most popular track is "Little Widow's Tomb" (Note: Chengdu Folk Literature Integration, 403-404 pages; Sichuan scenery, 457 pages; Zhou Zhiying: New Chengdu, 225 pages. )。
Economic activities and civil disputes
Teahouses can be said to be a microcosm of a complex world, where there are three religions and nine streams, and "all corners of the country". For example, a teahouse can be a "free market" where artisans and other employees sell their skills or labor, while vendors move between tables and chairs and shout what they sell. In the travel notes of westerners, we can see that "businessmen are eager to meet their business partners in teahouses, and vendors attract buyers with whistles, gongs and castanets". Some vendors use "stunts" to please customers, such as grabbing the number of melon seeds required by customers. It can be seen that vendors not only sell goods, but also bring entertainment to tea customers. The hookah vendor in the teahouse (known as "hookah" in Chengdu) serves several feet of hookah. If the hookah is not long enough, they also have a spare hookah connection. In this way, in a crowded and noisy teahouse, they can quietly send cigarettes to customers (note: Hubbard's Geographical Settings of Chengdu, p.125; He Manzi: Wu Zhakan, 193; Li: Before the storm, 154- 155. There are many vendors in the teahouse, as described in a poem by Zhi Zhu: "Before the tea drinkers stopped shouting, a large group of food was surrounded. The most annoying sound is that cigarettes and melon seeds fall into peanuts. " (Lin's "Chengdu Ci", Sichuan People's Publishing House, 1986, 1 13) Customers don't have to buy a pack of cigarettes, they can buy them themselves. According to the missionary, the hookah business is very flexible. The average customer smokes 5 cigarettes for 2 pence, but the hookah allows customers to consume it several times. For example, if they smoke two cigarettes today, they will smoke the remaining three cigarettes tomorrow (Huaxi Mission 1906,No. 1 1). )。
Many people are waiting for jobs in teahouses, many of whom are seasonal free laborers from rural areas. Generally speaking, employees of the same kind always gather in the same teahouse. For example, porters (called "backs" locally) usually gather in tea houses in Luoguo Lane and Moziqiao, so that employers can easily find the helpers they need. According to a foreign teacher's memory, when she was going to hire a nanny, her China friend suggested that she go to the "milk tea shop outside the south gate, where many women were waiting to be hired every morning". It can be seen that even many women regard teahouses as their own labor market. In addition, rickshaw pullers, harvesters and toilet cleaners all have their own "professional teahouses" (Note: Wang Qingyuan: Chengdu Plain Country Teahouse; Zhou Zhiying: New Chengdu, 25 1 page; Sewell, People in Cart Lane, p. 73).
Teahouses provide a livelihood for many people, where craftsmen repair fans, shoes and other items, fortune tellers predict bad luck, and pedicurists and hairdressers provide services there (note: from the memoirs of a missionary, I found an old photo of Chengdu Teahouse. In the picture, several tea drinkers, old and young, men and women, are sitting around a short coffee table, drinking tea and laughing, while a ragged craftsman is mending something. See brace, Huaxi School, Canada, p. 245. )。 Some beggars even sell "cool breeze" there-fanning customers to make money is actually a disguised form of begging. When a beggar slaps a tea drinker uninvited, if the tea drinker feels comfortable and in a good mood, he will give the beggar a few pence, otherwise he will be driven away impatiently. The most interesting occupation in the teahouse is ear digger. He used more than ten different tools to dig, dig, scrape and scratch, and spared no effort to make customers enter an indescribable comfortable state (note: Chengdu Municipal Yearbook (1927), page 51-512). Cui Xianchang: Sketch of Old Chengdu Teahouse; Jin Chen: Sichuan Tea Shop, 52 pages. )。
Chengdu people used to regard the teahouse as their "reception room". Due to the poor living conditions of ordinary people, it is quite inconvenient to receive visitors at home, so people meet in teahouses. Even if they don't meet people, as long as they are free, they will go directly to the teahouse they often go to and meet their friends without meeting them. According to He Manzi's recollection, in 1930s and 1940s, all the places where Chengdu literati met had their own teahouses. At that time, he was the editor of a magazine, and both the contract and the receipt were in the teahouse, which saved both time and postage. Residents are also there to discuss problems. W.Sewell, a foreign teacher, wrote that when one of his friends was in trouble, they discussed the countermeasures in the teahouse. Some organizations and students also often have meetings in teahouses. The pillow teahouse is the gathering place for students, the cultural teahouse is the base camp for literati, and teachers gather in heming Teahouse. Every holiday and weekend, these teahouses are always crowded (note: Hu Tian: page 69 of Chengdu Guide; Yi: Travel Notes of Chuan Kang, 194; Hazards of Teahouses and Their Banning Methods, Sichuan Provincial Archives: Archives of Social Affairs Department of Sichuan Provincial Government, fonds 186, case file1431; State Gazette1929101October 7; Sewell, People in Trolley Lane, pp.131-132; Yang Huai: prodigy and flying all over the sky. There are many descriptions of these occasions in Chengdu's literary works. Li See Ren Jie's Big Wave and Ba Jin's Spring (Family Spring and Autumn, Heilongjiang People's Publishing House, 1995). There are many such poems, such as "Friends and relatives suddenly meet in the street, polite and sincere" (Zhi Zhu Ci, 70 pages). Surprisingly, Chengdu people, especially the elderly, still have this habit. 65438-0997 When I was on a field trip in Chengdu, the interviewee invited me to meet in a teahouse. )。
Businessmen have regular teahouses to talk about business. Many transactions are conducted in teahouses. Anrakuji Teahouse is the trading office of the Grain and Oil Agency, and Buyi Gang is in the leisure teahouse. A teahouse near the south gate, because it is close to the rice market, has become the management field of rice shop owners and rice farmers. Those gangsters who smuggle opium and weapons are active in Pinxiang Teahouse. It is unknown how many transactions there are in the teahouse every day, but it is certain that the number is very considerable (Note: Davidson and Mei Sen, West China Life, p. 86). A local news said that after the police quelled a dispute in the teahouse, a customer demanded compensation on the grounds that the fight disturbed one of his businesses (Popular Daily1965438+65438 in May 2000). )。 Han wrote in his memoirs: "A bowl of tea is the most common shouting in teahouses ... and this is also the beginning of business negotiations ... The sale of real estate and commodities is carried out in teahouses or restaurants." (Noe: Han's Disabled Tree: China's Biology, History and Autobiography (new york: sons of G.P. Putnam, 1965), pp. 228-229. )
Class gap and social discrimination
1At the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 20th century, in American cities, only the working class generally drank wine in public places, while the middle class or the upper class drank wine in their own houses, private clubs or high-end hotels. In the coastal areas of China, teahouses are mostly places for middle and lower class people. However, Chengdu Teahouse seems to have the characteristics of integrating all classes, so it is pointed out that the "advantage" of Chengdu Teahouse is the "relatively equal" between people (Note: Rosenzweig's Eight Hours to Do Everything, P.51; Satoshi Suzuki House: Teahouses in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the Late Qing Dynasty: Zhou Zhiying: New Chengdu, 247 pages; He Manzi: five issues, 192 pages. )。
However, it should be noted that with the social transformation in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, the teahouse has inevitably changed. A common phenomenon is that teahouses are more involved in public affairs and local and national charitable activities to enhance their social reputation. Before and after the Revolution of 1911, tea clubs such as Keyuan and Yuelai organized many charity performances to support disaster relief and local public welfare undertakings in Gansu, Henan and other provinces. Teahouses are also trying to change their appearance to meet the fashion, for example, some teahouses introduce new entertainment methods. Taoranting Teahouse opened on 19 12, with a ball room, which is said to promote western-style "civilized" and "healthy" entertainment, and also provides telephone, newspaper and catering services. Yuelai Teahouse is the forerunner of new entertainment in Chengdu, but it is not far behind. It introduced drama to Chengdu stage for the first time. Although the pursuit of economic benefits is the direct motivation, these new changes in Chengdu Teahouses are also the inevitable result of social evolution (Note: Popular Daily1965438+August 6, 2002; On September 7, 2002, the State Gazette1965438+June14; Zhou Zhiying et al. Early Drama Activities in Chengdu, Selected Works of Sichuan Literature and History, 36 series (1987). )。
conclusion
Teahouses are the epitome of a society. For a long time, teahouses have been mistaken by elites at that time and later scholars as encouraging people to do nothing and breeding inertia, which is not conducive to the healthy development of society. Among them, the most criticized is that people waste time. However, people ignore the multi-level and complex social, economic and cultural functions of teahouses. The evolution of society is always accompanied by the change of time concept, but this new time concept is limited to the new elite influenced by the West. Most ordinary citizens still maintain the traditional concept of time, and how to use time depends on personal habits, education level, professional and family background, economic situation and other factors. In the teahouse, a scholar can get inspiration for writing, a businessman can do a business, a student can learn things that are not in books, members of a secret society can establish contact with their peers, and a coolie can find an employer, not to mention vendors, artists and craftsmen all make a living in the teahouse. Therefore, "leisure" and "busy" can be alternate roles at different times, and the teahouse provides space for them. Even after the emergence of many "modern" entertainment places, the teahouse is still the most acceptable public living space for most citizens.
How to evaluate and manage the teahouse, a public place closely related to citizens' daily life, has always been a thorny problem faced by local governments, but from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, no successful method has been found. They regard the control and transformation of teahouses as an important part of maintaining social order and stability, but their efforts all ended in failure. Urban reform elites have a more comprehensive and profound understanding of popular culture than the government, so they hold different attitudes with the government on the teahouse issue. If the government takes control and crackdown as the main means, then the elite, although criticizing the shortcomings of teahouses, are well aware of their social functions and therefore disapprove of the radical reform of the government, which may be one of the reasons why the government's actions are always difficult to work. On the surface, teahouse and teahouse culture are very fragile, and they are always restricted and attacked. However, the teahouse finally survived and remains the most active part of the city's daily life, fully demonstrating its extremely vigorous vitality.
About the author Wendy was born in 1956 and is an assistant professor. Texas a & amp； M university history department
Source: Historical Research 200 105.
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