Someone really used the example of Wu Dalang to prove the prosperity of the Song Dynasty-this is nonsense, of course, because Wu Dalang is just a fictional literary image, a lowlife who was set to live in the last years of the Northern Song Dynasty. The question should be proved in turn: If there really was a Wu Dalang in the Song Dynasty, could he live the life described in the joke?
To answer this question, first of all, of course, we need to estimate the income level and living cost of a civilian in the Song Dynasty. Thanks to the research results of historians, they have sorted out very detailed information about the price and daily income of the Song Dynasty from the vast amount of historical materials (for example, Professor Cheng Minsheng of Henan University's "Price Research in the Song Dynasty"). With these materials, we can completely reconstruct a life account of "Wu Dalang" in the Song Dynasty and roughly describe their actual living standards.
The income of ordinary people in Song Dynasty
When it comes to the economic income of the people in the Song Dynasty, perhaps what impressed us most was the salary of officials. Many people know that the salaries of Song Dynasty officials are very high. Is that so? I roughly calculated that the monthly salary of the prime minister of the Song Dynasty was 300 yuan, plus various subsidies, such as "salary", "salary", "millet", "food and clothing" and the rent of professional fields, which added up to no less than 500 yuan's, equivalent to an annual salary of 400,000 US dollars, which is similar to that of the president of the United States. The monthly salary of a magistrate 18 yuan, plus various allowances, will not be less than that of 40 yuan. If converted into RMB, the monthly salary is about 20 thousand, which is not very high, but it is not low either. However, the "Wu Dalang" we are talking about is not an official. Obviously, the income level of ordinary citizens in Song Dynasty cannot be measured by the standard of official salary.
Wu Dalang is a street vendor selling sesame cakes (steamed bread) in urban areas. So what is the income geometry of the merchant group in Song Dynasty? Jiankangfu's "houses with rooms and corridors, 30,000 to 20,000 people robbed every day, and hundreds of thousands of households opened warehouses and shops, with tens of thousands of operating funds". Rich businessmen in big cities earn 20 yuan a day to 30 yuan, nearly 10,000 yuan a year. There was a professional manager named Shen Shimeng in Zaoyang in the Southern Song Dynasty, who was famous for being a good peddler. Fu's visit touched him and he was very happy. He spent 100,000 yuan to listen to what he did. If you live for three years, the interest will double, and if you go to lose someone's home, you will get another 300 thousand. " Shen Shimeng is a wizard in business, with a capital of100000 and a profit of 200000 in three years.
Wu Dalang, who lives at the bottom of the city, can't compare with these wealthy businessmen at all. It depends directly on the income of small traders in the Song Dynasty. In the early years of Qingyuan in the Southern Song Dynasty, Lu Sigong, a small trader in Raozhou, "cooked pig's blood and sheep's blood as soup and sold it to the city people to raise their wives." I can't earn more than 200 yuan a day, but I am content with poverty and have never said a word to my neighbors. " Small vendors selling pig blood and sheep blood soup in Raozhou earn less than 200 pence a day. There are also two small traders in Wuzhong, who "take eel as their business and win 300 yuan one day", and sell live eel to earn about 300 yuan one day. What's more interesting is a vendor named Le Sheng, who "gets 100 yuan a day to rest and eat and drink in the palace in his spare time." Playing flute and singing at home is normal every day. "After earning 100 yuan a day, I stopped doing business and went home to play the flute and sing. It can be seen that the daily income of a small trader in the Song Dynasty is generally between 100-300.
The daily income of artisans and helpers is also maintained at a similar level. In the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, "Huaixi reached the servant" and "Gongzi residence", which had nothing to contend with. Cooking could earn 100 yuan a day. Or when you are envious, you will try your best to fight for wine and meat. This "servant" earns about100p every day by selling his labor. If he earns ten or dozens of pence, he will buy wine and meat. Song Dynasty officials hired coolies to move. " Every day, they pay people 200 yuan, which often means they have to pay more work. "coolies often ask for price increases on the grounds of distance. During the Chongning period, the Library Department of Shi Jing University hired people to copy books. " Each person writes 500 words a month and 2500 words a day, and the daily salary is about 1 16 words. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the official wine service in Zhou Shu "shared handyman 12 people every day, with the salary of 250 articles for each handyman and 300 articles for one winemaker", with the daily salary of 250 articles for handyman and 300 articles for winemaker.
In the third year of Shao Xi's reign, Tanzhou built a city wall. "You have to pay 300 yuan a day." It can be seen that the daily wages of workers in the Song Dynasty are generally 100 to 300. The daily income of the lower classes in other occupations is usually around 100. Woodcutter: In the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhang Lei wrote a poem describing the living standard of the mountain people in the west of Luoyang: "Mountain people are the easiest to make a living, and their livelihood depends entirely on trees. People with negative wages take 100 yuan in the market and go back to their wives and children to steam and beat millet. The income from selling firewood every day is100p. Fisherman: In the Southern Song Dynasty, Yuan Youyou also wrote a poem describing the poor days of the fisherman in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River: "Xia Yan sits on the net in spring, but he doesn't feel autumn and winter. "Selling Yu Ri is less than 100 yuan, and his wife and children are poor." Earn less than 100 a day. Yeoman: Some scholars have counted the income of the fourth-class households in the Song Dynasty: after deducting taxes and fees, there are about 70 stones of surplus grain every year. Assuming that the grain market price is 800 grains per stone, the annual income is about 56,000 grains, with an average of about 150 grains per day. Even beggars are "begging for 100 yuan a day and can only live on porridge."
It seems that the daily income level of 100 should be the baseline of the daily income of the bottom class in Song Dynasty. Above this baseline, food and clothing can basically be solved. Below this bottom line, there is a danger of hunger and cold. The announcement made by a magistrate in the Southern Song Dynasty can also prove our inference: "The house of agriculture, industry and commerce wins 100 yuan in the morning and uses it at night. They can play games and drink, so they will be hungry for a while. Therefore, Wu Dalang, who sells baked wheat cakes in yanggu county, can earn at least 100 pence a day as long as he is diligent.
Civilian consumption in song dynasty
In the Song Dynasty, what kind of living standard could you live with a daily income of100p? This needs to consider the cost of living of Song people. A scholar-bureaucrat said during the Qingyuan period in the Southern Song Dynasty: "A person can only eat one liter in a solar eclipse, and he can only wear one or two horses all the year round. This is essential if the incidental expenses for food and drink do not exceed 1000. According to his living standard, a person needs to spend 100 yuan a year, about 270p a day. Sima Guang of the Northern Song Dynasty said: "A family of ten people, at the age of 10, can receive a hundred stones, which is enough for their mouths; "The monthly rent of the house is 150 yuan, which is enough for daily use. That is, each person consumes 50 articles a day. But this is the cost of living for families above the middle class. Wu Dalang in Song Dynasty, who lived in the lower level of the city, obviously didn't need such a big expense to live.
Let's talk about the minimum cost of living to maintain basic food and clothing. The relief standard for the poor in Song Dynasty was generally "20 yuan a day" per person. Mr. Cheng Minsheng believes that "the official relief standard can be regarded as the bottom line of living expenses". An adult needs about two liters of rice a day and a piece of cloth to make clothes every year. In the Northern Song Dynasty, it cost sixteen pence to buy two liters of Mi Yue in the market, and five hundred pence for a piece of cloth. Calculated, twenty pence a day can just maintain a person's basic food and clothing. In other words, a lower level city with a daily income of 100 can support a family of five-but life will undoubtedly be very difficult.
I want to live a slightly decent life. Besides eating and wearing warm clothes, do I have to eat some meat and order food every day? During the Baodou period of the Southern Song Dynasty, the "salt and vegetable money" of the practical economic bureau (welfare home) of Jiankang government was about 30 pence per person per day (excluding inflation). According to this standard, an adult needs about 30 pieces of non-staple food every day.
Do you need a house to live in? You know, Wu Dalang in Water Margin lives in a two-story building facing the street. However, according to the description in the novel, "Wu Da failed to live in Qinghe County, but moved to this rental house in Zishi Street, yanggu county, and still sells biscuits every day. Today, I am doing business in front of the county. " This building is leased, not owned by Wu Dalang. In the cities of Song Dynasty, renting houses was very common, and the rents were high and low. In Kaide House, "every room has 100 to 200 items, and most of them are top powerful families. Most of the idle houses in Backstreet are small property houses, and each room only rents three or five pieces. " The average rent of three or five pence a day should be quite cheap. In Kaifengfu, the price of public rental housing managed by * * * "store building service" is only150 cents a day, which is affordable for the lower class in the city. The rent in a small place like yanggu county is definitely lower than that in the capital. Even for buildings facing the street, the rent cannot be higher than that of ordinary houses in Beijing.
For a family of two like Wu Dalang, if you want to live a well-fed life in the Song Dynasty, the daily expenses are roughly as follows: 40 articles for food and clothing; The cost of meat, vegetables and non-staple food is sixty; Rent fifteen articles; Some miscellaneous expenses. A total of about 150 articles. If Wu Dalang can earn 150 by selling steamed bread every day, she can rent a two-story building to support her wife. If you earn100p a day, it is enough to support your family, but life will be a little tight. If you earn 300 articles a day, you can live a relatively comfortable life-according to the income of small traders in the Song Dynasty, it is possible to earn 100 to 300 articles a day.
From this point of view, the joke circulating on the Internet that "a short young man lives in a two-story building in the center of the city, has a beautiful wife, has the income of selling pasta in the market, and does not need his wife to go to work" is not a legend, but a historical scene that can be established completely. Selling pasta is also likely to make a fortune. Let's look at an example: "Xu, a citizen of southern Huzhou, used to sell cakes and bait for a living. People called it" Xu Sugar Cake ". The profit day is a little more generous. Due to the urgent lack of funds, the interest rate is slightly higher than that in other places, and the family business is gradual. " This Xu Liu is a Wu Dalang-style ordinary person in the Song Dynasty.