Why did the ancients humbly call their wives "Clumsy Jing"?
According to ancient records, when ancient people mentioned or introduced their wives to outsiders, they would always humbly call them wife, wife, wife, etc. For example, Quan Deyu of the Tang Dynasty wrote a poem about seeing his grandson on Chinese Valentine's Day and begging for skills: "My grandson competes for begging for skills, and my wife's wife wrote a poem about it." There is also "Journey to the West". "Chapter 19" uploaded: "Xian brother, now that you have entered the Samana and become a monk, from now on, don't mention that 'clumsy tree' again!" and "Water Margin". Chapter 7: "Chacai and Zhuo Jing came to the Jianbi Yue Temple to return their incense wishes."
Then, why did the ancients humbly call their wives "Zhuo Jing"?
Jinga, originally the name of a plant, has flexible branches that can be used to weave baskets, including vitex, yellow vitex, and redbud. A wattle stick made of wattle wood was used as a torture staff in ancient times. Such as "Historical Records." "The Biography of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru" records: "The flesh is exposed and the thorns are carried, because the guests come to Lin Xiangru's door to apologize." It is said that during the Warring States Period, the Zhao State general Lian Po was at odds with Lin Xiangru, the minister. Lin Xiangru always gave in for the sake of the country. Later, Lian Po found out about it and felt deeply that he was ignorant, so he stripped off his clothes, carried a thorn stick on his back, and followed the guests to Lin Xiangru's residence to apologize. This is the origin of the idiom "bearing a thorn to plead guilty".
In ancient times, women would also make thorn hairpins from thorn branches, which were called "jing hairpins" and were commonly used by women from poor families. For example, Li Shanfu's poem "Poor Girl" of the Tang Dynasty: "I have never known how to embroider clothes in my life, and I will hurt myself when I am idle with Jing Chai." The origin of Zhuo Jing is related to "Jing Chai".
The origin of the word "Zhuojing" comes from "Taiping Yulan." Volume 718. "Chai" quoted from "Biography of Women": "Liang Hong's wife Meng Guang, Jing Chai cloth skirt." This means that Liang Hong's wife Meng Guang used thorn branches as a hairpin and coarse cloth as a skirt, which means that she lived a frugal life. The original meaning of "Zhuo" is stupidity, which means humbly referring to "one's own". Therefore, "Zhuo Jing" is used to refer to one's wife humbly, and can also be called "Zhuo Wife" and "Zhou Nei".
According to "Book of the Later Han Dynasty." Biography of Yimin. It is recorded in "The Biography of Liang Hong" that Liang Hong was a hermit in the Eastern Han Dynasty. He was poor since he was a child, but he was very studious and had an honest and upright personality. Due to the chaos in the world, Liang Hong refused to follow the trend, so he did not want to be an official. Meng Guang is the daughter of a family named Meng from Liang Hongtong County. She is fat, ugly, dark-skinned and very strong. She can lift a stone mortar. She does not want to get married until she is thirty years old. When her parents asked her why, she said she wanted to marry a worthy man like Liang Hong.
After Liang Hong learned about it, he was impressed by Meng Guang's character, so he betrothed her to be his wife. After the marriage, Meng Guang took off his bride's fine clothes, put on coarse clothes, and took care of the housework. Soon, the couple lived in seclusion in Baling Mountain, engaged in farming and weaving, recited poems and books, and played the piano to entertain themselves.
On one occasion, Liang Hong passed by Luoyang, the capital, and saw the splendid palaces. He lamented the huge waste of people's energy, so he composed the song "Five Ai". At that time, Emperor Suzong was very angry after hearing this poem and wanted to arrest the poet. Liang Hong and his wife therefore fled to Wudi.
In Wudi, they relied on the wealthy family Gao Botong and were employed as rice pounders. Whenever Liang Hong came home from work, Meng Guang had prepared food, put the food on a wooden plate and brought it to him, holding it up to his eyebrows, not daring to look directly at his husband, fully showing his respect for his husband. This is the origin of the idiom "raising a case to raise eyebrows".
Liang Hong and Meng Guang respected and loved each other, and they showed their kindness to each other, which was passed down as a good story by later generations. Meng Guang became a model of a virtuous wife in ancient times, and Liang Hong was hailed as a virtuous husband.