In ancient China, there was a customary term for "the flow of pulp sellers", which generally referred to ordinary people who did small business. But what kind of occupations are "leading cars" and "selling pulp", many people can't say. Some dictionaries interpret "leading the car" as pulling a large cart, which belongs to the typical Wangwen Shengyi; and interpreting "selling pulp" as selling soy milk is also wrong.
Let's start with "leading the car". "Leading the car" does not mean pulling the cart, "leading" refers to reversing the direction. According to the Chronicle of the Duke of Wei, a seventy-year-old hermit in the State of Wei, Hou Wei, came from a poor family and served as a janitor at the eastern gate of the capital City. When Prince Wu of Wei, who was enfeoffed as the Prince of Xinling, heard about it, he personally went to greet him, and Hou Wei sat down unceremoniously and asked to see his friend Zhu Hai. Zhu Hai was a person in the "city slaughter", that is, a butcher in the market, and his status was also very low, but "the prince led the car into the city", and Xin Lingjun changed the direction of the car and accompanied Hou Wei to visit Zhu Hai. This is called "leading the car", describing Xin Lingjun entering the market where the peddlers and pawns lived in order to gain Hou Wei's trust.
Let's talk about "selling pulp". What is "pulp"? According to the "Zhou Li", the Zhou Dynasty had the position of "wine zheng", and one of its duties was to "distinguish between four drinking things: one is Qing, two is medicine, three is pulp, and four is 酏". These are zhou tianzi's four daily drinks. "Yi Yue Qing", "Qing" refers to the sweet wine that filters out the lees; "Er Yue Doctor", "Medicine" refers to plum pulp, plum juice, which is the sour plum soup often drunk today, and some people say that it is a sweet wine made of porridge and koji rice; "Three Yue Pulp", "Pulp" refers to the sorrel (cù) pulp, a drink containing sour taste, and some people say that it is "water rice juice xiang" rice soup; "Four Yue" and "酏 (yǐ)" refers to a very clear porridge, and some people say that it is a sweet drink made of maltose dissolved in water.
In addition, the Zhou Dynasty also had the position of "pulp man", one of the duties was to "hold the six drinks of the king, water, pulp, liquor, cool, medicine, and pot, into the liquor house". These are zhou tianzi's six daily drinks. The first is water; the second is pulp; the third is "li (lǐ)", that is, sweet wine; the fourth is "cool", which refers to thin wine, and some people say that rice and wheat are fried and then mashed into powder and stirred with cold water; the fifth is medicine; the sixth is a thin porridge. This "six drinks" is also known as "six clear", because the common characteristics of these six drinks are light taste.
Mr. Zhang Shunhui wrote in the book "Notes on the Interpretation of Words in Shuowen": "There was no tea in ancient times, and the pulp was often drunk, so those who said that drinkers will be able to drink it." The lid pulp is also made of rice, which resembles wine rather than wine. Its taste will be drunk, so quench thirst also. Zhou Tianzi's special drinks were introduced to the folk, the most popular is "pulp", this is because "pulp" has a taste than water, and the cost is the lowest and cheapest, so "pulp" has become the most important drink in the life of the ancients alongside rice and wine, so later all the drinks that can be pounded into juice are called "pulp", such as the "Hanshu Lile Zhi" at that time in the "Suburban Song" there is a verse of "Taizun Garnet Pulp Analysis Chaoqi", And Eastern Han scholars should comment on it: "Garnet pulp, take the juice of ganzuna to drink it." Sick wine also. Analysis, solution also. The syrup can be solved asahiya. "Chéng" means that he was drunk last night and still got sick this morning, and drinking sugarcane juice can solve the wine. This is an example of what sugarcane juice is called "pulp."
Hou Wei and Zhu Hai of Luo Zhi later played a huge role in the famous story of "stealing charms to save Zhao". In 257 BC, the Qin army besieged the capital of the Zhao state, Handan, and the King of Wei did not dare to send troops to rescue him, so Xin Lingjun adopted Hou Wei's suggestion and stole the soldier's charm by the hand of the King of Wei's favorite Ji Ruji, zhu Hai killed the general Jin, and xin Lingjun seized the military power and saved the Zhao state, but he could not return to China and had to stay in the Zhao state.
"Gongzi Wen Zhao has a virgin Mao Gong hidden in the Bo disciple, and Xue Gong hidden in the pulp seller." "Bo disciple", that is, gambler, is the same as "selling pulp", which belongs to the lowly industry, but Xin Lingjun is eager to ask for talent and personally visit these two hermits. This move was ridiculed by PingYuanjun of the Zhao Kingdom as "vainly following the Bo disciples to sell pulp", and obviously did not understand the broad mind of Xin Lingjun. Therefore, later generations condensed Xin Lingjun's "introduction of cars into the city" to seek out meat slaughter, boers and pulp sellers into the phrase "leading cars to sell pulp", which was not only used to refer to the common people who did small business, but also praised the virtues of Xin Lingjun.
The story of Yu Xin Lingjun also shows that "selling pulp" is a common profession. In the Zhuangzi Miscellaneous Chapters, Lie Yukou records the words of Lie Yukou: "I taste ten pulps, and the five pulps are fed first." "I used to drink in ten pulp shops, but five of them brought it to me first. Mr. Shang Binghe commented in the book "Examination of Social Customs and Things in Past Dynasties": "Today's so-called bidding is also. Zhou Shi zai did not see anyone who sold his food, but only a pulp seller. Pulpers, drinks, ancient tea, seem to be used for passers-by. ”
This is the origin of the idiom of "leading the car to sell pulp", just like saying "leading the car into the pulp house", which does not refer to the two occupations of pulling a big car and selling soy milk, but a general reference derived from the story of Xin Lingjun.
"The Picture of the Prosperity of The Pure Glass Town, YauchiKuya Tatsu", redrawn by Hiroshi Utagawa, 1852.
The "Map of the Prosperity of Seyoricho" series consists of seven scenes depicting the bustling commercial activities around Sensoji Temple in the Edo period. This series is not very famous in Hiroshige's works, but it fully demonstrates the painter's calm and meticulous observation, and even if it depicts the prosperity of the city, it also has a quiet tone characteristic of Hiroshige. In this painting, the crowd is bustling, the goods are miscellaneous, there are vendors and guests laughing like bargaining, some passers-by seem to be hit by falling objects in the air, there are weeping girls with shamisen, and the rest play wine, tea, vegetables, and clogs, the details are colorful, like a silent movie.