The state banquet of the Swiss Festival is held

Birthday singing and dancing

The 18th day of the 10th month of the lunar calendar is the Ruiqing Festival. Guangzong Zhao Dian and Li Fengniang had two sons, the eldest son died very early, and the second son Kuo was frail and sickly, but he finally grew up and ascended to the throne of the great treasure. Like the emperors of previous dynasties, Zhao Kuo's birth is also extraordinary. Legend has it that Empress Li had a dream: the red sun in the sky slowly descended on the courtyard of her house, and Li Fengniang was full of joy and stretched out her arms to meet each other. Soon, she was pregnant, pregnant in October, on the night of October 18 (November 19, 1162) in the fourth year of the Gandao, the baby fell to the ground, and the purple cloud hall where she lived was shrouded in auspicious light, and it did not disperse for a long time.

After Zhao Kuo ascended the throne, in August of the first year of Qingyuan, the imperial court issued an edict, October 18 every year for the Tianyou Festival, the national holiday for two days, to celebrate the birthday of the Son of Heaven, two years later, by the Kaifu Yi and the three divisions of Han Yanxuan proposed, changed the Tianyou Festival to the Ruiqing Festival.

This year's Swiss Festival is particularly lively. A month before the festival, the emperor's favored Mrs. Yang gave birth to a prince, and there was jubilation inside and outside the palace. After Zhao Daguang got married, he has six children so far. Empress Han Jing gave birth to three sons and a daughter, and Mrs. Zhong gave birth to a daughter, and now, only the youngest son of the Yang family has just been born, and the rest have all died. Under the instructions of the Empress Dowager, Dasheng Mansion summoned many geisha from the music workshop to take turns to sing in the palace.

On October 16, Wu Bogang, a member of the Privy Council, led the military attache above the rank of Xiu Wulang, and the next day, Zuo Xiang Jingyutang led the missionary Lang and above to Zhaoqing Temple to pray for the emperor and participate in the temple's birthday ceremony. On the 18th, the palace held a home ceremony. In the evening, fireworks are set off.

On 20 October, the most important task for civil and military officials to go to work was to congratulate the emperor on his birthday, and the palace held a state banquet to entertain foreign envoys, princes and nobles, and officials at all levels.

At this time, the Daqing Hall has been decorated, draped in red and green, Ambilight, solemn in a festive atmosphere. In the middle of the front of the main hall, the north of the seat faces south, the dragon chair and the dragon case are placed, and there are two huge gold-lettered plaques on both sides, which are the words of longevity and the word Xi. In front of the dragon case, there is a small empty field, set up a stage more than three feet high, covered with red satin, in front of and on both sides of the corridor, full of tables and chairs, close to the palace gate, build a color building.

The auspicious time has arrived. Yuguo Gong Han Yanxuan delivered a congratulatory birthday speech, and Prime Minister Zuo Cheng organized the Zaizhi, the princes, the clan and other civil and military officials through Yutang, holding the wat board, and in turn to meet the Son of Heaven in batches and bow down. The prime minister said loudly: "The whole world celebrates, and all the people rejoice." I wish the emperor blessings such as the long flowing water of the East China Sea, and the longevity of the Nanshan Immortal Pine. All the ministers shouted together: "Congratulations to the emperor, long life is boundless!" Zhao Kuang opened Chrysostom: "Xinqing, the same as Qing"; The envoys and deputy envoys of Jin, Xia, Goryeo and other countries, led by Wu Bogang, the secretary of the Privy Council, presented congratulatory gifts and national credentials.

The emperor wore a purple gauze robe, wore a golden crown through the sky, sat on the dragon chair, and when the hundred officials congratulated, he smiled, finished the salute, and signaled to sit down. ”

The officials and envoys sat down and sat in their designated seats. Officials above the rank of chief executive, prince, clan and observer envoy and foreign envoys sit in the middle of the main hall, the chief and deputy governors of the ministers and eunuchs, and the accompanying officials of the foreign envoys sit in the corridors on both sides of the main hall, and the personnel below the military academy are lined up outside the main hall.

At the end of the morning meeting, inside and outside the hall, there was silence, and suddenly I heard the sound of a hundred birds and chirping in the air, like a phoenix and Qingluan waiting for Xiangji Palace. If you look closely, it is three artists performing ventriloquism on the color building.

The palace maids took advantage of the people's appreciation, put on the table the ring cake, jujube tower, rice cake and other snacks, and all kinds of fruits, and put a bucket of black plum soup, Jin, Xia and other envoys in front of the beef and sheep with bones and cooked meat, as well as green onions, garlic and vinegar and other small plates.

The banquet was held to the sound of drums. The bands of the teaching workshop are arranged in the colorful shed under the color building, and the performers wear long hats with their heads wrapped around their heads, wearing purple, crimson, and green wide shirts, yellow Yi shirts, and gilded concave belts at their waists. The front row is the clapper, ten people are lined up in a row, a total of three rows, followed by the pipa, fifty sides, and then there are two gonghou on the left, the gonghou is three feet high, like a huge wooden comb, black lacquer background, carved patterns, there is a pedestal below, there are twenty-five strings on it, and the performer kneels and plays it with both hands. On the right drum stand there are two large drums, the drummer wears a red wide-sleeved shirt, the yellow narrow sleeves of the jacket, hanging a ribbon, the drum hammer is wrapped in gold leaf, when the drum is beaten, the drum hammer is held high, alternately striking, the ribbon flutters, like a shooting star. There are two drums and two square sounds, and finally there are musical instruments such as flute, sheng, xun, zhen, mo, and dragon flute. On both sides of these, there are two hundred rods and drums arranged opposite each other.

The performers stand on opposite sides from the stone steps in front of the palace until they reach the booth. Whenever the program is performed, it should be danced to the beat, hand in hand, and dance with each other.

Two officials of the temple stood by the railing in front of the palace, wrapped in red turbans, wearing wide purple robes and gold belts, inspecting the wine cups poured on the banquet. With unified command to toast, when the ruler toasted to the Son of Heaven, they raised their sleeves and chanted: "Toast the wine", and then, flicked their sleeves to the side of the railing, and when other officials toasted to the Son of Heaven, they chanted: "Toast", raising their sleeves and shaking their sleeves as before.

The wine cup in the royal banquet is pure gold in the hall, and pure silver in the porch. In addition to gold and silver, there are also high-quality official kiln pottery. The sake is a royal wine rose dew, which can be drunk according to the amount of alcohol you drink. The whole banquet was toasted nine times, interspersed with a variety of performances.

The first wine is celebrated all over the world. After everyone toasted, a female singer sang the middle cavity "New Lotus Leaf, Thin Dew Beginning Zero", accompanied by sheng, flute and flute, and when singing the second time, the drums sounded in unison, and the loud soprano sounded inside and outside the palace.

The thin dew is zero at the beginning, and the long night and the eternal book are stopped.

Around the water tower, towering Pengying.

Zhilan is longevity, reflecting each other, hairpins and hairpins.

The flowers are soft and jade, and there is no grace in the hand.

The crane is thin and pine, and the spirit is bright with the autumn moon.

Virtue article, Su Chi is becoming famous.

Although the mountains are high, although they are good-looking, they are not proud.

An Shi must rise, and he wants the world to live.

The deacons toasted to the tune of "Pouring the Cup", and when the other officials toasted, the music of "Santai" sounded, and the dancers danced to the music.

The second wine is said to last forever. A male singer sang "Shengping Music", with a melodious voice, accompanied by a band, and six women danced.

The third wine is called Shoubi Nanshan. The two-box sergeants in the capital performed acrobatics such as pole climbing, rope walking, handstand, somersault, and bottle kicking. It is only then that the dishes served with sake begin at the royal banquet.

The fourth wine is called Guotai Min'an. After the music and dance, the famous artist Zhang Shilang in the capital said nonsense, mainly saying some witty and funny words praising the wisdom of the Son of Heaven and the people living and working in peace and contentment.

The fifth wine is said to be abundant. It began with a pipa ensemble, followed by percussion square rings, and then performed by dozens of boys of twelve or thirteen years old. They wear small hermit hats, dressed in scarlet, purple, green, blue and other color shirts, holding all kinds of flower branches, beating drums and marching, after a while, the children in the first row show the golden card, connected together: "Nine Shaoxiang colorful phoenix, eight hundred dance Qingluan." The band played music, and marched forward until they saw the Son of Heaven on the steps in front of the temple. The host gave a eulogy in his mouth and asked questions, one of the children took the lead, and went forward to give a eulogy to the emperor, and the others should be harmonious, and the music was played, and they danced and sang. Then there is the miscellaneous "Four Seasons of Joy", in which Yu Deshui, Gu Xiaoqiao, Hu Xiaoqiao and others perform market sayings, jokingly and singing.

At this time, the court meeting and banquet had been more than an hour, and there was a break. The emperor got up and left his seat, and the hundred officials withdrew from the main hall and went to the tent to rest.