Fire history reveals Qing Dynasty fire brigade or water dragon bureau

As the fourth volume published after the Six Dynasties Volume, the Republic of China Volume, and the Ming Dynasty Volume, the “Nanjing History and Qing Dynasty Volume” compiled by the Nanjing Local History Office was recently issued in Ning County, and deputy mayor Chen Gang attended. Start the forum.

Jiang Ning, the grandson of Cao Xueqin's grandfather Cao Yong, was actually an “intelligence organization” established by the Emperor Kangxi in the south of the Yangtze River. As early as the Qing Dynasty, the salt water duck in Nanjing became a nationally renowned food. In the late Qing Dynasty, Nanjing had a city fire protection system.” The "Water Dragon Bureau" and the "Stop Firecrackers and Firecrackers" were issued. The book "Nanjing General History and the Qing Dynasty Volume" has a total of 600,000 characters and contains a lot of anecdotes. It can be called an encyclopedia to understand Nanjing in the Qing Dynasty.

Jiangning weaving is actually an "intelligence station"

Cao Yu's Surveillance for Kangxi

A "Dream of Red Mansions" reminds people of Jiangning weaving in Nanjing. In the previous Jiangning weaving, Cao Xueqin's grandfather, Cao Yu, was one of the most trusted by the emperor. However, Cao Yu's main mission is not to tribute silk silk to the court, but is another special task: secretly collecting intelligence.

According to the "General History of Nanjing in the Qing Dynasty", Kangxi repeatedly told Cao Yu: "Afterwards, I would like to hear about local minorities. I must play with a close compromise." In order to allow Cao Yong to serve as a long-term leader of himself in the south of the Yangtze River, Kangxi deliberately changed the method of Jiangning weaving in the Shunzhi DPRK for an annual or three-year period, and became unlimited.

Among the 3,119 memorials included in the "Compilation of the Han Dynasty and the Zhuwen Memorial Prizes in the Kangxi Dynasty", Cao Yu and Suzhou Weaving Co., Ltd. had as many as 619 closed clans, nearly one-fifth of the total number. In the two men's memorials, there were both local conditions and weather conditions, as well as the price of food in the market, as well as major issues such as bureaucratic privacy, and public incidents that were discovered during the visit. The number of content related to weaving affairs was small. Cao Yu’s memorial has reported on major events in the Jiangnan officialdom and the civil society in the middle and late Kangxi era, such as Jiangnan’s robbery in the past forty-six years, the abolition of the Prince’s defeat in forty-seven years, and Jiangnan Branch’s case in fifty years. The case of Prince Zhu 3, and Kangxi’s trust in the Cao family can be seen here.

The salted duck is the "food gourmet product" in the Qing Dynasty

An official from Guangdong moved to Nanjing to satisfy his taste

The cuisine of Nanjing was also quite famous in the Qing Dynasty. Today's Jinling specialty salted duck has already enjoyed national reputation at that time.

According to historical records, the two most famous gourmets in Nanjing during the Qing Dynasty were the “Spring Salted Duck” and the “Winter Barrel Chicken.” The variety of duck products is dazzling. “Kill it and go to its hair, oyster all the cities,” said the crystal duck; “fork fire ignorant, red skin is not coke”, that the roast duck; “Paper spread on the skin, cook so that the stomach through,” that the sauce Ducks... However, these duck products are not as famous as salted ducks. At that time, the diners regarded the salted duck as “no top quality” and described its taste as “light and strong but not strong”. In the winter, salted ducks can also be made into salted ducks. During the Daoguang period, a Cantonese official named Feng Yu, who was able to eat salt-water ducks, also specifically relocated to Nanjing and wrote an article praising “The Jinling ducks are produced in the sea”.

The aquatic products of Nanjing in the Qing Dynasty were also sometimes famous: the swordfish in spring, the salmon in summer, the crab in autumn and the salmon in winter. At that time, puffer fish was also produced in Nanjing. However, due to its poisonous status, it was prohibited by the government from entering the city.

Qianlong set up "Water Dragon Bureau" responsible for fire fighting

"Firefighters" Fire Bounty Super Qianwen

As early as in the Qing Dynasty, Nanjing established a city fire protection system, but the name was not called the fire brigade, but the “Water Dragon Bureau”.

The Nanjing Water Dragon Bureau was founded in the reign of Qianlong, but it was destroyed in the war of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It was not until 1870 that the city’s gentry raised funds to restore the Water Dragon Bureau. According to reports, the "firefighters" of the Water Dragon Bureau are divided into two types: the Long Longfu and the picking water husband. A water dragon must be equipped with a bucket of ten lions to follow. “Water Dragon” was the main tool for fire fighting at that time. It consisted of an oval large barrel, two copper piston cylinders and a cross-wood. When used, the cross-wood was activated to drive the piston and use pressure to spray water from the water conveyor belt.

According to historical records, there were frequent fires in the Nanjing area during the late Qing period. From 1875 to 1903, there were 513 fires across the city. In order to cope with the fire-prone situation, Li Hongzhang, the then Governor of the two rivers, successively purchased 4 new Yangshui Dragons from the Shanghai Municipal Offshore Arts Bureau to prepare for emergency needs. At that time, the “firefighters” who were responsible for operating the water dragons received a reward of 1,400 yuan for each rescue of a fire. At that time, the troops of the Green Battalion, Xiang Army, Huai Jun, and other troops stationed in Ningxia were also involved in extinguishing fires. They were mainly responsible for maintaining the order of the fires, assisting the Water Dragon Bureau to transport water, or pulling down the hooks of buildings on fire to prevent the spread of fire.

From the late Tongzhi to the early years of Guangxu, Jiangning Buzheng Mei Qizhao introduced the Taiping Water Tank System in Nanjing City. Each water dragon bureau has 10 Taiping water tanks within its jurisdiction, and each tank can hold 20 tons of water for firefighting purposes. In addition, the government also tried to eliminate fire hazards. At the end of the 19th century, the government introduced the "order to prohibit firecrackers and firecrackers in the downtown area" and forcibly moved the firecrackers shop to a secluded place in the north of the city.