Old Yangzhou: Fireworks and Bright Moon

Author: Wang Hong
Author Country: China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-03-01
Features: Du Mu said, "Bright moon over the Twenty-Four Bridges," Xu Ning said, "Twilight in Yangzhou," and Li Bai said, "March in the Flowering Three Gorges." This book about the old days of Yangzhou is unique in the following ways: First, it does not intend to elaborate on historical records and artifacts, conducting thorough and systematic research. The author only wants to take a brief glimpse at the living conditions of Yangzhou in the past century, striving to describe some of the vicissitudes of old times in a simple and clear manner. Second, it uses a combination of text and images to recreate the social life of old Yangzhou over a century, with the text and images progressing parallel to each other, sometimes interweaving and complementing one another, making the reading experience more vivid and engaging. It is hoped that those who are interested in history, literature, photography, art, folklore, as well as architecture and cultural relics, will enjoy flipping through this book.
Excerpt: Enjoying the taste of "a wedding night is not as enjoyable as soaking feet in boiling water." The head pool was covered with a railing made of rough wooden strips, allowing bathers to lie on it and enjoy the surging hot waves from the pool, somewhat like a steam bath. The water in the large pool was hot but not scalding, allowing the entire body to be immersed, which was the true essence of soaking in water. The children's pool was smaller and filled with warm water, where children loved to splash around.
"The Three Knives of Yangzhou" are famous. One is the chef's knife, which has already been roughly introduced in "Eating in Yangzhou" and "Water in a Leather Bag." The other is the pedicure knife used by foot reflexologists. There are many types of pedicure knives in Yangzhou, some for digging warts, some for removing ingrown toenails, and some for peeling old skin. Many years ago, my left big toe was deeply embedded, causing immense pain when walking. I had visited several bathhouses in Nanjing for pedicure treatments, but the problem was never resolved. Later, upon returning to Yangzhou, I encountered an experienced pedicure master at the century-old Yongningquan Bathhouse. He wore reading glasses and carefully removed the ingrown toenail from my foot without causing a single drop of blood. I sincerely