吳城日記 translation: Diary of Inner City Suzhou, Part 16

This is Part 16 in an annotation of an extract from 吳城日記 (‘Diary of Inner City Suzhou’). It’s a daily log of Suzhou (specifically the small, walled area in the centre) from the year 1645, a year after the Manchus took Beijing, marking the end of the Ming dynasty and the beginning of the Qing (明末清初).

As always, if you notice a mistake or have any suggestions, please share them in the comments at the end of the page.

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廿九日，放領旗下鄉者入城。 Day 29. They allowed the villagers under the leadership of the bannermen into the city walls.

歸來婦女，皆面容失色，衣履狼狽，可憫也。 The faces of the women coming back had all turned pale, and their clothes were all tattered - they were pitiful.

顧市巷彭毓泉，世織緞，家本溫裕，子亦在庠。 Peng Yuquan from Gushi Alley works as a tailor, is from a well-off family, and has a son in the prefectural school.

因夜半訛傳屠城之說，驚駭里中。 Because in the middle of the night he falsely passed on a rumour of a massacre, there was great fright inside [the alley?] .

上臺震怒，立並鄰近俞家內親同文陳姓，同斬於顧市巷口，首懸通衢。 The authorities were furious, and immediately he and his close neighbour Chen Wen were both beheaded at the entrance at Gushi Alley, and their heads strung up in the main thoroughfare.

妄言立取殺身之禍，可不鑑諸。 Liars immediately meet the calamity of death, and none of them are given warnings.

七月初一日，又戮二人於北寺前。 Month 7 Day 1. Two people were killed in front of the northern temple.

總之，城中士庶，自前月十一二日剃髮以來，上官止欲留頂大甌口，修之又修，如式者多矣。 In short, the scholars and commoners within the city walls, from the 11th and 12th of the previous month shaved their hair, and since then the higher officials have prohibited them from leaving a bowl on top *[??]*; they alter it and alter it again, and those with this style are many.

乃郊外之民多未刈發，其有冒昧入城，致罹鋒刃者，未可枚舉。 So there are many people in the outskirts who have not cut their hair; those of them who are bold enough to enter the city walls and end up facing the blade cannot be enumerated.

丁行甫一義孫，坐是，被殺於城頭。 *[someone did something??]*, because of this, he was killed on top of the city wall. ([坐是](http://www.zdic.net/cd/ci/7/ZdicE5Zdic9DZdic9031444.htm) = 因此.)

以惜毛髮而反喪首領，此之謂不知類也。 *[seriously no idea what this bit is all about]*

是日午間綁一剃髮不如式者，遊示城中以驚眾，其人即皮市街管氏之族。 That day at noon they tied up someone who'd shaved his hair in the wrong style, toured him around for display within the city walls to frighten the masses; this person was from the Guan family on Pishi Street.

遊行畢，幸免屠戮。 When the touring had finished, he luckily avoided being executed.

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Full text of 吳城日記.