说“打砖”

On “Brick-patting”

"打砖"一词系明清俗语,今人对其意义的理解,存在失误。其义并非指打制砖瓦之类的建筑材料,而是乞丐行乞的一种手段。乞丐一边手持砖块在前胸后背敲打,一边哀告求食或唱曲儿,以博得路人的怜悯,从而求取食物。"打砖"的现象从近代至今天,一直没有绝迹。

The term＂brick-patting＂derived from the saying in the Ming and Qing dynasties.There are errors in understanding its meaning.Its meaning is not referring to making such building materials as bricks,but only a means of beggars begging.The beggar,who struck bricks in the chest and the back,cried for food or sang a song in order to win the pity of passers-by,so as to obtain food.＂Brick-patting＂phenomenonhas not become extinct from the modern times to today.