What do you mean by "red-headed Sam"? don't understand; ignorant of

The annotation of the word "patrol" in Ci Hai is: "The police set up by imperialism in the old Chinese concession are an important tool to oppress the people and safeguard their privileges." But it did not explain why the police set up in the concession were called "patrols".

After the signing of the Sino-British treaty of nanking, Shanghai opened its ports. In order to avoid conflicts between China and foreign countries, Shanghai Road signed the Charter of Land Lease in Shanghai with the British Consul, and set aside a piece of land as the "residence" of the British. Article 23 of the Articles of Association, in which Article 12 stipulates: "The employment of bellmen shall be properly negotiated between businessmen and people. However, the name of the watchman must be reported to the local officials by the local local officials and pavilion directors for verification. The rules of the watchman shall be stipulated separately. Its responsibility is longer, and it must be sent by the Taoist platform and consul. " Watchmen is a unique business in China. It is a night patrol officer appointed by the local security bureau to remind residents to be careful and close the doors and windows. But "Watchman" has no corresponding word in English, so the English version of the articles of association is translated into watchman, which means night watchman and guard when translated into Chinese. So the British consul Aligo set up a team of 20 watchmen in the British Concession according to the articles of association. There were two watchmen who were in charge of local public security during the day besides patrolling at night. 1853 After the outbreak of the Knife Club Uprising, the Shanghai Concession felt that it was necessary to establish a stronger public security force in order to safeguard the security of the Concession. Without the permission of China government, the British, American and French concessions amended the Charter of Shanghai Land Lease 1845 without authorization, and issued a revised version of the Charter of Shanghai Land Lease 1854, in which the provisions on watchmen were changed to "watchmen or police forces" and "the establishment of watchmen, guards or police forces", which were regarded as concessions by the concession authorities. Turn from iron to blood/

On July 1854, 1 1, the lessees of the concession held a meeting in the British Consulate and decided to set up a "Ministry Bureau". At the same time, the Ministry organized the establishment of the Shanghai Police Department, which literally translated as police, but there is no word police in Chinese characters. At that time, the police in the concession was the police force to maintain public order in the concession, and the capital of China had a "patrol camp" dedicated to maintaining public order in the capital, so people translated the police into patrol officers and the police station into patrol rooms. This is why the concession police department is called the inspection department and the police station is called the inspection department.

Most of the patrolmen in the public concession are British, while most of the junior patrolmen come from the British colony of India. Most of the policemen in the French Concession grew up French, while Annan (Vietnamese) was the majority, and Shanghainese called it "one arrest". There are three stripes on the sleeve of the policeman's uniform, so Shanghainese call it "three heads". Indian policemen patrolling the concession are called "Indian policemen" in the province, but Shanghainese often secretly call them "Red-headed Ah San". There are different interpretations of this title, but they are all very interesting. Let's make an introduction.

According to the Shanghai Proverbs published in 1930s, most Indians patrolling in Shanghai are Sikhs. Although they are white, their faces are dark and they are used to wearing red headscarves, so Shanghainese call them "red-headed black charcoal" (Shanghainese generally call people with dark skin "black charcoal"), and later misinterpret them as "red-headed three". There is also a saying that "Mr" is usually said as Sir in English and pronounced as "three" in Shanghai dialect, which is a monosyllabic word. Shanghai dialect (including most Jiangnan dialects) is generally used for monosyllabic words with "a" in front (or followed by "zi" and "head"). Turn from iron to blood/

Therefore, in Pidgin English, "Mr" is called "A Sir", which is pronounced like "A San", which is a courtesy title for the police, while "Yin Bu" is called "A San with red head" because it is a red scarf. It is more reasonable to think that today's Hong Kong people also call the police "sir". There is another explanation: the Indian police conduct exercises under the command of the chief every day. They often shout in unison, "Yes, sir!" At first, Shanghainese didn't understand the meaning of "yes, sir", so they called the patrol "A San". Some people think that Indian policemen who just came to Shanghai can't speak Shanghainese, and they often have to deal with Shanghai residents when performing their duties. Because of the language barrier, it is difficult for Shuangwan to speak. Indian police often say "I say" as a language pause, while Shanghainese call them "three red heads" when they see that they always say "I say".

The above are several interpretations of the publication of "Red Head Three" circulating in Shanghai. As for which interpretation is closest to the truth, it is up to the reader to understand it.

People who have lived in Shanghai must remember that monkey tricks can often be seen on the streets of Shanghai. The monkey juggler drew a circle and knocked gongs to attract passers-by, so the monkey made various performances under the instructions of the monkey juggler. When watching the monkey show, people often shout, "Ah San! The eagle is coming! " Everyone in Shanghai knows that this cry is to scare monkeys. At that time, most of the people who came to Shanghai to play monkey tricks were from Shandong, Henan and other places, and most of them could not speak Shanghainese. Moreover, monkeys are mostly purchased from Guizhou, Yunnan, and they certainly don't understand Shanghai dialect. Besides, eagles are rarely seen in Shanghai, so "Ah San! What do you mean "the eagle is coming"? It turns out that "A San" is "A San with red head", because the head of the Indian patrol is red and the monkey's ass is red; Eagle "is not an eagle flying in the sky, but" old English "-the homonym of ancient English. "Red Head Three" is a policeman in the concession. They are arrogant and bully China people everywhere. In front of the British, they are conquered people, so Shanghainese shout "Ah San! The eagle is coming! "Just to vent their dissatisfaction and resistance to the Indian police when watching the monkey show.