與子中帖 Letter to Tzu-chung

【About the author】

蒲宗孟（1022－1088年）。字傳正，今宏觀鄉人。宋仁宗皇佑年間進士，任集賢校理，升翰林學士兼侍讀，拜尚書左丞。蒲宗孟喜歡享受，奢糜無度：譬如每天一定要宰殺十隻羊、十隻豬分享諸親至友，夜夜要點三百支蠟燭照明。「小洗面、大洗面、小濯足、大濯足、小大澡浴之別。每用婢子數人，一浴至湯五斛」。「小洗面」，僅清洗面部，換一次水，用奴婢二人伺候；「大洗面」，洗臉、脖子和肩膀，換三次水，用奴婢五人；「小濯足」，僅洗腳，更換一次熱水，用奴婢二人；「大濯足」，洗腳、腿以及下身，換三次水，用奴婢四人；「小澡浴」，湯用三斛，人用五六；「大澡浴」，湯用五斛，人用八九。蒲氏每日兩洗面，兩濯足，隔日一小浴，隔兩日一大浴。蒲氏講究個人衛生竟然到了這般地步，讓人懷疑他是否有潔癖？

Inside Story

This was a letter Pu Chungmeng wrote to Tzu-chung. In the letter he told his friend he was doing well, he could not pay a visit to him but he thought of him in stead, for they lived far away from each other. He wanted Tzu-chung to take care of himself.