Yao Yufei
Around 1900, Hunan cuisine was very different from today's appearance, when Changsha people did not make Xing rice noodles, and the most important thing in daily life was to eat noodles. The tradition of "eating hairy crabs in the autumn wind" in Hunan has not risen in the past thirty years, and eating crabs has become the standard for the middle class and above a century ago. The modern Rupi Xirui (1850-1958), known for his History of Sutras and the General Theory of Sutra Studies, showed us a different scene of eating more than 100 years ago through his millions of words of diary.
Pissiri's diary
First, duck and crab are must-eat foods
Chicken, duck and fish are the protagonists of the Hunan table, but the number of seats often changes. In the feast around 1900, the duck seemed to be the deserved protagonist.
Although living on the edge of the Xiang River, Pi Xirui did not like fish, and his diary rarely recorded eating fish, but he had a fondness for ducks. On August 17, 1900, the birthday of Pi Xirui's concubine, relatives and friends clamored to "eat roast duck to Xu Nanxing." "It can be seen that the average diner loves duck meat. By the tenth day of the first month of April in Nongyin (1902), Xu Changxing, a famous halal restaurant relocated from Nanjing to Changsha, finally appeared in Pi Xirui's pen, and the diary recorded: "Old Mrs. Tan waited in Xu Changxing to eat ducks and went there. The dish is good and the price is high. "Xu Changxing Restaurant, which is famous for its ducks, is known for its expensive price, which shows the status of ducks in the food and beverage at that time. Judging from the diary records, Pi Xirui went to Xu Changxing at least three times to dine. He really liked ducks, and on the sixth day of May in 1903, he ate roast duck in Juyuanlou, Beijing, and praised it in his diary. Ducks are becoming more and more important in their daily diet, and some even use them as a measure of prices. When Li Jingchen was studying in Japan, he wrote to Pi Xirui: "It costs a lot to eat in the East, fourteen yuan a load of rice, a meat triangle, and a duck for one and a half yuan." "It can be seen that duck has become a standard ingredient for measuring prices, just like rice and pork. In the daily reward, duck is also an important gift, together with silver fish, bacon, beef, crab, shrimp, curd milk, steaming pot, mushroom oil, etc. as a common food gift for Hunan people, but sometimes in the form of pickled duck. Pisiri is a good eater of ducks, and there is often a surplus of duck dishes in the home. For this reason, it is also necessary to test the freshness of duck dishes. Diary of the ninth day of the first month of March in the year of the decay, "Get up early and eat." The duck is inserted with silver needles, black, and does not eat. "Pisiri tested the freshness of the duck with a silver needle, which was actually effective!
Duck in Hunan cuisine
Like the trend of eating duck, which was once forgotten by hunan food history researchers, there are also hairy crabs. Returning to the historical scene, it can be seen that the Hunan people in the late Qing Dynasty already know how to eat crabs. As early as the Xianfeng period, He Shaoji brought hairy crabs from Suzhou to Changsha Hong'en Temple to taste. And Pi Xirui also had to eat hairy crabs every autumn during the Guangxu years. Guangxu Bingshennian (1896) October 12 diary, "Night strong, drink a cup, eat crabs, very fat." An altar of drunken crabs with yellow wine. His criterion for judging good crabs is fat, while crabs with poor taste have their own grooves, some are "tender and inedible", and some are corrupt. However, crabs are not cheap after all, and on October 11, 2017, Pi Xirui bought dozens of crabs in Jiujiang, each twenty-four, and he was not cheap. "Pisiri is not a pretending foodie, his diary reflects the careful eating and drinking of ordinary people, this experience is so similar to us, it is inevitable to have a relationship, as a confidant. Therefore, on the eighth day of the first month of September in the year of Wushu (1898), "the crabs bought died and were cooked." At night, the wine is kept, the stars and moon are full of ships, and the scenery is not evil." Pi Xirui on the journey from Wuhan to Changsha, eating dead crabs, may be in a good mood, maybe the scenery is good, and he does not dislike the taste at all. As for eating crab to cause cold stomach, the usual way to deal with it now is to drink rice wine and eat ginger sugar tea, and Pi Xi Rui has another brilliant plan - eat pepper. On October 18, 1899, "the stomach hurt at night, and I wanted to eat crabs." Eat pepper, slightly flat. "It seems that pepper is also a good medicine to drive away crab cold."
Pi Xirui Guangxu Nongchen (1892) diary book shadow
Second, the more prosperous the diet, the more progressive Hunan is
Although Hunan society has been very turbulent since Tongzhi and Guangxu, with the continuous improvement of the political and social status of the Xiang people and the economic development of Hunan, the catering industry has become fully prosperous. Around 1900, Changsha's dietary consumption was already very luxurious, and the eight bowls of dishes on the birthday banquet were still simple. The average person's formal banquet is already eight bowls and eight plates. To this end, Pi Xirui could not help but sigh in his diary, "In recent years, Hunan has been too extravagant, and the rich are also poor."
The hallmark of the prosperity of the catering industry is the rising price of shark fin mats. In 1895, the price of a table of shark fin soup mats was four yuan. By 1906, in the countryside of Changsha, chefs were making a table of shark fin soup mats, which required all-night labor, but people still enjoyed chasing shark fin soup mats. In addition, trendy drinks have also entered Hunan. Pisiri tasted wine on July 14, 1894. Ding Younian (1897) on the ninth day of march, eat beer. The drinks given by officials at the time also included boxes of beer. According to the "Diary of Pi Xirui", in the year of Gengzi (1900), hearing that three foreigners were about to enter Changsha, Hunan officials told the chef to make watercress for hospitality. By May 20, 1903, Changsha already had a fancai restaurant qingyuan. After tasting it, Pi Xirui thought that the dish was not good and could not be eaten, but it cost five yuan, which was not inferior to the shark's fin mat. It can be seen that Western food has appeared as a high-end dish since the beginning of its entry into Hunan. The chefs in Changsha are also slowly cooking Western food under the tutelage of foreigners. The foreign teaching of Matilda Academy, its chef "makes foreign dishes shanghe". In 1904, Nie Yuntai's family feasted on guests and also entertained them with chinese dishes. However, Pixiri did not have any good feelings for watercress from the beginning. On April 12, 1898, the diary clouded, "The table belongs to the cabbage, there is no great taste, and the foreign wine is not drunk."
Hot pot and barbecue may also have appeared on the historical stage of Hunan cuisine during this period. At that time, Hunan people drank wine with bowls, and did not use cups, so they were called tea bowls, rice bowls, wine bowls, and even hot pots were also called fire bowls. On the fourth day of the first month of December 1899, Chen Youmei, pixirui's owner, invited him to a very rich and hearty guest. Pi Xirui "did not dare to use the fire bowl, thinking that the snow was not hindered, eating a few spoons of soup, dry and thirsty at night, hot and unbearable." On The twenty-seventh day of February 1900, Pi Xirui "lay late, ate the fire bowl again, and his eyes were even redder." In Pi Xirui's view, the hot pot is easy to catch fire, even if it is eaten on a snowy day, it is inevitable that the mouth is dry and the heart is on fire, but he is still brave to try, after all, this is a fresh way to eat and drink.
In the winter of the year before the Penghu Reformation, Pi Xirui was active in Changsha. On the seventh day of the first month of November of that year, it is recorded, "When are current events so urgent, why don't my generations feast and drink?" Against the backdrop of tense times, excessive banqueting provoked Pisiri's inner uneasiness. It was during this period that Pi Xirui and Liang Qichao, Ye Dehui, Chen Sanli, Huang Zunxian and others frequently drank and played, boarded Yuelu, and talked about state affairs. Old and new intellectuals surrounded the Shiwu Academy and the Southern Society to promote the vigorous restoration movement. Pisiri's life's work in political and social reform was also highlighted by this period. His reflections in his diary are actually unnecessary. After all, the more prosperous the food industry, the more progressive the whole society. Once various restrictions on the catering industry began, the brilliance and vitality of society dimmed.
In 1904, Changsha opened its port, which was a major event affecting Changsha's economy, society and people's livelihood, and it was also a year when Changsha's catering industry was booming. This year, the iconic Yulou East Restaurant opened and quickly became a popular eating place. On the afternoon of March 25, 1905, Pi Xirui "invited Chongyuan and Yunsheng to Yulou East for a drink", and on November 21, "Kwai Garden invited Yulou East to breakfast, for good as a feast". The famous scholar Wang Xianqian (Kwai Yuan) set up a banquet in Yulou East to entertain his protégés, which shows the reputation of this new restaurant in Yulou East. On September 19, 1907, a year before Pi Xirui's death, he also went to Yulou East with Ye Dehui and others, "Calling Dan six people, it is advisable to think that they are also blessed." It can be seen that Yuloudong not only operates catering, but also comes with entertainment services.
The opening of changsha has made all walks of life eager to move, and they have set their sights on the catering industry. Not only is the high-end restaurant Yulou East Gate in the market, but the low-end restaurant business is also very prosperous. On September 29, 1904, the diary recorded that "there was a long-clothed restaurant with a lot of business recently, and Feng Yi was anxious to get started, but it was impossible to stop it." Seeing that the business of the restaurant was booming, Pi Xirui's friend Feng Yi was also ready to devote himself to the catering industry. Although the heavy-handed Pi Xirui advised Feng Yi not to rush into the catering industry, Feng Yi did not heed Pi Xirui's advice. On the second day of October of this year, "Feng Yi opened a pinxian tavern at the mouth of Baima Lane in the East Arch Building, which was a book signboard, and faked ten rods, hoping that it would make a fortune." Pisiri not only wrote signs for the tavern, but also lent him money to open a shop. Despite the food boom, the operation of this pub is probably not optimistic, and judging from the records of the existing historical famous shops in Changsha, there is no poinsettia. From this point of view, there were also many bubbles in the investment boom of Changsha's catering industry in 1904. Pisiri, though prudent, was inevitably involved.
Third, return to the historical scene of Hunan cuisine
The study of Hunan cuisine requires historical documents with temperature and a sense of presence, and the diary is undoubtedly an excellent window to cut into. According to Pi Xirui's diary, around 1900, Changsha has become popular for boat banquets to enjoy the scenery of the Xiang River. For example, on the sixth day of the first month of October 1895, Li Yiyuan invited guests to sit on a boat at the "Long Dragon Outside the Great West Gate". In addition, the diary also records many Changsha banquet customs, such as "cooking rice" before the Zhongyuan Festival, and "house wine" after the relocation of the house. In addition, the record of food customs is also very enlightening. The so-called Changsha custom of eating dog meat, eating mutton, and eating chicken in Futian is only more than a hundred years old. In 1899, Hunan began to eat fu sheep. The diary of June 14 of that year clearly recorded, "Hunan recently likes to eat fu sheep. Buying lamb is not a good person. If the wind and heat on the body are unknown, the more the sheep are eaten." At this time, Changsha's economy gradually prospered, and eating sheep became a new trend, but Hunan's native mutton could not meet this demand for a while. From this point of view, the famous Liuyang black goat is likely to be the product of this wave of sheep eating.
Changsha rice noodles
Many of the iconic features of Hunan cuisine may be less than a hundred years old. For example, Changsha rice noodles, which are now famous throughout the country, are not recorded in Pi Xirui's diary, which shows that more than 100 years ago, eating flour was not popular in Changsha. Correspondingly, the diary records that noodles were eaten as many as 38 times. On November 12, 1904, "many townspeople came to wish for their birthday, ate more than one load of noodles, and slaughtered two pigs." More than a hundred beggar women and children.". It can be seen that the noodles at the birthday feast on the same day are grand. According to the "Diary of Pi Xirui", around 1900, Changsha people ate noodles regardless of the time period, eating noodles in the morning, eating noodles at noon, eating noodles at night, and even eating noodles at night after watching the drama. Noodles can also be served. Even Changsha people make noodle people. When resisting the foreign religious movement, the Changsha people kneaded the noodles into small toys in the shape of foreigners, called "devils". Rice noodles have gained a dominant historical position in Hunan, but it is only in the last 100 years. Today's overemphasis on Hunan rice noodles has led many people to believe that Hunan rice noodles have a long history, even dating back to 2,000 years ago. This kind of unintentional forgetting or deliberately falsifying the history of Hunan cuisine has increasingly highlighted the importance of restoring the historical scene of Hunan cuisine through a diary.
In recent years, I have constantly called for rewriting the history of Hunan cuisine because I vaguely feel that the previous Hunan cuisine research was mostly "seeing things and not seeing people", ignoring "people" as the core of dietary research. And the intimate document of reading diaries provides a possible path for us to touch the historically warm eating and drinking. In the diary of a figure like Pi Xirui who is not known as a gourmet, we can more touch the historical scene of Hunan cuisine and perceive the position of Hunan cuisine in history.
Diet rules people's daily lives. This determines that whether it is a big person or a small person, whether it is a catering practitioner or a person who has no heart for food, it is inevitable that there will be such and such a connection with diet. As a result, the diary of the rehearsal diary offers endless possibilities for us to return to the historical scene of eating. As far as Hunan is concerned. From court officials such as Zeng Guofan and Guo Songtao, to officials such as Zeng Jize and Li Fuyi, to readers such as Wang Minyun and Pi Xirui, their diaries, although they did not mainly record diets, they hid many dietary materials sporadically. These live-and-present food fragments, which are very different from the oral narrative materials based on recipes and diet practitioners in the past, are expected to make modern food research move towards a more three-dimensional level. The use of such literature to "weave" a picture of modern diet will promote the dietary research of the presence of living "people", and will also stimulate the "micro" and "everyday" value of such diaries outside the grand research fields of politics, economics, academia, and thought.
Pi Xirui, compiled by Wu Yangxiang, "Pi Xirui's Diary", published by Zhonghua Bookstore in 2020.
Editor-in-Charge: Shanshan Peng
Proofreader: Ding Xiao