The heat exposes all things, and all things cannot escape. The dry one wants to fire, and the liquid one wants to flow ointment. Birds hate their feathers, and beasts hate their fur. Man is also afraid of the silk, but the garment is the crown robe. Although Guangsha is cloudy, the wind does not move. Unknown forest springs, why different from me Cao. Fly mosquitoes are more day and night, and the skin is sleepy and scratching. Four sequences of iteration, there will be autumn high.
Mei Yaochen's song "And Cai Zhongmou Bitter Heat" made the author feel the unbearable heat of the summer heat at 24 ° C. The weather did this summer, and according to the June State of the Global Climate Report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday, global land and ocean temperatures were 0.95 degrees Celsius higher than the 20th-century average. This may not sound impressive, but in terms of global temperatures, this warm anomaly makes it the hottest June on Earth since 1880.
The author can't help but wonder, in ancient times without air conditioning fans, how did the kings of a country in successive dynasties cool off? Today, from the perspective of diet, I will take you to a different kind of court summer diet (means).
Pre-Qin - Ice Classic
The records of bingjian are mentioned in many historical books of the pre-Qin Dynasty, and their earliest may be glimpsed from the "Zhou Li Lingren":
"At the beginning of the spring, all the food on the outside and inside is ashamed to be judged, and the wine liquor of the wine pulp is the same, and the sacrifice is shared with ice."
With it, the nobles of the Zhou royal family could cool off in the hot summer, taste a glass of chilled old wine, and experience treatment that mortals had never thought of. Later archaeological discoveries also proved the true existence of ice jian, in 1978 in Suizhou City, Hubei Province, Zeng Hou Yi tomb unearthed a pair of ice jian jian miao attracted the attention of archaeologists, according to archaeological experts said that the ice jian is divided into two layers inside and outside, the outer layer is Fang Jian, and there is a party inside the jian. Experts speculate that the wine can be held, and the two layers of space can be put in the charcoal in winter and ice in the summer.
The use of ice canon is to fill the wine inside the zun and put ice cubes in the space between the jian and the wall. This also impartially confirms the record of qu Yuan, the politician of the State of Chu at that time, "frustrated ice drinks, drink cool and cool".
However, ice is only a thermal insulation tool at best, where does ice come from? Fortunately, the author found a clue in the "Book of Poetry and July": the second day was chiseled into the ice, and the third day was taken to Lingyin. From this, it is not difficult to find that as early as the pre-Qin period, the clever Chinese already knew how to chisel the cold ice of the valley during the severe winter and hide it in the ice cellar for summer use. In order to ensure that the ice cubes can be enjoyed in the summer, the Zhou royal family also set up a special institution - "Ice Politics", and the full-time person in charge of the ice cube collection was also called "Lingren". Of course, this is only the exclusive means of the Zhou royal family to cool off, and ordinary people can not wait for it.
Qin Han - soup cake
In addition to inheriting the tools of the pre-Qin Dynasty, the Qin and Han Dynasties also "invented" a delicacy that could cool off the heat - "soup cake", which is a kind of pasta cooked in water. Its practice is also recorded in the Qi Min Zhi Shu: first mix the noodles with a cold broth and sifted with fine silk, and then "knead them as large as a basket, one foot and one break, and soak the plate with water." It is advisable to put your hand on the bell, rub it so that it is as thin as a leek leaf, and boil it one by one.
From the type point of view, the soup cake itself is not a cool food, it is difficult to link with the heat, but in the middle of summer to eat a bowl of steaming soup cake can sweat a lot, the use of the principle of evaporation to take away a large amount of heat energy in the body, so as to achieve the purpose of cooling down. Therefore, this method of cooling off in the opposite way is not a manifestation of the wisdom of the ancients.
Sui and Tang Dynasties - Locust Leaf Cold Tao
The court cuisine of the Sui and Tang dynasties is also a kind of inheritance and development for the previous generation. Insulation tools naturally do not say, from the poet Zhang Zhongsu's work "Miscellaneous Songs and Lyrics , Gonggong Music" we can glimpse a glimpse:
Jiangguo Yao chi shi, gold pan dew well ice. Ganquan will escape the summer, and the Taidian Will be condensed.
The "well ice" of the golden plate in the palace is the best proof, but when it comes to the best summer cuisine, it is also a "locust leaf cold tao" that is suitable for both noble and lowly.
The cold tao of locust leaves in the Tang Dynasty is to pick the young leaves of green locust and put it into flour, knead it into a dough to make a thin noodle, cook it, put it into cold boiling water and soak it, and then fish people in a pot, pour it with cooked oil and shake it, and then store it in a well or ice cellar for cold storage, and then take it out and then adjust it as a feed when eating. After eating, it is fragrant and cool, which is the best choice to cool off the heat, so the Taiguan Order, who is in charge of the cuisine, will prepare acacia leaves for the cold tao every summer when there are more than nine officials.
Of course, as decent court people, in addition to eating the cold tao of the locust leaf at the main meal, they can also enjoy the cold drink dessert that highlights the status of the status. The poet Han Wei's "Cherry Poem" has a description:
The syrup is cold from the transparent silver cup, and the vermilion phase is red in the jade bowl.
This cold sugarcane juice is poured on top of the red cherry, and no one can resist the temptation. After a bite, you have already thrown away all the distractions and heat, which is a must-have dessert for the royal family.
Song Dynasty - all kinds of cold drinks
With the development of the commodity economy, the city culture of the Song Dynasty reached its historical peak. The opening of the night market made the already bustling capital city more lively, making it one of the few international metropolises in the world at that time.
Regarding the summer food of the Song Dynasty, it is further on the basis of the Tang Dynasty, before the members of the Li Tang royal family can enjoy the cold drink to the Song Dynasty has "flown to the homes of ordinary people", in the mid-summer market can see the vendors selling a variety of summer cold drinks: lychee paste water, bitter water, river tea water, bayberry thirst water, gum thirst water, papaya thirst water, five-flavor thirsty water, perilla drink, fragrant drink, plum blossom wine, soap water, pear syrup, ginger honey water, mung bean water, coconut water, sugarcane juice, Wuling Dashunshan, lactose real snow, kumquat, sweet bean soup... There are many kinds, which are recorded in historical materials such as "Tokyo Dream Record" and "Past Events of Wulin".
The "Golden Plum Bottle" also mentions That Ximen Qing's generation, in the summer, "floating melons in the ice basin sink plums", and "ice plates" ice cold sour plum soup, which is the situation of the high-ranking officials and nobles to cool off. The "History of Song" even records the story of Emperor Xiaozong's overeating cold drinks causing diarrhea to affect the government:
Emperor Xiaozong said to Shi Shi, the attendant of the Rebbe, "Drinking too much ice water before the fall, suddenly violent, fortunately it will be calmed." Shi Shidian persuaded: "You are the supreme ruler of the country, and every move is related to the jiangshan sheji and the people's lives, and you must no longer eat cold drinks according to your own preferences."
This kind of "like greasy and cool, only condensed and want to float" taste is simply addictive, as if there is a sense of ascension, it is no wonder that Emperor Xiaozong is so obsessed with it.
All in all, the cold drinks that people can taste today can be found more or less in the markets of the Song Dynasty. It is also in this way that the common people of the Song Dynasty enjoyed imperial treatment compared to other dynasties.
Ming Dynasty - plum sauce
In the Ming Dynasty, the summer was not limited to eating and drinking behaviors, in order to obtain a long-term cool experience, the Ming Dynasty nobles also tried to do everything possible, such as Gao Lian wrote in the "Eight Notes of Zunsheng":
"Huodu Villa, seven wells opened in one hall, are all engraved, coiled, sitting on it in the summer, the seven wells are cold, and they do not know the heat."
This kind of refrigeration equipment similar to today's era is really unattainable in ancient times when science and technology are relatively backward, but only the royal family and nobles can indulge in it.
Diet, is also a relationship of inheritance and development, Ming Dynasty drinks, flower samples are more abundant, in the rural areas far from the capital, the people like a cold drink called "plum sauce": every year from May to July, they will be ripe plum fruit crushed and dried, and then dried plum plus salt and perilla, jointly ground into plum powder, three volts of the day, with a refreshing cold well water brewed, it has become a "plum sauce" to quench the heat and thirst.
Although plum sauce is used as a popular cold drink, the court did not ignore it because of its maverick eating style, and it also tended to be popular in terms of cold drinks.
Qing Dynasty - Wumei Soup
In the Qing Dynasty, based on the development of the means of cooling off in various dynasties in history, the way of cooling off the Aixin Jueluo family reached its peak, cold drinks and cold storage were naturally not a problem, and the royal family members could even do local materials and cool off at any time.
Whether it is the Chengde Summer Resort, which has been heavily spent in the Qing court, or the royal garden in the Forbidden City, it is rich in lotus roots that are "colder than snow and frost, and a piece of entrance is dull and healed", and whenever the heat is difficult to endure, the people of the court will take local materials and eat raw to relieve the heat.
In addition, there are many deep wells in the palace where ice cubes are stored, and the kiwi melon fruits that pay tribute to various states are placed here, refrigerated and kept fresh, and eaten as you go.
If you want to say a representative cold drink, it is sour plum soup. Hao Yixing of the Qing Dynasty wrote the "Words of Bamboo Branches in Dumen" to mention this kind of cold drink to cool off the heat, "the sound of copper bowls in the street, an ou of ice water and plum soup". Sour plum soup is not only easy to obtain raw materials, but also simple to make. But it was also such an inconspicuous market drink, which once swept the entire Qing Palace. The imperial chefs of the imperial dining room improved it into a royal drink for the royal court, the so-called "Tugong plum frying".
Because it has the effect of removing heat and sending cool, peace of mind, expectorant cough, epidemic relief, and thirst quenching, it is also known as "Qing Palace Exotic Treasure Imperial Ume Soup", and later walked out of the palace and was introduced into the streets and alleys of the people, so that everyone who has tasted it is full of praise.
With the development of the times and the advancement of science and technology, the summer work every year is no longer the focus of people working indoors in today's era. Even if you don't have so many advanced equipment, you can still spend the summer with the mentality of "calm and natural cool". Bai Juyi in "Cooling Off": "Heat dissipation is calm by the heart, and cool life is empty of the room." At this time, it is difficult to protect yourself, and it is difficult to be more with others" is the truth.