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Ye Shengtao
Ye Shengtao (October 28, 1894 – February 16, 1988) was originally named Ye Shaojun(叶少俊), also spelled Bingchen and Shengtao. A native of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Modern Chinese writer, educator, literary publisher and social activist.
Zhou Zuoren wrote "Wild Vegetables in The Hometown" because he overheard his wife mention the cabbage, while Ye Shengtao wrote "Lotus and Lettuce" because—
"Drinking with friends, chewing on thin slices of snow lotus, and suddenly missing my hometown."
Zhou Zuoren's hometown is in Shaoxing, Ye Shengtao's hometown is in Suzhou, and the land of Wuyue has been beautiful and rich in products since ancient times, whether it is the wild vegetables of Shaoxing or the vegetables of Suzhou, all of which are an important part of Chinese customs and culture. Today, we will read Mr. Ye Shengtao's essay , "Lotus and Lettuce".
▶ One
Lotus, also known as lotus root, lotus knot, lake lotus, fruit root, vegetable root, water whip, lotus root and light side. Lotus plant rhizomes, can be eaten as vegetables, cold mixing, stir-frying, steaming, stewing can be described, eating methods can be described as a variety of ways. Lotus also has medicinal value, flowers and whiskers, fruits can be nourished into the medicine, Chinese medicine believes that it has the effect of eliminating annoyance and thirst, nourishing yin and strengthening the body, laxative and anti-diarrhea. Raw food clears heat and vitality, cools the blood and stops bleeding; cooked to supplement the spleen and stomach, and benefits the blood and muscle. Li Shizhen, a famous medical scientist of the Ming Dynasty, praised the lotus root as a "spiritual root" in the "Compendium of Materia Medica"; the Western Han Dynasty historian Liu Xiang's "Beilu" believes that the lotus root is "the main heat and thirst, scattering blood, and generating muscles"; the Tang Dynasty Zhen Quan's "Theory of Medicinal Properties" records: "Lotus juice can eliminate stasis and blood without dispersion." ”
(Lotus - picture from the Internet)
Lotus is planted in Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Shandong, Henan and Hebei provinces in China, especially in Jiangsu Province, which can be described as a major province producing lotus in the country, and Baoying County in Yangzhou City is known as the "Hometown of Chinese Lotus Root". As early as the Tang Dynasty, Baoying began to plant lotus, more than a thousand years of history, to the Ming Dynasty, Baoying lotus root has become a bulk local product, is considered to be one of the "Baoying Ten Scenic Spots", Baoying production of candied lotus is also a tribute to the imperial court; during the Qing Dynasty, known as "goose feather snowflakes" reputation of the baby lotus powder also became the "tribute powder" of the imperial court; after the founding of New China, candied lotus was selected into the "Chinese Famous Recipe", and listed as one of the "national dishes" of the national banquet.
(Lotus - picture from the Internet)
There are many ancient Chinese "Yong Lotus poems", and I personally prefer the following three:
Qingyang Du by Wei Jin (author unknown):
"Green lotus covers green water, and hibiscus is covered with red freshness."
There is a root lotus under the bottom and a lotus on the top. ”
In just twenty words, a picture of red lotus blooming and white lotus root ripening is depicted, which is catchy and easy to understand.
Yuanren Wu Shidao's "Lotus Flower and Leaf Diagram":
"The jade snow is exquisite, and it is covered with green and red."
Life is infinite, only in the heart of suffering. ”
The poet compares lotus root to "jade snow", and its sense of white luster can be seen.
Song Ren Yang Wanli's "Small Collection of Edible Lotus Extremely Tender":
"More than the snow is loose, there is no silk to float."
Flicking the sorrow to pieces, untying has been sold first. ”
The new lotus root that has just been dug out of the lotus pond is whiter than the snow, incomparably tender, and melts in the mouth.
In addition, there are some after-minute remarks about the lotus, such as: the lotus root in August - fresh and tender; the cross-cutting lotus root - too much heart; a chopstick to eat the lotus root - look accurately. It can be seen that the ancients loved and praised the lotus.
(Lotus flower - picture from the Internet)
Lotus is moist, intolerant of drought, and grows mostly in swampy ponds. Most of the lotus roots in China are planted around the Qingming Festival, because the summer weather is hot and the temperature is high, so the lotus root grows rapidly and can mature in September and October. Ye Shengtao said that in his hometown of Suzhou, from early autumn to late autumn, the shouts of selling lotus on the street rose and fell, and the customers were also endless, and people passing by, whether men, women and children, would almost stop for it, stop to pick a section, buy two branches, and throughout the autumn, every household in Suzhou City could taste the "light and luscious taste" of fresh lotus.
Suzhou Ancient City
At the time of writing this article, Ye Shengtao was in Shanghai, lotus is not rare in Suzhou, but it is a treasure in Shanghai, and most of the lotus that Shanghainese eat is shipped from Suzhou and other places, because the quantity is not large and the freight is high, so the price
It is also extremely expensive and easy to buy, and its price is between the Golden Mountain Apple and the Luzon Fragrant Mango, which is the case with "many lows and lows". Luzon fragrant mango probably refers to the Luzon mango from the Philippines, also known as little Luzon, money mango, etc., which should be a very expensive imported fruit during the Republic of China. This year, Ye Shengtao's family only ate once, and it was given to them by neighbors, and the lotus roots of the neighbors were also given by relatives in Suzhou. The lotus root had been left for too long, it was not very fresh, and it seemed to contain a mouthful of slag when eaten, but Ye Shengtao's children still ate it happily. Anyway, I can finally alleviate this homesickness.
▶ Second
"When I think of lotus, I think of lettuce."
Ye Shengtao said that Suzhou people are spring ", lettuce", Taihu Lake is everywhere, and the salvage method is extremely convenient. Suzhou people often use lettuce to cook soup to drink, lettuce soup is tender and smooth, the soup is pure and delicious and nutritious, and "a bowl of Japanese food" will not be tired.
Lettuce – Images from the web
Lettuce, also known as horseshoe, water lotus leaf, horse millet, water sunflower, lake vegetable, etc., is a perennial aquatic root herb. It prefers warmth and is suitable for growing in clear water pools. The leaves are oval in dark green, floating on the surface of the water or potential water, and the young stems and leaves are backed by a gelatinous transparent substance. In summer, the flower stems are pumped and the small flowers are dark red. The young leaves are edible, but the lettuce itself has no taste, but in terms of roundness, deliciousness and smoothness, it is an extremely precious Jiangnan vegetable. Lettuce is rich in carbohydrates, a variety of vitamins and minerals, Chinese medicine believes that it has the effect of clearing heat, detoxification, water and swelling, so lettuce also has the reputation of "ginseng in water" and "biluochun in water".
Provinces and cities such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei and Sichuan are the main production areas of Lotus in China, and Lichuan City in Hubei has the honorary title of "The Hometown of Chinese Lettuce". Taihu lettuce in Jiangsu and West Lake lettuce in Zhejiang are always the most popular in the market. Shen Mingchen of the Ming Dynasty has poems:
"Lettuce in the West Lake wins over Dongwu, and in March the spring waves are full of green lakes."
The new sample is more and more luo cut narrow sleeves, and people say that it is like luoshi. ”
Lettuce, like lotus root, is also a treasure in Shanghai, only in the restaurant can eat, Ye Shengtao's family has not been able to eat lettuce after arriving in Shanghai, until his friend Wang Boxiang sent a bottle of West Lake lettuce to him, he and his family re-tasted the taste of lettuce.
Historically, lettuce, sea bass and russet white are listed as the "three famous dishes in Jiangnan". The Northern Song Dynasty everyone Ouyang Xiu has a poem:
"The fields are gradually falling in the clouds, and the frost day is the first dan water maple."
Lettuce and sea bass are flavorful, and the autumn breeze is still coming from afar. ”
The taste of lettuce and sea bass in my hometown is exactly when I return from afar, and my favorite is the autumn breeze in my hometown. Ouyang Xiu mentioned in the poem the allusion of Zhang Han's "thoughts of the perch", and it is said that there was a man named Zhang Han in the Western Jin Dynasty, who was in love with the autumn wind in Luoyang, and suddenly remembered the lettuce soup and sea bass stew in Wuzhong's hometown, so he resigned from his official position and returned to his hometown to live in seclusion.
Lettuce soup
The Ming Dynasty Su Boheng has a poem:
"The village Weng Xi friends always love guests, and fern sprouts do not count money."
The wine is even more silver silk, and the chapter is also sprinkled with cicada wing notes. ”
Su Boheng is a native of Zhejiang, and lettuce is a very common vegetable in his hometown, and the price is naturally very low. Bracken sprouts, or bracken, are wild vegetables that ordinary people eat at home.
The Ming Dynasty Shao Boxian has a poem:
"Peach blossom egrets have forgotten for a long time, lettuce perch dream a lot."
Chi Zi Shu shu returned to the old hidden, and the depths of the water and clouds passed by. ”
The poet dreamed at night that he dreamed of lettuce soup and sea bass stew, and his homesickness overflowed into words.
The Ming Dynasty Qiu Min has poems:
"And with the southern yandu Qiantang, not the tao and the state is the hometown."
The autumn breeze on the river is beautiful, and the spring rain in the mountains is barren. ”
Qiu Min is a native of Yangzhou, who once served as an official in Hezhou, and Hezhou is today's Taiyuan, Taihu Lake lettuce, he naturally knows best.
▶ Three
Lotus and Lettuce was written on September 7, 1923. In the spring of that year, Ye Shengtao and his family left Suzhou and moved to Shanghai. Ye Shengtao entered the Commercial Press to work, served as an editor of the Ministry of Chinese Literature, worked with Gu Jiegang and others to compile the "New School Middle School Chinese Language Textbook", and participated in the formulation of the new system of Chinese language curriculum standards. The year after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Ye Shengtao's family returned to Shanghai from Sichuan. After the founding of New China, Ye Shengtao left Shanghai and went to Beijing to take up a post. In 1988, Ye Shengtao died in Beijing, after all, it was difficult to return to the homeland, and it was difficult to return the fallen leaves to their roots.
"Lettuce and sea bass dream a lot", dream more!
Old Shanghai
"I have never loved my hometown, but when I think of it, I think my hometown is very cute." I myself don't understand, why do I have such a deep emotion? Thinking about it again, it is really very simple: because there is love in the hometown, and the love is only in the hometown, it is haunting and cannot be abandoned. For example, if a close family member is there, and a close friend is there, how can you not fall in love? How not to miss it? But just to love your hometown? No, but a few people in our hometown have tied us up. If there is nothing to do with it, what is the love? Like me now, I was accidentally involved in lotus and lettuce, so I missed my hometown. ”
Ye Shengtao said that he had never loved his hometown, but he still missed his hometown as soon as he saw Lotus. Because there are some things that only exist in the hometown, such as lettuce in spring and lotus root in autumn.
"Where we love, where is our hometown."
Mr. Ye Shengtao's prose is fresh and beautiful, the sentences are concise and condensed, the style is unique, simple and unpretentious, natural and fluent, and everything is revealed. This article "Lotus and Lettuce", seeing things homesick, borrowing things lyrically, like narrating the trivialities of life, but the whole article is eternal, reading as leisurely and comfortable as tea, endless aftertaste.
Yu Dafu once commented on Ye Shengtao's prose:
"Ye Shaojun's style is rigorous, and his thoughts can grasp reality, so what he writes, whether it is a novel or a prose, makes people feel down-to-earth and meticulous. Although there are not many essays, his characteristic style has been available in just a few words. I think that ordinary high school students should take it as a model of prose, and it is most appropriate to take Ye Shaojun's work. ”
Therefore, how can every middle school student's Chinese textbook be missing Mr. Ye's articles?
January 4, 2022