The history of crab eating by the Chinese people can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty. From the records of the "Zhou Li" and the "ZiLin" of the Jin Dynasty, it can be seen that China has a history of eating crabs for 2,700 to 800 years. Since ancient times, crab eating seems to be a very elegant thing. As early as the Ming Dynasty, skilled craftsmen created a set of exquisite crab-eating tools.
According to the Ming Dynasty food guide "Kao Eat", the crab eating tools created in the Ming Dynasty include hammers, upsets, tongs, shovels, spoons, forks, scrapes, and needles, which translate into modern Chinese as waist round hammers, small square tables, tweezers, long-handled axes, spoons, long-handled forks, scrapers, and needles. Therefore, it is called "crab eight pieces". After the ancients invented crab eating tools, eating crabs became an elegant and elegant eating enjoyment. Eating crabs with small and exquisite gold, silver and copper tableware is a fun and interesting event, which can be said to be a kind of elegant dining activity.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the literati Yashi pin crab is a cultural enjoyment, when appreciating the chrysanthemum poetry crab, everyone has a set of special tools, Su Huhang commonly known as "crab eight pieces". According to relevant information, the person who first invented crab-eating tableware in the Ming Dynasty, named Caoshu, in order to eat crabs to reduce trouble and eat conveniently and freely, he created three tools of hammer, knife and tongs to deal with the hard shell of crabs, which gradually developed to eight. Crab eating is also divided into "Wen Eat" and "Wu Eat", the so-called "Wu Eat" eats pleasure, and "Wen Eat" eats tools.
These crab-eating tools are generally made of copper, and the most elaborate ones are made of silver. Because in terms of toughness, gold is precious but not as hard as silver, and copper is easy to contaminate food, so it is reasonable to say that the superior "crab eight pieces" should also be made of silver. Its craftsmanship is extremely elaborate, the scraper is shaped a bit like a sword, and the spoon has a bit like a water bowl in a study room. Crab meat is served with a three-legged knight. These crab-eating tools, in turn, are equipped with round or lotus-shaped discs with three-legged sculpted dragons under the plates.
The eight pieces of crab include a small square table, a waist round hammer, a long-handled axe, a long-handled fork, a round-headed scissors, a tweezer, a brass, a small spoon, respectively, a pad, a knock, a split, a fork, a scissors, a clip, a pick, a sheng and other functions, beautiful shape, shiny luster, exquisite and exquisite, easy to use.
The crab was steamed and brought to the table, steaming, and the crab eater put the crab on the small square table, cut off the two large claws and eight crab feet one by one with round-headed scissors, gently tapped the waist hammer around the crab shell, and then used the long-handled axe to split the back shell and navel, and then took the brazed, tweezer, fork, hammer, or pick or clip or fork or knock, take out the golden buttery crab yellow or milky white glue crab paste, take out the snow white and tender crab meat, and use the tools in turn, one function after another, as if playing a depressing food song. When you scoop in the dipping sauce with a small tablespoon and eat it with a crab shell, it is a kind of fairy-like happiness, and the flavor is endless.
Later, the eight pieces of crabs in the late Qing Dynasty became the dowry of Suzhou women. Legend has it that in Suzhou Lumen, a rich merchant married a daughter, lively and lively, and people watching the dowry poured over. In the midst of endless praise, a craftsman was critical of the rich merchant and said: "Ninety-nine dowries, and adding one more 'crab eight pieces' is perfect." The rich merchant was a crab-eating fan, and after listening to it, without saying a word, he let this craftsman rush to make "eight pieces of golden crab" overnight. On the next day, the eight pieces of crabs with the inscription "Flying Yellow Tengda" were watched in the men's homes, causing a sensation, passing ten to ten, ten to a hundred, so in the Republic of China, this eight pieces of crabs became the dowry of many Suzhou women.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the literati and scholars held crab feasts, not only to eat meat and relieve hunger, but also to taste crabs, drink alcohol, admire chrysanthemums, and chant poems, which were the affairs of the golden autumn season. This kind of crab eating pleasure is fully and vividly described in the pen of Cao Xueqin, the author of "Dream of the Red Chamber", and the aftertaste of reading is endless and unforgettable.
Some people also think that these tools are groped out by Suzhou people in practice, today you add one, tomorrow I add one, there is no conclusion, just for the purpose of combined use. Because it is not an ordinary people's product, it is only used in the homes of the rich, and in modern times, it is not only rare to see, but also simplified. In Liang Shiqiu's "Yashe Says Eat Crab" became "a small wooden mallet per diner, a small wooden mat, a boxwood wooden, a spin bed customized, a small coincidence, a knocking and beating", which is more backward than in ancient times.
After the 1960s, this set of objects as a representative of decay gradually disappeared from the tables of major hotels and crab villages in Suzhou, Shanghai and Hangzhou, and a few years ago, there were eight crabs, but after all, these jingling eating equipment is not suitable for modern people's habits, it is said that it takes at least half an hour to dismantle a crab with "crab eight pieces", and now who can afford this work. It was just a symbol of the elegance of the vassals at that time, but it was certainly only popular in high society, and the people did not invest much energy.