The famous store in Beijing is full of fasting
Mr. Xu Linlu's inscription "Taste of the Fat" for YueSheng Zhai
Qianmen is commonly known as Zhengyang Gate, the first of the nine gates in the ancient capital of Beijing. Qianmen Avenue is an important carrier of Beijing's history and culture and a precious living fossil. Only from the representative of Beijing business food culture, Yue Shengzhai, it is closely connected with the business, cultural and earth veins of the front door, although after several changes, this old brand has never left the front door.
The name outside the front door of the place of origin is from the Western Moon Wall
The front gate is the only gate where the arrow tower opens the door of the nine gates of the inner city. The door opening is not open on weekdays, and it is only opened when the emperor goes to the Temple of Heaven to worship the heavens and to the Altar of The First Farmer to personally cultivate. On weekdays, officials, merchants, and others enter and exit the front door, and they have to take a detour through the cave gates on the east and west sides of the urn city. According to the "Dumen Miscellaneous Verses", "The five colors are confused and blind, and the goods in all directions are longitudinal and horizontal." The sky is clear and obscure, and the narrow road is followed by people. "It's a place of commerce, with its shops lined with shops and pedestrians.
Yueshengzhai was founded in the 40th year of The Qianlong Dynasty (1775), the founder is Ma Qingrui, and the signature products are sauce lamb and roast lamb. Yueshengzhai is located inside the front door, but the origin of the font size is from the front door. Outside the front door, the west moon wall road south, is the origin of Ma Qingrui's business, Ma Qingrui has a special love for this place, so when taking the name, the first word is set as "moon", take its geographical advantage; the second "Sheng" word comes from a couplet in the Ming and Qing Dynasties: "Business is prosperous all over the world, and the source of wealth is lush and prosperous up to the three rivers", choose its "Sheng" word, shun as the time of heaven; the third "Zhai" character, mostly refers to the study, school, restaurant or shop, borrows the elegant "Zhai" character, and integrates people.
Inside the front door of the land of prosperity, the waist sign is given to Hubu Street
In the forty years of Qianlong, from the front gate to the north to the front of the Daqing Gate, the famous chessboard street, from the left and right of the Great Qing Gate to the north, each with a tall red wall to the south side of Tiananmen. According to the distribution of Wendong Wuxi, outside the Eastern Red Wall are the Ceremonial Department, the Official's Department, the Household Department, the Ministry of Works, the Zongren Mansion, the Qin Tianjian and other civilian yamen, which is where the Yuesheng Zhai is located - Hubu Street. Outside the western red wall are the Five Armed Forces Governor's Mansion, the Punishment Department, the Metropolitan Inspection Temple, the Dali Temple and other military office gates, called Bingbu Street. Two streets are lined with offices, and Yueshengzhai is located in the middle, which can be described as a unique location.
At the beginning of the establishment of the mutton shop in Hubu Street, Yueshengzhai set out to meet the high-end needs of the imperial court, to meet the habits of the Manchus and Mongolians at that time, and developed the elaborate, time-consuming, labor-intensive, nutritious, expensive sauce mutton and roast lamb. From the 40th century of Qianlong to the establishment of the Republic of China for more than 130 years, Yueshengzhai successfully opened up the market with the help of the court's connections and material resources.
At that time, the deployment of officials, princes and nobles, including the high-ranking officials and nobles in the inner courtyard of the palace, became regular guests of the Moon Festival. The "Cultural Relics of the Old Capital" records: "The Moon ShengZhai is in Hubu Street, and the left and right officials are obstructing the sight of the Chonglou, and this zhai is independent of it, and it is majestic." By the end of the Qianlong Dynasty, Yuesheng zhai had become famous in the capital. On October 12, 1886 (November 10, 1886), Empress Dowager Cixi gave Yuesheng Zhai a special grant and issued Yuesheng Zhai four entrance medals as a permit to deliver meat to the palace. Since then, the mutton with the sauce of the moon has become a tribute to the court, and the scenery is unique for a while. The Qing Dynasty inspector Yushi Zhu Yixin wrote this about the "Moon Shengzhai" in the "Jingcheng FangXiang Zhi Draft": "The household department mouth mutton shop, the five-spice sauce mutton is famous in the world. ”
Outside the front door of the place of inheritance, the old plaque into the town store treasure
After the founding of New China, due to the expansion of Tiananmen Square in 1951, Yueshengzhai moved from The Inner Hubu Street of the Front Gate (which has been renamed Gong'an Street) to the west side of the Five Arch Buildings outside the Qianmen Gate, and the former site of Yongzeng and Silver, that is, the Qianmen Store of Yueshengzhai, has a processing factory on the east side of the road. In the early 1950s, Qianmen Railway Station was bustling with people every day, and Qianmen Avenue became one of the three major commercial districts in Beijing at that time, with hundreds of long-established brands, and once formed a scene of "who sits on the Zhengyang Gate, counting how many people come and go". In this most traditional commercial district, Yueshengzhai is one of many long-established brands.
In 1979, after the disaster, Yueshengzhai finally ripped off the "Jingweixiang" sign and replaced it with the old plaque of Yueshengzhai again. In 1980, Yueshengzhai invited some well-known people among the old customers to hold a symposium, and mr. Li Wanchun, a famous Peking Opera performance artist, and his son Li Buchun, Mr. Zhou Hetong, a famous jingxing artist, Mr. Ma Tai, a critic and performance artist, and Mr. Xu Linlu, a famous calligrapher and painter, attended the forum. After some free talk, Mr. Xu Linlu wrote four big characters for Yuesheng Zhai inscription "Taste of The Bread". The teachers in the factory did not understand the meaning, and Elder Xu smiled and said, "That is to say, the sauce roast lamb in your Moon Sheng Zhai tastes very good." Mr. Li Wanchun brought a self-painted "old and young" Chinese painting at home, implying that the old shop of Yueshengzhai was rejuvenated with youth and vitality. Mr. Martell wrote a banner that reads, "Fragrant fragrance wafts thousands of miles away, and good taste attracts guests."
The manager of Yueshengzhai knew that Mr. Xu Linlu was a famous calligrapher and painter, and wanted to ask his old man to write a plaque for Yueshengzhai inscription. Elder Xu looked at the old plaque of Yueshengzhai and carefully inquired who was the plaque? After a while, Elder Xu sighed and said, "I don't have to write this plaque, and you don't have to bother to find someone else to write it." The three big characters of Yueshengzhai are written too horizontally, and contemporary calligraphers may be difficult to surpass. So I don't write it, and I'm afraid no one else wants to touch this nail. I want to say that you should still repair this old plaque according to the old process and keep it well. ”
Since then, Yueshengzhai has never found anyone to write a plaque. Now the old plaque of Yueshengzhai and the blue and white porcelain jar containing old soup during the Qianlong period have become the treasures of the town store of Yueshengzhai.
In the twelfth year of Guangxu (1886), the "Shuntianfu Zhi" published by the Qing government praised "the mutton in the moon shengzhai sauce is extremely delicious". During the Republic of China, the sauce lamb made and sold by Yuesheng Zhai was listed at the top of the list of "Famous Foods in Beiping City" and became a representative of Beijing-style food. In 2008, the "Yuesheng zhai sauce roast beef and mutton production technology" was approved by the State Council, and the Ministry of Culture determined to announce it as a "national intangible cultural heritage".
The front door witnessed the birth of the old-fashioned Yuesheng Zhai and also achieved the glory of the Yue Sheng Zhai. Located on the central axis of Beijing, which is rich in history and culture, many long-established brands like Yueshengzhai are like sparkling pearls, which are precious and add endless charm to the ancient city of Beijing.
Source Beijing Daily
Author Qian Anming
Courtesy of Visual China
Process Editor Wu Yue