Sichuan Restaurant in Old Shanghai (Part 1): The most extravagant opening

Now we know that the most popular of China's eight major cuisines is Sichuan cuisine, and even overseas, Cantonese cuisine, which flourished in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, should now have given way to Sichuan cuisine. In fact, during the Republic of China period, Sichuan cuisine also had the trend of directly approaching Cantonese cuisine, and the circle (Sichuan) was also earlier than Cantonese cuisine, so it was published in the "Shanghai Review of Books" published on July 14, 2018. In the past three years, I have continued to excavate first-hand literature, accumulated more and more, and also better understood the development and popularity of Sichuan cuisine in the late Qing Dynasty and the republic of China, and the story of its winning the honor of "standard national dish", so it is worth writing another article on the Sichuan restaurants in old Shanghai. In order to teach readers Fangjia, in terms of literature, we will try to avoid repeated citations, and interested readers can consult the previous article. This article is the first part.

Jufengyuan, Business Monthly, 1947 (Vol. 23, No. 5, p. 1)

It is said that Shanghai Sichuan restaurants began at the end of the Qing Dynasty: "Until the thirty-three years of Guangxu, there was a Sichuan restaurant, a famous style restaurant. (Bo Qi, "Shanghai Restaurant", "Social Daily", December 22, 1942) to the gradual prosperity of the Republic of China: "Since the restoration, great people, politicians, and widows have mixed with the land and the wind of gluttony, so they have flourished." The old taverns were not enough to satisfy the appetite of the generations, so the Minguan and The Sichuan Pavilion came into being. (Yan Duhe, "Comparison of Shanghai Wine and Restaurants", Red Magazine, No. 34, 1923) Chu Junda's "The Present and Past of Shanghai Restaurants" points out the place where these relics of old literary wine are, "set in small and heavenly, other heavenly, drunken and fast," and for this reason, "the name of the Minshu restaurant, because of its great noise, the inviters of shifu merchants, do not mean this kind of restaurant, are not enough to show the grand cuisine." The price of each feast shall be in addition to ten gold.". (Common Sense, Vol. 1, No. 92, 1928)

However, it is not certain whether Shi Shi Xuan appeared as early as the thirty-first year of Guangxu (1905); Mr. Bo Qi's article was written in 1942, and as early as 1924, Mr. Ming Hong's "Zun Qian Trivia" ("Declaration" December 21, 1924, 19th edition) has said that "Xing is in the first year of the Republic of China":

Chuanguan Xingxing, in the first year of the Republic of China, was the first to have style Xuan and Drunken Residence, and Ku Ding was created by Wang Xuelao of Huayang. The world's dings and dings must not be guided by the master, and they will never be meritorious. Xue Lao su is still exquisite, especially able to self-catalyze, Cu Ding to teach, self-esteem. His famous hands are Fan Iii: Yue Wang, Yue Xiang, and Yue Liao. Chef Wang tasted the opening of Jin Jiang Chun and stayed in Shanghai soon, that is, to Hong Kong. Xiang Chef was drunk, Gu Leak (when it was a mistake of Yu), Xinghua, daya, and now quit his career. Liao is from the formula and benefits, and it is not abandoned today. In the fifth or sixth years of the middle period, the widows and elders set up a one-yuan meeting and a synodic meeting to gather for dinner, and the Pilgrims raised the tone for it. Shi Guyu Xuan's master He Shunong is also a gentleman, every time he feasts, he will set up new ideas and make dishes. The menu of the Daoist handwritten book, where there are more than a hundred leaves (pages), the essence of drinking and eating, is extremely good here.

If the meaning of the text is detailed, all these things have been seen and heard with their own hands, and they are not false. Drunken Yu Zhai (居) was later put into trial operation on February 6, 1913, and officially opened on the 19th:

Ben Zhai opened the Sanma Road Intersection Wangping Street, an anthology of Sichuan kitchen, a little preparation of the countryside, sitting in the second elegant clean, well-received, female guests, the difference between inside and outside, drink the whole table, according to the salty. Hereby choose to trade on the New Year's Day of the first lunar month, open on the thirteenth day, if you are patronized, you are not welcome, hereby advertised. ("Advertisement for Drunken Fengzhai", "Declaration", January 31, 1913, 25th day of the lunar calendar, 4th edition)

In earlier materials, it is even said that DrunkenNess was founded before The Style Xuan:

In the past, the shanghai prostitutes lived in the house called dishes, fifteen years ago the most famous one was Jufeng Garden, since the merchants, Chinese merchants, pin merchants, Tongyuan restaurants have been listed, the guests called dishes, implicitly for the patents of each family. After Xinhai, Sichuan and Fujian restaurants such as drunken, such as style Xuan, such as other days, such as small and heavenly, the rise of the second, the general old food, if there is the same addiction, so the merchants and other families have the image of natural elimination, especially in the near, especially the two most popular clouds of other days and small days. (Yokoyama,"The Evolution of The Flowers on the Sea," "Metabolism of a Restaurant," Novel New Paper, No. 1, 1915, p. 6)

As for the drunken or style Xuan Kuo Ding are all created by Wang Xuelao Wang Bing'en, although there is no solid evidence, it is also a cause - the early Shanghai Minchuan restaurant, which was favored by the old man, Wang Bing'en naturally belonged to it, and these restaurants may also pursue "literary and artistic fans" for this reason, and the name and association of drunkenness are typical:

The small garden used to have Sichuan restaurants known as drunks, and its brand name is very strange and not easy to understand. Its living room has a four-character joint sentence cloud: "Everyone and I are drunk, and the heavens and the earth are one." "The inlay is very ironed, which is tantamount to a footnote to the trademark. The museum has as many customers as official and want to be written by famous artists. Nearby, there are all the benefits of the Sichuan restaurant, there is Lianyun: "For the sake of being ashamed of treasures, and thinking of reed clams; only the sea moon can be opposed to the indigo." "The rhetoric is steep, and it does not fall into the woods." (Haiyun "The Yang Lian of Shanghai Shops", Declaration, January 28, 1926, 18th edition)

Bao Tianxiao also used this famous association and restaurant as a scene in his novel:

Zu Shucheng said, "There is a Sichuan restaurant on Wangping Street here that calls for drunkenness, so we will drink three cups there to keep out the cold." The ancient shiyun: 'Late to the day want snow, can you drink a cup of nothing?' It was for today. ”...... So they and Su Xuanman went out of the Pingbao Hall to the drunken Sichuan Restaurant on Wangping Street. I saw a pair of ginkgo biloba green characters in front of the door, the upper link was "the earth is drunk", and the lower link is "floating like a river". (Ju Ying's "Mirage on the Sea", the thirteenth time, "Composing the Opera Wang Ling Sigh Lonely And Studying Sanskrit Suzi's Translation of New Poems", "Declaration", December 19, 1924, 17th Edition)

Of course, looking back, Wang Bing'en is also very literary. He was a famous bibliophile and calligrapher of the Republic of China in the Qing Dynasty, and he was not omitted from all the great dictionaries in the collection: Wang Bing'en (1845-1928), Zi Xuecheng, etc., The Number of The Dragon Shrine, the Lord of the Dust Temple, the Late Name Huayang Zhenyi, huayang (present-day Shuangliu County, Sichuan). In the twelfth year of Tongzhi (1873), the township examination was rewarded by the deputy examiner Zhang Zhidong, and he followed Zhang Zhidong all his life, and the reputation of the official valve began. In the first year of Guangxu (1875), Zhang Zhidong, a scholar and government, founded the Zunjing Academy in Chengdu to promote the study of the world, and the sichuan style of learning changed, and Wang Bing'en was admitted to the hospital, and Together with Yang Rui, Liao Ping, Song Yuren, etc., he was a "high-quality student". Zhang Zhidong Governor Liangguang (1884-1889), Wang Bing'en played Guangdong, "All wenxiang before and after the operation, without worrying about dozens of things, ordered to record it." He also assisted Zhang Zhidong in founding Guangya College and Guangya Bookstore, and served as Guangya Bookstore. In 1889, Zhang Zhidong was transferred to the governor of Huguang, and Wang Bing'en also went with him; in 1899, the Hankou Commerce Bureau was established, and Wang Bing'en and Cheng Yiluo were alternated for prime ministers. After the Republic of China, Wang Bing'en lived in Shanghai Zhaofeng Road, together with Chen Sanyuan and Zhu Guwei, and was called the "Three Elders of Hongkou", and even Wang Guowei was very respectful: "The sea book collection pushes Wang Xuecheng Fangbo as a giant, but Fang Bo is old, and everyone who takes books with him is bent on it. "After the Xinhai Revolution, my family was poor, and every book I collected was written and painted. (See Peng Hua's "Examination of Huayang Wang Bing'en's Study and Practice", Chinese Classics and Culture, No. 3, 2011) Wang's relationship with Guangdong is very deep, and in the last year of his life, he also prefaced the "Preface to the Biography of Qing Dynasty Scholars" by Ye Yanlan, grandfather of Ye Gongqiu, the elder of the Guangdong literary circle and the head of the Department of Transportation: "In the summer of Pengchen (1928), Mr. Wensun Gong came to Shanghai and will print this volume, which belongs to the Yu order. With decades of dreams and not to see, once seen again, so do not quit the order. Tai Nian was in Yongzhi Xuyang Yue, and Huayang Wang Bing'en was in Shanghai. (The Collected Works of Ye Yanlan, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2015, p. 450) This also shows its fame and status.

The reason why it is rumored that Wang Bing'en participated in the creation of the cause of Sichuan cuisine on the sea, there is also a big reason, that is, he is not only an elderly man at sea, but also a big gangster in the Sichuan gang, which can be seen from the following thing: "Wang Bing'en, a native of Shanghai, and other recent groups of the Sichuan Aftermath Association hereby record their brief public telegrams..." ("Sichuan People Organize Sichuan Aftermath Association", "Declaration", April 12, 1919, 10th edition) and is widely respected by society, many years after his death, in the divorce case between the nephew of Ambassador Shi Zhaoji and his nephew Queen Qu Qing, the newspaper said: Wang Nu is now Chinese New Year's Eve three years old, and is the daughter of the late Former Qing Dynasty Guangdong Wang Bing'en (also known as Xie Cheng). ("Shi Jiaji's Wife Sue for Divorce Lawsuit", "Declaration", July 12, 1935, 12th Edition) As for Zheng Yimei and Xu Zhuoduo, they directly said that the drunken Wang Bing'en opened, it is a later document, which is not enough evidence. (Zheng Yimei and Xu Zhuoduo, "Wangping Street of Baoguan Street", in Old Sayings of Shanghai, Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, 1986 edition, p. 65)

The reason why Wang Bing'en nagged a few more words is also to think that in the process of the formation and out-of-the-land of major cuisines, the power of literati and culture really plays a pivotal role and the power of guidance. Imagine if Cantonese cuisine did not have Taishi cuisine in Guangzhou and Tanjia cuisine in Beijing, could there be a later situation of "food in Guangzhou"? On the extravagance of diet, Qu Dajun said that the world's ingredients in eastern Guangdong are all there, Zhao Yi said that the fattest lack in his life is the guangzhou prefect Ren, the fuzhong diet, although Zhong Mingding food is incomparable, at this time, why is there no legend of "eating in Guangzhou"? The author has repeatedly written that the real fame of "food in Guangzhou" stems from the propaganda of the Shanghai media and literati. In addition, if Hunan cuisine does not have Tan Yanmin's Tanfu cuisine, Sichuan cuisine does not have the pursuit of aunts and celebrities in the local area, and it is difficult to grow into a major cuisine smoothly.

As a city of immigrants, Shanghai's population composition is updating rapidly, and the upgrading of the catering industry is also affected, so by the 1920s, it seems that all benefits have been in the lead: "The pioneers of Shanghai Shangchuanguan are drunk, the dishes are very beautiful and the price is strange." During the second year of the Republic of China, the guests were not drunk enough to be called broad. However, the drunken pawn could not absorb ordinary diners because the price of the dish was too high, so the business was not good, so it was closed. Following the latter, there are all the benefits, Tao Lechun, beautiful Sichuan restaurants, leisure villas, and Daya Lou. The place where all the benefits originated is on the Three Roads (it seems that at the corner of Guangxi Road on the Three Horse Roads, it is impossible to remember them accurately). At the beginning, there was only one floor, specializing in snacks, the beauty of cooking, the crown was outstanding, and its career was grand because of it. Later, it was expanded from one floor to three. After more than a year, I moved into a small garden, and the scene began to be big. There is a courtyard side, open-air seats are sold in the summer, and the seats are often full, and there are no other taverns. (Yan Duhe, "Comparison of Shanghai Wine and Restaurants", Red Magazine, No. 33, 1923) Mei Sheng's "The Present and Past of Shanghai Restaurants" ("Declaration", November 10, 1925, 17th edition) also reflects the updated iteration of Shanghai Sichuan Restaurant: "Now that the drunken and hymns and style restaurants have been closed, the new risers of Shu restaurants have all benefits and Jinjiang Spring." ”

Regarding the opening and relocation of the benefits of both, the Declaration has reported:

The museum has been opened for more than ten years in Shanghai Sanma Road Xiao Garden, and the essence of the dishes has been promoted by people from all walks of life in the Sumeng gentleman business and learning as the originator of the Sichuan restaurant, so the customers are full of doors and the guests are full. Now due to the renovation of the original site, it was relocated to a new three-storey bungalow in the east of the world on Aidoa Road... It will be officially opened on the eighth day of this month. ("Statement on the Recent Relocation of the Duli Sichuan Restaurant", "Declaration", September 2, 1924, 1st Edition)

The most important thing here is to point out six or seven important Sichuan restaurants in the early 1920s, the city guide book at that time, the Sichuan restaurants contained in the record, and there are not even these ones, such as the 1922 edition of the Shanghai Guide compiled by the Commercial Press, which contains Daya Lou (No. 254, Hankou Road No. 253), the beautiful Shenji Sichuan Restaurant (No. 139 Zhejiang Road Junction), the Leisure Villa (No. 439 Guangxi Road), Tao Lechun (No. 241 Hankou Road), and the 5 Duli (No. 7 Small Garden on Zhejiang Road). By the 1930 edition of Lin Zhen's "Guide to Shanghai" compiled by the Commercial Press, the list changed slightly, and only Daya Lou (No. 231, Fuzhou Road), Gonglechun (No. 1971, North Sichuan Road, No. 1971), Meili Shenji, Tao Lechun (No. 243, Hankou Road), Duli (No. 162, Aidoya Road), and Jufengyuan (Guangxi Road Xiaohuayuankou) 6, and if you compare carefully, there are indeed changes in the address under the same name. On November 2, 1922, the 18th edition of the "Declaration" listed three restaurants in "Sichuan Cuisine": "Xinghuachuan Hankou Road Zhejiang Road Corner Middle 1278; Beautiful Sichuan Hankou Road Zhejiang Road Corner Middle 1362; Daya Building Hankou Road Zhejiang Road Corner Middle 3974." Xinghua Chuan Restaurant, on the other hand, has not been humane, in fact, it may be quite good, because the banquet guests of Fengxian Zhi County are all seated here: "The former Governor of Fengxian of the Chuansha Adjustment Bureau, borrowed Dong Cao, Die Feng Commission, the native gentleman Dong, who lived in Shanghai on weekdays, more than yesterday came to Shanghai, fake Xinghua Chuanguan banquet guests, so as to borrow the business to report Xie Yun." ("The Governor of Fengxian County Came to Shanghai to Feast", "Declaration", August 19, 1920, 11th Edition)

The new "Shanghai Catering Service Industry Chronicle" said that there is also a Famous Sichuan Restaurant East Asia Hotel, opened in 1917 at No. 680 Nanjing East Road, known for snacks such as double mushroom green buns, lotus leaf glutinous rice, etc., probably later transformed bar, because although it is quite seen in the literati pen of that year, no one regards it as a Sichuan restaurant. ("Shanghai Catering Service Industry" First Article "Catering Industry" Chapter 7 "Famous Shops and Famous Teachers", Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Publishing House, 2006 edition) In fact, whether it is a Sichuan restaurant is still worth examining, because there is a famous Cantonese restaurant also called East Asia Hotel.

Because of the fashion and many founders, they also established the Sichuan Restaurant Association, and constantly jointly raised prices, which can also be seen in its early prosperity:

Enlightener: Since the founding of our industry, all walks of life in hormones have welcomed us and have no admiration. Recently, due to the high cost of each item, the price is not enough to meet the cost, it is the same industry public agreement to resell the day on the opening day of the day, and the Foxi people from all walks of life patronize it. Du Yiyi, Tao Lechun, Xinghua Chuan Gongqi ("Shanghai Sichuan Restaurants And Others Discuss the Opening of the Market on the Fifth Day of the First Month of the New Month", Declaration, February 23, 1920, 1st Edition)

Enlightener: The department store of our industry is step by step expensive, and the payment is huge, it can not be supported, it is invited to gather the same industry public consultation, since the Mid-Autumn Festival, each table plus one yuan, to replenish the blood, and the figure is long, pray for patronage, the kings forgive, is fortunate. All benefits, beauty, Daya Lou, Tao Lechun Tongqi ("Sichuan Restaurant Peer Price Increase Statement", "Declaration", September 20, 1921, 1st edition)

The so-called unsatisfactory cost, excuse ear! The value of early Sichuan restaurants has always been recognized. This point has been mentioned at the beginning, and I would like to add another material, such as Wang Dingjiu's "Shanghai Consultant" said: "Like a wine feast of nearly ten yuan for flat vegetables, it is already very suitable for guests, but Sichuan cuisine must be fifteen or six yuan." (Central Bookstore, 1934, p. 220)

Among these Sichuan restaurants, Tao Lechun deserves special mention, because he seems to be one of Lu Xun's favorites; on October 3, 1927, he went to Tao Lechun on the first day of returning to Shanghai from Guangzhou, and from October 1927 to June 1929, he was invited to this restaurant for 6 times, and the guests were Li Xiaofeng, Yu Dafu and Neishan Guanzuo:

October 3, 1927: (Arrived in Shanghai) In the afternoon, he went with Guangping to visit Li Xiaofeng and Cai Shuliu at the Beixin Bookstore, and invited the third brother to arrive late to tao le spring night dinner.

October 16: Ye Xiaofeng invited to drink at Tao Lechun on Sanma Road, with Shao Yuan and his wife, Mrs. Xiaofeng, third brother, and Guangping.

April 2, 1927: Tatsuo beckons Tao Lechun to go with Hirophei, and the same table is Kunigata Jun and his wife, Kaneko, Ulyugawa, and Uchiyama Jun, returning with a bottle of wine.

January 26, 1929: At noon, Dafu beckons Tao Lechun to go with Guangping, and sits with Maeda, Akita, Kaneko and his wife, Yutang and his wife, Dafu, and Wang Yingxia, a total of ten people.

March 17, 1929: On the evening, with RouShi, Fang Ren, the third brother and Guangping going to Tao Lechun, Ying Xiaofeng invited him to drink, and the same table was Yutang, (Lin) Ruofan, Shi Min, Dafu, Yingxia, Wei Quan, Fuquan, Xiaofeng, Shuliu, etc.

June 20, 1929: Evening Uchiyama was drunk at Tao Lechun, with 7 people in the same seat as Hasegawa Honyoshi, Saichiro Kasaka, Kenzo Yokoyama, Imaki Tenpeng, and Wang Zhisan.

Of course, Lu Xun, another Sichuan restaurant, has also visited several, such as all benefits: "February 9, 1928: Evening with the three brothers to benefit the night dinner, the same fifteen people." Another example is the leisure villa: "February 12, 1928: Before noon, Zhang Xichen invited him to drink in the leisure villa, and went with his third brother, with nine people sitting at the same table. In fact, on August 30, 1925, when Lu Xun went to Xiamen University to teach through Shanghai, he met Zhu Ziqing, who was also a professor at the Tsinghua University of Chinese Studies through Shanghai, and attended a banquet organized by literary research fellows Zheng Zhenduo, Liu Dabai, Xia Junzun, Chen Wangdao, Shen Yanbing, Hu Yuzhi, Ye Shengtao, Wang Boxiang, Zhou Yutong, Zhang Xichen, Liu Shuqin, and Zhou Jianren. (Jiang Jian and Wu Weigong, "Zhu Ziqing Annals", Guangming Daily Publishing House, 2010 edition, page 58) Lu Xun also went to the Beautiful Sichuan Restaurant: "February 29, 1928: Evening Fuyuan Came. Lin Fengmian beckoned him to drink at the beautiful Sichuan restaurant and went with his third brother. When Zhu Ziqing first arrived in Shanghai on August 22, 1925, he drank here with Ye Shengtao and Fang Guangtao. (Zhu Ziqing Chronicle, p. 52)

In addition, Gu Yixuan and Jufengyuan Lu Xun both went to two places respectively:

August 27, 1929: Late Jiang Jing's three moves were drunk at Gu Yixuan, with eleven people sitting at the same table.

October 5, 1932: Late Dafu and Yingxia were invited to drink in Jufeng Garden, and the same table was Liu Yazi and his wife, Dafu's brother and sister-in-law, and Lin Weiyin.

March 30, 1933: At the invitation of Li Liewen in JufengYuan, there were Dafu, Yuzhi, Fang Baozong, and Yang Xingzhi at the same table.

January 6, 1934: Noon Liewen summoned Gu Yixuan to drink, went to it, and went with Xi Dafu, Yutang and twelve other people. (Chen Shuyu et al., eds., The Complete Diary of Lu Xun, vol. 2, Guangdong People's Publishing House, 2019 edition, pp. 27, 53, 89, 93, 102, 47, 48, 155, 245, 272, 313)

Lu Xun's Tao Lechun and Du Benefits have indeed become the big men of the Sichuan cuisine industry at this time: "The Shanghai Restaurant Association convened a meeting of representatives of the same industry at the Guangxi Laomin Heli Club at 2 p.m. yesterday... Each gang push represents the responsibility of the two families, and on the spot, the public pushes the Sichuan gang to benefit, Tao Lechun..." ("The Restaurant Guild Held a Meeting of the Same Industry Yesterday", "Declaration" November 24, 1925) On March 28, 1934, Xun Huisheng, the four famous dans of Peking Opera, feasted on Tao Lechun, sat around, sixteen yuan per table, and most of the people who arrived were well-known people in the banking industry, and they also showed their value. (Jianfu, "Xun Huisheng Feasts on Tao Lechun", "Little Daily", March 30, 1934, 2nd edition) When Wang Tongzhao went to Europe via Shanghai on March 12, 1934, he met here with "Shengtao and his wife, Gong Zun, Donghua, Mao Dun, Jin Zhonghua, Hu Yuzhi, Tiao Fu, Wang Boxiang, Huang Yuan, and Liang Zongdai", and also praised them for their excellent diet. (Wang Tongzhao's "Diary of Ou you", "New Literary Historical Materials", No. 1, 1997) In the view of Tao Juyin, a famous record of the Republic of China, as early as 1921, when he first appeared sharp and went to Shanghai as a special correspondent of the "News Daily" whose status was second only to that of "Declaration", he felt Tao Lechun's loftiness:

At the beginning of the evening, Wang (Hanxi, general manager of The News, together with Shi Liangcai of the "Declaration", Di Pingzi of the "Times", and Xi Zipei of the "New Declaration", known as the four big Kongs of the Shanghai newspaper industry, and Xi Zipei was replaced by Zhang Zhuping of the "Current Affairs New Newspaper") took a shabby car to the hotel to pick me up. We walked up to the large restaurant on the second floor of Tao Lechun, where more than twenty guests had arrived first, and Wang introduced them to me one by one, and I learned that those people were all the staff of the editorial department of the newspaper. I can't help but wonder why hosting a foreign reporter should be so grand, which also makes me feel flattered.

Tao Juyin also said: "Tao Lechun was a famous Sichuan restaurant in Shanghai at that time, which was located in Duolu (now Yan'an East Road), and later changed to Houde Fuyu Restaurant. This has never been mentioned in the historical materials about the rise and fall of Tao Lechun. (Tao Lechun, "Thirty Years of Journalists' Lives", Zhonghua Bookstore, 1984 edition, no. 77)

Shao Yuanchong, who was the official to the director of the Kuomintang Central Propaganda Committee, and his wife Zhang Mojun, who was the founder of the Shenzhou Women's School and the Shenzhou Daily, would eat Sichuan cuisine whenever they went to Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s, just as after their dinner at the Meili Sichuan Restaurant on October 1, 1924, "drank and talked, and were full of fun and pride, enough for him to reminisce about the day, and the braised hooves here were particularly beautiful, and the food was fast and old", then their memories of Shanghai Sichuan cuisine should indeed be recorded below to share with readers:

November 19, 1924: At noon, in response to Yuyan's lunch move, there were Concordia, Geng Hesheng, Dan Nugang and Guangdong Zhong.

November 21, 1924: At noon, the Sichuan Restaurant, at the lunch of Huang Yisun and his wife, meets Yang Xingfo and his wife.

June 19, 1928: At noon at Wang Boqiu's appointment, he went to the Beautiful Sichuan Restaurant for lunch, and there were Shou Yicheng, Hu Shizhi, Dong Dingsan, and Song Funan.

June 21, 1928: At noon, Wu Mo Ying Yicheng and Ding San Mei Chuan Restaurant made a lunch appointment, and Hu Pu'an and Wang Boqiu were seated at the same table.

December 3, 1928: At noon, Jovind and Yiyun have a beautiful lunch.

January 13, 1929: Ji Lu and He Xufu, Guo Fuchu, Zheng Yuxiu, etc. have lunch in all.

December 10, 1935: At noon, Kaimo and Zhu Yao went out for lunch at the small garden Sichuan vegetable shop, and the food was still clean. (The Diary of Shao Yuanchong, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1990, pp. 62, 77, 78, 433, 434, 479, 498, 1344)

Looking at them and the seats, there are both literati and inkers, as well as dignitaries and nobles, and the Shao couple themselves are also literati and officials, and when they are famous, they naturally deserve the good memories of Shanghai Sichuan restaurants. And the most visited beautiful river is also the famous Sichuan cuisine restaurant in Which Liang Shiqiu and Xu Zhimo are still young at that time, and they all reached the "time of 1929 to 1930", and said that "At that time, Sichuan cuisine first appeared in Shanghai", and the oldest one was only a piece of oyster sauce tofu:

Mr. Li Huang was a guest at The Beautiful River on Shanghai's Fourth Road (it should be a beautiful Sichuan restaurant, everyone calls it Beautiful River), and I remember that Xu Beihong, Jiang Biwei and others were present, and I can't forget a dish of "oyster sauce tofu" in the table. After more than fifty years, I don't know if Elder Li still remembers it. Oyster sauce tofu with the number one plate, on top of the tiles of tender tofu, piece by piece like a tile, neatly upright, yellow chengcheng thin oyster sauce sprinkled on it, shiny... I tasted it for the first time, and I was surprised by the smell, and I have eaten Sichuan cuisine countless times in the decades since, and I have never encountered this masterpiece again. I figured out that the plate of tofu was set up and steamed, and then poured with juice. (Liang Shiqiu, "Tofu", in "Yashe Talks About Eating", Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House, 2012 edition, page 146)

Xu Zhimo told the story of the beautiful river, the most popular, can be called a classic: "(Eleventh) only returned from the beautiful river, tonight Shu Yong and his wife invited guests, there are Suitable, Jingnong, Huang Huang, Yun Wu, Mengdan, Junwu, Zhenfei, Jingwei did not come, Junjie broke into the table." When Jun Ji first saw Sha Fei, he fell down, and when he walked with enthusiasm, he respected those who had an 'inner life', and he couldn't help but laugh wildly. Junwu is a monster who is engaged in politics and worries that it will be destroyed. "Fifteenth day: The day before yesterday, if you were invited to the Beautiful River, Lou Shi'an was suitable for coming from Nanjing, so he also attended the meeting, and the drinkers were drunk. Say something sincere, hug and kiss it - pawn flying fist throwing and scattering - scolding Mirikawaya! Tonight, with shizhi back, there are Tian Han and Shu Yong and his wife, and Zhenfei, talking about mythology. ("A Page of the New History of Rulin", Analects, August 1, 1936, No. 93, pp. 6 and 8) These are all top celebrities!

The above-quoted Hu Shi article "A Page of the New History of Ru Lin" is actually excerpted from the 1947 edition of Lu Xiaoman's "Shima Diary" edited by Chenguang Publishing Company, which records the events of October 1923. In this year, after obtaining a bachelor's degree in medicine from The Imperial University of Kyushu Island in Fukuoka, Guo Moruo returned to China with his family on April 1 and arrived in Shanghai on the 2nd to live in the editorial office of The Taidong Bookstore in Hatong Road Minhou Nanli. In mid-July, I went to the leisure villa to attend a banquet held by some of my students who stayed in Japan. In June 1925, he went to a banquet held by a friend at the leisure villa and sat with Zeng Qi. (Gong Jimin and Fang Rennian, "Guo Moruo's Annals", Tianjin People's Publishing House, 1992 edition, pp. 126, 134, 166) This also leaves a few rare materials for going to the hometown restaurant. In addition, on August 7, 1937, Guo Moruoxin, a public banquet of the Shanghai Branch of the Chinese Literary and Art Association and the Shanghai Cultural Circles Salvation Association, returned from Japan again, which was also a fake Shu chuan restaurant. ("Guo Moruo, a New Return from Japan," Saturday, No. 702, 1937, p. 22)

Hu Shi himself wrote of this verse: "(Diary of October 13, 1923) Mo Ruo invited him to dinner, and there were seven people, Including Tian Han, Cheng Fangwu, He Gongdang, Shima, and Lou □□. Mo Ruo persuaded the wine to be very attentive, because this was the first time they had met each other after they reconciled with me, so they reluctantly broke the vows, drank a lot, and almost got drunk. It was night, and Moro, Shima, and Tian Han were all drunk, and I said that I used to comment on "Goddess", and I once took "Goddess" and read it for five days. Mo Ruo was so happy that he hugged me and kissed me. Hu Shipingsu's diaries are very detailed, but the diet is very brief, especially in China, and rarely remembered, so this material is very interesting; a cursory examination, and found two other hu shi Shangchuan restaurant diaries, attached to the right: "August 26, 1921: To the capital to eat, the host is Zheng Lai [Lai]. "September 23, 1929: Dinner at Guyixuan in the evening, with Wang Mengzou as the host and Jiang Tonghou as the guest." (See The Complete Diary of Hu Shi, Anhui Education Publishing House, 2001 edition, vol. 3, no. 448; vol. IV, p. 72; vol. V, p. 523)

Another academic celebrity, Gu Jiegang, also left behind many celebrity memories of the poetry and wine literary clubs in Shanghai Sichuan restaurants:

December 4, 1923: Zhi Jue, Song Gao, and Zhang invited a banquet at the Guangxi Road Leisure Villa.

August 12, 1926: Dinner at the Beautiful Sichuan Restaurant... Dinner table: Naigan, Snow Village, Boxiang, Shengtao, Yuzhi, Yutong.

September 2, 1927: To the fourth road Guyixuan to feast... Tonight's table: Mr. ShuPing, Shuping, Naigan, He Jingshan, Yu (above guest), Mr. Gu Dingmei (Lord).

September 10, 1927: To jufengyuan for a banquet... Tonight's table: Tan Xihong and his wife, Xintian, Ms. Wu Jiarui, Jingshan, Ms. Qian Zhenyuan, Ms. Jin Jiamao, Ms. Mao Youwen, Cheng Benzheng, Mr. Jiang Menglin, Yu... (Above guests), Zhang Boqian, Ling Jidong, Zha Mianzhong (above the Lord).

September 17, 1927: To jufengyuan for a banquet... Tonight is seated together: Long Wen, Si Mu, Zhou Mingxin, Chen Zhongming, Liu Qi (Zixing), Feng Bingkui (Chu Bi), Yu (above guest), Miao Jinyuan (Lord).

March 2, 1929: Went to Mr. Shizhi and met with Liang Shiqiu. Meet Liang Shixiang, the same to the Tianyun Building. Eat at Jufengyuan.

March 22, 1929, Shanghai: Mr. Bu Guang invited to Jufeng Garden for dinner, and the seats were Shizhi, Xusheng and Mr. Meng Zhen, Yu, etc.

February 6, 1936: At the request of Snow Village, I went to Jufengyuan Chuan Restaurant... Tonight's table: Shen Congwen, Wang Luyan, Ba Jin (Li Fugan), Li Jianwu, Zheng Zhenduo, Zhou Yutong, Sun Zuji, Yu (above guests), Zhang Xuecun, Xia Qizun, Ding Xiaoxian, Fan Xieren, Xu Qiaofu, Wang Boqi (above lords).

January 20, 1937: Went to Jinjiang Spring for dinner... This afternoon, we sat together: Yu Songhua, Hu Zhongzhi, Zizang, Yu (above guests), Yin Liang (Lord).

(The Diary of Gu Jiegang, Taiwan Lianjing Publishing Company, 2000 edition, vol. 1, pp. 425, 779, vol. II, pp. 82, 85, 87, 258, 264, Vol. III, pp. 439, 558, 592)

Comparatively speaking, among the Sichuan restaurants in Shanghai, if Lu Xun's favorite is Tao Lechun, Gu Jiegang's favorite is none other than Jufengyuan; Jufengyuan is also a new upstart of Sichuan cuisine at that time: "Two major Sichuan restaurants have recently risen on the sea, one is the Jufeng Garden of the Small Garden of Guangxi Road, and the other is the Nanyang Vegetable Society of the Racecourse Hall." Jufengyuan Day yesterday's banquet, was invited by Yu Daxiongjun, the cuisine is exquisite. The feast was full of flowers and drunken moons, which were extremely lively. The guests of the Nanyang Cuisine Society on the eve of the feast were invited by the Bulin House Jun, and the food was also exquisite, and the guests were especially numerous. ("Two Sichuan Restaurants Have Risen Recently on the Sea", Qiong Bao, November 26, 1928, 2nd Edition) Many years later, Mr. Tang Zhenchang also said that "Jufengyuan is the representative of popular Sichuan cuisine." (Tang Zhenchang's "Where is the Taste of the Countryside", in "Yongyi Collection", Liaoning Education Publishing House, 1995 edition, p. 18) In addition, Gu Yixuan should also have a status: "The previous night, Li Yan, the director of the two roads, set up a spring banquet at the Guyixuanchuan Restaurant on The Third Road, and the banquet gathered two people from the same road, with a total of nine tables, and the dining room displayed a lot of orchids, spitting out the fragrance of the king, refreshing the heart. (Joan Pao, February 19, 1928, 2nd edition)

In the view of Dong Zhujun, the owner of the Jinjiang Sichuan Restaurant, the most famous Sichuan cuisine master later, whether it is Tao Lechun or Jufengyuan, "because of its strong taste, spicy and heavy, the guests on the seat except for a few Sichuanese, the locals rarely patronize, so the business is light, the profit is not much, and sometimes it will be closed at a loss." (Dong Zhujun, "My Century", Sanlian Bookstore, 1997 edition, p. 247) Are Lu Xun and Gu Jiegang both heavy tastes? From Gu's diary in Chongqing on July 14, 1945: "Chen Yuguang told me that eating vitamin C often can cure colds and flus." Some people also say that eating more spicy seeds can not get wet, yu can still eat watercress sauce, and then eat it often. "Then its ability to be spicy is not high." (Gu Jiegang's Diary, vol. V, Taiwan Lianjing Publishing Company, 2000 edition, p. 497) Of course, it is also possible to develop into the late 1920s and early 1930s, when the taste of Sichuan cuisine became increasingly spicy, but the traditional early Sichuan-Hunan cuisine was not spicy, and there was also the name of the early Minchuan restaurant. Even during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, even in Chongqing, the most spicy, the formal high-end banquet guests are still not spicy, and the famous writer Zhang Hexhui has an on-site observation: "As for the pepper genus that must be used for rice, this is an ordinary phenomenon, foolishness is also spicy, compared with the Sichuan people, it is shocking." Only sichuan people officially feast, then spicy products do not sit. Jiangnan people have the promise of the Sichuan people, and they do not have to be afraid of pepper and ginger. (Zhang Hexhui, "Chongqing Travel Feelings", Travel Magazine, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1939, p. 51)

Or, then you Dong Zhujun will open a traditional Sichuan restaurant with a light taste. Sure enough, on March 15, 1935, Dong Zhujun opened a Jinjiang snack on Hua Ge Zhen Road near the Great World of the French Concession (the predecessor of the Jin Jiang Hotel), relying on a special background, as soon as it opened, the customers were full, and "even Du Yuesheng, Jin Jinrong, Zhang Xiaolin, as well as Nanjing government dignitaries and Shanghai military and political figures had to wait for a long time to eat." Later, Du Yuesheng helped her "expand more than a dozen large and small elegant seats, and one large and small restaurant with more than twenty tables, which can accommodate about 300 people in total, expanding several times." There are three or four offices. The storage room and preparation room were also added and expanded, and the staff was increased by dozens of people, and the name was changed to Jinjiang Chuan Restaurant." (Dong Zhujun, "My Century", pp. 251, 253) The lightness of the Jinjiang River can be seen from its later executive chef, the famous Cantonese master Xiao Liangchu, who was regarded as a Master of the Chuan Gang. (For details, see humble article "The Road to the State Banquet of Shanghai Cantonese Chefs", Archives Spring and Autumn, No. 8, 2015)

But at this time, the Sichuan restaurants that can compete with the Jinjiang River have Shu Hong and small gardens. Whenever the Kuomintang Supervision Chief Yu Youren went to Shanghai, he liked to eat Sichuan cuisine, and some newspapers directly unveiled the headlines -- "Yu Dean Went to Shanghai to Eat Sichuan Cuisine" ("Minbao", January 4, 1937, 1st edition): "I heard that Yu Shi came to eat Sichuan cuisine on a day, and yesterday afternoon went to a Certain Sichuan Cuisine Society on Guangxi Road, which was invited by zhang Jingjiang's brother of the Central Committee to invite Yun." "According to Tu Suo Ji, or Shu Hong, because it is New Year's Day, it is newly opened here:

The small garden of Guangxi Road in this port has set up a new Shu Chuan Restaurant, which is the giant of Shanghai Chuan Guan, with exquisite equipment, entertaining Zhou Zhi, specially hired famous chefs to cook, the taste of the north and south, allowing vegetables to be good at specialties, feasting and drinking, all of which are inappropriate. The owner of the restaurant, Xu Junhexuan, tastes the characteristics of the national dish, which is characterized by the qing who makes it clear, the qing who makes it plump, and the Sichuan cuisine that is poor. With more than 20 years of intensive research, hereby contribute to society, and his great desire is to carry forward the glory of the country, and it is comparable to ordinary profiteers. Therefore, its pricing is extremely cheap, and it is specially used on small plates for drinking, and the accumulation of a sprinkle of Sichuan cuisine with huge prices should make customers get extremely happy results at the slightest cost. Wen has been scheduled for the twenty-sixth new year's day to open, booked a room idle seat, extremely enthusiastic, the future is developed, uncertain also know. ("Shu Chuan Restaurant Opens on New Year's Day", Declaration, December 31, 1936, 14th edition)

It turned out that Shu And Jinjiang, like Jinjiang, were returning to the tradition of Qingyi, but they also reversed the traditional expensive and inexpensive and high-quality directions, and almost appeared in the new era of Sichuan restaurants, when people observed: "Over the big world, the road is seen, and the size is sichuan cuisine." In the middle of the Xia (Zhou Press: that is, the time of Summer) Mrs. (Zhou Press: that is, Dong Zhujun) opened one of the most expensive (that is, Jinjiang), and the wider storefront, the three left and right Fujian restaurants are approachable, the so-called east of the Hua Ge Road, without □ and become Sichuan Cuisine Street. However, he also pointed out in particular that the Qinghong flaunted by Shu Is the famous Cantonese cuisine hall Dadong: "The small garden has a newly opened Shufu, especially imitating the example of the Dadong Tea Room, continuing to use women to eat, the clothing is the same as dadong, but the taste of the dish is still different from the small garden Sichuan restaurant Bo Zhong, not very different, especially Sichuan cuisine as the target ear." "In fact, this is not surprising; at that time, it was the heyday of Cantonese restaurants, not to mention Sichuan cuisine, other cuisines are difficult not to be affected, the original is also the same competition in the field, the market law of learning from each other's strengths, it is not surprising." Finally, the author adds that the sichuan cuisine above the upper class of the dish is actually not spicy: "Or there are those who ask for the right style of Sichuan cuisine, and everyone thinks that sichuan people are spicy, and every dish must be pepper, but in fact, it is not." For example, Chengdu cuisine, mostly with a soup and a stir-fry, for the serving of the fixed grid, in addition to the 'watercress crucian carp', 'eight pieces of chicken' and 'chicken diced', peppers from no addition to the dish, the so-called oil pepper, also prepared and not used, but in the small dish of the feast, free to eat. (Zhineng, "Sichuan Cuisine Street Tour", "Little Daily", February 18, 1937, 2nd edition) In fact, the same is true of the fine dishes of Hunan cuisine.

Someone explained from another angle why Shu Fu wanted to learn Cantonese restaurants, in fact, it was for the purpose of "mastering Cantonese skills to make Cantonese": Sichuan cuisine tastes in the world, so Sichuan restaurants are lined with various ports, especially in Beijing and Shanghai. Those who feel the beauty and deficiency, the huge and luxurious, the few seats, although the flying and the rest, are not exhausted, and the arrangements are not appropriate. Because of this two points, it has not yet been able to compete with cantonese restaurants. (Yiren "There will be aristocratic Sichuan restaurants on the sea", Jing Bao, December 29, 1936, 3rd edition) There are reports that Yu Youren's fifty-eighth birthday in 1936 and 1937, especially fifty-nine years old, that is, the custom from the sixtieth birthday of the imaginary age, are respectively fake Seat Shu And small gardens, open dozens of seats, Hezha Shengyu! (Zhu Fengwei, "Remembering the Life of Mr. Youren", Vientiane, No. 8, 1941)

Sichuan restaurants are all the rage, so what did you eat at that time? This is very important, and researchers have not focused on this, here I am also a simple excavation, thinking that throwing bricks and jade. The earliest introduction to the Sichuan restaurant recipe is the "Scales and Claws of Shanghai Restaurants" signed by Xiong on December 21, 1924:

Sichuan Restaurant banquet is the most fashionable move in Shanghai recently, and Sichuan Restaurant also has several special dishes that are quite suitable for the tastes of Shanghainese and cannot be cooked by others: cream fish lips, bamboo marrow soup, char siu ham, Sichuan kimchi and other proprietary products of Sichuan Restaurant.

The 1925 edition of the Shanghai Baojian lists in more detail the four-hour menu of Sichuan restaurants at that time:

Stir-fry dishes: stir-fried meat slices, pretzel shrimp cake, spicy chicken slices, garri shrimp, fried olive vegetables, fried eight pieces, shrimp magnolia slices; roasted dishes: rice noodle beef, rice noodle chicken, white seared fish, sour and spicy soup, creamy belly, braised smorgasbord; others: cloud leg toast, sour and spicy noodles, chicken rolls.

Spring stir-fry: shrimp spring shoots, anchovies, roasted vegetables: fish stewed, braised spring shoots, char siu yellow fish, ham stewed spring shoots; others: egg skin spring rolls.

Summer roasted dishes: earth fish roasted cucumber, white sauce winter melon square, stewed hoof tendons, chicken pot beans; others: frozen lotus seeds.

Autumn roast dishes: cream cabbage hearts, braised annunciations, crab powder hoof tendons.

Winter stir-fry: stir-fried lamb slices, pine nut diced chicken, fried pheasant slices, snow vegetable winter shoots, fried pheasant slices; roasted vegetables: Sichuan bacon, pot roasted lamb, roasted mushroom vegetables, ham stewed winter shoots; others: chrysanthemum pot. (Wang Houzhe's "Shanghai Treasure Book", Shanghai World Bookstore, 1925 edition, 14th edition of "Dietary Guide")

Judging from the name of the dish, these dishes are not spicy, and the cooking requirements are relatively elaborate, which should be popular and expensive. However, "rich and thrifty by people", some people have specially selected some "cheap and good" menus from various Sichuan restaurants, and there are relatively detailed introductions to each dish, which is even more valuable:

In the Sichuan Restaurant, stir-fry dishes are better than other places, that is, like the usual stir-fried chicken cubes, they are tenderer than other places. You order, such as braised chicken in oil, steamed beef (slightly added with paprika), creamy magnolia slices (bamboo shoot name), shrimp and rice four seasons beans, winter vegetables stir-fried meat shredded, yellow stewed meat, etc., and there is also a fried ugly bacon, the taste is what. I heard that these are really authentic Sichuan dishes.

Sichuan people often elaborate dishes, such as cordyceps (supplement name) stewed duck, its cooking stove with a few cordyceps, how much to listen to, into the belly of the duck, fine fire stew, salt should be less, if you like heavy oil, add some meat.

Bean blossom such a thing, cleaning is very and vegetarian, hot days are especially suitable, but cooking hemp (annoying), Sichuan people like to eat, these days three road Tao Le spring together happy spring, about has been listed. (Fang Chen, "The Small Offering of Sichuan Cuisine", Absurd World, June 10, 1927, 2nd edition)

Jufengyuan's chicken abalone wings are large dishes that can be compared with Cantonese big wings: "The night before the small garden mouth of Guangxi Road Jufengyuan Sichuan Restaurant feasted on the press, the invitation was sent by Yu Daxiongjun, the guests came quite a lot, and the dish was named 'Chicken Abalone Grilled Wings' as the best." (Red Reporter, Red Newspaper, November 22, 1928, 3rd edition)

When reviewing the dishes in Shanghai, people think that "in Sichuan cuisine, there are several kinds of cold pots, quite delicious, one is spicy cabbage, which is made of spicy eggplant and intercourse, the taste is tender and clear, and there are many people who love to eat." Although other houses also have imitations, they are not as delicious as Sichuan restaurants. There is also a piece of vinegar fish, with a very long heat, boiled fish bones crispy, so eat soft and abnormal boneless fish risk, and the taste is also because of the fire to get home, it is very flavorful... Among other hot dishes, such as braised lion's head, creamy cabbage heart, fairy chicken, paper-wrapped chicken and several others, are also masterpieces. (Messenger "Shanghai Eating", No. 3, Life Journal, Vol. 1, No. 5, 1935) However, judging from the names of these "masterpieces", it seems that there is no longer the nobility of the past, but also to cope with the downturn of the economy and move towards a new prosperity of cheap and good quality. You see, Shu, known as the upstart, openly advocates that "its purpose is not comparable to that of ordinary profit-makers, so its pricing is extremely cheap, and it is specially used for small plates, sweeping away the accumulation of sichuan vegetables and huge pots of high prices, so that customers can get extremely happy results at the slightest cost." ("Shu Chuan Restaurant Opens on New Year's Day", Ta Kung Pao Shanghai Edition, December 31, 1936, 14th Edition) The recipes it recommends are indeed very popular:

Shu Chuan Restaurant, with the latest equipment, open air conditioning, so although it is hot and hot, and diners are full of doors. The new dishes produced are endless, such as green pepper raw fried eel slices, eggplant stewed field chicken and other products, all of which are very chic. (Old Food, Crystal Newspaper, July 12, 1937, 3rd edition)