Imagine that in the ancient Chu kingdom more than 2,000 years ago, a noble nobleman was holding a grand funeral. When you step into the majestic catacombs, you will be greeted not only by the ornate funerary goods, but also by some traces of food and drink that once belonged to the tomb owner, vividly telling the life of the court back then.
Recently, a large number of precious plant remains have been unearthed from the Wuwangdun Tomb in Huainan, Anhui Province, including plum kernels, chestnuts and melon seeds, which have aroused great interest among archaeologists. These tiny pits and seeds bear witness to the dietary preferences and cooking methods of the Chu people more than 2,000 years ago, and have become an excellent window into ancient food culture.
You know, in that era of material scarcity, it was rare to be able to leave a complete fruit in the tomb. Zhang Zhiguo, a member of the archaeological team, excitedly described the discovery process to me, "When we opened the water-filled coffins, dozens of fruits and plants floated on the water, like a still life painting. ”
"The most striking of these are the well-preserved chestnuts. "Under the microscope, we can clearly see the texture, color and texture of the chestnuts, as if they have just been picked from the tree." "Interestingly, in addition to the chestnut we are familiar with, other unidentified species of chestnut have also been unearthed from the tomb of King Wu.
There are many other surprising discoveries, such as those melon seeds with unique shapes. "This kind of melon seed is so rare that we have never seen it in other tombs. Zhang Zhiguo said, "Maybe the Chu people like to grow this special variety of watermelon in the palace garden." ”
And those plum kernels scattered everywhere may be the favorite fruits of the Chu people back then. It is not difficult to imagine that in the middle of summer, the fragrant plum may be the best choice for the upper class nobles to quench their thirst.
In addition to these unearthed objects, archaeologists also speculated some of the eating habits of the Chu people in those years. Zhang Zhiguo explained: "The location of these fruits is not concentrated, but scattered in different coffins. According to our research, different coffins may have different functions, and perhaps some of them are dedicated to storing food. ”
This discovery reminds me of the custom of sacrifice in the Western Zhou Dynasty. At that time, high-ranking officials and nobles often prepared a large amount of food in their funeral offerings, so that the deceased could also enjoy the delicacies of the world in the underworld.
"Although the tomb of King Wu is a tomb of the Chu period, it retains many characteristics of the traditional culture of the Central Plains. Zhang Zhiguo said, "For example, according to the rules of the sacrifice, they will prepare all kinds of ingredients as the 'imperial money' for the deceased on Huangquan Road." ”
Of course, in addition to satisfying the needs of sacrifices, the fruits in the tomb of King Wu may also be the favorite of the tomb owner during his lifetime. After all, in those days, the wealthy class often had their own gardens and could indulge in a variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables.
It is worth mentioning that similar fruit remains have been unearthed in other Chu tombs, such as the well-preserved chestnuts, jujube cores and melon seeds found in the No. 1 Chu tomb in Linli Jiuli. It can be seen that the Chu people had a soft spot for these nutritious fruits back then.
So, how did the ancient Chu people eat these fruits? Zhang Zhiguo gave some of his own conjectures: "They may eat these fruits alone, or they may make them into some kind of pastry or condiment, and eat them with meat or grains." ”
There is no doubt that with today's archaeological techniques, it is difficult to completely reconstruct the cooking methods of more than 2,000 years ago. But this does not prevent us from boldly imagining that at the court banquet of the nobles of the Chu State, the exquisite dishes may be full of these seasonal fruit elements.
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