The passage of time cannot be saved, and the past can only be tasted in memory...
Today in the headlines, a Q&A on the headlines; what is the most memorable thing about Jingdezhen?
I was born in Jingdezhen, this year has been a flower, all my life has been working and living in Jingdezhen, there are many unforgettable experiences in my heart, but the most memorable is a snack in Jingdezhen; clear soup. In Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, it is called "wonton stew", but in the two Guangzhou areas it is called "Wonton", and in Sichuan and Chongqing, it is called "scribe"... I don't know if there are other names elsewhere. In Jingdezhen, it is sometimes made into clear soup cakes.
In the 1980s, many old shops gradually revived their old signs, and this snack bar also re-hung the old shop name; Jingchun Hall. Legend has it that when the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty went down to Jiangnan, he once ate clear soup at this snack bar. The Qianlong Emperor ate a tasteful taste, he asked the shop what this delicacy is called, the shop said that this is called "flat food", the emperor said that such a delicious food, fragrant and delicious, but also with soup, it is called "clear soup", for this reason the emperor rose, the pen for the snack hall inscribed the name of the museum, since then the name of "clear soup" has been used to this day.
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Thinking back to the taste of clear soup draws my mind back to more than 50 years ago, when I was a child.
There is a very famous place in Jingdezhen called Eighteen Bridges, where there is a snack bar, (JingchunGuan) is very famous, but he only deals in two kinds of snacks; clear soup, steamed dumplings.
I remember when I was a child, whenever I passed this snack bar, I would always be overwhelmed by the aroma of clear soup and steamed dumplings wafting out of the store, and I could only leave in a hurry. That fragrance, no matter where it is now, can't find the feeling of the clear soup at that time, nor can I smell that fragrance, and the smell is unforgettable.
Once, my parents were in trouble, my mother was angry and couldn't eat, in order to vent her anger, I ran to the Eighteen bridge snack bar, brought a bowl of clear soup home, ready to eat in front of my father, found that I was sitting next to her, staring at the clear soup in my mother's hand, my mother instantly scooped up the clear soup from the bowl and fed it to me, so I ate the clear soup in the bowl one by one, and my mother only drank a few mouthfuls of leftover soup.
Back in those days, supplies were very scarce, and all supplies were supplied according to the ticket plan. In my childhood, although I also came from that period, in my impression, it seems that there is nothing missing due to the lack of materials.
Photo of the author's father when he was 42 years old
I used to pestered my father to take me to the snack bar and eat a bowl of clear soup and two steamed dumplings. At that time, the clear soup was a dime and a bowl of three cents, and the steamed dumplings were a dime and two food stamps. Whenever the steaming clear soup and steamed dumplings are served in front of me, I always have to gobble it up, and the delicious taste is really not bad like what is now called a "big meal". Every time I enjoyed the delicacy with relish, I would feel my father smiling and squinting at me and whispering: Eat slowly, eat slowly...
Later, due to the death of my father, I was 14 years old and was taken care of by the unit to participate in the work. Later, as soon as you pass by this snack bar, you will involuntarily walk in and eat a bowl of clear soup and a few steamed dumplings. Whenever I recall this past, I will think of the picture of my father taking me to eat clear soup, always I was eating, my father only watched me eat, but I never met my father, and I bought a bowl of clear soup or two steamed dumplings for myself to eat! Because I was young and ignorant, I only cared about my own gluttony, and never scooped one from the bowl for my father to eat... If it were now, I would definitely know how to share it with Dad! But there is absolutely nothing "if" about a lot of things! The tree wants to be quiet and the wind is not stopping, and the son wants filial piety and does not wait...