Chen Yanxiang
Chen Yan was a representative figure of the Tongguang body poetry school, and Wang Peijiang wrote the "Records of the Guangxuan Poetry Altar Point Generals" to list him as "the military leader of the poetry altar together", belonging to the "Di Kui Star Divine Machine Division Zhu Wu", and the words are "taking Wei Dingba, Tongjiang Zhiya." "Modern Poetry Banknote", "Stone Testament Poetry".
Chen Yan's works naturally focus on the "Collected Poems of the Stone Relic Room", "Poetry of the Stone Relic Room", "Modern Poetry Notes", "Chronicle of Yuan Poetry", "Chronicle of Liao Poetry", "Chronicle of Golden Poems", and "Essence of Song Poetry", but looking through the "Collection of Chen Shi's Remains" compiled by his grandson Chen Bu (Fujian People's Publishing House, 2001 edition), I saw in this thick three-volume book that there was a "Cooking Textbook" in an inconspicuous place, but unfortunately it was an excerpt, only the general part, accounting for eight pages. Obviously, Chen Bu believes that this is Chen Yan's "poetry", and he does not know that this omitted "Stone Relic Room Recipe" is exactly the proud work of the old man of Shi Yan.
I was very interested in this "Cooking Textbook", bought a copy from the Internet, compared it with the "Poetry of the Stone Relic Room", carefully studied this recipe, found some interesting information, and now came one by one.
The literati are far away from the kitchen, but Chen Yan does not seem to be like this. Not only does he like to entertain guests, but he is also proficient in cooking and loves to cook. Fei Xingjian, who signed "Woqiu Zhongzi", commented on Chen Yan in his 1918 Biography of Contemporary Celebrities published by the Chongwen Bureau: "Derived from the end of Guangxuan, he lived in the Beijing Division, drank and eaten, and all the famous scholars heng collected poems and fighting wine in their zhai. "It shows that the characteristics of his proficiency in eating were well known at that time, and he not only drank well, but also loved to entertain guests."
Why did Chen Yan write a "Cooking Textbook"? Chen Bu said in the "Explanation of the Problem" of this book: "This book is a textbook recognized by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, published by the Commercial Press. At that time, there were explicit regulations on practical cooking in normal schools and girls' high schools, but there was no suitable teaching material. The Commercial Press Gao Mengdan, Li Bake and other Fujian Rongcheng people are familiar with Chen Yan's ease here, please write, Chen Yan wrote "Cooking Lecture Notes". The book contains more than 30,000 words, summarizing the knowledge of cooking essentials, selection of items, preparation methods, etc., and detailing 80 kinds of various recipes. Later, it was approved by the Ministry of Education and listed as a school textbook, so it was called "Cooking Textbook". This book combines food culture in culinary arts, is a work of both theory and practice, reflecting the author's profound learning and rich experience in cooking. ”
Regarding the great-grandfather's ability to rule dishes, Chen Bu said: "Chen Yanzhi's family is diligent and thrifty, full of interest in life, and every time he takes the situation of 'a gentleman does not have to go far away from the kitchen', he often cooks and cooks with his friends in poetry, and serves guests with delicacies. Chen Jiacai was quite famous at the time, and it was said that Chen Yi, the chairman of Fujian Province at that time, praised Chen Jia cuisine as more than Beijing Tan family cuisine. Therefore, it is not necessary to regard this book as a 'Chen Family Recipe'. ”
It was the only cooking textbook approved by the Ministry of Education at the time, and I had seen three editions in 1915, 1934, and 1938. At the beginning of 1915, it was named "Cooking Textbook" and signed "Compiler Xiao Xiansuo"; the 1934 edition was renamed "Women's Cooking Textbook", the content of which was the same as the previous edition; in 1938, it was renamed "Cooking Law" again, and in addition to "Compiler Xiao Xiansuo", the words "Editor Yang Yinshen" were added.
The first edition of the 1915 edition of the "Cooking Textbook" stated in the "Editor's Carelessness": "The writings of this book are actually creations, not as other textbooks have something to rely on, do not dare to claim to be an unprecedented masterpiece, and the operation is bleak and painstaking, and the readers learn from it." The book is divided into two parts: "pre-edit" and "post-compilation", and the general discussion of the former edition is composed of 10 articles, such as "Introduction", "Meal Theory", "Meal Theory", "Meat Dish Theory", "Vegetarian Cuisine Theory", "Pot Stove and Various Fuels", "Anvil and Miscellaneous Utensils", "Plates and Bowls", "Ingredients", and "Food Cannot Be Divided into Seasons". In the "Monographs" of the "Later Edition", Chen Yan details the specific cooking methods of seventy kinds of meat dishes.
In 1938, the edition was adjusted to a large extent, and the "General Theory" was merged and adjusted into eight chapters, which were "Introduction", "Food and Life", "Food and Season", "Meat and Vegetarian Dishes", "Cooking and Heat", "Cooking utensils", "Cooking and Cooking", "Cooking and Cooking"; the "Monographs" of the later edition classified the cooking method into "Pork Cooking Method", "Pork Miscellaneous Cooking Method", "Lamb Cooking Method", "Chicken Cooking Method", "Duck Cooking Method", "Fish Cooking Method", "Shrimp and Clam Cooking Method", "Vegetable Leaf Cooking Method", "Bean and Melon Cooking Method". Other Food Cooking Methods", the eyebrows are clearer. Mr. Chen Yan had returned to Daoshan in 1937, and Yang Yinshen was working as an editor at the Commercial Press, and this edition was obviously re-edited by him.
The general part of the "Cooking Textbook" is somewhat similar to the "notice list" of Yuan Ming's "Suiyuan Food List", but compared with Yuan Ming's point of view, Chen Yan is somewhat consistent with it and some are contrary to it. For example, in the section "Food cannot be divided into seasons", Chen Yan is obviously different from the "Seasonal Instructions" of the "Suiyuan Food List", and he almost tit-for-tat negates Yuan Ming's "seasonal theory" with the difference between northern and southern specialties and seasonal seasons.
There are two ways in the "Cooking Textbook" that are different from today, namely "Chuan" and "Hui". The "chuan" here is actually "汆", which means that the food is slightly boiled in boiling water; "will" is actually "stewed", which means to cook with soup and sauce for the ingredients.
Some people say that these dishes are biased towards the flavor of Fuzhou cuisine, I am not familiar with Fuzhou cuisine, but I feel that seasoning is more with soy sauce and sugar, rarely use salt, will be slightly sweeter. Chen Yan is not like the so-called "a little salt, a little soy sauce" in other Chinese recipes, all of which state that "soy sauce is one or two, sugar is three dollars", which is very scientific.
Because it is used by women's teachers, there is no "high-end" category of dishes here, but some well-mastered home cooking. If you call these dishes "Shi Relic Room Recipes", compared with the sea cucumbers and shark fins that Beijing Tanjia cuisine is good at, it is indeed a bit exaggerated to say that "there is more than enough".
"Cooking Textbook" is signed "Xiao Xian shuo". Where does this "Xiao Xianxu" come from?
Tang Wenzhi wrote the "Epitaph of Mr. Chen Shiyi" and said: "Mr. Xiao", "with Mrs. Xiao, secretly manage the road." Mr. Chang traveled to various scenic spots, studied Confucianism, and authored several books such as "The Collected Interpretations of the Biography of Lienu", which are recorded in the Qing History Museum. ”
Xiao Daoguan (1855-1907), the master of Xiao Xiantang, wrote "Speaking of Literature and Heavy Literature Guan Zhi", "Commentary on the Collected Biographies of The Daughters of Lie", "New Words of Ran Fat", "Miscellaneous Notes of the Peace Room", "Testament of the DaiHua Safe Room", "Notes of Xiao Xiantang", "Testament of Xiao Xiantang", and so on. The Poetry of the Stone Relic Room, vol. 1 and 2, says: "The ancestors of the room were in Japan, and it is said in the True Truth that Yan Suo lived in 'Xiao XianTang'".
In fact, in history, some people have used the room name of "Xiao Xian Tang". The Poetry of the Stone Relic Room (vol. 22) once recorded this incident: "Yu has three hundred rhymes in the five words and three hundred rhymes of xiao xiantang. Su Kan told Yu that there are also "Xiao Xiantang Poems" in the Collection of Mi Xiangyang. Both things are accidentally similar to each other. ”
Chen Yan had a high opinion of his marriage, and in 1932, the lunar calendar Chinese New Year's Eve talked with Qian Zhongshu in Suzhou, saying that "if yu xian's family is compatible with moral integrity, such as buying lottery tickets and secretly groping, there will be a jackpot, which cannot be used as a pawn." (See "Stone Language") After the death of his wife, Chen Yan wrote a mourning poem "Three Hundred Rhymes of Xiao Xiantang Poems", such a long poem is relatively rare, since the cloud "is more expensive, Gaiyuan, Bai, Pi, Lu has never had it since", and there is "Crab with Rice Xin, Spoon Loves Clams." Each long water duck can be full of spring anchovies. Pear lotus is often filled with tea, and ginseng is also even", recalling the scene of cups and plates at that time, and the scene of happy harmony, it can be seen that Mrs. Xiao was also a cooking saint.
However, the world's evaluation of this poetry is not necessarily high. Liu Shengmu once said in volume IX of the "Essays of Cang Chu Zhai": "The world knows that Zhu Zhuyuan Taishi Yizun has "Two Hundred Rhymes of Wind Huai", which has been created by the ancients, but he does not know that Sang Hanfu Taishi Tunyuan has a "Zhenhai Lou" poem with seven words and two hundred rhymes, Cao Gengfu Lian's visit to the "Tan YunGe Poetry Collection" has "Wind Huai Two Hundred Rhymes", And Chen Shi's widowed filial piety and mourning poem "Xiao Xiantang Poem" have three hundred rhymes, which is even more difficult than the bamboo garden. Such poems are called the waves of talent, so it is possible to establish a chuangge, and it is said to be a good poem, but it is not necessarily also. ”
Qian Zhongshu also commented: "The poetry of the stone relics is good, but the "Small Collection of Jianghu" and the "Sequel of Tongjiang", if you want to be clear, it will become a slippery rate; if you want to be Boao, it will become a miscellaneous piece." The tone is thin and thin, the seven ancients are not in speech, and the words of those who have intentions are inappropriate. That is, such a poem (according to the "Three Hundred Rhymes of Xiao Xiantang Poems"), want to be extravagant for the comparison, the mourning is stubborn, and the genus is not working, so that things are not pasted, and they are exhausted. (Qian Zhongshu Manuscript Collection, Notes on Chinese, vol. 5, p. 305)
Chen Shizeng, a famous painter who was a teacher at the Beijing Higher Normal School at the time, specially painted the "Xiao Xiantang Book Map", and engraved a seal of "Xiao Xiantang", with the inscription poem: "Reading the world on earth, there is a unique Xiao Xiantang." Deeply emotional, nothing can be done. The mountains contain sunsets, and the leaves fall in the air. Embrace this weeping old, lamenting the desolation of heaven and earth. ”
When the "Cooking Textbook" was published, Mrs. Xiao had been dead for eight years, and Chen Yan signed her name "Xiao Xianzuo", which was meant to commemorate Mrs. Xiao.
In 1917, Chen Yan returned to Fuzhou from Beijing and lived at No. 8 Sanguantang in Juwen Rufang. The "Annals of Mr. Chen Shiyi, a Houguan Official", says: "In February, in the back house of the residence, a Pi Garden was built and a Mountain Pavilion was built, with "Records of the Pi Garden" and "Records of the Mountains and Towers". The change of the mountain tower to Huaguang Pavilion has been recorded in detail. Huaguang Pavilion belongs to Su Jiezhang Shubian, self-written Yang Lianyun: moving flowers and planting bamboo just three paths, listening to the rain and seeing the mountain on the first floor. It belongs to the Book of Han'an Zhangzhi. ”
The small garden is surrounded by walls, and the northeast lacks corners, which resembles the word "Pi"; plus "Pi Fu sleeps on the upper floor, and the Pi women lie on the ground", "Widows and widows without warning", it is really appropriate to use "Pi" to yan Qiyuan.
With this garden, Chen Yan organized a poetry club, and gao friends and friends came and went, often feasting here, and spent the best time of his later years.