Author/Anjie
The first two days of watching "Dream of the Red Chamber" found a problem, that is, the Summer Food of the Jia family included Jia Baoyu's "sour plum soup" and "lotus leaf soup", Jia Yuanchun's "crisp cheese", and Aunt Xue's "sour bamboo shoot chicken skin soup". Elegant is Lin Daiyu's "fragrant drink", and the general order is the large watermelon sent by Jia Zhen. But counting and counting, there is a very traditional and decent summer fruit missing, that is, "melon".
Chinese the history of eating melons can be described as a long time, in the earliest poetry collection "Book of Poetry", there is the original text of "Gentle melons, the first birth of the people, from the soil and depressed paint", which compares the people who thrive between depressed water and lacquer water to the melons that live endlessly on melon vines.
"Melon" Song Anon. "Song Ren Collection Picture Book: Grass Worm Melon Fruit"
During the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, Henan Minquan was rich in melons. When Qi Xianggong sent Lian Zhi and Guan Zhi's father to the local punctuality, they said that when the melon was ripe, they could come back, that is, "and the melon and the generation". After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, the Huaisi clique led by Liu Bang came to dominate Chang'an. Marquis Shaoping of Dongling of the Qin State adopted a non-cooperative attitude and retained a trace of decency for Zhao Zhao Lao Qin.
However, he did not take a radical extreme route like Boyi and Shuqi starving Shouyang to death. Instead, melons were planted outside the Bacheng Gate ("Qingmen") in Chang'an. Accidentally, it also became a well-known brand, which not only enjoyed the reputation at that time, but also aroused the association of many "melon fans" in later generations.
For example, Ruan Yuan, who did not want to cooperate with Sima Shi, said, "In the past, Dongling melon was near the Qingmen Gate... Cloth can be a lifetime, spoiled is enough?! And when Wang Anshi, a reformist faction of the Great Song Dynasty, expressed his dissatisfaction with Sima Guang and other conservative forces, he also said, "The whole world has not been a family, and the slaughter of dogs is still praised." Tanglin is an incompetent person, who learns to plant melons alone."
When Li Xian, the crown prince of Zhanghuai in the Tang Dynasty, was threatened by his mother Wu Zetian for his status and even personal safety, he once wrote a sour "Cucumber Tai Ci", saying: "Under the yellow terrace of planting melons, the melons are ripe and depart." One pick makes the melon good, and then picks it to make the melon thin. Three plucks are still self-reliant, and then pick and hold the vines back." Compare the four brothers to picking a fading melon, and warn your mother, if we are all finished, what is the value of your melon vine?
The great poet Han Yu of the Middle and Tang Dynasties played a game of "joint sentences" with his good friend Meng Jiao, and he brought the summer's "hedonism" to the extreme. They sang and said that what to do in the days when the tulle clothes are too thick and the fans do not leave their hands ("Shan Zhen is tired of being caught, and the long neck is tired and still caught")? Naturally, it is to lie on the cold jade bamboo mat, and then wash a cold melon to eat ("Qingying Wen Mu Shi, Light Sweet Melon Mao").
Part of the Northern Song Dynasty's anonym "Acacia Shade Summer Map"
Of course, this kind of "easy talk" of "eating corduroy grass" is mainly said by Han Fuzi, who is accustomed to a good life, and MengJiao only listens to the saliva. In this regard, the Song Dynasty literary heroes Fan Chengda and Han Yu, who were also "cultural aristocrats", can be said to have slightly the same views. His "wild hopes" for melons seemed a little more ardent. Look at his "Sweet Melon" poem Yun "Summer skin is thick, autumn is ripe." Talk about comfort like thirst."
So slowly, since Chinese, especially literati, have such an "obsession" with melons, why is there no mention of this "summer food" in the "Dream of the Red Chamber", which is known as the "encyclopedia of ancient Chinese life"? Is it because Lin Sister's spitting melon seeds is unsightly? But Jia Mu still leads by example, what about watermelons, watermelon seeds want to be more than melon seeds, right?!
In fact, the reason is very simple, Jia Fu is a completely large aristocratic family, although this kind of family is delicious, but more attention to health. The reason why they stay away from the temptation-filled "melon" is simply because of its other unnoticed characteristic. That is, melon is not good for health.
Ming Wu Ding《 "Gua Guo Tu"
In the past, I used to watch archaeology programs, and I stumbled upon a small coincidence. The famous "Lady Xin Chai", who was excavated in 1972 in the tomb of Mawangdui Han in Changsha, and the bones of Liu Bei's ancestor Liu Bei and Liu Sheng, the King of Zhongshan Jing, unearthed in 1968, both found the same food remains, that is, "melon seeds". It seems that the death of these two people is inextricably linked to the seemingly harmless melon.
Time flies, until the Republic of China period, the people still retained the taboo of not eating melons in the summer, which is also mentioned in the autobiography of Ms. Xu Yanji, the daughter of Mr. Xu Dishan. Mr. Xu Dishan is a person with a very heavy quality of life, and it is obvious that he has a deep meaning in doing so. So why? This may start from its biological properties.
It is said that China is one of the earliest known melon cultivators, but what you may not know is that in fact, all melon plants were poisonous at the earliest, which is their basic skill in nature. However, after continuous optimization and cultivation by humans, most of the toxicity of most melons has been eliminated and become a daily dish of fruits and vegetables.
Song Qianxuan, "Autumn Melon Chart Axis"
However, there are exceptions to everything, and the "melon" accidentally retains a large amount of bitter toxin. And these toxic substances are concentrated in large quantities in its fruit pedicle part. Our ancestors have long discovered this problem, and in the "Ancient Poetry Source" edited by Shen Deqian, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, a poem from the Qin and Han dynasties was recorded, in which there was a cloud "sweet melon knot bitter, beautiful dates born of thorns."
Mozi, who pays attention to scientific analysis, also said: "Sweet melon bitterness, there is no beauty in the world." This "bitter toxin" not only tastes strangely bad and disgusting, but also causes heart attack if consumed too much, leading to sudden death in the eater. The only explanation for why there are so many "melon seeds" left in the stomachs of "Xin Chai" and "Liu Sheng" is that when they were holding melons and eating a lot of melons, they accidentally ate a large number of melonti, resulting in a heart attack and death.
Because the process is too sudden, the melon seeds in their stomachs are simply not excreted through gastrointestinal peristalsis! Seeing this, you may not believe it at all. So how can the cute "little melon" be a "table killer"? Then you may wish to look at the "list of poisonous plants" published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, your "favorite" is impressively listed.
And again, although the melon is not weaker than the watermelon in the "cold", its water-sharp and laxative functions are greatly weaker than the watermelon. That is to say, if you eat a large number of "melons", the excess fructose will be silted in your body like silt blocking the river, and will not be like watermelons " sugar through the intestines, not retained at all" like watermelon.
Qing Ren Kaoru 《Melon Fruit Diagram》
Try to see the Three Kingdoms in the Wei Dynasty Ancestor Cao Pi is keen to eat melons, he said in the "Book of Wu Quality with the Song of the Dynasty", "Floating sweet melon in Qingquan, SinkIng Zhu Li in Cold Ice", and also created an idiom that has been passed down through the ages, "Floating Plum Shengua", which seems to be a "senior foodie" who is like a fake exchange. However, soon after he became emperor, he fell ill with a serious "thirst-quenching disease". Not only is the spirit trance, dry mouth thirst, but also "sugar hurts the liver", a lot of oil is secreted on the skin, and the hair begins to fall off in pieces.
Cao Pi began to be ill and rushed to the hospital, he prayed to the wizard pretending to be a ghost for "rune water", took it himself, and recommended it to Bian Lan, a favorite who was also suffering from "thirst-quenching disease". Unfortunately, Mr. Bian, who had never believed in the "theory of ghosts and gods", was forced to come back, and he was so angry that he changed his face and changed color, but he had no choice. Emperor Cao Pi of Wei died at the age of forty!!
Compared with the "unbelievable" "Dragon Boat Festival" such as drinking highly toxic "male yellow wine" and covering the stomach with "lazy toads" to cure summer diseases, "eating melons" may not be so "spicy". But it should also attract our sufficient attention, after all, there are countless "cuisines" and only one "life". Everything is done "in moderation", so that we can really imagine every day of the summer.
(This article is an original work authorized by the author and may not be reproduced without permission)