Past lives and present lives
Qing Dynasty gourmand Yuan Ming said in the "Suiyuan Food List": "The ancient saying cloud, 'food is not as good as beautiful utensils'. Slovak is also. Yuan Ming's affirmation of the statement that "food is not as good as beautiful utensils" is, of course, not to deny the main status of food, but to show that the collocation of food and edible tools is ancient and a major feature of China's traditional food culture.
The first person to eat the crab was the warrior, Lu Xun said. That's a good thing to say, just like if someone dares to be the first to eat a spider today, it must be a warrior. In the matter of eating, Chinese has always been not afraid of death, and what Chinese is afraid of death.
However, the crab is not easy to deal with after all, the armor is on the body, the body is not strong, the teeth and claws are dancing, it does not look elegant at all, the ladies do not touch it at first, they all say that it is what the people of the lower riba eat. Later, the crab is really delicious, so what to do? Come up with a way to eat crab while reading a poem. This is good, the crab immediately became a matter of cultural people, so that the face of the eater has a light.
The delicacy of crab has long been discovered by the ancients. As early as the Zhou Dynasty, the ancients learned to make crab sauce. The saying of "holding a chelated meal chrysanthemum" has been flowing for a long time. There is a description in the "History of the Ming Palace": "The courtiers of the palace eat crabs, wash them alive, steam them with pu bags, and sit in groups of five or six to eat together, laughing and laughing." Remove the umbilical cap, finely use your fingernails to pick, and dip vinegar and garlic to serve wine. "The interest is there, but it is not elegant enough.
The literati of the Wei and Jin dynasties were particularly dashing, one by one wild and uninhibited, either drunk or refining Dan, and devoted themselves to the cause of being a god. Just such a group of people, if they see a plate of crabs brought to the table, the gods and immortals will not do it, or eat crabs. Therefore, "holding a wine glass in the right hand and a crab claw in the left hand" (see "The New Language of the World"), the matter of eating crabs was elevated to the category of spiritual civilization by these literati and scholars, and they had an elegant and leisurely taste. Later, they developed into the four-in-one of crab eating, drinking, juju viewing, and poetry, and became the affair of the golden autumn. Lu Youshi said, "Crab fat is temporarily hungry and drooling, and the wine green is first pouring into the old eyes." "At that time, the way they ate crab was measured by the standards of Western food they eat now, and it was completely not elegant at all.
Crab eating began to pay attention to it in the Ming Dynasty. According to Zhu Wei's "Examination Eating", in the Ming Dynasty, skilled craftsmen invented a set of small and exquisite crab eating tools, with a total of eight pieces of hammers, upset, tongs, shovels, spoons, forks, scrapes, and needles, which were mats, knocks, splits, forks, scissors, clips, culling, and sheng, so they were called "eight crab pieces". In the late Qing Dynasty, many families in Suzhou, Zhejiang and Shanghai took it as a necessary dowry for their daughters to marry, and the Shanghai Folk Museum collected a set of precious copper "crab eight pieces". Later, in the early years of the Republic of China, the largest set of crab eating tools in the heyday was as many as sixty-four pieces (see Lu Wenfu's "Gourmet"). Eating crabs completely bid farewell to the initial stage of chewing with claws, and has since embarked on the road of elegance, puzzle, fitness and entertainment integration.
Four-square gui wu utensils
The production of crab eight pieces is inseparable from the developed handicraft environment in Suzhou, which is closely related to suzhou's geographical conditions, history and culture, and living customs.
According to the benefits of the five lakes and three rivers, Suzhou has been a famous fish and rice town since ancient times. In the northern part of the Song Dynasty, wars and chaos occurred frequently, and the Southern Migration of the Gate Valve Clan in the Central Plains formed the Hao class in Suzhou. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, Suzhou had become an important economic center in the southeast region. At that time, people called it "Wuzhong Shihaodu, the name of Shengli Ancient", and Sun Jiagan's "Journey to the South" also contains "Inside and outside the Gate, living in the mountains, pedestrians flowing water, and the signboard of the column is brilliant", which can be seen in the rich side of Suzhou.
"Autumn moon spring breeze in the embrace, Jijin Leshi for the article", Suzhou's literati and craftsmen frequently interacted with craftsmen, inspiring the practitioners to improve the level of craftsmanship and thinking, so that Suzhou handicrafts presented a fine and elegant style. Wang Shisheng said in the "Guangzhixuan": "If the Su people think that they are elegant, then the four directions will follow the elegance, and the common people will follow the customs." "The su people's concept of elegance has become fashionable, and its influence has spread throughout the country, which in turn has made Suzhou handicrafts refined, and it is no wonder that there are "four square noble Wu utensils, and Wu Yi works in the instruments".
The economy was prosperous, life was prosperous, and with the participation of literati and scholars, folk crafts flourished. Zhang Dai's "Tao An Dream Memories" said that "Wuzhong stunts" can be "up and down for a hundred years, full of invincible hands", "but its good work is bitter, but also the ability of skill", and the crafts have a high level of appreciation, "gai skills also enter the Tao". Today, the national arts and crafts industry has been named "Su" name, there are More than a dozen categories such as Su embroidery, Su fan, Su lamp, Su-style furniture, and Peach Blossom Woodcut New Year painting.
Of course, the most urgent reason for the production of eight crabs is because Suzhou is one of the important producers of lake crabs. With its vast waters, lush vegetation and suitable climate, it is an ideal paradise for crab breeding and settlement. The hairy crabs of Yangcheng Lake are fat and fleshy, and have always been considered the "king of crabs". Zhang Taiyan's wife Tang Guoli wrote such a sentence when she lived in Wuzhong: "If it is not a good crab in Yangcheng Lake, why live in Suzhou in this life?" "Suzhou people's love for crab eating and the pursuit of exquisite mood have spawned the demand for eight pieces of crabs." The eight pieces of crab have also become a symbol of eating crabs, revealing the elegance of Suzhou people.
The dilemma of inheritance
In the Suzhou dialect, crab eight pieces are pronounced as "haboji", Wu Nong soft language, crisp and melodious, it sounds easier to understand as "crab peeling machine". Speaking of eight pieces of crabs, it is impossible not to mention a knife and scissors time-honored brand in Shantang Street, Suzhou City- Changji.
As early as the Qianlong period, Changji "Su Scissors" was on a par with "Hangzhou Scissors". "Eight pieces of copper crabs in Qili Shantang" has an ancient charm and exquisite craftsmanship, and is a business card of Changji's fame in the sea. According to mr. Song Jianzheng, the owner of the shop, a set of eight pieces of crab polished by hand needs to go through more than 30 processes, the craftsmanship is very cumbersome, and it takes more than ten days to make a set. There were five or six masters in his workshop, and he used to be able to make two or three hundred sets of crabs and eight pieces a year.
Song Jianzheng had earlier worked as a clerk in the Changzhou government, and because he admired the "Su scissors" culture, he quit his job in 2003 and came to Suzhou to promote the "Changji" crab eight pieces and the "Su scissors" craft. After ten years of operation, he is now retired and gradually feels that he is running out of energy. The contradiction between pure handmade production and mechanized large-scale production has always existed, and the current situation of factories in Guangdong and other places producing and selling eight pieces of crab under the guise of "Changji" is also disappointing. Nowadays, the masters who can make crab eight pieces are also older. Master Zou Xianglin, the third generation of the famous "Changji" copper scissors, was over 60 years old and retired two years ago. The crab eight crafts are complex and require great effort and energy, and young people are reluctant to learn. Like many other folk crafts, the inheritance of the eight pieces of crab is in trouble.
"After some thought and some newness, the swallowtail is cut into a brocade pattern, the red chamber of the embroidery pavilion is often accompanied, and the golden needle and jade ruler are neighbors." When the Qianlong Emperor wrote a verse praising "Su Scissors", he was afraid that he could not imagine that with the passage of time, this folk handicraft would be depressed to this point. This summer, the rare high temperature "tormented" the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the weather was too hot, and the eight crab pieces that needed to be finely polished were not done. "If I don't do it here, Suzhou may not have eight handmade crabs." Song Jianzheng was a little intimidated. And how to make the "Su scissors" process such as crab eight pieces not only adapt to market needs, but also maintain the essence of traditional craftsmanship, is always a boulder pressed on the heart of Song Jianzheng.
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