In our impression, Lu Xun has always been a literary fighter with a fierce look on his face and a world-famous writer. However, if we carefully study Lu Xun's diary, we will find that the other side of Lu Xun is quite interesting in life, because he is a big foodie.
According to statistics, from 1912 to 1926, Lu Xun lived in Beijing for 14 years, and it can be found from his diary that there are 65 famous restaurants he has been to! These 65 Beijing restaurants include: Guangheju, Zhimei Building, Cheap Square, Jixian Building, Lanweizhai, Tongheju, Dongxing Building, Xinghua Village and so on. This is still incomplete statistics. It is said that Lu Xun has been to more than 111 restaurants. As the most diligent eater of literature, Lu Xun takes eating very seriously and occupies a very important space in his diary.
Among many restaurants, Guang He Ju is the most diligent one that Lu Xun goes to. As mentioned earlier, the top restaurant in Beijing is Tang, followed by Lou and Ju. The biggest difference between Ju and Tang is that they only hold banquets and don't hold church meetings, so they are relatively small, and they are the places where ordinary officials or scholars who have gone to Beijing to take the exam stay. In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, it was known as the eight largest residences in Beijing. The eight major residences include Fuxingju, Wanxingju, Tongxingju and Dongxing Residence outside Qianmen, Wanfuju in Dashilan, Guangheju in the northern half of Caishikou Hutong, Tongheju in Xisi and Shaguoju in Xidan.
On the third day of his arrival in Beijing, Lu Xun wrote down in his diary "Drinking at night and living in peace". According to Lu Xun's Diary and Deng Yunxiang's Lu Xun and the Local Conditions of Beijing, Guangheju is one of Lu Xun's most frequent restaurants, which is very convenient near Shaoxing Hall where Lu Xun lives. Friends come to visit Lu Xun in the clubhouse. When it's time for dinner, they usually go to Guangheju. When Lu Xun lived alone, he often went to Guangheju, which became his "canteen" in Shaoxing Guild Hall.
Guangheju is the first of the "Eight Great Houses" in Beijing. Its store is located near the food market outside Xuanwu Gate. Its original name was Shenglongxuan. It lived in Jia, Dao, Xian, Tong, Guang and Xuan until the Northern Expedition in the 16th year of the Republic of China. According to the private records of celebrities, scholars and scholars in the past dynasties, all elegant banquets were inseparable from Guangheju. From Weng Tonghe, Zhang Zhidong and other officials, to revolutionaries such as Tan Sitong and Yang Rui, and later to Lu Xun, they all like to patronize Guangheju. This is a place where Beijing literati and officials often meet, which was very famous in the Republic of China. One of its signature dishes, "Pan Fish", was created by Hanlin Pan Zuyin in the late Qing Dynasty and used to be called steamed fish in Pan Shi. There is also a "Zeng Yu", which was created by Zeng Guofan. Officials and literati like this. In society, they are arty and like to come here.
when Lu Xun first arrived in Beijing, part of his salary had to be sent back to his hometown, and at the same time, he had to buy books, small antiques, stationery, etc., so in Guangheju, he hardly ordered such expensive dishes as "Pan Fish", but just fried a few dishes at will. If you don't order those famous dishes, the cost of Guangheju is not high, and three people eat a sumptuous banquet, which costs 3 yuan.
Another restaurant that Lu Xun likes is Tongheju. It is also one of the eight largest residences in Beijing. Tongheju began in Guangxu period. When the courtiers left the early court, they would find a place nearby to get together for discussion, so cohabitation came into being. Because the first chef and the second chef of Guangheju later went to Tongheju, Tongheju not only continued the traditional Shandong cuisine, but also continued some signature dishes of Guangheju, such as three non-sticky, which is Lu Xun's favorite dish. "airball" means non-sticky chopsticks, plates and teeth. The materials are nothing more than protein, lard, sugar, and sweet-scented osmanthus. The ingredients are mixed and cooked, but it is unknown to outsiders.
Recently, the author specially went to Tongheju, north of Shichahai Lotus Market, to eat the famous "airball" once. I didn't feel particularly good, but I felt like a dessert. Lu Xun's preference for this dish may be related to his love of sweets such as sugar and snacks. According to records, Lu Xun likes to eat persimmon, and his evening meal is usually cream cake.
There is another saying that Lu Xun's love of "three non-sticky" is related to his love of drinking. It is said that this dish can relieve hangover. Lu Xun belongs to a man who must drink at every meal. According to historical records, he and Yu Dafu drank the most. Lu Xun doesn't drink much, he often gets as drunk as a fiddler, and he never leaves his hand while drinking. Yu Dafu gave a poem to Lu Xun in 1933, in which he wrote: "Go to the restaurant with a drunken eye, and hesitate to shout for two days."
Taifeng Building, one of the eight buildings in Beijing, is another shop frequented by Lu Xun. It is an old shop, opened in 1876, and was originally located in Meishi Street, Qianmen, Beijing. During the Qing Dynasty, the palace princes, ministers, Baylor and powerful gentry all came here for dinner. During the Republic of China, Taifeng Building was frequented by a large number of Kuomintang elders such as Sun Yat-sen and Soong Ching Ling. The signature dishes here are mainly famous dishes such as fried belly kernel, fried eel, fried eight pieces and steamed duck. This old shop still has it, in Yangmeizhu Xiejie near Qianmen. I haven't eaten it, and the taste is unknown.
Lu Xun recorded in his diary that another place he often visited was Qingyun Pavilion near Dashilan in Qianmen. Qingyun Pavilion is one of the four major shopping malls in Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. According to today's words, it is a high-level comprehensive commercial and entertainment place, integrating entertainment, shopping, eating, tea tasting and service, and it is a pastime for scribes, officials, businessmen and nobles. Nowadays, billiards, a popular sport, was first led by Qingyun Pavilion. Many time-honored brands such as Puzhen Garden Restaurant, Yuhuchun Tea House, Buyunzhai Shoe Store and Fujin Bookstore in Qingyun Pavilion have left the footprints of many famous scholars such as Lu Xun and Zhou Zuoren, Chen Bainian, Liu Shuya, Zhu Yixian, Shen Shiyuan, Shen Yinmo, Liu Bannong, Qian Xuantong and Ma Youyu. Kang Youwei, Tan Sitong, Liang Qichao, Liang Shiqiu and many other historical celebrities often come here to have tea, have a drink, and enjoy themselves.
Lu Xun likes visiting Qingyun Pavilion very much. In his diary, he recorded that he went to Qingyun Pavilion for tea, meeting friends, shopping and eating 34 times during the ten years from 1912 to 1922. He often goes to the Yuhuchun Tea House in Qingyun Pavilion, and he likes to eat the spring rolls of Yuhuchun and shrimp noodles. It is worth mentioning that General Cai E, a famous Yuan scholar, once met Fengxian Xiao, a famous prostitute, in Puzhen Garden of Qingyun Pavilion, and had drinks in Puzhen Garden many times. chili pepper Fengjie, a famous dish in Puzhen Garden, was loved by Fengxian Xiao, thus deducing a love story of celebrities through the ages. The film bosom friend, which was filmed in the original site of Qingyun Pavilion in 1981s, is based on the love story between General Cai E and Fengxian Xiao, and the world is deeply impressed by it. At present, the building of Qingyun Pavilion is still there, and its back door can be seen in Yangmeizhu Xiejie.
According to Lu Xun's diary, a restaurant called Hutchison Restaurant in Xicheng is a frequent place for Lu Xun, which is basically equivalent to his work canteen, just across the road from the Ministry of Education where Lu Xun works. The food here is delicious and cheap. Lu Xun mentioned in his diary on the 23rd day of the first month of 1918: "Slight snow. In the afternoon, my second brother came to the Ministry and invited Chen Shiceng and Qi Shoushan to have dinner together. " In fact, Hutchison is famous for selling beef and mutton, and Lu Xun likes to eat large pieces of beef noodles in clear soup here. Now there is also a restaurant selling beef here, which is just Chaoshan beef hotpot.
in a word, Lu Xun, a foodie, said, "If you have money, you can have sex in a restaurant." Why did he do this? Because in the Republic of China before the Anti-Japanese War, university professors earned a lot of money, and they also received generous remuneration. Lu Xun earned several hundred yuan a month, which was regarded as a high-paying class. Therefore, he can often visit famous restaurants in Beijing, such as the Eight Lobby and the Eight Buildings. He loves to eat and pays attention to eating, and he does not delay enjoying life.