When it comes to vegetarianism, people always think it has something to do with Buddhism. In fact, the vegetarian origin of China people has nothing to do with Buddhism. According to A Brief History of Vegetarianism written by Mr. Wang Zihui 1996, the system and habit of fasting vegetarian diet originated from the worship of ghosts and gods and ancestors. The Book of Rites says, "Every time Zi comes, he eats vegetable soup." And "Zhou Li" said: "If there is a big funeral, don't lift it." This is a kind of "fast food", which means eating vegetables instead of killing animals and eating meat. Another concept of vegetarianism stems from the pursuit of eternal life. "Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals" said: "Fat meat is thick and wine is thick, so we should constantly strive for self-improvement, which is called the food of rotten intestines." And "the taste of all treasures is full of stomach, and the stomach is full of phlegm, which makes you immortal." Advocating eating less meat and eating more vegetarian food is an early saying. There is also the idea of becoming an immortal. " On the whole? The article "Daoxu" said: "You can become immortal if you eat fine and light. If the reader eats the meat of clams and eats it with ordinary people, can it be vertical to heaven without subtle tests? 」

As can be seen from the above remarks, China's concept of vegetarianism has gradually taken root in people's hearts since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At this time, Buddhism had not been introduced into China. Although there is no essential connection between vegetarianism and Buddhism in China, there should be no doubt about the achievements of Buddhism in promoting vegetarianism and creating vegetarian dishes. After Buddhism was introduced into China, Han monks "fasted and became vegetarian", so vegetarian cooking in monasteries developed and became unique in people's diet, which further promoted the folk vegetarian custom.

Monks in monasteries usually take pickles and pickled radishes as porridge, eat yellow rice and stewed vegetables for lunch, hold vegetarian meals on the "Buddha's Birthday" (a Buddhist festival) and eat fragrant japonica rice. The kitchens of temples, called Zhai Kitchen and Ji Xiang Kitchen, not only manage the meals of monks, but also solve the dining problems for monks from all over the country. There are many benefactors and pilgrims who worship Buddha all the year round in the temple with strong incense, and the temple also provides them with tea and meals, thus prompting vegetarian chefs to pay more attention to vegetarian cooking.

In Liang Wudi, there is a monk chef in Nanjing Jianye Temple, who is good at cooking vegetarian food. "A melon can cook dozens of dishes, and a dish can be changed into ten flavors." . The fried spring rolls, scalded spring buds, roasted spring mushrooms and white lotus soup (sweets) of Wuzu Temple in Meishan, Hubei Province in the Tang Dynasty were beautifully made and were delicacies for Buddhist children. Spring rolls in Wuzu Temple are made of wild vegetables on the temple hill, with dried bean curd, fermented soybean, gluten foam and various seasonings, fried with green leaves or soybean oil for external use.

Vegetarian cuisine, as a kind of cuisine, only began to form in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and it was not fully mature until the Song Dynasty.

The Book of Qi Yao Min by Jia Sixie in the Northern Wei Dynasty mentioned some methods of making vegetarian dishes. In the Tang Dynasty, there was vegetarian food. In the Northern Song Dynasty, there were even shops specializing in vegetarian food in the city. Only Wu's book Liang Lumeng recorded hundreds of kinds of Bianjing vegetarian food.

From Song and Yuan Dynasties to Ming and Qing Dynasties, vegetarian dishes in monasteries can be matched with high-quality vegetarian dishes. Many dishes, such as vegetarian chicken, duck, fish and ham. Not only similar to vegetarian dishes, but also slightly similar in taste. Temple chefs can make "pork" with white radish or eggplant, "fried fish" with bean products and yam mud, "pigeon eggs" with mung bean powder and water, and "crab powder" with carrots and potatoes. The chef's ingenious thinking and skills meet people's dietary taste needs. Of course, in Buddhism, there are also people who object to the names of vegetarian dishes. They think this is "intentional homicide", so they call vegetarian fish "Ruyi" and vegetarian sausage "Agate Roll".

One of the famous vegetarian dishes in the temple, "Luohanzhai", is made of eighteen kinds of raw materials, which means piety to the eighteen arhats of Buddhism. Luohanzhai in the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai is made of mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, straw mushrooms, Nostoc flagelliforme, ginkgo, vegetarian chicken, vegetarian sausage, potatoes, carrots, Sichuan bamboo shoots, winter bamboo shoots, bamboo shoots, yuba, oil gluten, auricularia auricula and daylily with seasonings. Full-bodied, fresh and tender to eat, comparable to the taste of chicken, duck and fish. In addition, the "shredded bamboo shoots and eel" in daming temple, Yangzhou (the main ingredient is mushrooms) and the "Huiguo bacon" in Ciyun Temple, Chongqing (the main ingredient is gluten) are all famous vegetarian dishes, and their shape, color, taste and quality can be confused.

Temple vegetarian dishes are very popular among the people. The assorted tofu soup (also called "Si Wen Tofu") that Jiangsu people liked to eat in the Ming and Qing Dynasties was originally made by Si Wen monk of Tianning Temple. Yuan Meizan, a gourmet in Qing Dynasty, pickled radish and pickled kohlrabi were originally porridge dishes of monks in Cheng 'en Temple. The assorted vegetarian dishes in the temple have long been the home cooking of Jiangnan people.

There have always been many temples in Hangzhou, and vegetarianism has affected the people. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou, as the capital, had many vegetarian restaurants and noodle shops. Vegetarian dishes were already abundant at that time. There are hundreds of varieties listed in Meng Lianggu, such as real chicken, cooked fish, fake roast duck, fake sheep, fake fried white sausage and so on. Vegetarian noodles include bamboo shoots and spicy noodles, three fresh noodles and so on.

In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, there were dozens of vegetarian restaurants around the West Lake. Besides temples and vegetarian restaurants in Tianzhu, Lingyin, Tiger Run, Jingci Temple and Pagoda of Six Harmonies, there are four famous vegetarian restaurants in the urban area: Kutokuhayashi, Su Chun, Su Xianghe and Su Xin. Kutokuhayashi has a long history and is a standard vegetarian restaurant. On July 3rd, the Republic of China 17 (1928), the famous writer Lu Xun came to Hangzhou for dinner at Kutokuhayashi at the invitation of his friends. Even Lu Xun, who usually opposes vegetarian dishes and meat names, is interested in some famous vegetarian dishes in Hangzhou. In particular, Mr. Lu Xun praised the dish "Stewed with dried bamboo shoots with sharp tips". The last three restaurants have the reputation of "three vegetarian restaurants" and are authentic vegetarian restaurants in Hang Cheng.

According to Meng Lianglu, there were more vegetarian snack bars on the market in the Northern Song Dynasty, such as Fugui Sugar Cake, Milk Cake, Chestnut Cake, Mirror Cake, Chongyang Cake, Jujube Cake, Milk Cake, shredded bamboo shoots with bran, steamed buns with fake meat, steamed buns with shredded bamboo shoots, steamed buns with spinach fruit, stuffed with Qibao acid, steamed buns with ginger sugar and spicy stuffing, and spring silkworms stuffed with live sugar and sand. There are noodle restaurants that specialize in vegetarian dishes, and they don't miss vegetarian meals, such as Toutang, Shuangfeng, Sanfeng, Sifeng, Zhongdianqian, Steamed Fruit, Steamed Sheep with Soft-shelled Turtle, Big Fruit, Fried Fish, Fish Cocoon, Sanxian, Duozhen Chicken, Yuan Yu, Yuanyangjiao, Plum Fish, Double Cooked Fish, Fried Oil River, Steamed Sheep Bran, Milk Dragon Bran and Bamboo Shoots Spicy Soup. We also have five kinds of bran, bad sauce, roasted bran, fake roast duck, dry-mixed pigeon, fake sheep incident, fake donkey incident, fake fried white sausage, fried onion, bone breast rice, big sheep, red meat, fried fake mullet and so on. Vegetarian noodles, such as large pieces of paved sheep noodles, three fresh noodles, fried eel noodles, rolled fish noodles, bamboo shoots splashing knife, bamboo shoots spicy noodles, milk washing face, bamboo shoots washing face, Qibao chess pieces and Baihua chess pieces, are all excellent milk bran and bamboo shoots powder vegetarian.

June 2005 5438+1October 65438+February Mr. Wang Zihui talked about the imitation of Tang cuisine from the food culture in China and the benefits of vegetarian diet from its historical origin. He said: "The advantage of vegetarianism is that it is mainly fresh, elegant and pure, with rich nutrition, which can not only strengthen the body, but also strengthen the heart. Mental health is very important. Vegetarians are more calm. Regular consumption can make people become kind, calm, courteous and courteous, and can also shape the character of being considerate, tolerant and strict with others. "

Reference article:

The history of vegetarianism, Buddhism and vegetarian dishes (by Xue Xingguo)

Dream (Author: Wu)

Folk vegetarian customs have a long history and unique features. They are vegetarian dishes in the temple (Author: Xiaoxing)