Chapter 5 of China Food: Establishment of Food System: Song Dynasty and Conquering Dynasty.
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Song dynasty
In the Song Dynasty, China's agriculture and grain finally took shape. Food production is more reasonable and scientific. By the end of the Song Dynasty, agriculture had matured in North China, which was no longer ruled by the Han people. Since then, little has changed until the middle of the 20th century. In the later dynasties, agriculture was expanded and new crops were added in southern China, but the model there was established in the Song Dynasty, without many basic changes in technology.
China's great cooking method was also produced in the Song Dynasty. The food in the Tang Dynasty was relatively simple, but in the late Song Dynasty, an exquisite cooking method with local characteristics was fully proved. The rise of local gentry has promoted the study of diet: the royal banquet in the court is as luxurious as ever, but not as creative as the diet of businessmen and local elites.
According to Yi Maoke, there was an agricultural revolution in the Song Dynasty. Indeed, it can be said that it was the second green revolution in China, and the first time happened in the late Warring States and Qin and Han Dynasties. The contents of this revolution are as follows:
(1) The improvement and innovation of new knowledge and tools, and the popularization of manure, river mud, lime and other fertilizers have enabled farmers to learn to effectively maintain soil fertility. (2) The introduction of varieties with high yield, drought tolerance and early maturity makes it possible to double crop a year. (3) With the improvement of water conservancy technology, an unprecedented complex irrigation network has been established. (4) Apart from the basic food crops, commerce makes it possible for other crops to be more specialized, so all kinds of unique resources can be used more effectively. (Yike, 1973, 1 18 pages. )
But Zhou Jinsheng told us in 1974 that "there is no difference between farming technology and earlier times, only credit and land use are different" (page 96). How to treat these differences? Take a look, the first point lies in the following fact: the revolution mentioned by Yi Yike is quantity, not quality. Fertilization, soil consolidation, erosion control, double cropping system a year, waterwheels and other irrigation equipment, including waterwheels, treadmills, irrigation management and commerce, are all things that have a long history in China. The difference in the Song Dynasty is that these things have increased. As for what caused this increase, it is not a big problem: the expansion of commerce and market led to the demand for high output, the trade between Central Asia and Asia as a whole, and finally the loss of land in North China, which inevitably made agriculture highly strengthened. What is beneficial to this is the enlightened policy of the government and the rise of the printing industry. The government keeps taxes low (especially after tax exemption and equal sharing), encourages trade, engages in large-scale purchases, develops new land and encourages immigrants (often resettling homeless people on it), and also releases new information, spreads technology and implements technical assistance policies. Book printing (invented in Tang Dynasty and popularized in Song Dynasty) promoted the rapid spread of agricultural knowledge. Jia Sixie's "Qi Yao Min Shu" was written in the split period. Soon after its publication, a large number of agricultural books appeared. These agricultural books are long or short, which accords with the present situation of the Song Dynasty and adapts to local conditions. Some are national and some are regional. A large number of publications reached a climax after the death of the Song Dynasty, including the Collection of Agriculture and Mulberry hosted by Mongols and Wang Zhen's Agricultural Book (Bai Fulan,1984; Yi Maoke, 1973). These books contain most of the agricultural knowledge accumulated by the Han people in traditional times.
The most important and only truly revolutionary innovation in Song Dynasty was the adoption of new crop varieties. Among these varieties, the most famous and meaningful is the short-growing rice which occupied the slope in Song Dynasty.
Buddhist writer Shi described it like this:
Zhenzong was deeply concerned about crops and crops, and said that the rice in Zhancheng was drought-tolerant, and there were many big beans in the west, and each messenger asked for seeds from them with precious goods. Occupy the city, plant 20 stones, and broadcast them everywhere so far. In the western world, India got two stones of wild beans ... In autumn, I announced that I would try them, and I still gave them poems about rice and wild beans in the western world. (He Bingdi, 1956- 1957, p. 200-2 18. )
This kind of rice is distributed in 10 1 1, but it is widely spread in10/2. Indeed, only China people will be happy not only to introduce this crop, but also to write poems praising it. The cowpea mentioned in the quotation seems to be a variety of mung bean, that is, mung bean in modern China, so it can also be regarded as the introduction of rare crops. Champo rice has a fast maturity and strong tolerance, which enables people to expand rice cultivation and widely increase the double cropping system, which has gradually become customized throughout the southeast of China. The introduction of other crops is rarely recorded. Trigonella foenum-graecum was introduced from southern ports through Arab merchants-the name still used in China comes from Arabic (Rover, 19 19, p. 446). Watermelon and sorghum appeared in the Northern Dynasties, and gained a firm foothold there, and soon found the way to other parts of China-although sorghum may not arrive until the Yuan Dynasty; Needless to say, it was not an important crop before (Anderson and Paul Bull, manuscript; Hagarty,1940; Rover, 19 19). These crops have no revolutionary influence, although watermelon and sorghum will become the pillars of the arid landscape in North China and become the important food in the country. In any case, what is more important is the spread of cotton, which has really revolutionized the clothing of China people. 122 1 year, Changchun real people came to Genghis Khan's palace through Central Asia and recommended cotton as a new and valuable thing (Wei Li, 193 1, p. 86). It may have entered China in the Tang Dynasty, but it was definitely rare at that time. By the end of the Song Dynasty, although it was not common, it was widely known and spread from the south and northwest (Xie Henai, 1962, 130). The main methods of keeping warm in China-clothes and mattresses filled with cotton (cotton absorbs heat)-may not have existed before the Song Dynasty. This is modeled after the long-standing silk garment sewing technology, but cotton keeps the public warm, and of course it also expands the unparalleled winter labor, not to mention its significance of pure survival.
There may be other new crops. Through the expanding trade and tribute missions, a large number of goods were brought from South Asia and Southeast Asia (Hirsch and Rockhill, 19 1 1 year; Netolicky， 1977； Whitley, 1959). Ships in the Song Dynasty were generally 65,438+000 feet long and had a displacement of 65,438+050 tons (Thomas Lee, 65,438+0975-65,438+0976). Many small crops must have arrived with Zhancheng rice and cowpea. Sugarcane, in particular, became extremely important in the Song Dynasty in China, replacing food crops, just like many countries now (Yike, 1973, 129, Suketa Mazumda, People's Notes).
Innovation is concentrated in farms and other highly commercialized areas around towns, especially in the south and east.
(Yike,1973; Xie Henai, 1962). But the spread of watermelon, sorghum and cotton in the north shows that it is not only the Song Dynasty that knows the benefits of agriculture. As in the past, the government actively supports agricultural development as much as possible, and this attitude is also encouraged by the ties between big landlords and bureaucrats. The government is made up of big landlords and potential big landlords, who strongly rely on the monetized market to sell their products, rather than relying too much on the agricultural sector. However, the owners of Ota Grange in remote areas have no reason to modernize (they have done quite well) and have a legitimate reason not to do so: it will give too much power to tenants who are actually learning and implementing new technologies. If tenants become very sophisticated, broad-minded and indispensable, it will be difficult to control them. Small landlords and wealthier farmers, especially when they want to produce for the professional market and compete with other similar commercial producers, have every incentive to keep up with the popular technology.
However, the intensification of agriculture has led to ecological problems. Disasters such as soil erosion and aggravated floods are listed here (Mabel Pinghua Lee, 192 1), although the Jin government has noticed and tried to stop it. The deadly recession was greatly accelerated by deforestation. Datianzhuang occupies the public land, giving up a lot of woodland of villagers who may have a sense of resource protection. The development of ironmaking, pottery making, printing (pine ash is used as ink) and other economic activities has led to an unprecedented demand for wood. People eventually turned to coal as an alternative energy source, but the consumption of wood is still very large, and it has caused a lot of harm. The barren and destroyed landscape in parts of North China, Central China and Southeast China is mainly attributed to Song and Jin. Observers at that time were aware of the problem, but they didn't know how to stop it except expanding the use of coal. Ecological deterioration has been a part of China landscape for a long time, but in the Song Dynasty, the speed of deterioration increased seriously.
In Song Dynasty, the importance of grain experienced a substantial (if not quantifiable) change. Rice has become more and more important, and finally achieved the status of the main grain in modern China. Wheat also continued to develop due to the introduction of new technologies in the middle Tang Dynasty. Sorghum is also spreading, at least in the remote west and north beyond the control of the Song Dynasty. Under the control of Altai leaders, the north still relies heavily on ancient millet. Although there are some crops such as rice, wheat and barley, rice was a magical crop in the Song Dynasty. Even before the introduction of Zhanpo rice, the varieties of rice were diverse and excellent.
Even before the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Song Dynasty was confined to rice-producing areas, rice probably became the main food. By the end of the Song Dynasty, because the dynasty was confined to rice-growing areas, intensive cultivation became a common practice, and there were incredible varieties of rice. It is well known that rice with early maturity and late maturity, drought tolerance and waterlogging tolerance, and both soft and hard application. It is reported that there are yellow, pink and other colors in the grain (Xie Heai, 1962, page 85). People found rice with different viscosities; However, the most viscous one was designated for brewing, and Imoko (1973, page121-127) mistakenly attributed this viscosity to gluten. Rice will not have gluten; This viscosity is caused by starch sugar. No other grain has so many varieties, so high yield, or so good return on labor input. Indeed, rice cultivation in China is close to the labor force.
Centralized agriculture has played a great role.
While the Song Dynasty became more and more dependent on rice, the Northern Dynasty continued to rely on ancient millet (Witford and Feng Zhisheng, 1949). There are also a certain number of other northern cereals. Real people in Changchun clearly recorded the lack of buckwheat among Mongolians in Central Asia (Wei Li, 193 1 year, 105), which shows that buckwheat must be very important in China, and it is undoubtedly the most prosperous in drought, cold and mountainous areas. The Khitan and the Jurchen people followed the traditions of the northern tribes and lived a life of hunting, grazing, fishing and small-scale non-intensive agriculture. Hunting is considered to be very important to maintain the combat effectiveness of soldiers; Fishing is rarely accompanied by this purpose, but even the emperor of Liao loves fishing trips. Prey is insignificant as food, but fish is important anywhere near vast waters. The most important meat eaten by these people and the Mongols is dairy products, almost all of which are sour or fermented. Yogurt, sour cream, cheese, koumiss and other products are all made from the milk of various animals, but sheep is the most important. These dairy products are consumed in large quantities. The envoys of the Han people in the Song Dynasty were not satisfied with milk and porridge, but when their Liao masters added cream or butter to them, some people thought it was too much (Freeman, 1977, p.170; Witford and Feng Zhisheng, 1949, pp. 1 16). Starting from extremely simple tribal cooking (similar to the cooking of Mongolian and Tunguska tribes in history), these dynasties developed quite exquisite cooking methods, which were based on their original ingredients, but included complex processing techniques, which just had the characteristics of China cooking. People in China are very interested in recording some recipes, which still exist today. (2) This constitutes the main part of our knowledge about the diet of the Northern Dynasties. There were fruit trees in the Northern Dynasties-apple trees, mulberry trees and jujube trees-as well as wild onions and leeks; There are all kinds of melons, and the incomparable Persian melon cultivated in Central Asia is the ancestor of Hami melon today. Travelers like Changchun Zhenren (Wei Li, 193 1 year) recorded them, which was both pleasant and pleasant. Its size, sweetness and taste are amazing. Tribes eat as much meat as possible, but their livestock are too precious for dairy products and transportation, and cannot be slaughtered for food except on special occasions. Even so, the eliminated and natural dead livestock ensure the meat supply for all people (except the extremely poor). Small prey such as groundhogs and birds also supplement meat.
In the territory of the Song Dynasty, we knew more about this aspect than in the Northern Dynasties, and a completely different picture appeared (Freeman,1977; Xie Henai, 1962). Kumiss was still very common and popular in the Northern Song Dynasty, but it was probably in the late Northern Song Dynasty that Han people began to be indifferent to dairy products. Han people never loved dairy products, but from Wei to Tang, the strong influence of Central Asia made dairy products more widely used. The center of the Song Dynasty was in the southeast (the place with the weakest influence in Central Asia), and the Altai Dynasty was regarded as the enemy, so dairy products became the symbol of barbarians and enemies. This attitude was reconfirmed in the subsequent Yuan Dynasty, and the revival of Han chauvinism in the Ming Dynasty strengthened the rejection of dairy products. Despite this exception, the Song Dynasty was a period of generosity and eclecticism in food patterns. The different tastes of ethnic minorities in the south have influenced the Han people there, and the expanding trade, commerce and specialized agriculture have also broadened the food choices. Food and taste are prevalent in prosperous cities.
The change of diet style in Song Dynasty is reflected in literary metaphors. Wheat, beans and sunflowers are no longer poetic terms to express poverty, although they still appear in ancient texts. Poems often mention different grades of rice. Some low-yield varieties (which also lost a lot of weight in the process of rice milling) are considered as high-grade foods, and the new jambo rice seems to be as difficult to be accepted by consumers as modern high-yield grains. Therefore, it becomes food for the poor. The rationing of junior officials was vividly described by Su Shi as Laomi (burton watson, 1974a, page 2 17). In addition, pickles have replaced sunflowers as food for the poor in poetry. In the south, yam and taro are staple foods of starch, especially for non-Han people, so these two kinds of tubers are compared to coarse grains in the wilderness; However, it is also eaten throughout South China and the Central Plains (Schaefer, 1969). Su Shi met Ryotaro in the south in his childhood and later years (burton watson, 1965). On the other hand, the best polished rice is standard flour and rice. However, in the poetry of this era, the most common special dietary metaphor is fish. In the Tang Dynasty, especially since Xuanzong, chicken gave way to fish, but in the Song Dynasty, chicken was actually no longer a word with high frequency in poetry. This proves that China people don't always use old sayings, at least in some materials for poetry. Fish is becoming more and more important in the diet, not only because it is related to the ecological factors caused by the migration to the south, but also because the center of China society has moved to such an area, where fish and all aquatic organisms have always been valued and deeply loved in aquaculture. Salted fish is the main product. Fish farming has become an industry. Like modern China, fish farmers were supplied with live fry. Some stereotypes between the north and the south, such as making fun of eating frogs, still existed in the Song Dynasty, but the customs in the south were gradually recognized.
People with better economic conditions have a lot of "rice" [literally meaning "pour rice down", that is, "something that makes rice fall down", in contrast to the corresponding French phrase "it helps bread fall down"]. And is it clearly the modern Chinese character "dish" or "dish with rice" and Cantonese? ? "("food eaten at meals ") is synonymous with the Song Dynasty. It and soup are made like today: the next meal is fried or steamed, mostly vegetables, preferably a little meat or fish; Soup is a light dish with vegetables as the main ingredient. People with better economic conditions eat a lot of meat and fish. They also inherited the preference of raw food in the Tang Dynasty. Sinoda (1977) described the Song Dynasty as "the golden age of sushi in China" (page 490). This crispy food is made of rice, vinegar, wine and any available meat. Raw fish is obviously an option. Other meats are generally cooked. Pork is always the main meat, but sheep meat, goat meat and even donkey meat are also common, and all kinds of prey and secondary livestock eat it. Poultry-chickens, ducks, geese, quails, pheasants and prey-is rich and varied. Beef is also famous, but it seems to be gradually forgotten due to the religious influence of India. Stories about eating human flesh, even stories about shops specializing in this industry, are very common (Xie Heai, 1962, 1-35 pages). One of the most famous is the enduring story in the novel Water Margin, which was written in the Yuan Dynasty and brewed in the Song Dynasty. Sheikh Nair regarded this purely fictional narrative as a true description of that era, but it was by no means the case. Obviously, human flesh is only eaten in times of great famine.
Vegetables include cabbage, green onions and family plants, such as garlic, spinach, turnips and radishes, cucumbers and gourds, eggplant (which is considered to be good in color and taste), celery and carrots, and many other vegetables, especially cultivated and wild green vegetables. As usual, fruits are widely circulated and popular, among which giant pears are particularly noteworthy. Kyle Poirot claims that the largest pear "weighs 10 lb" (Freeman, 1977, p. 149), which can correspond to the giant pear observed by Lu You (198 1 year, p./kloc-). As early as the Wei and Jin Dynasties, people noticed the big pear. Other common fruits are apples, mulberries, dates, lychees, persimmons, papaya, oranges and China oranges, apricots and plums, hawthorn, berries, peaches, plums, pomegranates, bananas, coconuts and pineapples (usually imported from Southeast Asia). Pine nuts, almonds, chestnuts, walnuts, foxes (from aquatic plants Euryale ferox) and other fruits are also important. Some plants (such as jujube, litchi, citrus, etc.) have written books to introduce their characteristics and cultivation techniques. Other books specially designed for manor owners are about bamboo shoots. Gourmets also like books about wild mushrooms, crabs and other wild species (Sinoda, 1977, p. 490). The fruit is dried in the sun to make candied fruit, and the newly popularized white sugar is used for this purpose.
The other two necessities mentioned by Wu, namely salt and tea, need special study. Salt was under government control throughout the Song Dynasty, but this control was quite slight and indirect at first. Later, the monopoly was strengthened. Under more and more strict control, businessmen are allowed to sell salt; The government collects a lot of taxes. Salt is produced by flooding fields with seawater, which is first evaporated, then purified and boiled, and then crystals are removed from the soil. In the production process, the ashes of boiling salt are scattered in the ground before irrigation, so as to obtain natural salt condensed on plants (Worthy, 1975). This method has great nutritional significance, and can ensure that the salt contains trace inorganic substances such as potassium, iodine, magnesium and copper plasma in seawater and plant ash. Plant ash is especially rich in potassium. This method introduces trace elements into China people's diet, and plant ash's method also helps to keep the balance of sodium and potassium in human body. Compared with the west, people in China consume a lot of salt, which is less harmful to their health, probably because their plant-based diet contains extremely high potassium; The use of plant ash has further improved this situation. Salt is produced in salt wells in western China, so it is not rich in trace inorganic substances. Nutrition problems must be common there, just like in modern times.
Food is supplemented by local condiments, especially ginger, cinnamon, pepper and nutmeg, as well as various spice fruits and seeds from India and the Near East. Sugar has been used to preserve food and make all kinds of sweets and sweets. Its shape is human, animal, bird, flower and fruit (Xie Henai, 1962, p. 65). "Tofu Tofu" was first mentioned in the early Song Dynasty, but this text attributed its invention to Liu An in the Han Dynasty, which is ridiculous. In fact, this commodity was invented in the late Tang Dynasty or early Song Dynasty, and it may be attributed to Liu An, the king of Huainan Road, by Taoist priests and/or Huainan people out of some respect (B.W.-C.Yang, people's note). Buddhists quickly accepted this food as a good substitute for meat and dairy products, which is very important in Buddhist literature. There is no doubt that it was invented by someone who put ordinary sea salt into soybean milk. He may concentrate on preserving it, only to find that it condenses into a lovely food (Shu Telei and Liu Qing Qiu Chi, 1983, p. 92). Strong brine is still the best curing medium, although gypsum is more commonly used; Calcium and magnesium ions act as the main medium.
There are countless kinds of dishes in the Song Dynasty. There may be more than 200 kinds of dishes at one banquet, ranging from many different rice-based foods to "fruits and sweets-based dishes" (Xie Heai, 1962, p. 138). Every soup, cake, jiaozi, noodles and snacks with China characteristics can be found in one form or another in the Song Dynasty. Obviously, it is often quite close to its modern form. Nowadays, cookies called "dim sum" seem to be particularly colorful, and they are often bigger and more realistic than now. There are many kinds of cakes, some of which are called "Iranian cakes". In the city, restaurants are famous for their specialties (Xie Henai quoted several records; 1962, page 127). Breakfast in Beijing includes fried dough sticks, soup, hot biscuits and fried muffins. The lunch snacks of food vendors may include sugar porridge, sesame cakes, steamed bread and other cakes. Blood soup, tripe soup and other "chop suey" have various names. There used to be a special restaurant in Kaifeng that served hot and cold food with local flavor or general taste.
Local cooking methods have developed rapidly, which is in line with the trend that people in the capital are happy to patronize local restaurants. Writers in Song Dynasty made a basic distinction between northern cooking based on meat, using dairy products and dried grains, and southern cooking based on rice and aquatic products. Sichuan cuisine has long been concerned because of its spicy taste and the use of mountain products and vanilla, and its flavor is also very unique. This is the ancestor of the modern model; Later, only Cantonese cuisine was recognized. The custom of local restaurants originated from entertaining homesick immigrants and is usually maintained by such enterprises. However, even before the Tang Dynasty, some people visited this restaurant out of curiosity and adventure, and diversified enjoyment became their main attraction in the Song Dynasty. Residents in Beijing like to taste minced meat noodles and fish and shrimp noodles with Quzhou flavor, or Sichuan mala Tang (Xie Henai, 1962, p. 134).
A large-scale new compendium of materia medica funded by the government. Materia Medica with Illustration, published by 106 1, sets a new standard for plant illustration and may be a masterpiece of China. Hundreds of kinds of food are illustrated and drawn. Printing popularized medical works and cookbooks to the public. Neo-Confucianism and advanced biology in the Song Dynasty led to the remolding of medical concepts, which was closely related to the school's metaphysics and cosmology. This trend is a rational challenge, but it is unfortunate from a scientific point of view. At the same time, Taoists continue to attach importance to diet and abstain from eating imaginary filth such as grains and meat. Buddhist taboos on meat and the smell of onions or garlic also continue to affect China's diet. Special restaurants and temple canteens that provide satisfactory food for the congregation are increasingly welcomed by urban residents seeking diversification. Everyday knowledge also bears some traces of medical beliefs, religions or etiquette. For example, Su Dongpo's "Things are Connected" said: "Mint goes to smell ... garlic makes your mouth not stink. Eating with ginger, or eating with vinegar, or eating sesame seeds is especially wonderful. " (Xie Henai, 1962, p. 230, quoted from Song Wen. Various festivals also involve special food. But ordinary people try to satisfy themselves. Sanqu writer Lu Zhi wrote:
Plant melons first and then learn from Shao Pingpo.
Learn to plant flowers under the fence.
Spinning the lotus pond.
Put the tea shelf up high.
When bored, Ding Shi will make tea.
Nothing but happiness.
Mentally imprisoned.
(Schleip, 1970, pp. 52-53; I retranslated the last line. )