It is a well-known fact that among the literati of the Republic of China, the relationship between Lu Xun and Hu Shi was not good. However, they had several pleasant interactions before the conflict.
After Hu Shi returned from studying in the United States in 1917, he served as a professor at Peking University and the editor of "New Youth". A year later, in May 1918, Lu Xun published "The Diary of a Madman", the first vernacular short story written in a modern style in the history of modern Chinese literature, in "New Youth", launching his novel writing career. In Lu Xun's own words, "From then on, he never stopped writing novel-like articles to satisfy his friends' requests."
At that time, Lu Xun was serving as a minister of the Ministry of Education and lived in the Shaoxing Guild Hall at No. 7, South Half Hutong, outside Xuanwumen, Beijing. In 1912, as a young drifter from Beijing, Lu Xun’s first stop when he came to Beijing was the Shaoxing Guild Hall. I have lived here for 7 years. Coincidentally, Lu Xun's grandfather Zhou Fuqing was also selected as an Imperial Academy member in the Shaoxing Guild Hall.
Before Lu Xun published "Diary of a Madman", he was also one of the editorial board members of "New Youth", and he must have known the editor Hu Shun. After publishing such an influential work this time, Lu Xun deliberately thanked Hu Shi and came up with the idea of ????treating him to dinner.
Where is the best place to eat? Lu Xun was a standard foodie. He "eat out" in Beijing and ate at 65 famous restaurants. This time, in order to show his sincerity, Lu Xun invited him to have dinner at the Shaoxing Guild Hall where he lived.
The Shaoxing Guild Hall was built in 1826. It was originally called the Shanyang-Kuiji Liangyi Guild Hall. It mainly entertained candidates from Shanyin and Kuaiji counties who came to Beijing to take exams. It was later changed to the Shaoxing Guild Hall. It's a quiet place, but it can make very authentic Shaoxing dishes. Lu Xun liked to eat here very much. He was able to live in the Shaoxing Guild Hall for seven years, so it was impossible for him to live there without food considerations.
On this day, Hu Shi came to the appointment happily. The two of them sat down at the Shaoxing Guild Hall and waited for the dishes to be served. The first dish is a special dish in Jiangsu and Zhejiang - braised pork with dried vegetables. It is made from selected ingredients, including pork belly with skin and pickled prunes, stewed over slow fire for a long time. It tastes refreshing but not greasy, smooth and chewy, and quite delicious. Hu Shi liked this dish very much, but what puzzled him was that there was chili pepper in the pork belly with dried plums and vegetables.
As we all know, chili is generally not added to pork with dried plums and vegetables. Obviously, Lu Xun did it deliberately. Hu Shi didn't quite understand and asked Lu Xun: "As far as I know, people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang prefer sweetness or spicyness. Mr. seems to be an exception?" I am addicted to chili peppers, so I use this to relieve my sleepiness. In the dead of night and cold weather, I pick off a chili pepper, break it into several sections, put it in my mouth and chew it, which makes me sweat on my forehead, make my whole body feel weak, and make me feel sleepy. It disappeared, so I took the book and read it again. Mr. Shizhi (Hu Shi) can give it a try." Hu Shi laughed after hearing this.
Lu Xun left his hometown at the age of 17 and traveled around the world for more than 20 years, and once traveled across the ocean as far as Japan. During this period, although he missed the Shaoxing delicacies of his hometown very much, such as rice wine, fennel beans, salted bamboo shoots, dried vegetables, brown rice, fried beans, shochu, peanuts, smoked fish heads, water chestnuts, monk beans, wild rice, cantaloupe, etc., he also They are written down in literary works one by one, but in fact they are becoming more and more obsessed with northern food, and they like heavy oil, spicy and hard dishes. Therefore, he was able to eat raw dried chili peppers to keep out the cold.
Of course, there is also a theory that Hu Shi’s hometown is Jixi, Anhui. Anhui cuisine originated from Huizhou Prefecture in the Southern Song Dynasty. The dishes are salty and spicy, and Anhui people are also good at eating chili peppers. Lu Xun put chili peppers in the pork with dried plums and vegetables, apparently to satisfy Hu Shi's appetite. Just this meaning, how could Lu Xun himself have the nerve to say it?
By the way, after Lu Xun invited Hu Shi to have a meal, Hu Shi "it would be disrespectful to come and not go back", so he invited Lu Xun to have a meal at Dongxing Building, which is close to Peking University. Dongxing Restaurant is a famous restaurant in Beijing, known as the first of the eight buildings in Beijing.
This meal probably cost Hu Shi a lot of money, right?