Qian Zhongshu’s classic prose: Eating

Eating is sometimes like getting married. The most important thing in name is often an accessory. Eating fine food is actually just eating vegetables. Just like a lady who wants to be courted by a rich man, the purpose is not to be a woman. This shift of sovereignty involves a twisted and not-so-simple outlook on life. Compelling taste rather than satisfying hunger has become the purpose of our meals. The tongue takes the place of the stomach as the final or supreme judge. However, we still disguise enjoyment as need, not talking about eating vegetables, only talking about eating, just like when we study philosophy or art, we always say that we can use it for the sake of truth and beauty. Useful things can only be used by people, so they exist; useless things will use people, cover and defend them, and avoid being abandoned. In "The Republic", Plato divided the country into three classes of people, which are equivalent to the three components of the soul; hunger, thirst, food and drink are the lowest components of the soul, which are equivalent to civilians or people in political organizations. The most ingenious politicians know how to pervert the people and disguise their ambitions as the will and welfare of the people; inviting guests to a restaurant to eat in the name of eating is exactly what the tongue says to the stomach, as if to say: ?Don’t complain, it’s your fault! You enjoy the fame, and I work hard for you. What else am I losing to you? In fact, God knows? Even more hungry stomachs know? If it is just for filling the intestines and filling the belly. , bark grass roots are not much different from chicken, duck and fish meat! I can’t believe that so much political role is needed in the physiological process of digestion and excretion.

The ancient Roman poet Persius once lamented that the belly develops people’s genius and teaches people skills (Magister artisingeni que largitor venter). This meaning was vividly developed by Rabelais. Volume 3 of "The House of Giants" contains a chapter praising the belly, respecting him as the true Lord of mankind, the founder and promoter of various learnings and professions. Birds fly, beasts walk, and fish swim. Insect crawling, as well as all living and other activities, are also for the stomach. All human creations and activities (including writing articles) not only indicate the enrichment of the mind, but also prove the emptiness of the stomach. A full belly is the most useless. At that time, the mind is in a daze and is only suitable for crazy dreams; we have an unwritten law: taking a nap after lunch is strong evidence. We usually underestimate hunger and only say that it produces things like beggars, thieves, and prostitutes. We forget that it also inspires ideas, techniques, and the political and economic theory of "everyone eats when there is food." The ancient German poet B.H. Brockes wrote a hymn and compared God to "a great chef (der gross Speisemeister)" who cooks food for all mankind, which can not help but bring out some religious childishness. Those who provide food for us are by no means our real masters. It’s okay for a God like this not to do anything. Only those who prepare food for him and feed him can control our actions. For example, the head of a family is not the father who earns money to support the family, but the children who are still young and sitting around eating. Of course, children will not realize this when they are children, and fathers are never willing to admit it. What Rabelais said seems to make more sense. Just imagine, the stomach wants us to sacrifice food and rice to it all day long. What else is it but God? But after all, it is a dirty thing that cannot be put on the table. It only accepts and absorbs, and does not know how to enjoy and appreciate. Life becomes complicated because of this. On the one hand, there are people who have a stomach and want food to fill it up; on the other hand, there are people who have food but want an appetite to eat. The first outlook on life can be said to be about eating; the second kind can be called a food-eater. The first type of people work, produce, and create in exchange for food. The second type of people use the results of the first type of people's activities to strengthen their spleen and appetite, help them eat and increase their food intake. Therefore, it is necessary to have music during meals. If that is not enough, there should also be "beautiful ladies" and "beautiful ladies" to persuade you to drink; if it is more elegant, hold a cold party or a summer party, where you can pass on Dharma, calligraphy and paintings; and even flower viewing tours. Mountains, bring natural attractions to eat. Needless to say, be as particular as possible about the food you eat. With such a prosperous material environment, the tongue, like the body, which was originally very casual, will now have chastity and integrity; many things that I used to eat now seem to stain my innocence, and I will never import them again. In this kind of field, it seems that we should eat less, but in fact we eat more. If you let your stomach take over, you'll be done eating when you're full without losing any sense of proportion. The tongue chooses the fine and the fat, and the greedy mouth does not care about life. The result is that the stomach is unlucky and affected, so we have to avoid eating. The tongue can only fade away like a bird as Li Kui said.

This is indeed retribution for being so greedy that he forgets his roots! From this point of view, the outlook on life of eating vegetables seems inappropriate.

However, the delicious dishes are still worthy of praise. This world is a mess, full of friction and conflict, and only two of the most harmonious things are finally man-made: music and cooking. A bowl of good food is like a piece of music. It is also a kind of consistent diversity and harmonious taste, which makes opposite molecules complement each other and become a synthesis that is separable but inseparable. The most superficial ones are boiled crab and vinegar, roast duck and sweet sauce, or Western dishes such as roast pork and apple sauce, squid and lemon slices. It turns out that they are completely unrelated to each other. Things, but they are destined to be destined, like a beautiful woman and a talented man, a sow and a leprosy, they form a match made in heaven and a family that complements each other. Up to now, they are so intimate that they can't even take it apart. In seasoning, there is also what Leibniz’s philosophy calls Harmonia praestabilita, and there are also predetermined non-negotiables, such as pepper and boiled shrimp and crab, sweet and sour and stir-fried beef and mutton, just like in ancient times. In music, Shang Jiao does not harmonize, and Zheng Yu does not match. Confucius already understood that the principles of music can be applied to cooking. Therefore, the Analects of Confucius records that when he listened to "Shao" in Qi, he "didn't know the taste of meat in March." It's a pity that although his old husband was very particular about cooking in the chapter "Country Party", he has not yet attained Samadhi. Among the two harmonies, he prefers music. For example, "The Doctrine of the Mean" talks about physical and mental cultivation. It only talks about "emotion" and "harmony" in the middle section. Cultivating a musical personality is like listening to music but not knowing the taste of meat. According to our opinion, a perfect personality, a consistent "my way", and a perfect country should not only be harmonious like music, but also maintain the harmony of cooking as an ideal. At this point, we do not follow Confucius, but are willing to admire the forgotten Yi Yin. Yi Yin is China's first philosopher chef. In his eyes, the entire world is like a kitchen for cooking. "Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals? Original Flavor Pian" records Yi Yin and even Wei Shuo Tang in a long section, turning the greatest governing philosophy into a mouth-watering recipe. This concept has permeated the political consciousness of ancient China, so since "Shang Shu Gu Ming", being a prime minister is better than "harmonizing soup and cooking a tripod". Laozi also said that "governing a country is like cooking fresh vegetables." Mencius once praised Yi Yin as "the person of the sage" and Liu Xiahui as "the person of the harmony of the sage". The words here may be a little simplistic. In fact, Liu Xiahui, who allowed people to meet each other naked, should be regarded as a laissez-faire. And Yi Yin is worthy of the word "和". Of course, it also has some connotations of cooking and cooking, and harmonizing the five flavors.

Eating also has many social functions, such as connecting with each other, discussing business, etc. That is "treating you to a meal". Although the types of social meals are complex, they are extremely simple in nature. Giving food to someone who has something to eat is a treat; eating someone else's food when you have something to eat is a reward for face. The subtlety of communication is nothing more than this. On the other hand, giving food to those who have nothing to eat is charity; if you have nothing to eat and eat other people's food, the reward of face turns into shame. This is charity relief, not social interaction. As for the number of guests at a dinner party and the gender ratio, we will discuss it another day. But there is a wonderful passage in the amusing Almanachdes Courmands that must be mentioned here. These eight rare and rare books, in addition to studying meals, also discuss the issue of inviting meals. The general idea is: How many days should we wait after eating someone else's food without speaking ill of the host behind his back? The length of time depends on the quality of the food; therefore, as a human being, we should treat guests to dinner more often and eat good food to enhance the feelings of friends and reduce the number of enemies. slander. I sincerely introduce this discussion to all friends who do not want each other to be enemies, as well as enemies who are willing to become friends with each other. As for myself, I am respectfully awaiting your invitation and will try my best to follow what Zhu Bajie said to the little monsters under King Nanshan: Don’t pull any strings, let me and my family eat the future. ?