And her influence abroad, in terms of quantity, is comparable to half of CNN, more than half of BBC, one FOX and two CBS. As a self-media person, Li Ziqi is definitely worthy of her name. Super internet celebrity.
It is worth mentioning that the food videos published on these foreign media platforms do not include additional foreign subtitles, which means that Li Ziqi captured the hearts of a large number of foreign friends just with the lens.
What kind of masterpiece is it that has achieved such results?
In Li Ziqi’s own words, it’s just the temperature of the firewood, the porridge cooked by grandma, the wild cranes on the edge of the field, and the old wine in the cellar.
Is it rural poverty and backwardness or is it oriental food culture?
Some people say that life in the countryside is not as beautiful as the photos taken by Li Ziqi, and that is not the real state of life.
What’s more, how can such one-sided content become China’s cultural export?
Of course, neither pastoral nor farming can fully demonstrate today’s China, but we cannot deny that China has been dominated by farming civilization for thousands of years, and it is precisely based on this. The foundation has laid down the Chinese civilization that has been unbreakable for thousands of years.
Although not comprehensive, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea are still a part of Chinese culture, and they are the source of Chinese culture’s endless growth.
A pair of chopsticks and a tea cup are full of culture. From the knife workmanship, seasoning and presentation of a dish, to the eight major cuisines and various flavors, just like "A Bite of China", every detail and step is worth savoring.
Confucius once said: "From time to time, don't eat". The classic Chinese medicine book "Huangdi Neijing" also says to "eat the grain of the year". Different from the scientific and rigorous food preparation regulations in the West, Eastern diet appears to be more casual.
The same dish will vary according to time, place and person. What's more important is that Chinese food is about atmosphere first, and flavor second. This is what we often call seasonal dishes.
Only food that has grown and matured in accordance with the season can obtain the essence of heaven and earth. In addition, factors such as the identity of the person dining and the dining environment will cause a dish to be prepared differently.
As the saying goes, medicine and food come from the same source, and the same is true for traditional Chinese medicine that has been passed down for thousands of years. Traditional Chinese medicine has always given different prescriptions for different constitutions, different symptoms, and different degrees, unlike Western medicine, which relies on one equation regardless of the severity of the disease.
It is this intention and spirituality that makes the style and taste of Chinese dishes flexible. And what Li Ziqi follows is this tradition of "cold comes and summer comes, harvesting in autumn and storing in winter":
In March, the peach blossoms bloom, and they are harvested to make peach blossom wine to recall the past.
In April, loquats are ripe and loquat wine is brewed, which is fragrant and sweet.
In May, when the cherries are ripe, they start brewing cherry wine, simmering cherry jam, drying cherries, and making cherry-lime drinks, and have a drink with friends.
On the July Tangram Festival, purple sweet potatoes are used to make Tangram cakes to pray for wisdom and skills.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, make Su-style fresh meat mooncakes, drink wine and admire the moon.
Osmanthus wine is brewed in September, which is fragrant and fragrant.
Red persimmons fall all over the wall in October, but don’t be greedy.
In the winter, we pickle bacon, sausages and fish fillets, and the whole yard is full of them?
Such a variety of things, in our opinion, are skills that can be learned in our free time. , but for Li Ziqi, it is survival instinct.
Similarly, these beautiful things may seem to us to be carefully planned performances, but in the years thousands of years ago, they were the ordinary daily lives of our ancestors.
Because it is natural, it is beautiful.
For example, thousands of years ago, our ancestors learned to mix fresh milk and boiled glutinous rice, and then buried the glutinous rice milk paste in the snow. Cool down and wait for it to solidify and form. Isn't this the predecessor of today's Nuomi Ci? There is such a delicious and beautiful artistic conception hidden in the white snow.
There is also a plum blossom soup cake. Wash and mince the plum blossoms, fry the juice with sandalwood, mix with plum blossom powder and flour, roll it into a dough, and then use a plum blossom mold to carve out blossoms on the dough. Plum-shaped thin slices, finally cooked in chicken broth. Maybe you don't like the smell of sandalwood, but the elegance of plum blossoms and noodles is enough to fill your appetite.
There are many more:
Tang-blooming plum blossoms: After October, use a bamboo knife to pick out the plum blossoms that are about to open, dip them in beeswax, and put them in a honey jar. Wait until the summer moon, soak it in hot water in a tea cup, and the stamens will gradually bloom and reveal a delicate fragrance, which is lovely.
Sophora japonica leaves are harvested from high places in midsummer, and the juice is pounded into thin strips. Boil it in water, soak it in cold water, take it out and mix it with soy sauce and vinegar. It is cool and refreshing. The poet Du Fu praised it and said: "The teeth are as cold as snow".
Crab-stuffed oranges: Remove the tops of ripe yellow oranges (chrysanthemum-shaped) and remove the meat, leaving some juice, fill with crab meat, then cover the tops, put them in a basin and steam them with wine, vinegar and water. , add vinegar and salt to mix. There is wine, chrysanthemums, oranges and crabs, wouldn't it be beautiful?
The simple meals became elegant and interesting because of the literati. Rain, snow, wind and frost, flowers, plants, fruits and trees can all be eaten. Wine can be brewed with flowers, and tea can be brewed with snow, simple and warm.
When we lament when we will be able to control our lives, Li Ziqi has already seen the gifts that nature has given us; when we fantasize about having wealth and freedom, Li Ziqi already has the whole world.
In addition to cooking delicious food for grandma in various ways, there is almost nothing Li Ziqi can't do like riding a horse, plowing, embroidery, dyeing, papermaking, breeding, and building houses and yards.
Perhaps, the most touching thing is not the classical beauty created in Li Ziqi’s video, but her persistence, persistence and love for life. Whether it is Shu embroidery, pen, ink, paper and inkstone, or a bowl of authentic Lanzhou noodles, which one does not require time accumulation and thousands of practices? If it weren't for love, what else could make her so persistent?
Compared with modern life, traditional things seem slow, clumsy, and even redundant. But why do they still exist after thousands of years? Why do we still talk about inheritance?
Before answering this question, let’s talk about another thing.
Friends who have a little knowledge of Chinese studies must be familiar with "The Rites of Zhou". It is a Confucian classic and the foundation of the Zhou Dynasty's governance.
"Zhou Rites" is divided into six canons: the heavenly official is responsible for the palace, the local official is responsible for civil affairs, the spring official is responsible for the clan, the summer official is responsible for the military, the autumn official is responsible for the criminal law, and the last winter official is responsible for Construction, that is, "Kao Gong Ji".
This is like in a high-level national meeting. In addition to the leaders in charge of the country's political and economic lifelines, there is also a carpenter who builds cars and houses.
How can these folk crafts of logging, casting, tanning, weaving and dyeing be juxtaposed with other beautiful high-level sermons?
Because food, clothing, housing and transportation? These things we take for granted are the source of culture. From carpentry to musical instruments, from flower farmers to the Four Gentlemen of Flowers, from street ballads to poetry and songs, from pottery pots for rice and water to today's ceramic art, these are the footprints of cultural growth.
We envy Li Ziqi, but we don’t have to become her
Romain Rolland said: There is only one kind of heroism in life, and that is to still love life after recognizing the truth of life.
So, just looking at Li Ziqi, you can feel how beautiful life is, right?
The pastoral songs captured through Li Ziqi’s lens are truly heart-wrenching, but we all know that those are the highlight moments of life, and the hardships and pain behind them have all been pickled silently by Li Ziqi. Along with her past.
Not everyone has the ability and opportunity to become the next Li Ziqi, but we are still fascinated by the life of "flowers in spring, looking at the moon in autumn, cool breeze in summer and listening to the snow in winter".
What is it that you are obsessed with?
See how Li Ziqi changes hands to a futon and a clothes hanger, and even the leftover grape skins are used by her to make a fairy-like long skirt? What we envy is that she is truly Create your own life.
Even without money and the Internet, she can still live happily in the bamboo forest and vegetable garden. As for our food and clothing expenses, which one is not forced to accept it?
We envy Li Ziqi, but we don’t have to become her.
Compared with fantasizing about the pastoral life of "picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence", maybe we can choose to exit the food delivery software and calm down to enjoy the fun of cooking once, even if it is not delicious;
Instead of questioning whether this girl really knows everything, maybe we can choose to remove our eyes from the small square screen and feel the long-lost touches in life, just like Li Ziqi, understand that what is most important to us is What is important and do your best to protect it.
When we express our inner love for this warm life, we can be calm, enthusiastic, beautiful, or bold.
There are three thousand dreams in my life, and I have exhausted thousands of miles of poetry and wine. I only dumped my ideals, so it is better to return home early.
When we put all our strength and courage into doing something full of expectations and love, and spare no effort to complete it, this is the most beautiful thing in this life.