Non-staple vegetables: the history of five kinds of vegetables-the history of eating (1 1)

In the classical culture of China, there are always some special characters. For example, five elements of yin and yang, five stars in the sky. There are grains in the field, and naturally there are five dishes: sunflower, leek, epimedium (Hu) and onion (xiè). If "Su Guo" really goes through history, it is estimated that you will want to cry when you eat it, because in the ancient pre-Qin period, unlike now, you can buy all kinds of dishes by visiting the vegetable market. At that time, there were very few things to eat, and five dishes were the main non-staple foods, which were eaten in turn.

During the Warring States period, there was a book called Five Flavors of Lingshu. The author of this book is unknown, so the explanation is: "Kwai Gan, leek acid, fresh, bitter, scallion, spicy", which is probably still difficult to understand. Let's talk briefly first.

Onion and leek are easy to understand, that is, onion and leek are both native vegetables in China. Our ancestors knew long ago that planting leeks in greenhouses or cellars could make them yellow. The ancients were very clever. In Zhao Han Chen Xinchuan, Ban Gu recorded the situation of planting onions and leeks in greenhouses in winter in official vegetable fields. The courtier here is a minister of the Western Han Dynasty. Interestingly, the history books recorded the matter of planting leeks, but it was because Zhao wrote a letter against growing vegetables in greenhouses in winter, thinking that it was a waste of people and money. It seems to be an ancient thing to oppose the exclusive enjoyment of the privileged class. "Su Guo" wants to tell Ban Gu that leeks are no longer planted in greenhouses, but are all in the stock market.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was another joke about the famous Shi Chong and Wang Kai vying for wealth. Every cold winter, stonemasons can still eat chopped leeks. Wang Kai wondered that I couldn't afford so much money. How did Shi Chong get it? Later, Wang Kai bribed Shi Chong's servant with money, only to know that Shi Chong's leeks were mashed with leek roots, mixed with wheat seedlings, and smelled like leeks, which others could not see.

The idol of "Su Guo", the great poet Su Dongpo has a poem about eating leeks:

I gradually felt that the east wind was chilly, and Artemisia annua tried spring vegetables.

Think of Gyeongju thousands of miles away, the clouds are light and the wind is light, the grass is long and the snow is long.

Master Tu Youyou's Artemisia annua, also known as leek, is not only used as medicine, but also used in poetry.

The remaining three kinds are a bit difficult, and they are not often eaten now.

Sunflower, or winter sunflower. It is rare now, and it was one of the important vegetables in ancient times. Jia Sixie, an agronomist in the Northern Wei Dynasty, listed sunflower as the first course in Qi Yao Min Shu, while Wang Zhen, a scholar and agronomist in the Yuan Dynasty, placed it in the position of king of all dishes, which shows that the ancients recognized this dish to a high degree. In the Book of Songs, it is said that "in July, sunflower and glutinous rice (shū, that is, beans) will be cooked. Later, sunflowers gradually faded out of the category of vegetables. After the Tang dynasty, it was planted less, and it entered the scope of medicine in the Ming dynasty. Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica listed it as a medicine.

Hops are young leaves of beans. This word is quite uncommon and can only be used in special contexts, such as Huoxiang Zhengqi Water. Sometimes it is. You just can't see it when you take it out, but you have already seen it.

There were few kinds of vegetables in the pre-Qin period, and soybean was considered as a delicious vegetable when its leaves were tender. In the Warring States Policy, there is a saying that "people usually eat bean rice and soup", which shows that bean and bean leaf soup are commonplace for ordinary people. Later, bean leaves were no longer human food, but were used to feed pigs. However, with the industrialization of aquaculture, pigs have become feed, and this herb has become something that even pigs don't eat.

Speaking of beans, I have to mention the most famous story in history, that is, Cao Zhi wrote a seven-step poem. "Boil beans and burn beans, and the beans cry in the kettle. This poem comes from the same root and is well known to all women and children, but the truth of this story has been controversial since ancient times, and the content of the seven-step poem has also been questioned. Because this story appeared in Shi Shuo Xin Yu in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it is not far from the Cao Wei period, and it is not easy to deny it. So the judgment of the truth of this event can only be that there is no conclusion, and another version of the poem is attached:

Boiled beans are used as soup and fermented into juice.

Honey burns under the pot, and beans cry in the pot.

We are born from the same root, so why rush to speculate with each other?

The last one is even weirder. Now there is an Allium plant in Liliaceae called Jiao, also called Jiao, which is this kind or close to this kind. What people like wild garlic can sometimes dig out in the ground should be regarded as this. First onions, then garlic, that sounds confusing. This has something to do with its taste. It looks like garlic, but it tastes like onions and leeks. The Newly Revised Materia Medica compiled by people in the Tang Dynasty clearly stated: "Chinese chives are a kind of Chinese chives, and their leaves are not like onions ...".

Leek, onion, onion, etc. were listed as meat and spicy dishes in ancient times. In the earliest Buddhism, the requirement of not eating meat was actually not eating such heavy-tasting things. Just take a brain tonic and you will understand that so many believers get together to eat these dishes and recite scriptures together, not to mention that Buddha probably can't even stand the smell himself.

As for Buddhism not eating meat, it was caused by Xiao Yan, the founding emperor of Southern Liang Dynasty in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. This senior believes in Buddhism and actively advocates vegetarianism in order to practice the compassion of Mahayana Buddhism. Moreover, I personally wrote an article to persuade the public not to eat meat, and even issued a decree to forcibly promote it. Therefore, Buddhism does not eat meat, probably starting from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but it is also limited to the Han Buddhism in the Mainland. For example, Tibetan lamas can eat whatever they like.