I am a person of low interest, I don’t understand Lu Xun’s essays, but I often care about what he ate.
From the available archives, at least in the last 10 years of his Life, Lu Xun’s daily meals were excellent. Even if it could not be said to be extravagant, it was considered luxurious compared to the ordinary people at that Time. Even, compared to my Home now, also much better. Since the local pork a catty up to 45, three or five days to see a meat, the old mother dare not say ah. Lu Xun is no matter how the wind and rain outside the sound of gunfire, at least every day there is good wine and good meat and good Soup.
What’s more, he himself is a socialite, no white man, know more than the celebrities, senior meals are always available, naturally is not possible to starve.
In fact, in the Republican era, Lu Xun’s material life was superior in the group of cultural figures. However, the fact that Lu Xun had been held up to the altar of God for a long time made it difficult for people to associate him with Food and good wine.
It can be said that what made Lu Xun anxious was never money, let alone the problem of his rice bowl. It was the social and spiritual stimuli from the state.
Lu Xun, himself, loved to write in his diary about trivial matters such as food and drink. At one time, Xu Guangping also kept records of what Lu Xun ate every day.
Nowadays, in the “Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial Hall”, the two books of “Lu Xun’s Family recipes” are written down by Xu Guangping, and were lucky enough to survive the war.
This recipe, which was recorded every day, was Lu Xun’s food for seven months from November 1927 to June 1928.
Looking at the menu alone, we can tell that it is rich and delicious. According to researcher Mr. Zhao Huimin, when they received the menu, the 10 or so researchers present almost unanimously exclaimed, “It’s impossible!”
These three meals for several months were actually customized by a major restaurant in Shanghai at that time. Just because they had just arrived in Shanghai, they were not yet very stable, so they did not open fire. It may also be in the honeymoon period, Lu Xun is still embarrassed to let Xu Guangping work under the stove. So, three meals a day, is to let the restaurant regularly delivered to the door, said the “advanced take-out custom” can also be established, right.
The couple is eating six or seven months “take-out”, but the quality of this take-out is not low. Each meal, at least three dishes and one soup, two meat and one vegetarian, and basically not repeated, never lowered the standard.
From the content of the menu, to Guang gang dishes, Shao gang dishes, sea school dishes, what “pork and shrimp mushroom dice”, what “lotus root confit pig’s feet”, what “snow peas stewed fish”, is not you I those “cassoulet” “Shaxian dumplings” takeaway comparable.
According to Xu Guangping’s statistics, the monthly expenses during this period, a single dish of money is nearly 30 yuan. The average monthly cost of a book in Lu Xun’s year was 47.9 yuan – and according to the surviving Shanghai Fuxin Third Flour Mill wage bill, the average monthly wage of a Shanghai worker in that year was only 17.14 yuan, and this income had to support a family. a family. The suburbs and the countryside were even worse off.
At that time, Xiao Hong and Xiao Jun went to visit Lu Xun, and after dawdling over dinner, they couldn’t even get the bus fare back. Zhou Haiying autobiography also said, when the mainland near the new village, everywhere you can see beggars, and even “starving people”. And, not to mention 1927, my family is said to the 1980s, are not enough to eat.
Looking back now, I can be sure that since living with Xu Guangping, it was definitely the best and most normal 10 years of Lu Xun’s life. The warrior never slacked off, but he had a real sense of “home” by now.
Lu Xun before that, although there is no shortage of money, but “bachelor” life is very casual, eating without moderation, very bad body. Originally, when he was young, in the sailor’s school, to eat chili peppers to protect the cold, has been seriously hurt stomach, stomach pain, diarrhea, what embarrassing disease, repeated attacks. Moreover, during the “de facto bachelor” period, that is, from August 1912 to November 1919, living in Shaoxing Hall for more than seven years, eating is both casual and overeating, the diet is quite bad.
According to Lu Xun’s diary, he ordered take-out the most during those seven years, and he “drank congee”, “cooked rice with yam”, “cooked two chickens and noodles”, “shrimp noodles ” “steamed yam, raw cabbage, shredded chicken” “buy pancakes, drink buttermilk” “buy steamed buns”, look quite settled. When a good friend comes, he goes to Beijing‘s top restaurants – some experts count 65 famous restaurants in Beijing that he frequents, most of which is Guangheju by the vegetable marketplace outside Xuanwumen, and the shopkeepers are particularly familiar with it.
He is not a big drinker, but also loves to drink, and may be the Shaoxing yellow wine after a strong reason, every drink that is bound to get drunk, the wine is not very good, but also by rivals mocked as “Shaoxing alcoholic”. In the long run, the body is easy to mess up, although he was originally a doctor.
After Xu Guangping took care of it, his life was on the right track, right? In 1928, after the house in Shanghai was settled, Lu Xun ate better, and often could be called a small luxury. Xu Guangping, who was also from a wealthy family, was a strong woman, a great woman, but willing to be a “mother” for the man she loved, and was dedicated to Lu Xun’s life without complaint. She took very good care of Lu Xun, and the food was not a problem.
Xiao Hong recalled that Lu Xun’s family was rich in food, fish, meat …… were packed in large bowls, at least four or five bowls, more than seven or eight bowls; Xiao Jun also mentioned that just because Lu Xun casually said “I like the noodles”, Xu Guangping had to treat him to a meal. “, Xu Guangping had to ask a famous northern chef to reside in his home, specifically to make noodles. This condition was beyond the reach of ordinary intellectuals at that time. Hu Shih’s income was high, but he also hired a maid to finish the job.
In order to eat well, Lu Xun’s family did not consider the cost of the work. They were regulars at famous restaurants on the Shanghai Bund, such as the Liang Yuan Yu Cuisine, although they were mainly banquet guests. When Hu Feng first arrived, he saw a table full of food and wine, and his “little friend was simply stunned”.
It is also in such a bacchanalian living environment, in later years Lu Xun’s pen is getting sharper and sharper, 100,000 + explosive text, almost every day can be written.
So, many friends think that Lu Xun was a warrior, so he had to endure the pain of starvation to do so, which is really a big misunderstanding.
The fact that Lu Xun returned to China from Japan, he always earned a lot of money, and was an intellectual “high class person”, and later a top V. An article can sometimes top a worker’s income for a year, there is no reason for him to be down and out!
If the Republic of China also listed “writers rich list”, Lu Xun absolutely chief – the best Chinese writers at that time to earn the most money, also this food level, think about it is actually nothing.
Moreover, Lu Xun lived well, dressed well, ate well, I think not only does not affect his image, but also see his noble person. He had money, but never spent it recklessly, and not a single unjust money; more importantly, his status is so high, income is so high, but always for the country and the people, not afraid to take risks, not afraid of being blocked, and even fear of losing their heads, only for the sense of justice in their hearts. He could have been a Beijing official, crossed his legs, leisurely and leisurely as a lord. The vast majority of intellectuals, is the stage of seeking, Lu Xun is bent on shedding.
This kind of character, you think today’s big “high knowledge”, the top “big V”, how many people can? Some people say that if you don’t sell your conscience with complacency, you are considered a model of a literary person, is that really true?
The first from the left is Zhou Jianren
Lu Xun’s family’s menu
Xiao Hong wrote about Lu Xun’s family banquet, “Mr. Xu did not get out of the kitchen, the food is very rich, fish, meat …… are packed in large bowls, at least four or five bowls, more than seven or eight bowls.” Usually eat it yourself, “only three bowls of dishes: a bowl of fried peas and beans, a bowl of bamboo shoots fried pickles, and then a bowl of yellow croaker.”
Xu Guangping not only cooks, but also records the food and clothing of his daily life, such as the two books of “Lu Xun’s Family Recipes” in the Lu Xun Memorial Museum in Shanghai. The two books in the collection of the Lu Xun Memorial Museum in Shanghai are an example. They clearly record the meals of Lu Xun’s family from November 1927 to June 1928. Lu Xun had just arrived in Shanghai from Guangdong, and his life was not yet stable, so he adopted the popular “packaged rice” form to solve the problem of daily meals, which was prepared by the restaurant and delivered to his home at mealtime. According to Mr. Wang Shousong’s testimony, Xu Guangping’s purpose of recording these two recipes was probably for the convenience of the checkout.
From the content of the recipes, the table at Lu Xun’s house was dominated by Guangbang and Shaoxing dishes, with local flavors from Shanghai. Each meal is about three dishes and one soup, except for vegetables, mostly fish, eggs, beef and other common meat and fish in Shanghai. The price of each meal is about 25 cents to 40 cents, and the monthly expenses are about 20 yuan. Is it expensive? In fact, it was fine, because in Lu Xun’s house, there were also Zhou Jianren’s family and some of his colleagues, a total of six or seven people, so the average monthly cost per person was more than three dollars, the standard of the ordinary middle class.
In the same year, Lu Xun spent a total of 584.8 yuan on books, an average of 47.9 yuan per month, quite a lot.
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