In feudal society, although there was a shortage of materials, especially the ingredients were relatively single, the ancients also had a lot of ideas and invented many delicious foods, which also enriched the ancient food culture. For example, There were many delicious foods during the Ming Dynasty period, and it was very special to have a dish of "goose", but many people have deep misunderstandings about this dish, especially the historical background of this dish is even more helpless. What exactly is a "goose"? Let me reveal the secret from the beginning.
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In the northern region, especially in the area of Beijing city , once under the feet of the emperor, there were countless delicacies of various kinds, and there are even many songs about food that have been sung until now. For example, a crosstalk Guankou said, "Steamed lamb, steamed bear's paw, steamed deer tail, , roasted flower duck, , roasted chicks, roasted geese", and listed a bunch of vegetable names. The audience below probably had a mouthful after listening to it, and these delicacies began to appear in their minds.
Let’s not talk about other dishes, just say “roasted goose” is the most confusing because many people have never eaten it, so they don’t know what it is. According to the usual understanding, "Ziji" means "Ziji", then "Ziji" must be the Little Goose. In fact, this is not the case. This understanding is wrong. From common sense, we know that no one eats Little Goose at all.
According to the ancients' understanding, for example, in "Qimin Yaoshuai Raises Goose and Ducks", it is recorded: "For those who provide the chef, geese are a hundred days apart, duck is a sixty or seventy days apart, which means that the geese given to the kitchen should be raised for more than 100 days, and ducks should be raised for 60-70 days. Only such geese and ducks are delicious.
From this we can see that "goose" can be considered as gooses that have been raised for more than 100 days. At the beginning, historians also thought this way when studying "Burning Goose", but if you think about it carefully, it is simply wrong.
Generally speaking, the growth cycle of geese matures in more than 200 days. It is slaughtered after only 100 days of feeding. After all, in the era of time, materials were scarce, and raising geese had to wait until they were fully mature. In addition, the record of " Qimin Yaoshu " is in the Northern Wei Dynasty period, and "zigeese" as a dish in the Ming Dynasty. It is difficult to determine whether they are the same thing, so the "zigeese" in the Ming Dynasty also have other intentions.
In fact, it is not difficult to know what the "goose" in the Ming Dynasty was, because Wang Shizhen left the answer. According to historical records, Wang Shizhen was a minister of the Ministry of Justice during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. He served as a minister of the Ministry of Justice, a political assistant and a governor. Later, he was dismissed from office and returned to his hometown after his death. He was restored to his post until the Minister of Justice. In addition, Wang Shizhen was also a family of officials, and his father Wang Jun was the censor during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, that is, an official in charge of supervision.
Historists have seen the "Gubugulu" written by Wang Shizhen, which describes the diet of their family, such as "When you enter a geese, you must remove its head and tail, and use the chicken's head to win it." This passage is not difficult to understand, that is, eating goose must remove both the head and claws, and then replace it with chicken head and claws. In this way, the geese are actually ordinary geese, and their only characteristics are chicken heads and chicken feet.
Historists also suddenly realized that "goose" is a product of politics, not a normal folk delicacy. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang vigorously punished corrupt officials and stipulated that officials such as supervision should not ride horses or eat geese, with the purpose of allowing them to set an example and develop a good lifestyle. In the Ming Dynasty, geese were indeed a high-end food compared to ordinary chickens and ducks. Not to mention the people, ordinary officials could not eat them once a year, but for some high-ranking officials, eating geese was quite common.However, since the Ming Dynasty’s Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang ordered, many officials did not dare to eat goose meat, especially the censors of the Ming Dynasty did not dare to commit it knowingly, so there was a record in "Gubugulu".
Wang Shizhen's father was the censor. Naturally, he did not dare to eat goose blatantly, so he could only eat goose secretly. However, in order not to let others discover it, he used chicken heads and chicken claws to replace the goose heads and goose claws. Even if someone saw him, he could say that he was eating chicken, not goose. According to "Gubugulu", historians have determined what the "burning goose" is. It is either a special goose or an ordinary goose has a "head and tail".
From this we can see that Wang Shizhen's family is definitely not an isolated case, and other officials must have followed suit, and finally went to civil society. However, by the late Ming Dynasty, the "Burning Goose" became blatant, which also showed that no one was going to supervise the matter at that time, and also showed that the management of the Ming Dynasty began to relax.
In ancient society, in addition to its own significance, food actually had many social significance, which even reflects the court policies at that time. Therefore, if you study the background of food more frequently, you may find a different history.
Reference materials:
"A Brief History of the Ming Dynasty" Author: Wu Han, Publisher: China Overseas Chinese Publishing House
Wen Lan Hairun Studio Editor-in-chief Wen Xiucai, this article is written: Special History Contributor: Liu Lijiang
