Cixi, a Gourmand on the Lam

By Zhou Xinxing

In 1900, when the Eight-Nation Alliance conquered Beijing, 13 royals and officials from the imperial court,including Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu, fled the city in three horse-drawn carriages and evacuated all the way to Western China.

Precious Corn Soup

Along the way, the shopkeepers shut up their business to escape from the disaster caused by the defeated troops and the Boxers(the Boxer Rebellion a.k.a. the Yihetuan Movement). There was simply nowhere to buy food, even if you had money. On the night of the evacuation, they arrived at a village, and the entire force was exhausted. The coachman suggested buying some cowpeas and a few earns of corn from the villagers for food.

After a while, the cooked cowpeas and corn soup were served on the table.

“The Empress Dowager found it difficult to swallow soup so plain and unrefined, but everyone else scrambled for it. Emperor Guangxu also finished a bowl of soup.” Cixi’s maid Rong’er recalled, but she didn’t mention anything about oil and salt, so it is easy to picture how bland and insipid the food was. She ultimately had to peel off the corn kernels for Cixi.

It was red hot inside the carriage, and everyone was thirsty. Cixi and her maids had to chew cornstalks to quench their thirst. The next afternoon,they arrived at Xiguanshi Village in Changping, a settlement of the Hui ethnic minority. The Imperial Eunuch Li Lianying asked for a bowl of “liquid rice” (a cool mixture of boiled millet and beans, soaked in cool water) from a villager. Cixi had no other option but to take a little.

Fighting for a Pot of Congee

On the day after Cixi fled Beijing,Yanqing County issued an official document, saying that the local officials on the way must give a reception to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, and the standard of which should be a Manchu Han Imperial Feast,“First-class Hotpot” for each prince, and some rations and forage.

When Wu Yong, the magistrate of Huailai County, received the above-mentioned document,Cixi’s carriage was only a few miles from his county. He was suddenly stuck between a rock and a hard place. Being a small county magistrate, how could he handle such a grand feast?However, if he didn’t follow the order, he would offend the great Empress Dowager. After pondering the matter for a spell,he decided to give it his best effort and demanded that his attendants cook rice, steam buns,bake pancakes and boil congee.Upon hearing the news, the local bandits in the city rushed to the county hall, grabbed the food and stabbed the cook, leaving only a pot of green bean and millet congee. Wu Yong had to carry weapon himself with his subordinates to defend the pot of congee.

慈禧西逃中的故事

文/周新行

庚子年（1900年），八國聯軍攻占北京，慈禧太后攜光緒皇帝一行13人，擠在三輛馬車上，倉皇出逃，一路向西……

靠老玉米湯活命

一路上敗兵和義和團搶掠，店家關門避禍，拿著銀子也買不到吃的。出逃當天傍晚，他們來到一處村莊，人困馬乏。車夫提議，向當地農民買地里的豇豆角和老玉米，煮熟吃。

大家忙活一陣后，把煮熟的豇豆角和老玉米湯端上來。

“老太后根本咽不下這樣的粗食，大家卻搶著喝，光緒也喝了一碗。”慈禧宮女榮兒回憶道，但她沒提到油和鹽，味道可想而知。她只好把玉米粒剝下來給慈禧吃。

路上，車內奇熱，口渴難耐，慈禧只好和宮女們一起嚼玉米稈的汁解渴。第二天，太陽落山，車隊來到昌平回民村西貫市村。李蓮英向村民討來一盆“水飯”（由小米和豆子煮成，之后浸入涼水，是一種消暑食品），慈禧無奈，艱難地吃了幾口。

誓死保衛一鍋粥

慈禧出逃的第二天，延慶州發出公文，要求沿途地方接待“兩宮”，標準是，滿漢全席一桌，親王等人各一品鍋，食物糧草若干。

慈禧舊照 Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908), of the Manchu Yehenara clan, was a Chinese empress dowager and regent who controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing Dynasty for 47 years from 1861 until her death in 1908.

懷來縣令吳永接到公文時，慈禧的車隊離縣城只有幾十里地了。他很糾結：小縣城哪辦得出滿漢全席，不辦又怕得罪慈禧，被治罪。他反復思量，決定還是盡力，并命令煮米飯、蒸饃、烙餅、熬粥，城內土匪聞訊，殺進縣衙，搶走食物，還砍傷了廚役，只剩下綠豆小米粥一鍋。吳永不得不和部下提槍上陣，親自“保鍋”。

這一鍋粥沒白保。慈禧見到吳永,忙問準備吃的沒有？吳永回答，只有一鍋綠豆小米粥。慈禧道：“患難之中得此已足，寧復較量美惡？”吳永獻上小米粥，并親自上筷子。李蓮英出難題，要吳永給慈禧找雞蛋、卷香煙，吳永率部下把全村翻了個遍，才找到五個雞蛋，并扯了一戶人家的窗戶粗紙卷了五支香煙，呈給慈禧。

吳永把縣衙布置成臥室，給慈禧一干人休息。他翻箱倒柜，把已故老母親的夾襖找出來獻給慈禧，還準備鏡奩一套，梳篦脂粉悉具，呈給慈禧和格格使用。另外，吳永還送了十多雙全新的細白布襪子，大家漚在濕鞋濕襪里的腳，終于換上了舒適的新襪。

隨后，吳永被提拔，并逐步晉級。就連吳永的廚子周福，也因一碗扯面、一碟炒肉絲做得如慈禧的意，被賞六品頂戴。

晉陜美食大巡游

慈禧在懷來縣待了三天，陸續集結一些人，規模達到30輛車、上千人。慈禧決定繼續西行，要求接待的公文發到前方山西、陜西各地。各級官員聽說吳永升官了，自然“識做”，加上趨炎附勢的富商們慷慨解囊，銀兩、佳肴、糧草，富足以待。

His efforts were eventually paid off. As soon as Cixi met Wu Yong, she asked if there was anything to eat. “There is only a pot of green bean and millet congee.” Wu Yong answered .“In times as hard as these, a pot of congee is good enough. Why worry about the quality?” Cixi said with a hint of weariness in her voice. Wu Yong served the congee with a pair of chopsticks at once. Then, Li Lianying thrust a difficult task onto his shoulders;he asked Wu Yong to find some eggs and cigarettes for Cixi. After rummaging through the whole village with his attendants, Wu Yong only found five eggs, and he even tore off the window paper of a villager to make five cigarettes and presented them to Cixi.

Wu Yong set up a cozy bedroom in his official residence, so that Cixi and others could rest there.He also rummaged through his cabinets and dug out a padded jacket from his late mother for Cixi, and he also prepared a full dressing set, with combs and cosmetics inside, for Cixi and her princesses. Besides, Wu Yong offered them a dozen fine white linen socks, so that they could change out of their socks that were literally drenched in sweat.

Wu Yong was later promoted,and his official rank rose incrementally. Even his cook Zhou Fu was awarded the position of a sixth-rank official, all just for a bowl of hand-stretched noodles and a plate of stir-fried shredded pork.

A Parade of Local Shanxi and Shaanxi Cuisine

After staying at Huailai County for three days, Cixi gathered more people to join her posse,with 30 carriages and nearly a thousand members in total. Cixi then moved on to the west, and the official documents asking for reception had been sent to various regions in Shanxi and Shaanxi,provinces yet to arrive on their map, in advance. Hearing that Wu Yong had been promoted, the officials in those places had a tacit understanding, and, with the selfimportant wealthy merchants giving alms liberally, such as taels,delicacies and foodstuffs, they were fully prepared to greet Cixi and her group.

Datong County magistrate Qi Futian had asked a chef famous in his locality to make a specialty called “Phoenix Lying in the Nest,” which was a dish made of deep-fried spring chicken served with fried sweet potato noodles,eggs and tofu. Cixi liked the dish very much and asked about the name of it. At that moment, Qi Futian thought it inappropriate to call it “Phoenix Lying in the Nest,” so he changed the name into “Golden Phoenix Lying on Pure Snow,” which was highly appreciated by Cixi. In the prefecture of Taiyuan, Cixi was also pleased with a dish called“Fish-shaped Noodle with Crab Cream and Shark Fin” presented by Shanxi Provincial Governor Lu Zhongqi. Besides the main courses, Cixi tried all sorts of local snacks and treats on the way.

In the intercalary August of 1900, there were two midautumn festivals. Seizing the opportunity to serve the Royal family, the renowned Shanxi Qiao Family of merchants offered“Snow Lotus Cakes” to Cixi on the second mid-autumn day. It was a crystal white pastry with a flower shape, meaning to present the “flower” to the Buddha, as in the imperial Palace, Cixi was addressed as “Lao Fo Ye” (Grand Empress Dowager), literally meaning the old Buddha. Cixi was highly satisfied with the dessert,and after she arrived in Xi’an in Shaanxi Province, she sent people back to the Qiao family hundreds of miles away to pick up more Snow Lotus Cakes. In the subsequent mid-autumn festivals,Qiao Family would send people to present Snow Lotus Cakes to the capital every year.

大同縣令齊福田命令當地名廚做了一道招牌菜，叫“鳳趴窩”，將整只雛雞、干粉條、煮雞蛋和豆腐油炸后，雞主料輔裝盤。慈禧覺得好吃，問菜名，齊福田一想，“鳳趴窩”不妥，就改菜名為“金鳳臥雪”，得到慈禧贊賞。到太原府，山西巡撫陸忠祺進奉“蟹翅撥魚”，慈禧也很高興。除了這些大菜，慈禧一路上品嘗了各式小吃。

庚子年閏八月，有兩個中秋節。著名的晉商喬氏，抓住迎駕的機會，在第二個中秋專門給慈禧奉上 “雪蓮酥”月餅，雪白晶瑩，做成花形，喻借“花”獻佛（在宮中，大家尊稱慈禧為老佛爺）。慈禧贊不絕口，到陜西西安后，還差人回到幾百公里以外的喬家取雪蓮酥吃。之后，每年中秋，喬家都派人進京奉送雪蓮酥。

到了曲沃縣侯馬驛，地方官特招80名廚子，花一個月時間，做出滿漢全席108道菜。至此，慈禧一行在逃亡一個多月后，飲食基本恢復宮廷標準。到了西安，更是按紫禁城的規格，專設御膳房，下分葷局、素局、菜局、飯局、茶局、酪局、點心局等，廚師共有100多人。

這次“西狩”，一些晉陜面食、小炒的做法傳入宮中，滿漢全席的菜譜流入民間。

（摘自《皇上吃什么》中信出版社）

At Houma Courier Station in Qu’wo County, the local magistrate specifically hired 80 chefs and asked them to make the 108 dishes of the Manchu Han Imperial Feast. At that point, after having spent one month on the run, Cixi had finally regained her usual dietary standard just like what she enjoyed in the imperial palace. In Xi’an, the Imperial Kitchen was set up according to the standards in the Forbidden City, which consisted of separate departments for meat, vegetables,side dishes, the main courses, tea,cheese and desserts, with more than 100 chefs sweating over hot stoves.

Owing to the “west hunting,”some recipes of Shanxi and Shaanxi pastries have been brought into the imperial palace,and the recipe of the Manchu Han Imperial Feast has also been circulated among the common people in society.

(FromWhat does the Emperor Eat, CITIC Press. Translation:Zhu Yaguang)