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），八国联军攻占北京，慈禧太后携光绪皇帝一行13人，挤在三辆马车上，仓皇出逃，一路向西……

靠老玉米汤活命

一路上败兵和义和团抢掠，店家关门避祸，拿着银子也买不到吃的。出逃当天傍晚，他们来到一处村庄，人困马乏。车夫提议，向当地农民买地里的豇豆角和老玉米，煮熟吃。

大家忙活一阵后，把煮熟的豇豆角和老玉米汤端上来。

“老太后根本咽不下这样的粗食，大家却抢着喝，光绪也喝了一碗。”慈禧宫女荣儿回忆道，但她没提到油和盐，味道可想而知。她只好把玉米粒剥下来给慈禧吃。

路上，车内奇热，口渴难耐，慈禧只好和宫女们一起嚼玉米秆的汁解渴。第二天，太阳落山，车队来到昌平回民村西贯市村。李莲英向村民讨来一盆“水饭”（由小米和豆子煮成，之后浸入凉水，是一种消暑食品），慈禧无奈，艰难地吃了几口。

誓死保卫一锅粥

慈禧出逃的第二天，延庆州发出公文，要求沿途地方接待“两宫”，标准是，满汉全席一桌，亲王等人各一品锅，食物粮草若干。

慈禧旧照 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.

怀来县令吴永接到公文时，慈禧的车队离县城只有几十里地了。他很纠结：小县城哪办得出满汉全席，不办又怕得罪慈禧，被治罪。他反复思量，决定还是尽力，并命令煮米饭、蒸馍、烙饼、熬粥，城内土匪闻讯，杀进县衙，抢走食物，还砍伤了厨役，只剩下绿豆小米粥一锅。吴永不得不和部下提枪上阵，亲自“保锅”。

这一锅粥没白保。慈禧见到吴永,忙问准备吃的没有？吴永回答，只有一锅绿豆小米粥。慈禧道：“患难之中得此已足，宁复较量美恶？”吴永献上小米粥，并亲自上筷子。李莲英出难题，要吴永给慈禧找鸡蛋、卷香烟，吴永率部下把全村翻了个遍，才找到五个鸡蛋，并扯了一户人家的窗户粗纸卷了五支香烟，呈给慈禧。

吴永把县衙布置成卧室，给慈禧一干人休息。他翻箱倒柜，把已故老母亲的夹袄找出来献给慈禧，还准备镜奁一套，梳篦脂粉悉具，呈给慈禧和格格使用。另外，吴永还送了十多双全新的细白布袜子，大家沤在湿鞋湿袜里的脚，终于换上了舒适的新袜。

随后，吴永被提拔，并逐步晋级。就连吴永的厨子周福，也因一碗扯面、一碟炒肉丝做得如慈禧的意，被赏六品顶戴。

晋陕美食大巡游

慈禧在怀来县待了三天，陆续集结一些人，规模达到30辆车、上千人。慈禧决定继续西行，要求接待的公文发到前方山西、陕西各地。各级官员听说吴永升官了，自然“识做”，加上趋炎附势的富商们慷慨解囊，银两、佳肴、粮草，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.

大同县令齐福田命令当地名厨做了一道招牌菜，叫“凤趴窝”，将整只雏鸡、干粉条、煮鸡蛋和豆腐油炸后，鸡主料辅装盘。慈禧觉得好吃，问菜名，齐福田一想，“凤趴窝”不妥，就改菜名为“金凤卧雪”，得到慈禧赞赏。到太原府，山西巡抚陆忠祺进奉“蟹翅拨鱼”，慈禧也很高兴。除了这些大菜，慈禧一路上品尝了各式小吃。

庚子年闰八月，有两个中秋节。著名的晋商乔氏，抓住迎驾的机会，在第二个中秋专门给慈禧奉上 “雪莲酥”月饼，雪白晶莹，做成花形，喻借“花”献佛（在宫中，大家尊称慈禧为老佛爷）。慈禧赞不绝口，到陕西西安后，还差人回到几百公里以外的乔家取雪莲酥吃。之后，每年中秋，乔家都派人进京奉送雪莲酥。

到了曲沃县侯马驿，地方官特招80名厨子，花一个月时间，做出满汉全席108道菜。至此，慈禧一行在逃亡一个多月后，饮食基本恢复宫廷标准。到了西安，更是按紫禁城的规格，专设御膳房，下分荤局、素局、菜局、饭局、茶局、酪局、点心局等，厨师共有100多人。

这次“西狩”，一些晋陕面食、小炒的做法传入宫中，满汉全席的菜谱流入民间。

（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)