By Fan Su

On“Bao”

By Fan Su

As elucidated in Shuowen Jiezi (the first dictionary in ancient China,compiled by Xu Shen, a Han Dynasty scholar), the Chinese character “Bao” resembles a pregnant woman. Vitality of human being originates from infant who is born of parents.The etymology of “Bao” is subject to the character component of “Bao” itself.

Since a prominent feature in “Bao” is the character’s resemblance to pregnancy, it was originally defined as “placenta” and extended to be “package”. For instance, the poem “Dead Deer in the Wilds,” Guofeng (Airs of the States),the Shijing (Classic of Songs) states that there is a dead deer in the wilds wrapped up in cogon grass. “Bao” also has another meaning of“contain and tolerance”, Mengxibitan (Brush Talks From Dream Brook by Shen Kuo, a Northern Song Dynasty scientist) explains that numerous peaks of Yandang Mountain are well seated in valleys. According to Shuijingzhu Heshui (Commentary on the Water Classic by Li Daoyuan, a Northern Wei Dynastry geographer),saying river encompassed by mountains flows along, “Bao” means “surround” here.

Transforming into a noun, “Bao” denotes bag,e.g. a school bag or luggage, packaged goods such as a packet of medicine or parcels, and steamed food with stuffing, e.g. vegetarian-filled Baozi & Tang Baozi, which is probably the most popular Chinese cuisine in the world.

Legend has it that “Baozi” (steamed filled bun) emerged during the Northern Song Dynasty, which is verified by Yanyiyanmoulu(the work is mainly about institutions and regulations in Song Dynasty and elaboration to success and failure of reform, by Wang Yong in Song Dynasty), saying “Baozi” are bestowed on civil and military officials to celebrate Emperor Ren Zong’s birthday. “Baozi” is annotated to be entitled “Mantou” (steamed bun) as an alternative name. Nevertheless, it is known to all that the so-called “Maotou” in Northern Song Dynasty refers to fermented steamed stuffed food while the one without stuffing is called “Cuibing”(steamed cake). Up to now, there still prevails the appellation of “pork-filled Baozi,” “vegetarianfilled Baozi,” and “Shengjian mantou” in many areas of Southern China, which are all, in fact, filled with stuffing.

包，《說文》：“象人褢[褢huái ⒈衣袖。 ⒉古同“懷”：“～誠秉忠。”]妊，巳在中，象子未成形也。元?dú)馄痨蹲?。子，人所生也。……凡包之屬[屬（屬）]皆從包。布交切?！卑衷诠盼闹邢褚粋€人懷胎的樣子，所以它的本義為“胎胞”，并由此引申出包裹之意，如《詩經(jīng)·國風(fēng)·野有死麕[麕：jūn]》：“野有死麕，白茅包之。”也可指包含、包容，如沈括《夢溪筆談》“皆包在諸谷中”；或指包圍、四面圍住，如《水經(jīng)注·河水》“和水分流，包山而過”。而包字做名詞時，通常有這樣幾個意思：裝東西的袋子，如書包、旅行包；包裹起來的東西，如藥包、郵包；以及帶餡兒的蒸熟的食物，如菜包、湯包——這恐怕也是日常生活中最為我們所熟悉的。

“包子”一詞據(jù)說出現(xiàn)于北宋時期，王栐[栐，讀音yǒng。]《燕翼冶謀錄》：“仁宗誕日，賜群臣包子?！卑酉伦ⅰ凹答z頭別名?！倍覀冎?，北宋時期的“饅頭”就是指發(fā)酵的有餡兒的蒸食，沒餡兒的稱作“炊餅”。至今在中國南方很多地方，依然有“肉饅頭” “菜饅頭”“生煎饅頭”等叫法，其實(shí)都是有餡兒的。

南宋耐得翁的《都城紀(jì)勝》中記載：“除官庫子庫腳店之外，其余皆謂之‘拍戶’，有茶飯店，謂兼賣食次下酒是也。但要索喚及時食品，知處不然，則酒家亦有單于牌面點(diǎn)選也。包子酒店，謂賣鵝鴨包子、四色兜子、腸血粉羹、魚子、魚白之類，此處易為支費(fèi)?！睂懪R安的包子酒店，專賣鵝鴨肉餡兒的包子，可見當(dāng)時包子已是非常普遍的一種食物。

It is recorded in Duchengjisheng (the work describes local conditions and customs in the city of Lin An, Southern Song Dynasty, by Nai Deweng in Southern Song Dynasty) that “all are called bistros, except for state-owned hotels and wineshops, private restaurants, and inns. Food served with wine is also for sale in these eateries,where the menu was accessible to whose who were in need of a ready-made meal. Baozi restaurant sometimes sell such specialties such as Eya Baozi,Sise Douzi, Changxuefengeng, Yuzi, and Yubai,which are all in great demand.” As mentioned in Duchengjisheng, one particular Baozi restaurant in Lin An dominated, whose major product was goose& duck meat filled baozi. Apparently, “Baozi” has been widely available since then.

包子作為一種親民又可口的食物，當(dāng)然也并非中國獨(dú)有，在蒙古、日本、越南、菲律賓等受中華文化影響的國家和地區(qū)也都能看到包子的身影。

2013年年末，毫無征兆的，包子突然火了，原因是——習(xí)大大吃了一頓慶豐包子！12月28日中午，國家主席習(xí)近平工作途中在北京慶豐包子鋪月壇店吃了一頓午餐，點(diǎn)了二兩蔥肉包子、一碗炒肝和一份芥菜，共花費(fèi)21元。此事迅速成為熱議話題，網(wǎng)絡(luò)上的關(guān)鍵詞也很快出現(xiàn)“習(xí)大大” “慶豐” “豬肉大蔥餡包子”“炒肝”“芥菜”“21元”等等，甚至很多人專門去包子鋪點(diǎn)同樣的“包子套餐”。一時間，全國上下，包子飄香。

有網(wǎng)友說，主席的機(jī)智不在于他選擇了慶豐包子鋪，而在于他沒有選擇豆腐腦、月餅、粽子、湯圓、餃子、臘八粥、豆?jié){等一系列可能引發(fā)“國家分裂”“人民內(nèi)戰(zhàn)”的“小眾”食品，這是一個國家領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人應(yīng)有的智慧和視野，也是一個國家維持統(tǒng)一的必要物質(zhì)保證。這條微博從小小的包子就看到了這么多，實(shí)在有內(nèi)涵！話說po主你這么聰明，這么幽默，你家里人知道嗎?

包子這事兒還沒完。

2014年1月5日，《人民日報(bào)》刊文介紹各地的包子，上海南翔小籠、天津狗不理、成都韓包子、沈陽長樂包、武漢魚香包、廣東叉燒包、宜春大包子等等榜上有名。

你以為這樣包子的故事就結(jié)束了嗎？那就太小瞧吃貨們了?！度嗣袢請?bào)》的榜單一出，網(wǎng)友就開始各抒己見——

身為武漢人表示，魚香包不過就是把魚香肉絲填到包子里啊，要我推薦還是汽水包好吃！

沈陽人表示，從來沒聽說過長樂包這個玩意兒。

在宜春生活了20多年的人表示，什么是宜春大包子？

小籠包明顯得從常州、蘇州吃起，就連無錫小籠也妥妥排在上海小籠包之前！

……

看，吃貨們在吃這件事兒上，可是非常認(rèn)真的。不難理解，包子并非美食界的翹楚，但它卻以自有的樸實(shí)家常，穿越千年，溫暖著我們的餐桌和腸胃。

（摘自《作文獨(dú)唱團(tuán)》2014年3月號）

It is misleading to believe that Baozi, a simple and palatable diet, is unique to China. On the contrary, it is also prevalent in other countries and regions influenced by longstanding ties to Chinese culture in places such as Mongolia, Japan,Vietnam, and the Philippines.

The reason why December of 2013 witnessed the sudden rise in popularity of Baozi is that President Xi ate at the Beijing Qingfeng Baozi Restaurant.At noon of Dec. 28th, President Xi paid 21 yuan for a portion of pork-filled Baozi, fried pork liver,and mustard at Beijing Qingfeng Baozi Restaurant Yuetan Branch on the way to his office, which rapidly got spotlighted. Consequently, key words like “Xi Dada”, “Qingfeng”, “pork-scallion filled Baozi”, “fried pork liver”, “mustard”, and “21 yuan”overwhelmed the Internet. Moreover, a great many people came there specially for the same service.Affection for Baozi instantly spread throughout the nation.

What manifests President Xi’s wisdom is not his choice in the Beijing Qingfeng Baozi Restaurant, but his detour from “niche food” to avoid the potential “civil war” between foods like jellied bean curd, moon cake, zongzi (pyramidshaped dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves), tangyuan( stuffed dumpling made of glutinous rice flour served in soup), jiaozi (Chinese dumpling), laba porridge(rice porridge with beans, nuts and dried fruit,eaten on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month), and soya milk. This is the intelligence and foresight and perspective that a national leader should possess. Furthermore, baozi also plays a pivotal role in the unification of the country. That is the message from Weibo. We are impressed by netizens’ profound perception of trivial matters like a small baozi. The trending of baozi is to be continued.

On January 5th, 2014, People’s Daily carried the briefing of various Baozi such as Shanghai Xiaolongbao, Tianjin Goubuli Baozi, Chendu Hanbaozi, Shenyang Changlebao, Wuhan Yuxiangbao, Guangdong Chashaobao, and Yichun Dabaozi.

Do you think this brings an end to the story of Baozi? If yes, it seems you underestimate foodies.Netizens came to debunk the honour roll of Baozi in People’s Daily once it was released.

Wuhannese: Yuxiangbao is nothing but filling fish-flavored shredded pork into Baozi. I prefer to Qishuibao.

Shenyangnese: We have never heard of Changlebao; where does that it come from?

Yichunnese: We have lived in Yichun for over two decades, but have no idea what they mean by Yichun Dabaozi.

We can surely embark on a never-ending gastronomic tour of Xiaolongbao from Changzhou and Suzhou, followed by Wuxi, all of which are far beyond Shanghai Xiaolongbao.

…

Travelling across thousands of years, Baozi,distinguished itself as a solid and homely diet.It manages to satisfy and enrich our meals and stomachs, although it fails to stand out in a feast.

(From Essay Party, March 2014.Translation:Huang Lu)

包

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