The author of "Suiyuan Food List" is Yuan Mei
About the author:
Yuan Mei (March 25, 1716 - January 3, 1798) , named Zicai, nicknamed Jianzhai. In his later years, he called himself Cangshan layman, master of Suiyuan, and old man of Suiyuan. A native of Qiantang (now Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province), his ancestral home is Cixi, Zhejiang Province. Qing Dynasty poet, essayist, literary critic and gourmet.
Yuan Mei is a rare talent and is good at writing poetry. In the fourth year of Qianlong's reign (1739), he was born as a Jinshi and was awarded the title of Shujishi by the Hanlin Academy. In the seventh year of Qianlong's reign (1742), he was transferred to Jiangsu and served as county magistrate in Lishui, Jiangning, Jiangpu and Shuyang for seven years. As an official, he was well-known for his political diligence, but his official career was not smooth and he had no intention of getting a salary.
In the fourteenth year of Qianlong's reign (1749), he resigned and lived in seclusion in Suiyuan, Xiaocangshan, Nanjing, where he chanted poetry and gained many poetry disciples, especially female disciples. In the second year of Jiaqing (1798), Yuan Mei died at the age of 82. After his death, he was buried in Baibupo, Nanjing, and was known as "Mr. Suiyuan" in the world.
Yuan Mei advocated the "spiritual theory" and advocated that the aesthetic creation of poetry should express the soul, write the poet's personality, and express his true feelings in his personal life. Together with Zhao Yi and Jiang Shiquan, he is known as "Qian". The "Three Masters of Jiajia" (or the Three Masters of Jiangyou) are also known as the "Three Masters of Xingling School" together with Zhao Yi and Zhang Wentao, and are one of the "Eight Masters of Parallel Prose in the Qing Dynasty".
His writing style is as famous as that of Ji Yun, a great scholar, and he was called "Ji of Southern Yuan and Northern Dynasties" at that time. His major works include "Collected Works of Xiaocang Shanfang", "Suiyuan Poetry Talk", "Suiyuan Poetry Talk Supplement", "Suiyuan Food List", "Zi Buyu", "Xu Zi Buyu", etc. The representative work of prose is "Essay on Sacrifice to Sisters", which is mentioned by ancient prose commentators together with "Essay on Sacrifice to Twelve Langs" written by Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty.
Book introduction:
"Suiyuan Food List", the first volume of ancient Chinese cooking books, was written by the Qing Dynasty writer Yuan Mei. As a talented scholar of Qianlong Emperor and leader of the poetry circle, Yuan Mei wrote prolifically throughout his life. As a gourmet, Yuan Mei's "Suiyuan Food List" is the product of his forty years of gourmet practice.
In the form of classical Chinese essays, this book details the dietary conditions and cooking techniques in Jiangsu and Zhejiang during the Qianlong period, and uses a large amount of space to describe in detail 326 kinds of northern and southern dishes that were popular in China from the 14th to the 18th century. The dishes and meals also introduce the fine wines and teas of that time. It is a very important Chinese food masterpiece in the Qing Dynasty.