Soup made from a special water plant in
Qianli Lake(千里蓴羹)
There was a famous official in the Western
Jin Dynasty of China. His name was Lu Ji. His story is recorded in history
books.
The three kingdoms in China's Three
Kingdoms period are the Kingdom of Cao Wei, the Kingdom of Soochow and the
Kingdom of Shu Han.
In 263 AD, the army of the Kingdom of Cao
Wei captured the capital of the Kingdom of Shuhan, and the Kingdom of Shuhan
was destroyed.
In 266 AD, a minister from the Kingdom of
Cao Wei seized power in the Kingdom of Cao Wei. This minister announced the
establishment of the Kingdom of Jin in 266 AD. In that year, the Kingdom of Cao
Wei fell.
In 280 AD, the Jin Kingdom defeated the
Soochow Kingdom and China regained its unity. In that year, Lu Ji was only 20
years old.
His grandfather served as Prime Minister of
the Soochow Kingdom, and his father was a very great general in the Soochow
Kingdom. After the fall of the Soochow Kingdom, he lived in seclusion in his
hometown for nine years. He used this time to enrich his knowledge.
In 289 AD, he and his younger brother
arrived in the capital of the Western Jin Dynasty. They hoped to work for the
central government. They hoped to use their talents and contribute to society.
As they were both very knowledgeable, they
were quickly recommended to work in the central government when they arrived in
the capital.
He and his younger brother had lived in
China's Jiangsu Province since childhood. At that time, the capital of the
Western Jin Dynasty was Luoyang City in Henan Province.
At that time, older and senior officials in
the central government generally had a mentality. These senior officials
believed that since they lived in the wealthy capital, they had better tastes
and more knowledge. As a result, these senior officials usually looked down on
people from outside the city.
One day he and his brother went to a
banquet. The host of the banquet was a high-ranking and elderly minister called
Wang Ji.
Wang Ji chatted with everyone at the
banquet, and the atmosphere at the party was very pleasant.
Halfway through the conversation, everyone
suddenly brought up the subject of their favourite food.
Wang Ji smiled and pointed to the plate of
goat cheese in front of him and said to [Lu Ji].
Have you ever had goat's cheese? I think it
is the most delicious food. When you were in your hometown, you probably didn't
eat such special and delicious food, right?
He said to Wang Ji respectfully, but
without losing his dignity.
This dish does not exist in my hometown,
but there is a lake in my hometown. There is a special water plant in that
lake. We have a famous dish there that uses this special water plant to make
soup.
When this water plant is cooked in soup
without adding any seasoning, I think it tastes as good as goat's cheese.
Sometimes we add tempeh, which is made in a
special way in my hometown, to this delicious soup, which doubles the
deliciousness of the soup.
After saying this, the minister, who wanted
to show off his taste, was so ashamed that he didn't know how to reply. This
was because the minister had never heard of the two delicious foods Lu Ji
mentioned.
The literal translation of this idiom is
'soup made from a special water plant in Qianli Lake'.)
This idiom is used to describe specialities
with local flavour.
Dear friend, what inspirations or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Are there any famous local products in your
hometown? What is the most delicious and special food you have ever eaten?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
千里蓴羹(Soup made from a special water plant
in Qianli Lake)
中國的西晉王朝有一個著名的官員，他的名字叫做陸機，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
中國的三國時代的三個王國，分別是曹魏王國與東吳王國與蜀漢王國。
西元263年，曹魏王國的軍隊攻下蜀漢王國的首都，蜀漢王國滅亡。
西元266年，曹魏王國的一個大臣奪取了曹魏王國的政權，這個大臣在西元266年宣布建立晉王國，這一年曹魏王國滅亡。
西元280年，晉王國打敗東吳王國，中國恢復統一。這一年，陸機剛好20歲。
他的祖父曾擔任東吳王國的宰相，他的父親則是東吳王國非常偉大的一個將軍。東吳王國滅亡之後，他在家鄉隱居了九年，他利用這一段時間充實自己的知識。
西元289年，他與他的弟弟一起到了西晉王朝的首都，他們希望可以進入中央政府工作，他們希望可以發揮自己的才能並且對社會有所貢獻。
因為他們兩個人都有很豐富的學問，所以他們到了首都之後很快就被推薦進入中央政府內工作
他與他的弟弟兩個人從小生活在中國的江蘇省，當時西晉王朝的首都在河南省的洛陽市。
當時的中央政府內的年長且資深的官員們普遍都有一種心態，這些資深的官員們認為自己生活在繁華的首都所以自己的品味比較高而且見識比較廣，因此這些資深的官員通常瞧不起那些外地來的人。
有一天他與他的弟弟一起去參加一場宴會。
宴會的主人是當時一個官階很高且很資深的大臣，這個大臣的名字叫做王濟。
王濟在宴會中與眾人對談，聚會的氣氛非常愉快。
聊天聊到一半，大家突然說到自己喜歡的美食的這個話題。
王濟就笑著指著自己前面的一盤羊奶酪然後對著(陸機)說。
你有吃過羊奶酪嗎?這是我認為最美味的食物，你在家鄉的時候，應該沒有吃過那麼特別又好吃的食物對吧。
他很恭敬但又不失尊嚴的對王濟說。
我的家鄉的確沒有這道料理，但我家鄉中有一個湖，這個湖裡面有一種特殊的水生植物，我們那邊有一道名菜是用這種特殊的水生植物煮成湯。
這種水生植物煮成湯之後都還不要加任何的調味料的時候，我認為其美味的程度就堪比羊奶酪。
我們有時候還會在這道美味的湯中加上我的家鄉中一種特殊的工法做成的豆豉，那麼這道湯的美味程度就會加倍。
他說完這些話後，那個想要炫耀自己的品味的大臣羞愧的不知道該如何回話。因為這個大臣連聽都沒聽過陸機說的這兩種美味的食物。
這個成語直接翻譯的意思千里湖裏一種特殊的水生植物做的湯)
這句成語被用來形容那些有地方風味的特產。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你的家鄉中有那些著名的土特產嗎?你吃過最好吃又特別得食物為何呢?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為晉書-列傳24-陸機-13條
https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=795265
出處為世說新語-言語-26條
