Coco Mandarin

14/10/2022

Anyone interested in Mandarin can join our community！！！

I will be posting short stories and practice questions every day!

13/10/2022

望梅止渴

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao led his troops to crush Zhang Xiu, who was entrenched in Wancheng. It was already noon, and the sun was blazing hot. The soldiers, carrying heavy weapons, were drenched in sweat, hot and thirsty, and it was very uncomfortable, causing serious disruption to the march.

When Cao Cao saw the soldiers licking their dry lips and barely walking, he was very anxious. He ordered the troops to rest where they were, and sent them out in search of water. After a while, all the men returned with empty buckets. It turned out that the area was a wilderness, with no rivers or mountain springs, so there was no water to be found. Cao Cao ordered the soldiers to dig a well on the spot, but after a long time, they could not dig a drop of water.

Cao Cao thought to himself that the situation was serious and if he stayed here for long, more men would not be able to hold on. After a moment's thought, Cao Cao fiercely pointed his horse whip at the hill ahead and said loudly to the generals under his command, "I am familiar with this place; when you go over the hill ahead, there will be a large forest of lush plums; when you get there, each of you can enjoy the plums to your heart's content."

As soon as the soldiers heard of plums and their sour juice, they naturally imagined the sour taste and thus drooled, and suddenly did not feel so thirsty. Cao Cao immediately commanded the troops to march, and after some time, finally led them to a water source successfully, and they drank the water with great pleasure and continued their march refreshed.

10/10/2022

08/10/2022

Yan Di, an honorific title for the leader of the Jiang tribe in ancient China, known as Shennong

The legend says that the leader of the Jiang tribe was given the throne because he knew how to use fire, hence the name Yan Di. From Shennong, there were nine generations of the Jiang tribe, with a reign of 530 years.

The Yan Di era was the Neolithic period, and there are currently six places in the Yan Di homeland, namely Baoji in Shaanxi, Lianshan in Huitong County, Hunan, Yanling County in Zhuzhou, Hunan, Suizhou in Hubei, Gaoping in Shanxi, and Zhecheng in Henan. The Yan Di tribe operated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, and the tribe began to flourish when it was in the area of Jiangshui, initially setting its capital at Chendi and later moving it to Qufu.

According to legend, the Emperor was a bull-headed man who tasted all kinds of herbs and developed the use of herbal remedies to treat illnesses; he invented slash-and-burn farming and created two types of farming tools, teaching the people to cultivate food crops; he also led the tribesmen in making pottery and cooking utensils for food.

Legend has it that the Yan Di tribe later allied with the Huang Di tribe and together they defeated Chi You. The Chinese call themselves the descendants of Yan Huang, and revere Yan Di and Huang Di together as the first ancestors of the Chinese humanities, becoming the spiritual driving force behind the unity and struggle of the Chinese nation.

Yan Di is revered by Taoism as Shennong Da Di, also known as the Five Ceres Shennong Da Di.

27/09/2022

Dongpo pork, also known as Dongpo meat,is a Hangzhou dish which is made by pan-frying and then red cooking pork belly. The pork is cut thick, about 5 centimeters (2.0 in) square, and should consist equally of fat and lean meat. The skin is left on. The mouthfeel is oily but not greasy and the dish is fragrant with wine. The dish is named after the Song Dynasty poet and gastronome Su Dongpo. Legend has it that during Su Dongpo's life of poverty during his banishment to Hangzhou, he improved on the traditional process. He first braised the pork, added huangjiu (yellow wine) to make red-braised pork, then slowly stewed it on low heat. In their scholarly work Chinese Gastronomy, Lin Hsiang Ju and Lin Tsuifeng give the recipe "The Fragrance of Pork: Tungpo Pork", and remark that the "square of fat is named after Su Tungpo, the poet, for unknown reasons. Perhaps it is just because he would have liked it."

Dongpo Pork experienced three phases of popularity, from first appearance to mainstream appreciation. The history of the dish is said to parallel the experiences of Su Dongpo: from Xuzhou, a northern city of Jiangsu province, where Dongpo pork first appeared under the name of Huizeng pork; to Huangzhou, today Huanggang of Hubei province, where Su Dongpo finalized the method and recipe; and, finally, to Hangzhou, where Dongpo pork was officially named and became widely known across China.

26/09/2022

热干面-Wuhan Hot-Dry Noodles with Sesame Paste

Wuhan Hot-Dry Noodles with Sesame Paste is a special breakfast in Hubei . Eating breakfast is called "GuoZao" in Wuhan dialect. Because hot dry noodles are convenient, fast and delicious, it has become the first choice for many people in Wuhan.

The hot dry noodles are alkaline water noodles , supplemented with various ingredients such as sesame sauce , chopped green onion, and spicy radish. The most famous local brand in Wuhan is Cai Linji. Hot dry noodles have also spread to Henan Province in the north, where they are often eaten with Hu spicy soup , another local delicacy . However, the hot dry noodles in various places have their own characteristics. For example, the hot dry noodles in Henan will be mixed with red oil to make the taste more spicy, and the hot dry noodles in Jingzhou Shashi will be mixed with sesame sauce and sweet noodles sauce, and the taste is heavy. Hot dry noodles and Shanxi knife- cut noodles , Lanzhou beef noodles , Sichuan Dandan noodles , and North China fried noodles are known as the five famous noodles in China

The widely circulated version is that in the 1920s, there was a hawker named Li Bao in Changdi Street , Hankou , who made a living selling jelly and noodle soup in the Guandi Temple area. One day, the weather was extremely hot, and he was afraid that the noodles would go rancid, so he cooked and drained the leftover noodles and hung them on the chopping board. Accidentally knocked over the oiler on the chopping board, and the sesame oil was spilled on the noodles. Li Bao had to mix the noodles with oil and let them dry again. The next morning, Li Bao put the cooked noodles mixed with oil in boiling water for a little while, picked them up and drained them into a bowl . Since then, he has been specializing in this kind of noodles, not only people are competing to taste it, but also many people learn from him.

21/09/2022

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