"Wu Yinpei's Diary", compiled by Pan Zhenfang, Phoenix Publishing House, July 2023. Wu Yinpei (1851-1931), courtesy name Shubai, nicknamed Yingzhi and Yun'an, was a native of Wuxian County (now Suzhou, Jiangsu Province). In the 16th year of Guangxu's reign, he won the third place

"Wu Yinpei's Diary", compiled by Pan Zhenfang, Phoenix Publishing House, July 2023. Wu Yinpei (1851-1931), courtesy name Shubai, nicknamed Yingzhi and Yun'an, was a native of Wuxian County (now Suzhou, Jiangsu Province). In the 16th year of Guangxu's reign, he won the third place in the imperial examination, Tanhua, and was awarded the title of editor. He has been the deputy examiner of the Fujian Provincial Examination, and the same examiner of the Huixi Examination and Shuntian Provincial Examination. Foreign officials from Beijing successively served as prefects of Lianzhou, Chaozhou and Zhenyuan. In the 32nd year, I went to Japan for inspection at my own expense. After the Revolution of 1911, he returned to his hometown. He is good at calligraphy and painting, good at poetry, and is well-known. He is the author of "Yue Yun'an Poetry Manuscript" and so on.

I would like to say without any humility that I am quite familiar with "Wu Yinpei's Diary". Before I came to work at the Suzhou Museum, I knew about this diary. After I entered the museum in 2011, I successively scanned the manuscripts and diaries in the collection, and participated in the compilation of the "Series of Diaries of Celebrities in the Late Qing Dynasty Collected by the Suzhou Museum" (mainly "Gui Pan" in Suzhou "Family Diary") and "Series of Diary Manuscripts of Modern Celebrities Collected by Suzhou Museum" (nearly thirty other kinds of diary manuscripts in the collection of the Suzhou Museum) have been photocopied and published. However, due to his lazy personality, it was not until the compiled version of "Wu Yinpei's Diary" published by Phoenix Publishing House in the winter of 2023 that I actually read the book in a hurry. For me, there are two regrets about this book: first, the original manuscript has been uninterrupted for decades and has gone through chaos. Only ten volumes in the last years of Guangxu remain, and they are damaged, and the content has long been incomplete; second, although the compiled version is easy to read, However, there are many errors, which inevitably makes the content of these ten volumes lose its luster. Regarding the historical value of the diary, Pan Zhenfang has revealed it in the preface of this compilation. Here, I will only add a few minor things from the reading.

1. Wu Yinpei, the "Taste Knower"

Many celebrities in Suzhou in the late Qing Dynasty kept diaries, and many were foodies. For example, the famous dish "Pan Fish" in the capital is said to be related to Pan Zuyin, but "Pan Zuyin's Diary" is extremely brief and basically does not talk about the country. Yes, let alone food, but in his family letter, he has been asking his family in Suzhou to send a steady stream of various foods and medicines. In comparison, Wu Yinpei is good at eating and making, and he is also happy to record it all.

There are big differences between the north and the south in terms of eating habits and regional characteristics. Wu Yinpei was the kind of person who traveled from Beijing to Baoding. On the way back, he "bought thirty catties of cabbage" in Ansu County (April 22, 1905) and got on the train and took it back to Beijing. In the same year, Qiu Zuozhong "said that there are two taverns in Huaicheng, far away from Xiangxiang Hall and Green Misty Pavilion, and the food is the best in the world. It's a pity that I didn't know about it when I passed through Huaihe last year" (December 17, 1904), his tone was full of emotion. I have no regrets about not eating it. When I was in Beijing in the spring, I wanted to try something new. I went to Yangchunju in Qianmen for a drink. I ordered a "small bowl of shrimps and winter bamboo shoots" to accompany it. After finishing the meal and paying the bill, the store "priced me 5,400 yuan." I immediately felt sick and complained in my diary about "the market." The bamboo shoots are worth 1,600 per catty, and a bowl is less than half a catty. The price increase is more than three times. From now on, you must not be careful when eating in restaurants." (April 7, 1905). After eating this kind of bamboo shoots, I found it too expensive. I both love and appreciate it. The embarrassment of hate makes people smile. There is even more reason to believe that he may suffer such a loss next time.

Wu Yinpei loves to eat, knows how to eat, and can cook. He can be called a "knowledge of taste". On July 18, the 30th year of Guangxu's reign (August 28, 1904), he entertained guests at Xuannan's home. The diary entry reads:

In the afternoon, guests were entertained at his residence, including He Runfu, Xu Huanong, Chen Xianglun, Li Luyuan, Li Jitang, Zhu Chenghou, Jin Zicai and Song Mengyun both arrived. The dish is a mixture of Fushan Tang and homemade dishes, with the remaining Songshan monkey mushrooms, Huading pine mushrooms, and Yuhang tiger claw bamboo shoots added to the chicken soup. I think it is a new method, and everyone knows the taste. His dishes, such as Su-style mint dumplings and Huai-style crab dumplings, were admired by everyone during the dinner. In the wine stall, I served Wuyi tea and Biluochun to the guests, and they left happily.

On February 28 of the following year (April 2, 1905), Wu Yinpei went to Zou Fubao's house to attend a banquet to celebrate He Naiying's birthday. Xu Qi, Yu Qiqing, and Wu Yinpei each went there with their specialty dishes. The diary said: "Hua Lao I brought shark fins, I brought a lion's head to Hai Lao, and I brought crispy chicken, sea cucumbers, and Huai dumplings, and I all (Editor's note: Tong "kai") chanted the old master's praises. In addition to the dishes, seven kinds of famous tea were prepared, and we talked freely for two It’s time to disperse.” Huai dumplings, also known as small wontons, were created by Huang Zikui of Huai'an during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. They have paper-thin skin and delicious fillings. Wu Yinpei's homemade dumplings are so delicious that when friends get together, he is often invited to bring Huai dumplings.On the fourth day of July (August 4th) of the same year, Wu Yinpei invited friends to play cards at home for a day. Although the food was not large, he was very attentive. The diary said:

There are only five guis and two kinds of Japanese delicacies, but they are not worldly. There are some notable ones, such as Nanji Jiang Yao steamed chicken, stir-fried prawns with crab powder, rice dumplings with rose mint, and stir-fried Shaoxing cakes with crab powder, all of which are original and innovative.

It can be said that Suzhou people’s love for ham and crab meat has lasted for more than a hundred years. However, as ham gradually fades out of the daily dining tables of contemporary Suzhou people, crab powder has suddenly emerged. Nowadays, no matter what season they visit Suzhou, tourists from far away will be looking for a bowl of crab noodles, and Suzhou people will inevitably hide their faces and smile when they see it.

Wu Yinpei's book couplet.

On the afternoon of the third day of the first lunar month in the 32nd year of Guangxu (January 28, 1906), Wu Yinpei entertained guests at home again. Full of praise.” On the eighth day of leap April (May 30) of the same year, He Naiying invited Wu Yinpei to eat anchovies at home. Probably because he liked eating anchovies too much, the He family was not satisfied with the meal. Although they traveled to several places in one day, Wu Yinpei finally arrived at I still haven't forgotten a note in my diary: "On this day, I bought a shad, which weighs about four pounds and six taels, and is worth three Buddhas (Editor's note: the common name for foreign silver coins in the old days)." Those who couldn't help but call it expensive when eating a bowl of shrimps and winter bamboo shoots would show no mercy when buying a big anchovy.

Judging from "Diary", Wu Yinpei accepts all dishes, whether it is Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine or even watercress, and has his own evaluation. Not to mention eating big dishes in restaurants, snacks in the countryside are also very unappetizing. For example, on May 27, the 27th year of Guangxu's reign (July 12, 1901), I went to Ganlu Town in the countryside of Wuxi and ate "the salty snacks sold in tea shops". The pancakes and scallion dumplings are very delicious.” I didn’t dislike them at all. In Suzhou city, he often visited Songhe Tower and Jufeng Garden. "Wu Yinpei's Diary" records that on May 19th of this year (July 4th, 1901), he and Xiaozhuo "went to Songhelou to eat duck" in the morning. Songhelou is a time-honored restaurant in Suzhou that still exists today, but its main purpose is There will be a banquet instead of a morning market. In fact, when Qianlongjian was founded, it was famous for its braised duck and braised duck noodles. At noon on the sixth day of June (July 21, 1901), Wu Yinpei and Xiao Zhuo and others "drinked together in Jufengyuan, and ate eight-treasure rice and luohan dishes, which were exquisite. The so-called luohan dishes are soups made with eighteen flavors." Two days later, at noon on June 8th (July 23rd), they "went to Jufeng Garden to eat grouse and medicinal cakes and have fun with each other."

2. The difference between boat dishes

In Jiangnan in the late Qing Dynasty, compared to the restaurants in the city, there was another dish that is often longed for but has long since disappeared - boat dishes. Nowadays, whenever we talk about boat dishes, we can’t avoid the boat menu of the Suzhou Wang Si Shou boat in the late Qing Dynasty. I remember that more than ten years ago, I accompanied Mr. Shen Xieyuan to visit Shantang Street. When we were approaching Qinchuan Bookstore, he suddenly talked about the boat dishes in Suzhou and said that he had copied a menu of boat dishes from a certain book. I guess in Qing Dynasty documents, mentions of Suzhou boat dishes are often associated with Shantang Painted Boats, so the old man mentioned it now and promised to show me the menu when he found it, but the menu was never found. It wasn’t until Mr. Shen’s death last year that I went to Nanjing to sort out the belongings in his apartment, and I discovered that the menu he copied with a ballpoint pen looked like the menu for Wang Si Shou’s boat dishes contained in the 1995 edition of "Suzhou City Chronicles", but the content was a bit sparse. The discrepancy may have another source, but unfortunately the copy does not record where it was obtained.

Records about Wang Sishou's boat dishes in "Wu Yinpei's Diary".

Who is Wang Sishou, who is famous for making boat dishes? The year before last, He Wenbin's article "The Old Time of Suzhou Boat Vegetables" provided new material. According to the letter of "Gui Pan" in the Suzhou Municipal Archives, Pan Zhongrui, Pan Fu, and Pan Jiasui made an appointment with Pan Fei and their sons Pan Zhiyi and Pan Zhijun to go out to see osmanthus flowers. The boat that Pan hired was the Wang Sishou family's boat. According to the time when Pan Zhijun was elected, it was estimated that it was the autumn of the second year of Guangxu (1876). It was more than twenty years later that Wu Yinpei ate Wang Sishou's boat dishes. On May 26, the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (July 11, 1901), Huang Shifu, a descendant of Huang Pilie and a neighbor of the Wu family, invited Wu Yinpei and his two sons to go out to the city for an outing. They also rented a boat owned by Wang Sishou's family:

In the morning, It rained heavily, but after a while it stopped, and the sky showed a clear sky. Huang Shifu had a wine boat and made an appointment for a trip outside the city.Those traveling with me included Qiao, Dan, Chang Er'er, and Shifu's fourth, fifth, and sixth generation brothers. We boarded the boat before noon and left Panmen. The boat docked at Qingyang. Shifu invited him to watch an Oriental performance at the Dangui Garden on Erma Road. This place was very lively two years ago, but now it is deserted. At night, the boat still enters Panmen, lights are lit and people drink freely. After the second drum, the dishes of King Zhouzi's fourth birthday were extremely rich and beautiful.

It may be that he reciprocated the favor. On the fourth day of August of the same year (September 16, 1901), Wu Yinpei also hired Wang Sixhou's boat to go on a trip with his family. He invited Huang Shifu's daughter to go with him, but he had lunch at Jufeng Garden outside Changmen. During the lunch, the diary mentioned:

In the morning, I served my mother, took my wife, daughter, two sons-in-law, dragon and grandson, and invited Huang Shifu's daughter-in-law to go to the fourth birthday of the king to paint a boat, go out of the golden tent, and gather in Fengyuan for a drink. In the afternoon, we went to Lingering Garden together. After lighting the lamp, return home.

There seems to be no female school secretary on the boat of Wang Sishou's family, which belongs to the category of "wine boats" as mentioned in "Wu Yinpei's Diary". As for the flower boats, Wu Yinpei has also seen them. It was the second day of July in the 32nd year of Guangxu (August 21, 1906). He "went to Cangqiao to see the lucky boat Chen Jie. Pan Binru made an appointment with his relatives to see it with Binru, Ye and Chen." Bird. Visit the Liuyuan Garden." Xu Ke, the younger brother of Wu's friend Xu Qi (a flower farmer), specifically mentioned in "Ke Yan": "The high-class prostitutes in Suzhou are called Changsan, and they are divided into shore gangs and boat gangs. Boat gangs were in Cangqiao Bang during the Xuantong period. The Chen Jiefu, Chen Yuanyuan, and Xiao Chen families all bought their own boats and prepared their own wine and banquets, and they were regarded as the giants of boat dishes." On the night of November 16 (December 31) of the same year, Wu Yinpei responded to "Huang Shifu and Tao Nianqiao's call. "Drinking in the water pavilion of Chen Jiefu's house, Wang Guisheng was at the same table. Although he is old, he can still drink a lot." Huang Shifu must be Huang Shifu who invited Wu to eat boat dishes on Wang Sishou's boat five years ago.

3. Book compilation and painting

Wu Yinpei mentioned in his diary that the content of compiling books was actually not much, as Pan Zhenfang has revealed in the preface of this compilation. There is one thing to add about He Zhuo's "Collection of Mr. Yimen". I remember Mr. Shen Xieyuan mentioned when we visited the bookstore together that although Wu Yinpei's edition of Xuantong was later than the Daoguang edition, the content of Wu's edition included more "Letter from Home" "Four volumes, catching up from behind. He also told me that the manuscript of "Letter from Home" later belonged to the Southern Jiangsu Cultural Management Committee and seems to be now in the Nanjing Museum. After so many years, I actually can't remember it clearly. In addition, Wu Yinpei is also related to Huang Pilie, whom he studied. Mr. Shen once mentioned to me that Wu had copied Huang Pilie's inscriptions and postscripts from a set of album pages preserved by Taoist priests at Qionglong Mountain. Unfortunately, Mr. Shen did not read "The Diary of Wu Yinpei" and did not know that Wu Yinpei and Huang Shifu, a descendant of Huang Pilie, were neighbors. The "Chronology of Mr. Huang Xupu" compiled and engraved by Jiang Biao, the 63-year-old portrait of Huang Pilie in front of the composition was copied from the portrait painted by Hu Junsheng in the "Xuanji Shisi Tu Inscription Book". This volume was still kept in the Huang family during the reign of Emperor Guangxu, and Jiang Biao borrowed it from Huang Shifu. In the early years of the Republic of China, this album belonged to Zhu Binggang, Jin Songcen wrote poems for it, and Wu Mei wrote the drama "Priceless Treasure".

"Illustration of Wenmei Poetry Society".

In fact, the album of Wenmei Poetry Society, which is very closely related to Huang Pilie, was once in the collection of Wu Yinpei and is now in the Nanjing Museum. Behind the album is a poem written by He Naiying in the spring of the 31st year of Guangxu (1905):

Wuzhong is good at skirts and clogs It's romantic, and the relics of 80 years ago remain.

The Catastrophe Red Sheep flicked his fingers, and there were sand gulls on the Piao Piao River.

Talents have belonged to Wumen since ancient times and are located near Shangyou Village in Jinchang.

One tree has plum blossoms and three feet of snow, but the cold moon shines at dusk.

I remember my friend for twenty years, and the haze is dim, looking back at the setting sun on Huai Street.

I have the manuscript of Caihua Yin Society, but I don’t know who the poem book belongs to.

(Jia Shenyu lived in Shangxie Street, and joined the Caihua Yin Club with Li Fensheng's predecessors. Now Fensheng has returned to Daoshan, and the poetry album is also lost to Gengzi).

remembers Zeng Qiu Lao Fan Wu and Zhong Ting collided with the ancient temple in Hanshan.

Today's reunion cultural reception is still elegant in Pingjiang.

The "Wu Yinpei Diary" about He's inscription of Wu Yinpei's "Album of Wenmei Poetry Society" is lost, otherwise the specific date can be found. On the contrary, there are many records of Wu's paintings inscribed by He Naiying. For example, on June 29, the 30th year of Guangxu's reign (August 10, 1904), He Naiying inscribed "The Picture of Horse Trial on the Spring Embankment" with seven unique chapters and three chapters. On the sixth day of the lunar month (August 16), He Naiying inscribed "Pictures of Joy in the Thatched Cottage".However, compared to He Naiying, Wu Yinpei wrote more calligraphy and postscripts for Xu Qi. In the 30th year of Guangxu (1904) alone, he wrote poems and postscripts for Xu's parents' manuscripts, Xu's own manuscripts, posters, and collections of calligraphy and paintings:

On the third day of June: In the evening, I wrote three quatrains of the "Nine Songs Volume of the Li Sao Jing in Small Regular Script" for Xu Hua Lao to prepare for the imperial edict.

June 28: A chapter on the Five Ancients titled "Peng Gangzhi's Elegiac Poems Volume" for Xu Hua Lao.

July 26: Inscribed on Mrs. Xu Hua's "Lianyinshi Manuscript Book" following Peng Gang's seven unique rhymes.

August 18th: Inscribed for Mr. Xu on his respected Mr. Ruozhou’s "Book of Poems and Poems of Zhibu Huaguan", two poems in five rhymes.

September 10th: Inscribed on Li Boshi's "Fahai Yunshan Picture Scroll" by Xu Hua, seven unique chapters and three chapters.

September 24th: Six chapters and four chapters of "Jieye Pavilion Yinju" written by Xu Hua.

October 29th: Inscribed for Xu Hua Lao, a poem from Qigu in the large-character scroll of Su Shu.

Wen Zhengming's lower regular script "Li Sao Nine Songs" is introduced.

According to the "Diary", Wu Yinpei has a lot of paintings and poems extant, but not many of his poems have been preserved in manuscripts or printed copies. If the original volume of the title is not available, it will not be easy to collect it. Among the seven types listed above, the manuscript of Xu Qi's father Xu Hongmo's "Zhubu Huaguan Poems" is now in the library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Wu's poems are all there; the location of the manuscript of his mother Zheng Lansun is unknown, but fortunately there is still a lithographic copy. spread. Of the remaining five types, one has actually flown across the sea and is now in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, Japan. That is the "Nine Songs of Li Sao" written in regular script by Wen Zhengming of the Ming Dynasty. The volume is preceded by the four-character inscription "Zhenci Miaomo" written by Xu Qi in the 30th year of Guangxu's reign (1904). The volume is followed by titles by Prince Gong, He Naiying, Zou Fubao, Wu Yinpei, Yu Yue, Xu Qi, etc. Wu's poem goes like this:

Wu Zhongya is the master of Hengshan Mountain, and his calligraphy and painting legacy lasted for three hundred years.

Vanilla beauty talks about sustenance, and the dazzling paper is filled with smoke and clouds.

A volume of classics and nine songs, how about Zhishan's first strokes? Mr.

is still very charming as he grows old, and he retains many pure and wonderful poems.

The story of Feiyan is not deleted from the side story, and a picture of the Han Palace in Fengqiu.

I also have a stop-the-cloud pen.

The articles waiting for imperial edicts are of great importance to the Imperial Academy, and the calligraphy treasures written by Linchi are worth a thousand pieces of gold.

Yutai's poems were narrated by Xu Ling, and from then on Jiao Tong met the music appreciation.

is signed as "On the fourth day of the sixth month of the Jiachen period of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the senior Huanong proposed a proposition. The worldly affairs were pressing, so he took the time to write down the four chapters of the book. I hope that there is truth. The Pingjiang attendant Wu Yinpei Yunzhu recorded the manuscript." Take a closer look. , you will find discrepancies between the ink mark and the "Diary": first of all, the time title is the fourth day of June, which is one day later than the third day of the "Diary"; secondly, the title of the "Diary" is "Three Quatrains", and the original volume clearly says four The first quatrain is one more. The first three poems all have Wu's own annotation, but the last one does not. However, the fourth poem may have been added when the scroll was written on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. This situation may not be an isolated case.

4. Yu Jue’s gift

Shen Shou’s embroidered zodiac screen.

Two decades ago, 1904 happened to be the Year of the Dragon in Jiachen. This year was of extraordinary significance in the history of Su embroidery. The tenth day of October in the 30th year of Guangxu (1904) coincided with the 70th birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi. Shen Shou, known as the "Needle God" in modern times, was rewarded by her husband Yu Jue for presenting her embroidery works to the Empress Dowager Cixi. Not only did her life trajectory change, but the fate of Su embroidery also changed. There are many records about the embroidery donated by Yu Jue and his wife, but there are different opinions. For example, Chinese-American Chen Benchang (1913-2013) said in Chapter 13 of "Overseas Chinese Restaurant Industry in the United States" "Overseas Chinese Restaurants and China's Foreign Trade":

It is said that in the late Qing Dynasty, Ms. Shen Shou, the wife of Yu Changgeng, a member of the Zhejiang Province, lost her father when she was young and relied on her mother to make a living. She wore light cloth clothes and had a charming demeanor. She was also a red worker and was especially good at embroidery. When the Queen Mother of the West lived in her 70s, they decided to embroider six paintings of water flowers and birds, which were linked together to form a screen to attract officials from Zhejiang Province. On that day, the Queen Mother of the West returned to the palace to receive congratulations. The eunuch Li Lianying knelt down to play. Mrs. Yu Changgeng, a member of the Zhejiang Province, had embroidered a painted screen. Should she present it for viewing? The Queen Mother of the West promised it. She saw that the workmanship was exquisite and elegant, especially the painting, and she was full of praise. As ordered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I came to see you. At that time, my wife was about thirty years old. She was shy and timid, and she knelt down as expected. The Queen Mother expressed her warm words of comfort, pity that his weak feet could not endure for long, and ordered him to give him a brocade stool. Those who heard it were shocked.

I don’t know who Chen relied on to describe the scene where Cixi summoned and rewarded Shen Shou that day very realistically, as if he was present at the scene. But as we all know, this is not true. At present, it can be confirmed that it was Yu Jue who came to Beijing to present gifts, and Shen Shou was in Suzhou and did not go north. What Zhang Jian's grandson Zhang Xuwu said in the book "My Grandfather Zhang Jian" is closer to the truth:

In the 30th year of Guangxu (1904), Cixi's 70th birthday, Shen Shou's husband Yu Jue (also known as Bingchen) took her to The embroidered "Eight Immortals Extending Their Longevity" panoramic screen and "Infinite Life Buddha" were commissioned by the Ministry of Commerce to be presented to Cixi. Cixi showed them and read them. They were amazed by the masterpieces and were very happy. The words "longevity" were given to Yu Jue and his wife, and they were also given the fourth-class medal of the Shuanglong Baoxing Commercial Department. After that, Shen Shou changed his real name "Yunzhi" to "Shou". In the 31st year of Guangxu (1905), the Ministry of Commerce of the Qing Dynasty sent Shen Shou and his wife to Japan for inspection. Shen Shou learned about the characteristics of Western art and Japanese embroidery art.

Combining the records of Sun Peilan's "History of Chinese Embroidery" and Shao Guizhen's "Famous Women in Chinese History" and other books, Yu Jue accepted the suggestion of his friend Dan Zhen (Shu Sheng), a Suzhou native who worked at the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, to use Shen Shou's Su embroidery The work went to Beijing to celebrate the birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi. In October of the 30th year of Guangxu (1904), Yujue went northward with embroidery. He arrived in the capital on October 5th (November 11th) and found his teacher Wu Yinpei to stay overnight. Wu's diary:

It was late in the evening when Yu Bingchen, his wife, came to Beijing from Nanzhong with the Buddhist screen embroidered by his wife, with the intention of starting a new industry. Settled in Yu Zhai.

According to the Zhujuan of the Provincial Examination, Yu Jue's original name was "Yu Zhaoxiong, with the courtesy name Longtao and Longjun, and his nickname was Bingchen and Changgeng. He was born on the 26th of the first month of the Xinwei year of Tongzhi at an auspicious time. Affiliated to the School of Kuaiji County, Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Born, nationality. He studied at the Jiangsu Ziyang Academy, and Wu Yinpei was his "teacher". Reviewing Wu's diary, six days later, at noon on October 11th (November 17th), Wu Yinpei entertained guests at home, and the last of the eight guests, "Yu Changgeng", was Yu Jue. Seven days later, on October 18th, there was a record in Wu's diary that Yu Jue presented the embroidered screen and was rewarded by the Empress Dowager Cixi:

The eight frames of the Buddhist screen embroidered by Mrs. Yu Changgeng were presented by the officials of the Shangbu Hall the day before yesterday and were rewarded by the Empress Dowager Cixi. There are two large characters of "Fu" and "Shou" in Shengshang Royal Inscriptions, and one large and small fourth-class Shangquan treasure star. They are also odd numbers.

Embroidery artist Shen Shou.

It can be seen from this that Shen Shou's embroidery work was presented to the palace by the official of the Ministry of Economics and Commerce on the ninth day of October, and then received the two characters "福" and "Shou" written by the emperor. Later, "Wu Yinpei's Diary" contains a record of "Four drums sent Yu Changgeng off to the south" on October 26th (December 1st). Yu Jue entered Beijing from the fifth day of October to the south on the 26th. They stayed at Wu Yinpei's house for a total of twenty-two days. Therefore, as first-hand information, the relevant records about Yu Juejin's presentation of embroidery and the rewards he received are undoubtedly relatively reliable. Rereading Wu Yinpei's poems for Shen Shou today, you will find that many of the sentences are very realistic:

There is no one behind the dew in the fragrant garden, and the swallows in the red snow are desolate and robbed of dust.

Ms. Wu Xingxian is a rare person. There is an ancient acupuncture goddess in our hometown today.

Ling Yun's unique skills are unparalleled in the world, and her husband and husband have the same eyebrows in the boudoir.

I remember that Xiaolian's boat sailed north, and Jinping offered his birthday and paid homage to Tianchi.

Xuannan is a guest in the old nest, and the starlight on the throne bestows the supreme.

The husband and wife of Fushou and Shuangxiu were married. Wen Zhao came to the ministers at that time.

Felt Qiu Kun leans back to the European style, embroidering the new boudoir seizes the chemical industry.

The history and economics spread thousands of miles, and the female celebrity spread all over the sea, west and east.

My friend, the Fengyue Stone Couple, from the Fu family, went on a trip to Hailing together.

Opportunities do not come to the fore of heaven and earth, and the twin stars are as good as the female ox.

Among them, the sentence "Remember that Xiaolian's boat went northward, Jinping offered birthdays and worshiped Tianchi" should refer to Yu Jue's trip northward to present gifts in the 30th year of Guangxu (1904). As for the poem "Xuannan was a guest in the old nest, the throne and the starlight bestowed upon the Supreme Being. The husband and wife were united in happiness and longevity, when Wen Zhao came to the minister's door", it obviously refers to the "blessing" given by the Empress Dowager Cixi to Yu Jue when he stayed at Wu Yinpei's Xuannan home. The characters "Shou" and "Shou" were sent to the Wu family. Based on this, the time when Yu Jue and Shen Shou presented Su embroidery to Ci Xi can basically be determined.

Li Jun

Editor Liu Xiaolei