Does Li Ziqi’s kimchi have anything to do with Korea?

　　Chinanews client, Beijing, January 13 (Reporter Song Yusheng) Recently, #李子柒做泡菜 was besieged by South Korean netizens# on the Weibo hot search list, sparking discussion among netizens.

Li Ziqi video screenshot

　　According to reports, some Korean netizens saw this video and left such comments: “Please note that kimchi is our traditional Korean food.” There are even Korean netizens who think that from Li Ziqi’s video, it can be seen that she does not Kimchi refrigerator, this is enough to show that "Kimchi is not Chinese food at all."

　　So, does Li Ziqi’s kimchi have anything to do with Korea?

Where did kimchi come from?

Li Ziqi video screenshot

"Kimchi" is intangible heritage?

　　Let’s take a look at what kimchi is today.

　　In 2013, South Korea’s “Pickled Overwintering Kimchi Culture” was included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List of Humanity.

　　It should be noted that it is not "Korean kimchi" itself that is included in the Intangible Heritage List, but South Korea's "preserved overwintering kimchi culture", specifically "Korean kimchi pickling and sharing".

　　Reports at the time showed that the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage stated at the meeting that the culture of Koreans pickling overwintering kimchi has been passed on from generation to generation, and that Koreans promoted the spirit of sharing among neighbors, and this culture strengthened the sense of bond among Koreans. A sense of identity and belonging.

An introduction to Korea’s "Pickled Overwintering Kimchi Culture" in the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List.

webpage Screenshot

　　In the introduction on the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List page, this culture is considered "a great opportunity to strengthen family cooperation."

At the same time, the introduction admits that there are geographical differences, which are also regarded as "important family heritage", "usually passed from mother-in-law to her daughter-in-law."

　　According to the Intangible Heritage List, the production of Korean winter kimchi starts every spring: pickling and fermenting seafood in spring; using sea salt as brine in summer; drying and grinding red peppers into powder in late summer; in late autumn, everyone collectively Make and share kimchi.

Li Ziqi video screenshot

Where does the "hotness" of "spicy cabbage" come from?

　　It should be noted here that, according to this statement, chili is an essential ingredient for pickling Korean winter kimchi.

　　It is generally believed that peppers are native to America.

According to the textual research of "Spicy Food History in China", when Columbus went to America for the second time in 1493, a ship doctor brought peppers back to Spain and recorded its medicinal properties in 1494.

　　And in the "Zhifeng Lei Shuo" compiled in 1614, Lee's Korean scholars also made this record: "The Nanban pepper is very poisonous, and it is called Japanese mustard seed because it was transmitted from Japan."

　　In other words, until the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, people on the Korean peninsula still believed that chili pepper was "very poisonous."

Obviously, people at the time were unlikely to use peppers for pickling kimchi.

Data map: Farmers drying hot peppers.

Photo by Shi Yonghong

　　Here comes the question: Are there kimchi in the Korean peninsula before the pepper "out of" America?

　　The answer is yes, but its taste must be different from the "spicy cabbage" that people are familiar with today.

　　In the 13th century, in the poems of Li Gyubo during the Goryeo period, there was a sentence saying "It is best to eat sauce for three summers, and pickle salt for Jiudongzhi".

Some scholars believe that the kimchi on the Korean Peninsula at that time was still salted white kimchi and radish kimchi filled with water.

　　However, in the 18th century "Enhancing the Forest Economy", kimchi from the Korean peninsula had become a pickle made with peppers and garlic.

At this time, chili is no longer considered "poisonous", but an essential condiment for pickling kimchi.

Data map: In September 2020, the flaming chili peppers in Xihe County, Longnan City, Gansu were spread across the mountains and valleys.

Photo by Feng Zhijun

What is "菹"?

　　In fact, we found that "菹" (zū) began to have the characteristics of "Xin Lie" in some of the customs of the Korean peninsula since then.

　　But what is the "Kan" here?

　　Most people today should be very unfamiliar with "Phu", but in Chinese historical materials, "Phu" has a long history.

　　The so-called "plum" is the method of preserved vegetables.

　　"The History of Chinese Foodstuffs" pointed out that "Phu" was already "common" in the pre-Qin period.

It is mentioned in the "Book of Songs" and "Zhou Li".

At that time, Phalaenopsis was a food made by marinating and fermenting melons, fruits and vegetables with salt and rice (including starchy substances such as porridge and rice noodles).

　　This is mainly to use lactic acid bacteria to decompose most of the lactose in the pickled raw materials into lactic acid, and a small part of lactose produces different alcohols due to incomplete decomposition. The acid and alcohol undergo chemical reactions under certain conditions to form unique esters.

　　The food marinated in this way is sour and salty, and has a special fragrance.

Modern kimchi and sauerkraut fall into this category.

Li Ziqi video screenshot

"Kuo" on the Korean Peninsula

　　Let's take a look at the relevant documents of Lee Korea in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Among them, there are not a few people involved in "Phu".

　　For example, "Kyoto Magazine" recorded "Mixed Potatoes" as "Boiled shrimps in salt sauce and waited to clear them, radishes, scallions, garlic, peppers, snails, bitters, and toots, used pottery urns and flooded, through winter hardship" .

　　The "Dongju" in "Dong Guo Sui Shi Ji" is more specific: in October, "using vine green, sizzling, garlic, pepper, and salt, immersed in the pottery urn. Summer sauce, Dongju, is another year. "It's a big plan"; November "Use buckwheat noodles, Shen Jingsuo, sizzlings, and pork, called cold noodles"; December "Take the smaller vine roots for phoenix, winter is winter Shen", "use Shrimp salt juice waits to clear, Shen Manjing, scallion, garlic, ginger, pepper, green horns, snails, snails, stone flower, stone head fish, salt for calamus, storage of pottery urns, and flooding in winter, spicy and edible. It is also made of manjing, song, celery, ginger, and pepper, and so on."

　　From this, we can see that the raw materials used are not limited to vegetables such as radishes and cabbage, but also aquatic products such as fish and snails; in fact, the pickling methods similar to today's kimchi are used here.

　　At this time, the kimchi on the Korean peninsula has already used foreign peppers, so its taste is "sinky."

Data map: In 2018, citizens participated in the winter kimchi making activities in Seoul, South Korea.

　　Although the dishes described in the literature have obvious characteristics of the Korean Peninsula in terms of ingredients and specific techniques, the word "菹" here just illustrates its inextricable connection with China.

　　It is worth mentioning that the "Qi Min Yao Shu" (6th century AD), which was written in the Northern Wei Dynasty, has recorded many kinds of phonography.

In those days, people would often add some seasonings such as artemisia annua, scallion white, black bean sauce, etc.

Since then, although different generations of China have different names for pickled dishes, their practices are similar.

Data map: In 2017, about 4,700 people from South Korea held a winter kimchi making activity at Seoul Plaza.

Why is "Kimchi" not called "Paocai"?

　　After solving the problem of practice, let's look at the difference between names.

　　Chinese kimchi is called "Paocai", and Korean kimchi is called "Kimchi" by pronunciation.

The picture of pickled vegetables in the Korean TV drama "Dae Jang Geum".

Video screenshot

　　However, the reporter found that some studies point out that Korean scholars generally believe that "Kimchi" is derived from the Chinese "Shen Cai".

　　What is "Shen Cai"?

　　In the aforementioned historical materials of Lee's Joseon period, we can see that the word "shen" or "shen" is common among them.

　　Such as "Shen Zhu Yu in Tao Urn", "Shen Jing Jin, Song Yu", "Winter Day Winter Shen", "Shen Manjing, Isatis, garlic, ginger, pepper, green horn, mackerel, snail, stone flower, stone head fish, salt made "Miscellaneous Potato" and so on.

　　In ancient times, the words "shen" and "shen" were commonly used.

Therefore, "shen" and "shen" in the literature have the meaning of falling or sinking in the water. In the "Dong Guo Sui Shi Ji", they can be regarded as "dipping and dipping", that is, a dish immersed in water.

　　In fact, in the historical documents of the Korean Peninsula, there is no lack of "Shen Cai" or "Shen Cai".

For example, in the 17th century "Kitchen Wen" and "Translated Linguistic Explanations", the term "Shen Cai" and "Phu" were directly referred to as "Shen Zhu" in the "Mountain Forest Economy" of the 18th century.

　　Studies have pointed out that the change of the name of "Kimchi" from "Shen Cai" to "Kimchi" is related to the law of local phonetic evolution and is the result of years of phonetic corruption.

The video of Li Ziqi shows kimchi pickled in different ways.

Li Ziqi video screenshot

　　We return to the question at the beginning.

Li Ziqi showed more than one way of kimchi in the video, including salted kimchi and "spicy cabbage".

　　Judging from the results of existing research, no matter what kind of kimchi, it is the result of mutual exchange.

　　The "spicy" of "spicy cabbage" comes from America; in terms of production methods and names, China and the Korean Peninsula are also closely related in history.

　　At this time, let’s look at the “preserved overwintering kimchi culture” in the Intangible Heritage List. What exists together with a sense of bond, identity and belonging should also have the meaning of cultural exchange.

(Finish)

　　Reference materials:

　　"The History of Chinese Spicy Food", "The History of Chinese Food Materials", "The Origin and Early Spread of Chili Peppers in China", "The Spread and Influence of Chili Peppers in China", "Kimchi Research-Talking about Korean Kimchi and Kimchi Application Issues", "Kimchi and Kimchi Chinese "Kimchi", "Study on the Structure of Korean Food Culture", "Korean kim t∫hi "Kimchi"