Chongqing hotpot originated from Liujiatai in Jiangbei.
Why did Liujiatai become the birthplace of Chongqing hot pot? Jiang Chun Bao, former director of Jiangbei District Local Records Office, said that Liujiatai was once the most concentrated area of ancient Chongqing, and it was also the distribution center of livestock trafficking and slaughter in the northern part of Chongqing.
Jiang Chun Bao introduced that during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Liujiatai was a big wharf on the north bank of Jialing River, and it was the only port for materials from northern Sichuan to enter the main city of Chongqing. It was adjacent to Daxigou and Linjiangmen Wharf in Yuzhong District, and commercial materials from south to north were re-exported to each other. At that time, the trackers were intensive here.
At that time, there was also a slaughterhouse in Liujiatai, which was called a cattle killing farm by the locals. It was open from the Ming and Qing Dynasties until after liberation.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the internal organs of animals could not be sold at a high price, and slaughterhouses often threw them into the nearby Jialing River. The trackers saw it was a pity, so they conveniently salvaged these internal organs. After cleaning, pick up a few pebbles on the beach bar, set up firewood, set up an iron pot, and cook it into a big pot with homemade spicy soup. This is the embryonic form of Chongqing hot pot, which was dubbed "a hodgepodge" by the trackers at that time.
The "hodgepodge" is also shared with passers-by for free. Over time, this free hot pot has gradually become a scene on the beach of Jialing River.
At first, there were only eight dishes in Chongqing hot pot, which were sold by people who walked around the streets on their burdens.
Jiang Chun Bao said that in the late Qing Dynasty, some vendors in Liujiatai saw that the "hodgepodge" hot pot was crowded and profitable, so they started a simple hot pot business called "Shuibakuai" on the dock.
These vendors bought beef from slaughterhouses, including beef tripe, beef leg bones, heart and lung, liver and waist, and beef blood, and cut them into thin slices and put them in eight plates with different dishes. The peddler put a simple mud stove at one end of the pole-bearer, and placed an iron basin on it, which was divided into small compartments, and the black, spicy and delicious butter gravy rolled in the basin. At the other end, there are eight cut dishes and a cupboard rack with chopsticks, calling as they walk to attract diners.
The porter’s feet on the dock tried to save trouble, and the ingredients selected by the vendors were much more delicious than the "hodgepodge" hot pot, so when they heard the shouting, everyone swarmed, the diners brought their own drinks, selected a box in the pot, stood in front of the stall, picked up the raw slices from the plate, and ate them while they were hot. The vendors were priced according to the empty plates left after eating.
Jiang Chun Bao said that this kind of hot pot is economical and delicious, and the poor people nearby are also scrambling to taste it. Later, several major water docks in Chongqing were operated by people, and selling hot pot became a specialized industry in Chongqing.
Walking down the street with a load, there are only eight courses in total.
How much is it?
Walking down the street with a load, there are only eight courses in total.
Picking up the internal organs, passers-by can eat "hodgepodge" for free.
How to eat it?
Picking up the internal organs, passers-by can eat "hodgepodge" for free.
You love hot pot, do you know where Chongqing hot pot originated?
Yesterday afternoon, Jiangbei Local Records Exhibition Hall, the first local records exhibition hall in Chongqing, opened its doors to welcome guests at Jiangbei Culture and Art Center. The historical materials displayed in the museum record the origin of Chongqing hot pot-Liujiatai in Jiangbei during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Map of jiangbei town in the 24th year of Qing Daoguang (1844) (remake). Chongqing morning post reporter Gan Xiayi photo
■ historical collection
38,500 taels of silver to build Bamen Stone Town in Jiangbei
Located in Yuzhong District, it is a landmark building in old Chongqing. In the Qing Dynasty, there were eight stone gates in jiangbei mouth, and there were solid and tall walls between the gates. On the left and right sides of Yiyang view surrounded by the city gate, there are also forts. Building these stone gates, city walls and forts cost a total of 38,520 silver.
Jiang Chun Bao said that during the light years of the Qing Dynasty, Tongzhi (the official name of the Qing Dynasty, the deputy magistrate) in Jiangbei, Chongqing, called Fu Zhu Lang ‘a, and gathered local gentry, cabinet families and grain farmers to donate 38,520 silver. It took 19 months to build Bamen Shicheng in Jiangbei in 1835. According to historical records, the stone city wall is 1011 feet long, facing the water in the south, and the city is three feet high.
The eight gates were named Jinsha Gate, Baoding Gate, Jinyang Gate, Huichuan Gate, Dongsheng Gate, Wenjin Gate, Wenxing Gate and Zhen ‘an Gate respectively. There is a tower above the vault of each gate, and a solid and tall wall is also built between the gates. On the left and right sides of Yiyang Temple in Baogai Mountain between Zhen ‘anmen and Wenxingmen (now Ming Yuzhen Tomb Exhibition Hall), there are also four forts each. After the completion of Bamen jiangbei town, more than 20 main streets and lanes have been built in the city.
It wasn’t until 1860, when Fu Bao, a Tongzhi in Jiangbei, Chongqing, took office, that he raised money again, adding or subtracting two gates, Jialing and Yongping, in consideration of the mountain position in the northwest of Shicheng, which was called Jiangbei "New Town". At this time, the two gates of the new city and the previous eight gates are collectively called "Xianfeng Ten Gates Stone City".
Jiang Chun Bao said that from the late Qing Dynasty to the early 1960s, seven city gates and most of the city walls had collapsed or been demolished in jiangbei town. Only the remaining three gates, Baoding Gate, Dongsheng Gate and Wenjingmen, are left. Today, Baoding Gate has been restored next to Chongqing Grand Theatre, and Dongsheng Gate and Wenjingmen will also be rebuilt in Jiangbei.
This group/chongqing morning post reporter Li Sheng
During the Anti-Japanese War, beef omasum hotpot was sought after.
What’s the fire?
During the Anti-Japanese War, beef omasum hotpot was sought after.
■ Archaeological exploration
Jiangbei was the political and economic center of Chongqing before 1800.
How did the hot pot you eat now become famous all over the world? Jiang Chun Bao said that this will be traced back to the early years of the Republic of China.
At that time, a slaughterhouse was built in Zaifang Street of Nanjimen in Yuzhong District. Around 1926, the Ma brothers bought beef tripe and Xuewang at a low price, and opened a red soup tripe hotpot restaurant with beef tripe as the main dish in Zaifang Street, Nanjimen. This hotpot restaurant imitates the production and eating method of "eight pieces of water" in the market, bleaching, washing and removing stems from the hairy belly to make it more tender and crisp, and adding a dish of seasoning with sesame sauce and garlic paste, which won the praise of diners for its delicious taste and was specially called "hairy belly hotpot". Since then, hot pot has officially entered the room in Chongqing.
During the period of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Chongqing was the capital of the National Government. At that time, Zhengyang Street in Yuzhong District was the most prosperous street in the mountain city and the center of political, economic and cultural exchanges. A street named "Maodu Hotpot", headed by "Yunlong Garden Hotpot", "141 Hotpot" and "Night Cup Hotpot", appeared here one after another, and many dignitaries frequented it, gradually developing this unique eating habit and becoming a fashion in society at that time.
Today, Yuzhong District is the political and economic center of Chongqing. But before 1800, today’s jiangbei mouth area was once the political and economic center of Chongqing (then Chongqing was called Jiangzhou).
Jiang Chun Bao said that according to "Huayang National Records Volume I Bazhi", "In the Han Dynasty, the county ruled Bashui North of Jiangzhou, and there was a Ganju Palace. Today, the northern Fucheng is also, and later it was returned to Nancheng." It can be seen that Beifucheng was once the political and economic center of Chongqing.
So where was Beifu City built in Jiangbei District? Jiang Chun Bao said that experts searched for historical materials without clues, and they could only infer that Beifu City should be built in the area from jiangbei mouth to Liujiatai. Until the beginning of November 2005, during the construction of Chongqing Grand Theatre in jiangbei town, a large number of large-scale ancient architectural sites were unearthed, which proved the clues of Beifu City from archaeology at that time.
At that time, archaeological team members found large-scale building components and many slabs, tiles and tiles in the Han Dynasty within a range of 1,000 square meters. In addition, archaeologists also found underground sewage facilities in the site-the "D"-shaped seepage well. The prototype of an ancient city was thus revealed.
Archaeologists also found five baht money, the currency circulating in the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Huoquan, the currency during the reign of Wang Mang, in an ancient site of the Han Dynasty.
Jiang Chun Bao said that the continuous excavation of these large-scale Han Dynasty sites only revealed the tip of the iceberg of Beifu City. In the Master Plan of Chongqing from 1996 to 2020 approved by the State Council, the Chongqing Municipal Government has designated the area from jiangbei mouth to Liujiatai as an important control zone for underground cultural relics. "The full picture of Beifu City remains to be discovered in the future."