1. Hongbin Building
-Three Mysteries Hidden in the Golden Tablet of Town Store
The Hongbin Building, which has the reputation of "the first floor of Muslim catering in Beijing", is not really a time-honored brand in Beijing, but a time-honored brand in Tianjin with a history of 153 years. Fifty years ago, Wang Shouqian, the head of the Hongbin Building in Tianjin, took two pairs of ivory chopsticks in his bag and protected the gold-lettered signboard of Hongbin Building, and moved Hongbin Building from Tianjin to No.5, Li Tieguai Xiejie, outside Heping Gate in Beijing. Now, the stars have changed, and the Hongbin Building has been booming on the ground of Beijing for half a century, which has become an old-fashioned brand recognized by all ages in Beijing, and it has also won the reputation of "the first floor of Muslim catering in Beijing".
After p>5 years, Hongbin Building has undergone several major relocations in Beijing. Now, diners can only see one of these three treasures in the shop of Exhibition Road in Xicheng District: a gold plaque with three mysteries hidden. This gold plaque, which is regarded as the treasure of Hongbinlou's entrepreneurship, still looks brilliant today.
As for the three mysteries hidden in this gold tablet, no one has completely solved them yet.
The first mystery is: The word Hongbin Building on the gold tablet was inscribed by Yu Zejiu, a scholar in the two lists of Qing Dynasty. The traditional Chinese character "Hong" has three dots on the left, an I in the middle, and the traditional bird character on the right should be at the bottom of four, but this bird character is written at the bottom of three. Why? Some people speculate that the word "bird" is borrowed from the bottom of three points of water, but the top of the word "bird" is written as a horizontal line. Why did Yu Zejiu only use three points of water?
the second mystery is: there is no money on this plaque, which is extremely rare among the plaques written by famous people for the firm. Some people speculate that Yu Zejiu is a scholar and doesn't want others to know that he wrote inscriptions for merchants.
The third mystery is: In the autumn of 1998, when the Hongbin Building was relocated, it was sent to Rong Baozhai to see the new. When this century-old plaque was opened, it was found that there was a meticulous painting-Peony Beauty, which was painted in Xuantong years. Some people want to buy this work with a lot of money, because Xuantong has been in office for three years and there are very few works handed down from generation to generation. As an integral part of the "treasure of entrepreneurship" of Hongbin Building, this painting makes people puzzled. Why does a century-old shop want to "hide the beauty with a golden plaque"?
2. Duyichu
-a "registered trademark" during the Qianlong period
In the seventeenth year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, it was 1752. Emperor Qianlong went out of town traveling incognito on the second day of New Year's Day, and it was already midnight when he returned to Qianmen from outside the city. At that time, traders usually didn't open until the fifteenth day of the first month. He saw that there was only one yellow pub with lights on in Qianmen Street, so he went in and asked the shopkeeper to iron some yellow wine, and ordered some side dishes such as rose dates, horse meat and boiled peanuts.
In the winter, Qianlong was already hungry, and he was tired of eating the delicacies in the palace. When he tasted folk dishes for the first time, he found them fragrant and delicious. After a while, he had a full meal and chatted with the shop assistant, saying, "Your cooking is really good. I wonder how much you should pay for wine and meals?" When the shop assistant saw the compliment from the well-dressed old man, he quickly replied, "Old man, we are lucky to serve you with satisfaction. How can we overcharge you? You can just pay three diaoqian." Ganlong laughed and said to his entourage, "Give me five taels of silver. More is a reward!" The shop assistant has never seen such a generous gift to the customers, bowing at Ganlong to thank them. Ganlong asked the shop assistant, "What's the name of your pub?" The shop assistant said, "The business is too small to have a font size." Emperor Qianlong laughed and said, "How about your family opening the door to welcome guests all the way during the Spring Festival?"
a few days passed, and the shop assistants gradually forgot about the old customers who gave more money. One day, a local official suddenly came to lay a plaque, saying that he had been sent by imperial edict. The clerk in the shop was shocked. Somehow, the official told the old man who was drinking and eating in the shop the other night that he was a pilgrim, and the imperial edict of the Lord gave you a plaque for "all in one place", so please hang it as soon as possible. The shop assistant realized that the old man who had been drinking and eating before was the emperor, and thought to himself, thanks to the satisfactory reception, it would be bad if there was a thoughtless one. The shop owner hung the plaque respectfully. Since then, this wine and rice shop has been called "all in one place". With this skill, thousands of customers have been attracted. Who doesn't want to see the place where the emperor has sat and taste what the emperor has eaten? Everyone from government officials to ordinary people is proud of it. Since then, the reputation of "all in one place" has spread all over the world.
3. Quanjude
—— Roast duck "flying" out of mutton hutong
There is a mutton hutong on Xisi Street in Beijing, which is now the location of the National Gemstone Appraisal Center. Further inside Mutton Hutong, there should be a small alley called Caishen Hutong. However, this hutong was demolished in the 198s. The descendants of Quanjude founder Yang Quanren have lived in a red brick slab building since the hutong was demolished, but they still haven't left this hutong.
In 1864, there was a grocery store run by Shanxi people in Mutton Hutong. At that time, Yang Quanren, who was engaged in small business, was introduced and used a little money saved from small business to lay the foundation of the grocery store and opened a hanging stove shop himself. The shop name of this grocery store is Dejuquan, which means "gather all the goods with virtue and get money with virtue". Yang Quanren reversed the font size and changed it to Quanjude. The whole word implies his name, Jude, which means "Quanjude is rich in financial resources". This is the origin of the name Quanjude.
Later, Yang Quanren's business grew bigger and bigger. In order to let more people know about Quanjude, he invited Qian Zilong, a scholar with good calligraphy at that time, to write a plaque. Although it is not the original work of an emperor or a famous artist, this plaque has been hung for more than 1 years after several storms.
folk legends about time-honored brands have a long history. For example, there are many versions of speculation without a horizontal line in the middle of the word "de". For example, Qian Xiucai, who wrote the inscription, drank a little wine, and his slip of the pen was less than that. For example, Yang Quanren, the shopkeeper, removed the knife on the "heart" in order to make all the guys in the store United, so Qian Xiucai gave it away.
These are well-intentioned speculations by the people, but the reason is very simple. Just as we have polyphonic characters in modern times, there were many words written in Tongzhi years. Qian Xiucai's inscription method gradually disappeared in the evolution of China characters. Therefore, we can't see the word "de" in this way now. In order to maintain its original style, Quanjude, a century-old shop, has never changed the way it was written during the Tongzhi period.
Now, because of Quanjude's fame, Beijing Roast Duck has gradually become known as "the most delicious food in the world". Foreign tourists have said that "going to Beijing, two things, visiting the Great Wall and eating roast duck", and Quanjude has truly become an internationally renowned Chinese time-honored brand.