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作为客家族的我,和传统食物“粄”的故事

品尝到美味的传统美食,我将我的少数民族身份和客家族迁徙的历史联系了起来,并且见证了百年时光的变迁。
China, Eastern Asia

Story by Zhihao Zhong. Translated by Lina Bell
Published on January 5, 2022.

This story is also available in GB it kr pt



我很喜欢吃白米饭,以前不懂其中的原因。后来在生物课上学到,米饭如此美味是因为我的唾液中的酶会在咀嚼的同时将米饭分解为糖分。然而,我觉得,我对米饭的热爱其实是来源于我最喜爱的客家族【1】食物“”(Bǎn[1]

客家族,是中国东南部的少数民族之一。美食和语言是客家族最独特的两种文化标志。在客家族多种多样的特色美食中,粄是我的最爱,它是一种用米粉做成的蒸米糕。除米粉外,还会加入黏米、小麦和马铃薯来让口感更丰富。有时也会放点莲子酱、芝麻和小萝卜作为点缀[2]。

我发现,在客家族人口较少的城市中,人们基本不知道“粄”是什么。显然,这个词语甚至已经从现代汉语辞典中消失,只能从古代汉语辞典中查到了[3]。一种解释是说,由于客家族更倾向于隐居生活,所以客家话的发音和古代汉语[4]更为接近。从北方迁徙后,一部分客家族人来到了中国南部的广东地区[6]。当地人并不欢迎客家族人,以暴力手段强迫他们居住在山区。因此,客家族和外界的联系减少了。保留下来的古语“粄”实则反映了客家族迁徙和曾使用的语言的历史。

由于小麦在中国北部的广泛种植,北方人做饭时常用到面粉。北方有很多种包子,和粄类似,不过制作的主要原料是面粉而不是米。包子和粄之间的联系,也反映出客家族南迁的历史。民族记忆里在小麦种植区常吃的包子,来到南方变成了多种多样的粄。

 

来自南方的我也很喜欢吃包子,不过最喜欢的还是粄。包子是中国的国民食物,不过粄目前只在客家族聚居的地区流行。在不同场合下食用不同种类的粄的习俗,使得这种食物更加独特。比如,我最喜欢的“喜粄”[5]常见于婚庆、祭祖和礼佛的场合。虽然我日常生活中也会吃喜粄,但是它总让我想起参加节庆活动的记忆。

除了客家祖的传统习俗之外,我的家庭也形成了独特的风俗。我的姑姑会在秋天的时候做萝卜粄。我吃萝卜粄的时候,总会想到这位姑姑,和她把满满的萝卜粄端到餐桌上的身影。

我曾经在一个山区里的客家族集落生活了两年,在那里,我学到了更多关于粄的知识。那里的人和我讲的客家话有些差别,并且制作的粄的种类更多。我认为这是因为我住的地方和广东人【6】挨得更近。但是,粄就是将我和他们心中的客家文化联系在一起的最好方式,我们因共同的美食而紧密相连。这里丰富的粄激起了我对于身为客家族一分子的自豪感,并扩充了我关于每种吃过的粄的记忆。

粄在承载了客家族历史、语言和文化的同时,也是每个客家人的身份烙印。下次回到家乡的时候,我一定要先吃一顿粄。


[1] Rubinstein, Murray A. (2004), "Rethinking Taiwanese and Chinese Identity: Melissa J. Brown's Is Taiwan Chinese?", iir.nccu.edu.tw, Institute of International Relations, 40, pp. 454–458

[2] Rao, Yuansheng (饶原生).粄食 (Bǎn),“中国第五大发明”(China’s fifth great invention) [J].同舟共进,2020(06):83-86.

[3] Luo, Xin (罗鑫).有关“粄”的历史人类学考察——基于汉字文化圈视野 (The historical anthropological study about ‘Ban’ – based on the Hanzi cultural perspective) [J].汕头大学学报(人文社会科学版),2017,33(08):47-52+96.

[4] Wang, W.Z. et al. (2020). "Tracing the origins of Hakka and Chaoshanese by mitochondrial DNA analysis". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 141 (1): 124–30.

[5] 喜粄是一种甜口的粄,用黏米和糖制成,通常是红色的。

[6] 此处的广东人并非中国广东省的居民,而是以粤语为主要语言的人,他们和客家族的主要分布地区很接近。


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Zhihao Zhong

Zhihao Zhong

Zhihao Zhong (he/they) studies public policy in Berlin. He previously worked at a Chinese village school for two years and enjoyed his close contact with the nature there. Zhihao can’t take their eyes off feminism and intersectionality, but you may buy them off with good food or animals.

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