Chapter 44 "He Yam" and Baoduman

I have recently read Mr. Chen Chongyuan's "Cultural Relics Talking about the Spring and Autumn" and "Antiques Talking about Old Records". In several articles, Mr. He Yutang, who was in the antique industry in old Beijing, was mentioned, saying that he "became an expert in cultural relics appraisal from an illiterate".In fact, He Yutang studied in a private school in his hometown for two or three years when he was young, so he is not considered illiterate. When it comes to experts in cultural relics appraisal, he is limited by his education level, and it is difficult for him to rank among the ranks of appraisers.He has been engaged in the literary and play industry for fifty or sixty years, and his eyesight is improving day by day. In Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai antique shops, everyone who mentions "He Yam" is familiar with it.

Mr. Chen Chongyuan has described in detail the origin of the nickname "He Yam" in his article. It is said that he got it from a Kangxi kiln hammered bottle called "Big Red Bottle" when he was young. In fact, many "big red bottles" happened later. The joke about showing cowardice is often laughed at by people in the literary and entertainment industry.He Yutang is a "half-way monk" in the antique business, from a layman to an expert. "Yam" is regarded as a layman and a fool in the industry, just like in the opera industry, amateurs or amateurs with low levels are called "stick hammers" "Meat balls" all mean the same thing. After the nickname "He Shanyao" was called out, his rectification of his name was submerged. Ever since I knew him, I only knew his name was "He Shanyao".

My grandfather was a connoisseur of collectors. When he was alive, he seldom went to Liulichang, but there were quite a few people from the antique trade at home.A few years ago, I met Cheng Changxin, Geng Baochang, and Ma Baoshan due to work. They are very familiar with my grandfather.After my grandfather passed away, the two grandmothers who still came to my house to look for me were Liu Yunpu and Xu Zhenbo who impressed me the most and had the best relationship with me.Liu Yunpu has a strong Hebei accent, speaks softly, and is very shy. People in the industry call him "big girl", while my old grandmother calls him "little poor boy".He has a good temper. I used to quarrel with him when I was young, and even did a lot of pranks, but he never got annoyed.When he came, his grandmother always entertained him to drink. He didn't drink much, but drank very slowly. He could drink two or three taels of baijiu for half a day, and he drank alone without anyone to accompany him.If it is raining, he will always say: "People don't stay, but the sky stays." So he drank alone and spent the cloudy day.Not much to say, when I have had enough wine, take out two calligraphy and paintings to look at and comment on.Xu Zhenbo, on the other hand, is extremely shrewd, he likes to poke his head around, and his normal gossip is also very secretive, like a thief.Everyone in the family called him "Xiao Xu".Xu Zhenbo ran a lot of deals for Yue Bin in his early years, even among his peers, everyone thought he was a "smart ghost". Although "Xiao Xu" is extremely shrewd, he was fooled by me once.In fact, I didn't intend to be fooled by him, but I had good intentions.When I was twelve or thirteen years old, I found a bottle of foreign wine in the storage room of my home. It was a beautiful wine bottle, filled with a light green liquid, and there was a trademark in a foreign language on the bottle, which I could not understand at all. Also sealed with wax.It happened that Xu Zhenbo came that day, and the adults at home were not there. He came in on tiptoe, and surprised me by his sneakiness. Xiao Xu was absent-minded, as if he had something on his mind, and said casually, "Okay! Okay!" After a long time of effort, I opened the wax, found a wine glass, poured out a glass and handed it to him.If Xu Zhenbo is really smart, he insisted on looking at the wine bottle. I let him see it. He looked at the foreign language on the wine bottle for a long time as if he knew a foreign language and said, "It's foreign wine!" Then he picked up the wine glass and drank it down .Just after drinking a glass of wine, I found that Xiao Xu's eyeballs did not move, and he stared at me for a long time without speaking. I thought he was intoxicated and was savoring the aroma of the wine.Unexpectedly, he suddenly stomped his feet and shouted: "This is toilet water!" He ran away without saying a word.

I was afraid that he might be poisoned, so I worried about it for two weeks.Two weeks later, Xiao Xu came again, in good spirits.I asked him if he was poisoned, and he smiled and said, "I have the antidote! But it's been two weeks, and the hiccups still smell like toilet water!" Xu Zhenbo is not well-educated and was born as an apprentice, but he is too shrewd, has a deep eye for ceramic appraisal, and his handwriting is good. When I was in my twenties, he gave me a fan written by himself. The signature is "Shuangsong Factory", it is said that he once owned two pieces of Song Longquan porcelain, hence the name "Shuangsong Factory". The seal was carved by Comrade Deng Tuo for him.

As for He Shanyao, he is not from my grandfather's time. He only came to our house in the mid-1950s. He Shanyao is more than 1.8 meters tall and speaks in a high voice. He likes to say one sentence and one sentence. In Beijing dialect, he is a bit "two hundred and five" and "half fat".Not long ago I met Mr. Ma Baoshan, who was nearly ninety years old, and he told an interesting story about He Yutang wrestling with his grandson at home.He was in his sixties at the time, and he was one of the few people in the 1950s who did not participate in public-private partnerships.The shop was gone, so I did some business at home. At that time, the antiques were not worth the cans.He is rich, but his life is also very difficult, because his grandmother bought him a few small things, so he often came to run around.Although He Shanyao is a bit "two hundred and five", he is very polite. Since I met him, he has called me "Sun Shaoye" (that is, the young master of the grandchildren), which is a very harsh title after the mid-1950s. I told him several times not to call it that way, but he just couldn't change it, so he had to let him go.I am most afraid of running into him on the street, and in public, he will come all the way to say hello, shouting loudly.So as long as I see him first, I will always avoid him like the plague.

He Shanyao is slovenly and always wears a black cotton gown. In the middle of the 1950s, few people wore long gowns. Although He Shanyao also wore Chinese-style short clothes in spring, summer and autumn, it was not very conspicuous, but in winter he always wore cotton robe.The black cotton robe was not very clean, but it was passable.No matter how cold it is, he never wears a hat, and the sparse hair on his head seems to have never been combed. Sometimes it stands upright and branched.At that time, I used to dance with knives and guns in the yard. When He Shanyao came, he would not go to the room. He would always play with me for a while and watch me practice for a while. He would always say: "Master Sun is practicing!" That's great!" Then he said, "Look, I'll give you a few tricks!" I knew that his hands were itchy, so I handed him the knife and gun, and he could really practice a few skills, of course they are all tricks on the stage, but Every move is really good, much better than me.Although He Shanyao is not a fancier, his movements are very standard, especially the "cloud hands" and "shanbang".People in their sixties don't blush or breathe.

He Shanyao's home is in the southeast of Dongsi Pailou, not far from an alley next to Yong'antang Medicine Store.Speaking of going to his house, it is because there are many cricket stalls on Cricket Temple Street and at the gate of the temple. In addition to selling crickets, I also got to play with crickets in the summer, driven by the children of the neighbors.At that time, Longfu should have tools for raising crickets, such as cricket pots, cages, cricket covers, spies and so on.The categories of crickets are divided into three, six, and nine grades, and the specifications of utensils are very different, and there is a huge gap between high and low.Take the spies as an example, the most common ones are made of popsicle sticks, some with thin bamboo tubes, and even some with ivory tubes.As for cricket pots, they are usually clay pots with glaze, which are very small.The good ones are made of clear mud and clear paste, and some of them have hall name or craftsman's money under them. The most particular ones are made by "Zhao Ziyu". Of course, there are more fakes than genuine ones.Most of the pots I keep for raising crickets are earthenware pots with glaze and a tin plate on the top, but there are also a few large pots with clear pulp.Once I actually bought two "Zhao Ziyu" Chengjiang cans. At that time, the price was two or three yuan, which was already top-grade at the cricket stall in Longfu Temple.One day, when He Shanyao came, I brought it out to ask him to take a look.He Shanyao curled his lips as soon as he saw it, opened the lid and looked at it carefully, and said, "This stuff is also called 'Zhao Ziyu'? Come to my place tomorrow, Luke (look), Luke, I'll show you something interesting Son." He Shanyao can speak a few half-baked English, and often loves to play with me.As soon as He Yam was identified, I was very disappointed.

He Shanyao has several small rooms, both for living and for business. I remember that the north room is very small, with one light and two dark rooms. The main room and one of the dark rooms are full of antiques, mainly porcelain, and some pottery, Sancai, statues, miscellaneous and so on.It was dimly lit and the room smelled stale.He moved out a lot of cricket jars from the back room, about twenty of them big and small. He said that these were the real "Zhao Ziyu", and some of them were not "Zhao Ziyu", but they were all treasures, even worse than "Zhao Ziyu". better.I don't understand, but I have never seen it before. The workmanship is fine, the paste is oily, and some are carved. The cages in the pot are made of clear mud and blue and white.Pick up the jar and weigh it, and it's good to have at hand, unlike my two fake "Zhao Ziyu", who are light and light.He Shanyao picked out two of them, wrapped them in some old newspapers, and said, "One of these two is the real 'Zhao Ziyu', and the other one is not bad either. Well, I'm giving this one to Young Master Sun today!" I said: "This is not acceptable. I can't ask for your things, and my family doesn't agree." He Shanyao hurriedly said: "They are all small gadgets, worthless, and they can't be sold if they are left here. You take them." Just play, I'll talk to your grandma later!" Was the account settled with my grandma?So is "Zhao Ziyu" real or fake?I don't know.I played with these two cricket pots for two or three years, and then I forgot where I put them.

Since then, He Shanyao has taken me to his home several times, and also taught me a lot about porcelain. Although I am only eleven or twelve years old, I have also benefited a lot.My greatest affection for He Shanyao is definitely not that he gave me two cricket jars, but that he did not treat me like a child and treated me as an equal, which is very sincere.The outside world said he was "two hundred and five" and "half fat". In fact, I found that he was often a childlike innocence. Even in the adversity of the time, he still maintained his straightforward side. At that time, there was a small restaurant called "Baoduman" in the southwest corner of Dongsi Pailou, which specialized in Baodu. This small restaurant has disappeared for more than 30 years, and today's Ruizhenhou is in its place, which is much more grand.I remember that "Baoduman" has only one entrance, and there are not many tables inside, but because of its good location, the business is booming.Although I grew up in Beijing, my family seldom eat Beijing snacks, especially things like Baodu.

The first time I ate fried belly was taken by He Shanyao. One day when He Shanyao came, it happened that my grandmother was not at home. He struck up a conversation with me for a while, and then started beating me with knives, guns and sticks. At four o'clock in the afternoon, after playing for a while, He Shanyao said, "I'm hungry, let's go, come with me." I'm going to eat my belly." He led me to "Baoduman", and first shouted to find "Manchu". "Baoduman" is a halal hall. It was originally run by a man surnamed Man. Later, it was a public-private joint venture, and it is still called "Baoduman".This "full hand" is still working in the store, and the main production process of Baodu is operated by him.The "Ba'er" in the appellation of the Hui people is like "comrade", "Mr." or "Boss" in Mandarin. Those with the surname Ma are called "Ma Ba'er", those with the surname Ha are called "Ha Ba'er", and the surname is Man. Naturally, it is "full".The Han people also called it like the Hui people.When He Shanyao entered the door, he yelled "full hand", so familiar and kind. "Manbanger" hurried out of the kitchen, and said with a smile, "Mr. He, I haven't come here for a long time. How is this going? Hey! Why do you bring a child here today?" I was not happy when I heard this. This "handful" flattered He Shanyao, but despised me.He Shanyao said: "This is someone else's young master. I'll treat him to eat fried belly. You give me two fried belly kernels, which should be well-heated and crispy, and two hot sesame seed cakes, fresh from the oven!"

You don’t need to order the condiments when you eat fried belly. As long as you sit down, each person will be given a condiment. The condiments are similar to the condiments for hot-boiled lamb, but they are simpler than the condiments, and there are more sesame pastes. It looks thick.Baodu is an authentic Beijing snack, which is rarely eaten by southerners.The so-called burst belly is actually the stomach of sheep and cows. No matter how fancy the name is, it never leaves such a thing.Both tripe and sheep tripe have tripe kernels, but others have different names, such as tripe, louver, and thick head, and the variety of sheep tripe is called Yugutianqing. Today, there are many, such as Sandan, Banxin, and tripe Plates, belly collars, mushroom heads and more.The variety of names depends on the different parts that are taken, and of course the price is also different. The essential parts are tripe kernels and mushroom heads. It is said that it takes several sheep stomachs to produce a plate of tripe kernels and mushroom heads.The characteristics of tripe kernels and mushroom heads are that one is crisp and the other is tender. The tripe kernels are crispy in the mouth, but they can be chewed, unlike Sandan and Baiye, which are very laborious, and most of them have to be swallowed whole.Therefore, the price of belly kernels and mushroom heads is more expensive.He Shanyao told me that you should first use Pansan Dan to grind your teeth when you eat fried belly, and then come to Panduren after eating Sandan. If you eat it for the first time, you don’t need to eat loose pills, just eat fried belly kernels, so as not to let you say I’m fooled you. The fried belly of "Baoduman" is really good, crispy and tender. It may be because "Manbaer" did it himself, and the heat is just right.Just serve hot biscuits, not to mention how fragrant they are. There are many shops selling Baodu in Beijing. The most famous ones are Baoduwang and Baodufeng in Dongan Market, and Baoduman in Dongsi Pailou.Later, the Wang family and the Feng family both opened stores in Dong'an Market, and their business expanded. In addition to fried belly, they also operated hot-boiled mutton and other religious dishes, and they also had their own brands.Baoduman always uses the name "Baoduman". I remember that in the mid-1950s, "Baoduman" became the first floor and the bottom floor, and the downstairs still sold Baodu and chop suey, which were very popular.Upstairs sells boiled mutton and Jiaomen stir-fried vegetables.At that time, I didn't dare to go to a restaurant alone, so He Shanyao took me there every time I ate belly.At that time, people who ate Baodu in the store liked to drink some wine. I don’t know if He Shanyao drank alcohol, but he never drank alcohol when he went to eat Baodu with me. Later, the four archways in Dongsi were demolished. I passed by every day when the archways were being demolished.One afternoon, after school, I was watching the demolished archway again. I accidentally saw He Shanyao passing by. He gave me a hand and said, "Let's go, don't look at it, I feel distressed." He said the word "heart" It was heavy, and the expression on his face was serious.He went on to say: "Come on, let's eat and explode!" While we were waiting in "Baoduman", He Shanyao sat with his back to the door and said very little, but suddenly he shouted like crazy: "Can you close the door, look outside!" The guy was frightened He quickly closed the glass door.He yam was not delicious that day. In the mid-1960s, I moved to the government compound in the western suburbs with my parents, and I seldom saw He Shanyao. It was a day in the late autumn of 1966. I happened to pass by Dongsi and was about to cross the road when suddenly there was a voice in my ear, very low and soft: "Master Sun!" To be called such a name really kills me!Looking back suddenly, it was right, it was He Shanyao.I can't wait to cover his mouth quickly.He also felt a slip of the tongue, and pulled me aside: "It's long gone, okay?" His voice was hoarse and old, and he was extremely emaciated.He went on to say: "Look, I'm still alive, and everything is gone, but that's how people are, whether they are born or not, they are all belongings outside the body. I am very happy to see you today, but there is no place to invite you." You're going to eat it. Besides, I don't have the money to eat it." I invited him to a meal that day, and the "explosive belly" was gone, so I ate at the Qinghai restaurant diagonally opposite. At that time, the rule was to serve the meals by myself and clean the dishes after the meal. There were only four or five dishes to choose from. Like an office canteen.When we went to eat, He Shanyao told me a lot of shocking things, such as a certain person committed suicide, a certain person jumped into the river, of course, some news proved to be inaccurate afterwards.He Shanyao also said: "Now I most want to have a dish to eat." He Shanyao is still very optimistic and in good spirits.That was the last time I saw him. I learned from Mr. Chen Chongyuan's article that he lived until 1985, so he should be in his nineties. If I had known that he was still alive in the 1980s, I would definitely have visited him.