《金瓶梅》饮食文化描写的当代解读

A Contemporary Interpretation of the Description of Culinary Culture in Golden Lotus

饮食是人类生活中最基本也是最重要的内容之一,作为折射与反映社会生活的文学作品,自然也会有许多关于饮食的描写。可以毫不夸张地说,在所有的古代文学作品中,都没有像《金瓶梅》那样,如实地描绘出了毫无节制的食欲狂求,广泛地揭示出了饮食与权力、财色的密切关系,真实地反映出了饮食礼仪规范的牢固约束力。如此频繁、如此细致、如此广泛地来描写种种饮食活动,这绝非是一种偶然现象,而是独特的时代氛围使然。历史与现实往往有着惊人的相似之处,从中不难发现这种描写对于当代社会的警示意义。

Food - consuming is one of the most important activities in human life. As refraction and reflection of social life, literary works are naturally rich in describing it. However, it is by no means exaggerated in saying that not a single classical Chinese novel goes so far as Golden Lotus in faithfully describing the uncontrollable desire for food, thus widely revealing the close relationship among diet, power, wealth and sex, and truly reflecting the restriction of the norms of culinary etiquette. Yet, it is not merely an accidental matter to have such descriptions so frequently, so minutely, and so comprehensively, but a necessity during particular periods of time. More, as history and reality share striking similarities, it is not difficult to feel their admonition to contemporary society.