List of River Delicacies

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaAug 2020

3.8

Word count: 751 words
Chapters: 8

Summary

Guo Pu's Rhapsody on the Yangtze records a great many fish. Here I select the common ones and set them in order. Thus, A List of River Delicacies.

Editor's review

Drawing on the rich variety of fish recorded in Guo Pu's Rhapsody on the Yangtze, A List of River Delicacies selects the common ones and sets them in order—a roster of river delicacies that is both of documentary value and full of everyday life. The phrase "set them in order" in the title indicates that the contents go beyond listing fish names to include ways of handling fish, giving the list both natural-history record and practical purpose. The 2020 Bashu Press edition offers readers a convenient text for understanding how people in ancient times perceived fish in river regions and their food culture. Reading it, one can sense the ancients' careful observation of nature and glimpse the connection between food and regional produce. For readers interested in ancient natural history, food history, or the produce of the Yangtze basin, this compact list can serve as an entry point; general readers may also treat it as a quaint inventory of local products and, in browsing, appreciate traditional practical knowledge.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in ancient food culture and river produce
Readers drawn to the natural-history tradition who enjoy catalog-style texts
Enthusiasts studying the produce or food history of the Yangtze basin
General readers who want to learn how people in ancient times recorded and handled ingredients

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a complete cooking tutorial or detailed recipes
Researchers needing systematic specialist knowledge of ichthyology
Readers who prefer plot-driven narrative and have no patience for catalog texts

Reading tips

First skim the whole list and mark unfamiliar fish names, then look them up one by one to learn their forms and habits.
Compare the fish names in the list with common river fish today to appreciate similarities and differences in how produce was perceived then and now.
Pay attention to the handling content related to "setting in order" and reflect on the ancients' ideas about using ingredients.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
序
【刀鱼二法】
【鲥鱼】
【鲟鱼】
【黄鱼】
【班鱼】
【假蟹】

FAQ

Is A List of River Delicacies a cookbook?

Not exactly. It is a list of common river fish selected and set in order, touching on how fish are handled, but it is not a step-by-step cooking manual. It is better read as a document for understanding ancient river produce and ideas about food.

What if there are too many fish names in the book that I don't recognize?

You can skip the obscure names at first and focus on the few fish you know, learning how people in ancient times recorded and handled them, then gradually look up unfamiliar names with reference books. There is no need to master them all at once.

What is the relationship between this book and Guo Pu's Rhapsody on the Yangtze?

A List of River Delicacies takes as its basis the many fish recorded in Guo Pu's Rhapsody on the Yangtze, selecting the common ones and setting them into a list. Knowing this source helps explain the book's character as primarily a compiled catalog.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.