SC - Cow's Milk Buns

[Elaine Koogler]

Master A...if you find that web site, please share it.  I know it would be a great
help to me.

So far as the Chinese language thing is concerned, the written language hasn't
changed for many, many years, and the current version is based on earlier
pictographs.  However, as I understand it, the spoken language varies from area to
area, to the point that a person from one area can't understand someone from another
part of China.  My uncle worked as a Civil Engineer on the National Museum in Taipei,
and he told of seeing a couple of Chinese gentlemen squatting down by the side of the
road scratching kanji into the dirt because they couldn't understand each other's
spoken language.

Another interesting thing:  most of the ancient Japanese texts were written using the
Chinese kanji.  The current character set used in Japan is relatively modern.  That's
why, when working on my Master's degree, I took Chinese rather than Japanese, even
though I wanted to work more on Japanese art history!

Kiri

Philip & Susan Troy wrote:

> "Craig Jones." wrote:
> >
> > Folks,
> >
> > I have this recipe from YSCY and need some advice.
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Cow's Milk Buns
> > ---------------
> > White Flour (five chin), cow's milk (two sheng), liquid butter (one chin),
> > fennel (one liang. Slightly roasted).
> >
> > [For] ingredients use salt and a little soda and combine with the flour. Make
> > the buns.
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > When soda is mentioned, I assume it's not Sodium Bicarbonate but something
> > else?  Can someone advise?
>
> Possibly it is sodium carbonate, a.k.a. washing soda, which appears to
> be the soda the Romans cooked with.
>
> > Also, does anyone know what the following measurements are: chin, sheng, liang?
> >
> > I've been ok when all the measurements are the same (so I can do things by
> > proportions) but am stumpted when the measurements are all separate.  I combed
> > 'A Soup for the Qan' with no luck.
>
> Comb to page 172 of "A Soup for the Qan", where you will see the
> following translator's note:
>
> "Note on Weights and Measures. In the translation below we have made no
> attempt to translate Chinese weights and measures. The following
> equivalents must be borne in mind when interpreting the recipes: a
> ch'ien is today 3.12 g or .011 oz and is one-tenth of a liang. Sixteen
> liang make a chin (about 500 g). A sheng is today 31.5 cu in (slightly
> less in the fourteenth century), and is comprised of 10 ho (each 3.17 cu
> in). Ten sheng make a tou. Units of length relevant to the translation
> are the ts'un, which is 33 mm and the ch'ih, ten ts'un, or about a third
> of a meter."
>
> It looks to me that there may be a typo in ASFTQ: if "g" = grams, then a
> ch'ien of 3.12 grams would be roughly 0.11 oz, not .011 oz, and a liang
> would be roughly equivalent to an ounce, while a chin would equal
> approximately a pound. Unless "g" is supposed to denote "grains", as
> Cariadoc suggested may be the case, in which case you're on your own,
> boyo. It's late here... .
>
> As for the sheng, you could make one for dry measure out of cardboard,
> and maybe waxed for wet use, essentially a box with no top, 3" x 3"
> x3.5", or, let's see... 7.6 x 7.6 x 9 cm, in case it matters.
>
> I know... I could swear... I just know, somewhere, there is, or was, on
> the Web, a Table of Weights and Measures with sections on ancient
> Chinese, Indian, etc., weights and measures, not to mention medieval and
> early modern European ones. Of course, now I can't find it.
>
> > I showed a Taiwanese guy from the office the plates from YSCY and was quite
> > surprised when he could read it very well.  I assume that Chinese really has'nt
> > changed all that much in 700 years?
>
> Why mess with perfection? At least, that would be the Chinese answer, I suppose.
>
> Adamantius, off to bed.
> --
> Phil & Susan Troy
>
> troy at asan.com
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