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- Panel 2-4 From "Zhou Dishes" to "Southern Duck Roast"：Narrative Strategies in Shituan Yanji /Minwoo Cho
Panel 2-4 From "Zhou Dishes" to "Southern Duck Roast"：Narrative Strategies in Shituan Yanji /Minwoo Cho
Minwoo Cho
Assistant Professor, Yonsei University, Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Korea
Assistant Professor, Yonsei University, Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Korea
This article examines the narrative strategy of Seoktan Yeongi (石湍燕記), written in 1850 by the Joseon military official Gwon Si-hyeong(權時亨). One of the text’s most notable narrative features is its detailed depiction of food. Gwon begins with light refreshments such as warm noodles and mooncakes, then moves on to more representative dishes such as “zhoucai” and “southern roast duck,” thereby constructing a distinctive travel narrative through his observation and appraisal of foreign cuisine.
Among these, “southern roast duck” deserves particular attention. This record may be regarded as a rare early example of a foreigner tasting the traditional Chinese dish known today as roast duck. It also serves as supporting evidence for tracing the historical transmission of roast duck cuisine from Nanjing to Beijing. In other words, Gwon Si-hyeong’s culinary writing is significant not only as a record of personal experience, but also as a valuable source preserving clues to the historical development of Chinese food culture.
In addition, after tasting “zhoucai,” Gwon transcribed its local pronunciation as “duruchae” (두루채), a rendering that closely resembles the Korean pronunciation of a popular southern Korean dish, stir-fried spicy pork. In this sense, “zhoucai” is not merely the name of a particular dish, but may also be understood as a culinary symbol that crosses linguistic and regional boundaries in East Asia. This sensitivity to foreign dish names, gustatory experience, and phonetic transcription makes Seoktan Yeongi stand out among travel records of its kind.
There is little doubt that, amid the large number of Yeonhaengnok texts published in the nineteenth century, Gwon Si-hyeong’s keen interest in foreign cuisine gives Seoktan Yeongi a distinctive character. It may be said that the use of food writing to organize the experience of foreignness, while simultaneously highlighting both cultural difference and cultural connection, constitutes one of the work’s most effective and successful narrative strategies.
Keywords: Seoktan Yeongi, Yeonhaengnok, foreign cuisine, roast duck, food culture
Among these, “southern roast duck” deserves particular attention. This record may be regarded as a rare early example of a foreigner tasting the traditional Chinese dish known today as roast duck. It also serves as supporting evidence for tracing the historical transmission of roast duck cuisine from Nanjing to Beijing. In other words, Gwon Si-hyeong’s culinary writing is significant not only as a record of personal experience, but also as a valuable source preserving clues to the historical development of Chinese food culture.
In addition, after tasting “zhoucai,” Gwon transcribed its local pronunciation as “duruchae” (두루채), a rendering that closely resembles the Korean pronunciation of a popular southern Korean dish, stir-fried spicy pork. In this sense, “zhoucai” is not merely the name of a particular dish, but may also be understood as a culinary symbol that crosses linguistic and regional boundaries in East Asia. This sensitivity to foreign dish names, gustatory experience, and phonetic transcription makes Seoktan Yeongi stand out among travel records of its kind.
There is little doubt that, amid the large number of Yeonhaengnok texts published in the nineteenth century, Gwon Si-hyeong’s keen interest in foreign cuisine gives Seoktan Yeongi a distinctive character. It may be said that the use of food writing to organize the experience of foreignness, while simultaneously highlighting both cultural difference and cultural connection, constitutes one of the work’s most effective and successful narrative strategies.
Keywords: Seoktan Yeongi, Yeonhaengnok, foreign cuisine, roast duck, food culture