Comment on 2/27/09, and response

Alex wrote on Mar 5, 2009 12:12 AM:

"I hate to nitpick, but yes there was in fact a "General Tso" and the reason most Chinese people would not have heard of them is because not everyone is a historian.

Zuǒ Zōngtáng, aka General Tso, was a General during the time of the Taiping Rebellion. Along with Zeng Guofan, General Tso was able to put a halt to the rebellion by dethroning Hong Tianguifu, the leader of the rebel forces.

The real let down of this story is that Zuǒ Zōngtáng, the man who was largely responsible for ending a rebellion that cost 20 million lives, is remember through a chicken dish.

For more info on Zuǒ Zōngtáng (General Tso) check out Encyclopedia Britanica, lots of great stuff. "

*****

Yes, true! There was a real, historical General Tso.

My column didn't say there wasn't one -- it was meant to say exactly what you point out, in part, which is that not everyone is a historian. And while Americans might think General Tso is so famous that he needs no introduction, the Chinese people I talked to who did know about the general said that to Chinese, he's not that well known. They called him "a small figure" in history and said they were surprised that Americans knew anything about him.

None of the Chinese I talked to had ever eaten "General Tso's chicken," though that doesn't mean it doesn't exist in China. It only means that none of the people who I asked in the provinces in which I taught (Sichuan and Ningxia) had heard of or eaten it. But ask an American who's been to a Chinese restaurant, and most of them will say they've tried it, or at least heard of it.

My point was that American Chinese food isn't the same as what people are eating in China. I didn't have space to go into Chinese history, so I'm glad you added your comment.

Thanks, Alex.