Luo's carp and bream, worth more than livestock. Tang Dynasty scholar Kong Yingda cited Lu Ji in his Mao Poe…
Luo's carp and bream, worth more than livestock.
Tang Dynasty scholar Kong Yingda cited Lu Ji in his Mao Poetry Commentary: "The bream—now found in the Yiluo, Ji, and Ying rivers—are broad, thin, fatty, mild-tempered, with fine scales, the finest of fish." This refers to the black bream of the Luo River, known today as bian fish. Rich in belly fat, they were a rare delicacy on ancient tables. As The Book of Songs mused: "Must one eat only Luo's bream? Must one marry only Qi's daughters?" Comparing women of beauty to fine fish shows how revered black bream was, and thus the saying: "Luo's carp and bream, worth more than livestock."