The "Ancient Chinese Food Culture Exhibition" being held by the National Museum of China has aroused the interest of many people.
Food is the most basic and important activity in people's life since ancient times, and food culture has also become an important part of traditional culture in different periods.
The ancient Chinese had many profound understandings about diet. For example, it is said in the Book of Rites, "Inner Principles of the Book of Rites": "Whenever is harmonious, spring is more sour, summer is bitter, autumn is more acrid, winter is salty, and the adjustment is sweet and smooth", that is, advocating compliance The food and cooking of the four seasons can give a glimpse of the ancients' concept of health preservation, and some philosophies of "harmony between man and nature" are contained in it.
At the same time, the ancients also carried out a series of related activities such as farming, hunting, games, singing and dancing around "eating", reflecting the cultural outlook and customs of different historical periods.
In fact, food played a very important role in political activities in ancient China, and the "Book of History" called "food" the first of the "eight policies".
In the cultural relics and records handed down from dynasties and dynasties, the activities around food can convey a vision and tell a grand or mysterious narrative; on another level, under the witness of many preserved images and artifacts, make We can get a glimpse of the ancients' management and understanding of "food", and their yearning for a better life.
From the melodious bells of "Zhong Ming Ding Food" in the distant Western Zhou Dynasty, it has stirred up thousands of years, and turned into the warm air of soup soup on the family table and the laughter and laughter of reunion.
After thousands of years of vicissitudes, these intertwined scenes have been annihilated in the depths of history, and today's diet is as Wang Zengqi wrote: "Eating things in the four directions is just a bowl of fireworks in the world".
Food culture goes on and on. When we eat fish, we may be able to think of a fish from the West Lake in the pan of the Song Dynasty; when we taste roast duck, we may think of a Han Dynasty chef who took the goose breast from the suspension. Next... When drinking tea, when you are white, you may think of an ancient person in a certain segment of the long history, who is doing the same thing, eating the same food, and harboring the same emotions as us.
In ancient China, food and drink were closely related to the manifestation of ritual and music civilization.
In ancient China, food utensils and wine utensils were not only used to satisfy daily life, but were also often used as sacrificial utensils for ancestors and gods, so the texture and appearance reflected solemnity and holiness.
At that time, eating and drinking was not only to obtain energy, but also to demonstrate the civilization of ritual and music, to clarify its education, and to magnify its majesty and merit.
"Book of Rites, Li Yun" said: "The emergence of husband's etiquette begins with all kinds of food and drink."
As early as the pre-Qin period, there was a complete culture of ritual and music.
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the well-known ritual system of "Zhong Ming Ding Food" was formed.
Zhou Tianzi and people of different classes, such as princes, ministers, doctors, scholars, etc., used ingredients and utensils in line with ritual status when feasting, accompanied by bells and drums.
"Zhou Li·Chunguan Bo" has: "All sacrifices, food, and feasts" records; "Book of Rites·Wang Ling" has "the emperor eats, and the sun lifts for music"; "Yue Ling" sixth , There is "the Son of Heaven drinks and drinks, and uses rites and music" to know that the Son of Heaven eats and needs to be persuaded to eat with music.
In order to cooperate with this system of ritual and music, official positions such as Da Si Yue, Musician, Grand Master, Xiao Shi, Zhong Shi, Sheng Shi and so on were formed.
The etiquette of eating and drinking is given a sacred meaning in its meticulous execution.
For example, the mountain luxury tiger bristle hidden in the Shanghai Museum is a vessel with both ritual and food functions in the Western Zhou Dynasty.
It has a rectangular large mouth and sloping walls, divided into four ears, and the upper and lower shapes and decorations are the same.
Each side of the cover has a calf head that is fastened to the mouth of the device.
"How to eat" and "what to eat" have many expressions in the cultural relics of the Han Dynasty
In the Han Dynasty, the dietary resources have been greatly expanded compared with the ancient times.
Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions opened up a channel for economic and cultural exchanges, which led to the exchange of Chinese and Western food cultures.
According to historical records, during this period, through the Silk Road, pomegranate, sesame, grape, watermelon, melon and other fruits, as well as cucumber, spinach, carrot, fennel, celery, beans, lentils, lettuce, green onions, garlic and other grains and Vegetables are being introduced one after another.
In addition, the feudal land ownership system in the Han Dynasty made the productive forces develop greatly. Especially in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the manor economy was formed with the accumulation of the wealth of the powerful landlords. Many expressions of "how to eat" and "what to eat" can be seen in the existing cultural relics of the Han Dynasty. Cooking, feasting-themed images or utensils.
Cooking figurines of some kind are frequently found in Eastern Han tombs in Sichuan, reflecting the Han people's emphasis on food life and the concept of "death is like life".
The male figurine smiles, wears a scarf on his head, and wears a right-hand jacket with his sleeves rolled up.
Hold the knife in the right hand, press the fish with the left hand, and make a fish-like cut.
The expressions of the characters are lively and lovable, the proportions are harmonious, and there is a moderate artistic treatment in the realistic style.
In addition to the kitchen figurines, there are also many portrait bricks and stones showing themes such as pounding rice, harvesting, fishing, hunting, winemaking, and salt mining.
Among the portraits showing the theme of music, dance and games after the banquet, a very representative brick was unearthed in the No. 2 tomb of Yangzishan in Chengdu.
It shows that after the banquet is over, the guest of honor begins to appreciate the content of the song and dance.
The food trays have been removed, leaving only two wine vessels, one large and one small, visible in the center of the picture, which is convenient for drinking while viewing.
In the upper left of the picture, two people are sitting on the seat. The man wears a crown and a long robe with wide sleeves. A woman with a high bun is playing the panpipe accompaniment.
The two people at the bottom left sit together, holding the pan flute and playing together.
A man on the upper right is naked and dancing with seven pills.
Below is a haiku, the upper body is naked, the knees and arms are bent, the other hand holds a frame, singing while dancing and singing, witty and funny; the opposite is a female performer, the head is in a bun, the upper body is tightly tied, the bottom is wearing bell-bottoms, a thin waist belt, hand dancing The long scarf, turned back sideways, and the toes danced over the plate, about to dance.
Farmers obtain food through labor, which is then cooked and processed by chefs. Manor owners feast with relatives and friends, and play games such as pot throwing and Liubo, showing a busy and prosperous scene.
The food images in Han portraits can not only record the composition and cooking techniques of food in the Han Dynasty, but also reproduce the life scenes of the manor owners at that time, reflecting the social class and status.
"Gongle Tu" leaves a visual archive for the food system in the Tang Dynasty
In the Tang Dynasty, one of the notable features of the change of food culture was the knowledge of food system.
From the Shang and Zhou to the Tang Dynasty, the meal-sharing system that people usually used when feasting was transformed into a shared meal system in the Tang Dynasty.
"Happy food" means that people eat together by sitting around and sharing meals.
The reason is that the environment and social concept of the great integration of ethnic groups in the Tang Dynasty tended to be open, and the use of high tables and chairs made it possible for people to sit together, and people began to change their living habits accordingly.
A "Palace Music Picture" in the National Palace Museum in Taipei is an example of the cooking system in this period.
The picture depicts the scene of noble ladies feasting in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.
It can be seen in the picture that the ladies are sitting around the big table with the pot door. In the center of the table is a tea kettle. A woman is holding a long-handled tea ladle and is scooping the tea soup into the tea cup. There are several other women in the upper part of the picture. Whistle blowing sheng.
Playing music, appreciating music, tasting tea and drinking wine, it is an extravagant and luxurious scene.
The ear cups on the table are also called feathers.
"Songs of Chu" said: "Zhaojiang honey spoon, real feathers." Appeared in the Warring States Period, it is a kind of eating utensils, which can be used to hold wine or soup.
According to the research of scholars, the origin of its name is that it is shaped like a jue (bird), and its ears are like the wings of a bird;
The plumes used by the Tang people in the picture of "Gongle Tu" are mainly imitated from the lacquerware of the Han Dynasty, such as the Western Han Dynasty "Junxingjiu" cloud pattern lacquer ear cup unearthed in 1972 at Mawangdui No. 1 Han Tomb in Changsha City, Hunan Province, with a wooden body, The outer wall is painted with red lacquer on a black background, and the inner wall is painted with a red background, with detailed black lacquer moire decorations, and the three words "Jun Xingjiu" are written on the bottom, which means "please drink" and "drink this cup full".
Although this ear cup is finely decorated, it does not give a sense of delicacy.
A set of brick rubbings testifies to the fashion of female cooks in Song Dynasty
The food culture of the Song Dynasty is delicate and delicate, and the color of the populace is prominent.
Thanks to the development of commerce, the catering industry in the Song Dynasty was unprecedentedly prosperous. There were restaurants, tea houses, restaurants, and night market vendors all over the place.
And because of the high degree of commercialization, food processing is more sophisticated than the previous generation.
Books such as "Tokyo Dream Hualu" and "Wulin Old Stories" recorded more than 1000 kinds of Song people's food, and each merchant also has several signature dishes, such as Wanglou plum blossom buns, Cao Po meat cake, Xuejia sheep rice, Meijia geese and ducks... In addition, the public dietary system in the cities of the Song Dynasty has been established in an orderly manner, and it is customary to eat specific foods on specific days in accordance with the seasons: "Yuanyang cocoon in Yuanri, oil painting pearl in Shangyuan, Renri The six serving dishes, the 15th day of the second month, the Niibaodou, the Shangsi’s hand-cooking, the cold food’s Dongling, the April 8th’s Zhitianjun stuffing, the heavy five’s Ruyiyuan, the Furi’s green lotus buns, the second The company's spicy chicken luan, the Qixi Festival's Robala rice, the Mid-Autumn Festival's moon soup, the Zhongyuan Yulan cake filling, the Zhongjiu rice brocade, the winter solstice's Yipan, the twelfth lunar month's Hemerocallis noodles, the Laba's Fayu Kedou... ..." It can be imagined that the food enjoyed by the commoners in the Song Dynasty was rich and exquisite, and the folk life was colorful.
Female cooks in the Song Dynasty were especially fashionable.
For example, Zhou Mi's "Wulin Old Stories" contains a Song Wusao, who was originally from Bianjing, and later lived in Lin'an, famous for cooking "fish soup".
Among the cultural relics reflecting the food culture of the Song Dynasty, there is a set of four cook-girl rubbings unearthed from the Song tomb in Jiulugou, Yanshi, Henan.
These four brick carvings are a close-up description of the whole process of a Song Dynasty cook before and after cooking tea. Clean the dishes one by one.
Obviously busy, the whole set of processes is smooth, but it can make life easy to admire.
The fish mullet has extremely high requirements for knife skills, and the taste is extremely delicious.
It is recorded in Ye Mengde's "Summer Rescue Records": "In the past, Nanzhuan was not known, and there was no one in the capital who could chop the fish, thinking it was a delicacy. Mei Shengyu's family has an old maid who can only do it, Ouyang Wenzhong Gong, Liu Yuanfu everyone thinks about it. When you eat fish, you must bring fish to Shengyu." Later, a large number of aquatic products from the south were imported into the Central Plains. By the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, just like the brick carving above, a northern cook from Yanshi was also good at cooking fish. dishes.
The imperial "hot pot" made by the Qing palace shows the respect for luxury in Qing banquets
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the food culture became more mature and prosperous, and reached its peak.
Jiangnan in the Ming Dynasty was rich in products, and there were more and more people who pursued delicious delicacies.
In addition to painting and calligraphy, literati also regard food as the best, pursue refined elegance in food, and write food treatises are also regarded as elegant things.
Many literati's notes handed down during this period included cooking, drinking, and health preservation, such as Gao Lian's "Zunsheng Eight Notes", Yuan Mei's "Suiyuan Food List" and so on.
There are also a lot of scenes of eating and drinking in this novel, and there are various dishes and fruits.
For example, in "A Dream of Red Mansions", Jia's blindly "egg-gold" approach is admirable.
In Qiu Ying's "Spring Night Banquet in the Peach and Plum Garden", he used the allusions of Li Bai and his brothers and sisters in the garden "opening a Qiong feast to sit on flowers, flying feathers and getting drunk on the moon", but at the same time, he also expressed the elegant collection of Ming Dynasty literati The scene of feasting and writing poetry.
The food at this time was undoubtedly "elegant", but it was not so high and so high that people could not get close to it. It was an example of the literati class' pursuit of a beautiful, meticulous and leisurely life at that time.
From the middle and late Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, feasts advocated luxury.
During major festivals, corresponding banquets and entertainment activities are held to show the prosperity of the dynasty.
After the accumulation of previous generations, whether it is ingredients, condiments or cooking methods, it can be said that it has developed to a peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The eating activities of the Ming and Qing Dynasties showed three characteristics: exquisite production, meticulous classification, and grand scenes.
"Essence" is reflected in the exquisiteness of ingredients, methods, and utensils in Ming and Qing Dynasties.
In the Qing court, the utensils used to eat hot pot dishes are generally called "wild guy".
A fire bowl with the characters of longevity in silver and gold in the Palace Museum is such a vessel. The shape is simple and elegant, the decoration is exquisite, the whole body is made of silver, and the decoration is made of silver and gold. It is divided into three parts: fire bowl, bowl rack and alcohol bowl.
The uppermost part is a fire bowl, the lid and body of the bowl are engraved with the word "Shou" in gold, and the edge of the bowl is also engraved with decorative patterns.
When in use, put alcohol in the small bowl in the middle of the ruyi-shaped triangular bowl rack to keep the food in the bowl warm.
This fire bowl was made by the Qing Palace Manufacturing Office and was a special food vessel for the emperor to hold a birthday banquet.
In the Qing Dynasty, the national diet, court diet, folk diet, and local diet all developed significantly.
The four famous cuisines were gradually formed during this period.
The regional food culture has its own system, creating many famous dishes, famous dishes and snacks, and also summed up the flavors that people in different regions like. Spicy different flavors.
In addition, Ming and Qing officials' diets were usually very lavish.
For example, during the Kang and Gan years, there were the "Feast of the Old Man" and "Feast of the Thousand Old Man", which were famous for their grand scenes, and the famous "Full Banquet of Man and Han" had to be mentioned.
(Author: Wu Yanjin is a young scholar of Shanghai Museum)