a ramble on China's catering culture

Chinese catering culture has a long history and enjoys a high reputation in the world.

China people talk about eating, not just three meals a day to quench thirst and satisfy hunger. It often implies that China people know and understand things. When a child is born, relatives and friends want to eat red eggs to show happiness. "Eggs" represent the continuation of life, and "eating eggs" embodies the high hopes of China people to carry on the family line. Children should "eat" when they are one year old, "eat" when they are eighteen, and "eat" when they get married. When they reach their sixtieth birthday, they should celebrate it in a staggered way. On the surface, this kind of "eating" is a kind of physiological satisfaction, but in fact, "the meaning of drunkenness is not in wine", and it expresses a rich psychological connotation by eating this form. The culture of eating has surpassed "eating" itself and gained more profound social significance. Through the communication between China and the West, our food culture has appeared new characteristics of the times. It is a progress of the times to pay attention to nutrition in color, fragrance, taste and appearance. It is also very gratifying that the practice of ten bowls and eight large plates has been reformed. However, Chinese food culture should have a solid fulcrum in the collision with cultures of other countries in the world, so that it can be perfected and developed in the process of learning from others and maintain its eternal vitality. I think this fulcrum is the characteristic of excellent traditional culture, which is the basic connotation that Chinese food culture needs to explore. Therefore, the investigation of the basic connotation of Chinese food culture is not only helpful to deepen the theory of food culture, but also has far-reaching positive significance for Chinese food culture to occupy the world market. In my opinion, Chinese food culture can be summarized into four words in terms of its deep connotation: essence, beauty, affection and courtesy. These four words reflect the unique cultural implications of food quality, aesthetic experience, emotional activities and social functions in the process of food activities, and also reflect the close relationship between food culture and Chinese excellent traditional culture.

essence. It is a summary of the inherent quality of Chinese food culture. Confucius said, "You never tire of eating fine food, and you never tire of being meticulous.". This reflects the ancestors' awareness of quality food. Of course, this may be limited to some aristocratic classes. However, as a kind of cultural spirit, this kind of exquisite consciousness has penetrated and carried out in the whole process of eating activities more and more widely and deeply. The selection of ingredients, cooking, compatibility and even the eating environment all embody the word "essence".

Beauty embodies the aesthetic characteristics of food culture. One of the important reasons why Chinese food can conquer the world lies in its beauty. This kind of beauty refers to the perfect unity of the form and content of China's dietary activities, and refers to the aesthetic pleasure and spiritual enjoyment it brings to people. The first is delicious. Dr. Sun Yat-sen said that "if you don't know the taste well, the cooking skill will be bad", and regarded the aesthetics of "taste" as the first essence of cooking. "Yan's Spring and Autumn Annals" said: "Harmony is like soup. Fire, water, acyl, sugar, salt and plum are used to cook fish, and the wages are paid, and the husbands are mixed, and they are all delicious. " That's what I mean.

As a basic connotation of food culture, beauty is the charm of Chinese food, and it runs through every link in the process of food activities.

Emotion is a summary of the social and psychological functions of Chinese food culture. Eating, drinking and drinking can't be simply regarded as a medium of emotional communication between people, and it is a unique social activity. While eating and chatting, you can do business, exchange information and interview. When friends leave and greet, people are used to expressing their feelings of farewell or welcome at the dinner table, and emotional turmoil is often calmed down by dining tables. This is the regulating function of dietary activities for social psychology. In the past, it was an excellent psychological massage for everyone to sit down to drink tea, listen to books, make a dragon gate array or vent their dissatisfaction with the court.

The reason why Chinese diet has the function of "lyricism" is because of the philosophical thought of "drinking virtue, eating harmoniously, and enjoying all nations together" and the resulting diet with national characteristics.

For the emotional culture in food activities, there is a problem of guiding and improving the taste. We should advocate a healthy, beautiful and enterprising cultural sentiment and pursue a noble sentiment.

"Li" refers to the etiquette of eating activities. China pays attention to "etiquette" in its diet, which has a lot to do with our traditional culture. It is a ceremony to be born, sick, sent to welcome, and to worship God and ancestors. In the Book of Rites, Li Yun said, "At the beginning of a husband's ceremony, he began to eat and drink." There is not a page in the "Three Rites" that does not mention the wine and food in the sacrifice. Ceremony refers to a kind of order and norm. The direction of the table, the arrangement of chopsticks and spoons, and the order of serving … all reflect the "ceremony".

when we talk about "ceremony", we should not simply regard it as a kind of etiquette, but should understand it as a kind of spirit and an internal ethical spirit. This spirit of "courtesy" runs through the process of food activities, thus forming the logical starting point of China's food civilization.

essence, beauty, affection and propriety respectively summarize the basic connotation of Chinese food culture from different angles, in other words, these four aspects organically constitute the whole concept of Chinese food culture. Essence and beauty focus on the image and quality of diet, while affection and courtesy focus on the mentality, customs and social functions of diet. However, they do not exist in isolation, but are interdependent and mutually causal. Only its "essence" can have a complete "beauty"; Only its "beauty" can inspire "love"; Only "affection" can have the "ceremony" of the fashion of the era of science and technology. The perfect unity of the four forms the highest realm of Chinese food culture. Only by accurately grasping "essence, beauty, affection and propriety" can we deeply understand Chinese food culture, and then we can better inherit and carry forward Chinese food culture.