Chinese food is world-renowned, and foreigners who have tasted authentic Chinese food are all amazed. However, the way of eating Chinese food in China has been criticized by foreigners, because China people don't eat separately but together, and they don't use public chopsticks, which makes foreigners who are used to eating separately feel unsanitary and even sick.
Dining without public chopsticks is really unsanitary and easy to spread diseases, but people in China enjoy it. Although after the SARS epidemic in 2113, overeating was advocated and promoted, it soon relapsed.
It is generally believed that people eat together, regardless of each other, and the atmosphere is warm and enjoyable. This way of eating is a long tradition in China since ancient times and a part of Chinese culture, so it is difficult to change. So have China people really been eating like this for thousands of years? No, people in China used to eat separately. The real history of eating together is only a few hundred years.
In the primitive society, primitive * * * productism was practiced in the clan commune, and materials were distributed according to the head. At that time, food was the most important material to maintain life. Only by sharing meals and giving everyone a share could all members of the clan have a chance to survive, otherwise some people would starve to death and the clan would not be able to thrive. Therefore, in the primitive tribal period of China, the system of separate meals was implemented.
in the later period of clan commune, classes began to appear. At that time, there was a strong grade difference in all aspects, including food distribution. People with high status were given good quality and large quantity of food, while people with low status were definitely not given the same food as those with high status. Therefore, they could not eat together, so they could only eat separately.
in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the etiquette system appeared, which was based on a strict hierarchical system. The etiquette reflected in eating was food etiquette, and the establishment of etiquette started from eating. "The Book of Rites" says: "At the beginning of a husband's ceremony, he began to eat and drink". By the Western Zhou Dynasty, the food ceremony had formed a fairly complete system, and there were extremely strict regulations on what people of different status ate, what tableware they used and what seats they sat on. For example, the tableware of the son of heaven is "Nine Ding and Eight Gui", the tableware of the princes is "Seven Ding and Six Gui", and the doctor is "Five Ding and Three Gui"; Another example is "the beans of the son of heaven are six out of twenty, the princes are six out of ten, the princes are two out of ten, the doctors are eight, and the doctors are six." "Bean" is a container for food; At that time, people sat on the floor when eating, and the number of mats laid by people of different status was different. The emperor was a five-fold mat, but the number of layers of princes and doctors was less. Judging from the food, "the emperor eats too fast, and the cattle, sheep and tapirs are all available. The princes eat cows, the Qing eat sheep, the doctors eat tapirs, the scholars eat fish, and Shu Ren eats vegetables." Everyone must strictly abide by these systems, and if they overstep, they will be severely punished. In this case, it is necessary to have separate meals. When having a feast, everyone is presented with a food case with food and tableware that are in line with their status.
In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the etiquette system was not so strict. People with high status would eat the same food as their subordinates for a certain purpose. For example, Meng Changjun advertised that he ate the same food as his disciples. However, it was unbelievable at that time, so it was questioned by a doorman, but when the doorman found that Meng Changjun's food was really the same as his, he committed suicide in shame. It can be seen that although Meng Changjun eats the same food as the public, they eat separately, and everyone is so far apart that the public can't see the food in Meng Changjun.
Feng Gui, who defected to Meng Changjun, once complained that "there is no fish to eat", which shows that the level of food ceremony is still there. Even the guests in Meng Changjun have graded food. Some guests have fish and meat, some guests only have fish, and others, like Feng Gui, don't even have fish. The existence of this level, so that these people can only eat separately when eating.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were still separate meals. The famous Hongmen Banquet was a separate dinner for each person. Xiang Zhuang had to be close to Liu Bang's food case to kill him when he was dancing sword. If he was sitting around a table, it was unnecessary.
Historical Records? In Biographies of Huaiyin Hou, Han Xin commented on Xiang Yu as follows: "When Xiang Wang sees people respectful and loving, his words vomit, and people are sick, and he weeps and drinks ..." That is to say, Xiang Yu is very kind to his subordinates. When he hears that someone is sick, he will give him his food in tears. This shows that Xiang Yu's food is much better than that of his men, so they can only share meals when eating.
In ancient China, meals were divided not only in public social occasions, but also in daily home life. Otherwise, there would be no idiom named Qi Mei.
in the Tang dynasty, the feast on formal occasions was still divided into meals.
after emperor Taizong ascended the throne, because the world was just stable and there were many things, emperor Taizong also made great efforts to govern and was diligent in government affairs. In order to better handle the affairs of the court, he extended the time of the early court from Maoshi to Chenshi, which made it more difficult for civil servants to have meals. Emperor Taizong made a decree that after retiring from the DPRK, he would give everyone "food at the DPRK" under the porch of the Golden Temple. Because the meal is under the porch, this meal is also called "porch meal"
the "porch meal" given by the emperor, though "just for fun", is actually very rich, not as simple as "four dishes and one soup", and its specifications depend on the official's grade. In the Six Classics of the Tang Dynasty, the types and quantities of dishes that officials of different grades can enjoy are recorded in detail. For example, the standard of a four-product official is: two liters of fine rice, two liters of noodles, one and a half liters of wine, seven dishes, three portions of mutton, two melons, and the remaining sauces, vinegar, salt, black beans, onions, ginger, sunflower, leeks and other condiments are different; It can be seen that the "porch meal" is of high quality and large quantity, and one person can't finish it at all. The reason why it is so rich is that it is the emperor's treat, and it is necessary to show the royal grandeur and the emperor's generosity and care for his courtiers. But it is impossible for everyone to put such a rich ration on a table, because it can't be put down at all, and only a food case can be placed in front of each other.
during the Zhenyuan period of the Tang dynasty, there was a civil servant named Yu Zhuo, who had a widowed sister at home. At that time, the price in Luoyang was very expensive, and most people could not afford good food. Yu Zhuo always saves her work meal and takes it back to her sister. At first, his colleagues laughed at his poverty, but later, when they learned about his family, they were all moved by him and praised him. This matter was recorded in the Record of Words Written by Zhao Lin in the Tang Dynasty.
Yu Zhuo can take his working meal home, which shows that this food is entirely up to him, which can only be done when sharing meals.
When eating working meals in the official offices of the Tang Dynasty, just like accepting the "porch meals" given by the emperor, officials should be seated according to different grades and enjoy the meals of corresponding grades. When eating, everyone obeys the etiquette and enjoys the delicious food, which makes them feel happy. In his essay
, The New Dining Hall in Mi County, Liu Zongyuan described the scene of officials having a working meal like this: "It's a group of officials who sit up and down in the new hall, starting with their classes; Etiquette and laughter, talk back and forth, the beginning of political affairs; The banquet is Su Zhuang, the beans are Jing Jia, and the burnt cannon is cooked, which is beneficial to the wine, and it is the joy of being a friend.
It can be seen that every official must enjoy the food corresponding to his status according to his rank, so he can only eat separately.
However, the meal-sharing system in the Tang and Song Dynasties also changed a little compared with the previous generation. As the Tang and Song Dynasties were an open era, a large number of foreign things entered. With the introduction of furniture such as "Hu Chuang", tables and chairs appeared in China people's lives. People slept on the floor in the past, and the way of sitting on their knees was changed to sleeping on the couch and sitting with their feet down. In life, there were not only a few cases in front of them, but also a large area of tables, and at that time the food ceremony had faded, which was for everyone. But even sitting together, it is a multi-grid food plate in front of everyone, and each person eats his own share, not a meal.
The dining system in ancient China was not only related to the etiquette system, but also to the cooking utensils and cooking methods at that time.
Today's common cooking methods, such as frying, cooking and frying, did not actually exist since ancient times, because this cooking method had to put the ingredients in an iron pan. However, China's ancient metallurgical technology could not produce large-area thin iron plates for a long time, and it was even more difficult to make plates with curved surfaces, such as a wok. This is also the reason why China could not produce the western plate armor in ancient times, and only small-area iron plates were connected in series to form a nail.
There was no cooking in the Iron Pot era, and it could only be cooked or steamed with pottery or heavy bronze wares. Pork stewed with vermicelli was a common dish at that time, but frying was not available. When holding a banquet, if many people eat around a pottery pot or a bronze tripod, they can only eat one dish at a time, not to mention that people with different identities are crowded together, so the kitchen can only cook one dish in each pot and then scoop it out, and each dish will be given to everyone.