According to the ancient literature and the remaining patterns of utensils, our ancestors sat on their knees when they gathered for dinner, and each person laid out the food in a separate case, even if there were only two people, they ate separately. According to Historical Records? Biography of Meng Changjun records that Meng Changjun invited a newly arrived chivalrous man to dinner one day, and the attendants accidentally blocked the candlelight, so the chivalrous man thought that the food he ate was different from that of Meng Changjun and wanted to leave. Obviously, the banquet at that time was for one person.

as early as the Zhou, Qin, Han and Jin dynasties, China has implemented the separate meal system. From the murals, stone reliefs and brick reliefs unearthed from the Han tombs, we can all see the scene of sitting on the floor and having a feast for one person, but we can't see the picture of "having a meal together" with many people around the table. Among the unearthed objects, there are also low snack cases.

China evolved from a separate dining system to a combined dining system in the Tang Dynasty, which is mainly due to the appearance of high tables and big chairs. [Gourmet China ]

When the chairs and stools of ethnic minorities were introduced to the Central Plains, they were called "Hu Chuang" and "Hu Zuo", and the legs of the dining table became all higher, and the form of eating around the table began to become popular. However, since then, folk relatives and friends have gathered together, and sometimes they have adopted the method of "sharing meals". He Yuan's Notes on Chunzhu in the Northern Song Dynasty recorded a "neighbor's small table", and all the dishes were assigned to each plate by attendants. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that the system of "sharing meals" completely replaced the system of "sharing meals", and another food culture came into being at the round table, in which the young and the old were respected and the host and guest accompanied each other.

there is a kind of banquet called "liban" in the market of fast food in the Tang dynasty, and this "liban" is the fast food in the Tang dynasty. According to Li Zhao's Supplement to National History, Tang Dezong summoned Wu Cuo temporarily, appointed him as "Jing Zhaoyin" and asked him to take up his post immediately. Before Wu took office, he invited relatives and friends to have dinner at home. Although time was tight, when the invited guests arrived, the banquet was already set on the table. Some guests were puzzled, and the people in Wu's house replied, "The two cities are very polite every day, so they can take it from the pot, so it is possible to set up a restaurant for three or five hundred people." In the Song Dynasty, in Tokyo, Hang Cheng and other places, there was a kind of catering called "calling by the hour" and "duh-ho-ho-ho" everywhere in the market, just like the so-called convenient fast food today.