Abstract: Chinese dietary culture is a kind of long-lasting regional culture with wide vision, deep level, multiple perspectives and high grade. During thousands of years of production and life practice of Chinese people of all races, the characteristics of Chinese cuisine focusing on color, aroma, taste, meaning and shape have been formed; in the friendly exchanges with foreign regions, it has continuously enriched its own culinary culture and y influenced the culinary culture of the East Asian region.
Keywords: food culture, meal system, staple food
There is a saying in China that food is the most important thing for people. In the thousands of years of people's diligent pursuit of food, the Chinese people have gradually formed their own unique food culture, and China has also gained the reputation of "the kingdom of cooking", becoming one of the world's top three gourmet countries. Since the author has a special liking for food, I would like to talk about the evolution of China's food culture in the context of ancient Chinese history.
One, the pre-Qin period of the emergence of the four major cuisines
Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, the north and south of their respective integration with the local ethnic minorities, the differences are gradually apparent, the north of the formation of China's earliest local flavors Lu Cuisine; the south, occupying the "fish and rice" of the people of the Chu people to take advantage of the superior natural resources, and then with the characteristics of the southern barbarians, forming the prototype of the Su Cuisine.
And in the west, after Li Bing ruled the water, the "Land of Heaven" attracted a large number of immigrants, and the combination of ancient Shu food customs, the formation of the prototype of Sichuan cuisine. In contrast, the emergence of Cantonese cuisine is relatively late, Han Gaozu was enthroned as the King of Vietnam, the use of the Pearl River Delta has a mild climate, rich in abundance, edible plant and animal varieties, the advantages of land and water transportation in all directions, the establishment of the Lingnan political, economic and cultural center. Here, the diet is more developed, so that "flying, diving, animals, plants" are good food, and has been passed down to the present day, the shape of the eclectic food culture, resulting in Cantonese cuisine.
Two, the food culture of Qin and Han - the period of the formation of Chinese food culture
Qin and Han is the peak of the development of China's feudal society, the entire Chinese nation showed a thriving trend, during which our exchanges with the outside world is becoming more and more frequent, the introduction of a wide range of food varieties. After Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, he introduced fruits such as pomegranates, grapes, walnuts, and watermelons, and vegetables such as cucumbers, spinach, carrots, celery, lentils, and scallions through the Silk Road, which enriched our food culture.
Tofu, known as "China's fifth greatest invention," was also brought to the table at this time, and according to the historical record of the Compendium of Materia Medica, it was first created by Liu An, the king of Huainan, who was a direct relative of Liu. In addition, I now commonly used soy sauce, tempeh, vinegar, etc. are produced during this period, the Eastern Han Dynasty, tempeh should have begun to produce a large number of artificially brewed vinegar was also produced in the Han Dynasty, then known as "vinegar". Soy sauce is called clear sauce.
Dining etiquette was also established, for example, if a guest in the mixing of vegetable soup, the host must apologize, saying that the cooking is not good; if the guests drink to the sauce of food, the host must also apologize, saying that the preparation of the food is not enough. When the meal is finished, the guest should get up and pack up the plate on the table to give it to the host who is waiting for him, and the host should get up after him and ask the guest not to labor, and then the guest should sit down again. Tasting food is a very enjoyable thing, so a lot of red tape in today's society is no longer concerned.
Three, the peak of food culture -- Tang and Song Dynasty
As the Chinese people are most proud of a period of history, the food culture in the development and prosperity of the inclusive Tang and Song Dynasty naturally developed with the development of economic and political development and reached a peak.
During the Tang Dynasty, the status of wheat and rice gradually rose. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, wheat as a staple food was relatively luxurious, and was considered a "bastard". After the middle of the Tang Dynasty, due to the growth of urban population, the popularity of cake food, the development of wheat has played a huge role in promoting. Tang Dezong Jianzhong first year of the implementation of the "two tax law" has been explicitly wheat as the object of levy, wheat has achieved the status of corn and corn on a par. The staple grain of the Song dynasty was much the same as that of the Tang, except that rice became more and more important, and eventually gained its modern status as China's main cereal.
The Tang Dynasty was also characterized by an excess of food and drink, with dishes divided into three classes: high, medium and low. High-grade for the palace banquet dishes, the most famous to count the burnt ends of the feast, burnt ends of the feast refers to the scholar just to be an official or to be promoted, in order to cope with friends and colleagues to congratulate, must please a meal. Shangshu Ling left servant Wei Juyuan home set "burnt tail" feast invited Tang Zhongzong, dishes, the world's rare; banquet on the 58 dishes can be said to be the representative of the market in the Tang Dynasty high-grade dishes. Li Gong soup is the Tang Wuzong chancellor Li Deyu created health food, with precious jade, treasure beads, andrographis, cinnabar, sea shells, decoction, each cup of soup cost 30,000 dollars!