In 220 A.D., the Eastern Han Dynasty, which lasted 195 years, collapsed after Cao Pi usurped the Han Dynasty and established the Cao Wei regime. The end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was a time of great strife in which lords and lords of the world faced each other. Every person with ideas and power wanted to get a share of the chaotic world. In the chaotic situation of the world, the people living in the society at that time, just like the "urgent water, floating ping pong, the wind in the flotsam".

From 220 A.D. to 280 A.D., the whole time of one a, has been staged "you side sing and I appear" drama. Wei, Shu, Wu, the three kingdoms is only the result, in addition to this three have the strength of the ruling regime, in fact, the Three Kingdoms period there are a lot of short-lived dynasties.

For example, Song Jian, the "King of River Head and Ping Han", who was based in Quercus, and the Shi Xie regime, which was located in Jiaosu, in the south of the Yangtze River, although they were all eliminated by Cao Wei and Dongwu later on, their strengths were definitely not to be underestimated. The main reason why I want to introduce the opera regimes at that time is to let you understand the danger of warlordism to the country, the society, and the life of the people.

Can you imagine, multiple regimes are competing with each other, and from time to time they have to start wars of different sizes. Under such an extremely tense situation, the people will not only lose their arable land, but will also become displaced war refugees. The social reality of the Three Kingdoms period was that the land was wasted, the economy was in ruins, and the people were miserable.

Living in such a social environment, the common people were praying for their lives every day, so who had the heart to think about farming? So the social status quo at that time was precariousness, and the war not only destroyed the homes of the common people. The war not only destroyed the homes of the people, but also caused irreparable damage to politics, economy and culture.

Throughout the ages, the common people have had the belief that as long as they live, life must go on. Although long gone is the coziness of poetry and faraway places, but still to fill the stomach and busy. Under this premise, food and culture, like a pair of twin brothers, complement each other. In short, as long as people eat, food culture will never disappear.

The food culture of the Three Kingdoms period

The Three Kingdoms is a historical stage that has the role of starting and ending. Because before the Three Kingdoms was the Eastern Han Dynasty, and after its demise it was replaced by the Jin Dynasty. Many historians like to combine the Three Kingdoms with the two Jin and North and South Dynasties. This is mainly because the Three Kingdoms did not form a system, but were just three relatively independent dynasties.

The author believes that if we strictly speaking, the food customs or characteristics of the Three Kingdoms period is mainly the continuation and perfection of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Because the three kingdoms were three regimes split from the Eastern Han Dynasty, and all of them belonged to the authentic Han Dynasty people before the split. So neither the dietary styles, habits, nor the types of food have changed much.

Perhaps in the impression of many people, living in the Three Kingdoms period, everyone lived a generous life. "What can relieve sorrow, only Dukang" is the true portrayal of their lives. But the author believes that even the "generous when to emotion" Cao Cao, in the impassioned after also inevitably return to reality, because life in the world of food, clothing, shelter and transportation is the main theme of life.

First, the Three Kingdoms period food culture characteristics

The Three Kingdoms period due to the development of productive forces reached a certain height, so people in their daily lives, you can have more rich food. In addition to rice, flour, grain, oil, meat, eggs and fish, occasionally they could also eat some mountain and sea food. The author believes that from this point of view, the core idea of the food culture at that time, should be "food is not too fine, chopping is not too small".

Some aristocrats, especially those who lived in the upper class of the society, were the advocates of the food culture in the Three Kingdoms period. In addition to the familiar fish and meat, they also ate some of the more flavorful specialties. "Cooked food" had become a household name at that time, but the common people could only eat it occasionally.

The author believes that if we want to explore the characteristics of the food culture of the Three Kingdoms period, it can be summarized by a few key words: both raw and cooked, luxury and simplicity, fine ingredients, and cooking in place. This is mainly because at that time has appeared, in order to produce exquisite food and famous chef. Although society was more frequently at war, there were moments when the people were busy.

Two, the Three Kingdoms period of the common people dining system

We all know that due to the ancient society, in a long time, productivity is relatively low. So from the pre-Qin period, has been practicing two meals a day system, in short, only eat breakfast and lunch. In most cases many people, because there is not too much food and choose not to eat, over time has formed a dining custom.

This system was retained until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and during the Three Kingdoms period, a new high point in agricultural production occurred due to the dramatic increase in productivity. Both the state and the common people had more food than in the previous dynasty. So at this stage except for a small number of people, who still insisted on practicing the system of two meals a day, many people had already stepped into the ranks of three meals a day.

Living in the Three Kingdoms period of the people, although also strictly abide by the "sunrise to work, sunset to rest," the ancient motto, but in the food culture has made great changes. Breakfast was usually served at sunrise, and the "daytime meal," or lunch, was served in the morning and afternoon; dinner was called the "supper meal" and was served at about 3 p.m.

The author believes that the "three meals a day" system is not only a prominent manifestation of social progress, but also a major feature in the change of food culture. It is no exaggeration to say that from "two meals a day" to "three meals a day" is not only a leap in time, but also a leap in the food culture of ancient society.

"Sharing meals" was also a major feature of the food culture in the Three Kingdoms period. Simply put, even if a family sat down to eat together, everyone would use one dinner plate, with rice, vegetables, soup and so on. This dining system is in fact a major step forward in food culture, but with the change of the times has long been into the historical flood,

Three, the food on the table of the people

Three Kingdoms period is in the era of social upheaval, but due to the north and south pay special attention to the development of agriculture, so to a certain extent, effectively inhibit the economy of the rapid decline. rapid decline. Under the influence of this general premise, many common people who lived a relatively stable life not only had enough to eat and wear in their daily lives, but also contributed to the development of food culture.

1. Colorful staple food

Because of the productivity of the society at that time, the people on the table of the staple food, in addition to the "five grains" in addition to buckwheat, barley and so on. And legumes were also more prevalent at this time, beans, black beans, mung beans, beans, peas, lentils, etc., a variety of types of legumes, was made into a variety of food.

Boiled rice, steamed rice, dry rice, soup, porridge, thin soup, etc., are the people of the Three Kingdoms period rely on the survival of the staple food. Among the "five grains", except for beans, all of them could be boiled and eaten as dry rice. Corn rice and wheat rice were very common in the society at that time, while porridge or thin soup became the main breakfast in the society at that time.

In particular, congee or thin rice boiled with millet and jasmine was very popular in the northern part of the country at that time. Meat soup and vegetable soup were common foods on the tables of the rich and noble families. Pork and various vegetables were chopped up and boiled in a pot to make meat soup or vegetable soup. Not only is the flavor especially delicious but it is also very nutritious.

2. Various kinds of "cakes"

In fact, at that time, the common people's table, there is also a modern society, often eaten staple food "cake". But the "cake" of the Three Kingdoms period was different from the "cake" of today in shape, flavor and ingredients. Pasta, pastries, cakes, etc. can be called "cake", but only good production methods and flavors are different.

The cakes cooked in boiling water can be called "soup cake", for example, noodles, noodles or noodles, etc., dolphin skin cake, fine ring cake, cut off the cake, boiled cake, can also be called "soup cake"; and the cake steamed in a cage drawer is "Steamed cakes are white cakes and scorpion cakes, which are specialties of steamed cakes; and cakes baked directly in the oven are called "oven cakes", including baklava, hokkien, and medulla cakes.

3. Raise "six animals" meat food abundance

From the pre-Qin period, "six animals" into people's daily lives, and was served on the table. Three Kingdoms period "six animals" has been very common, pigs, cows, sheep, horses, chickens, dogs, has become the northern people's families in the necessary things. The author believes that from this point of view, the people of the Three Kingdoms period can also eat meat.

And the people living in the southern region, because of the sea is relatively close to the sea, so you can salvage a lot of seafood, the more common is fish, crabs, turtles, shrimp and so on. But we should also understand a phenomenon that it is very common for ordinary people's families to eat pork, or chicken, duck, fish and dog meat, but to eat sheep, horses and cows is almost a thing more difficult than heaven.

This is mainly because sheep, horses and cows are large livestock, usually used for milk production or as laborers, so few people will easily kill these three kinds of livestock. Moreover, according to the law in the ancient society, horses and cows were not allowed to be killed by the people for meat, otherwise they would be easily punished by the law.

4. The drink "wine"

"Warm wine beheads Hua Xiong" and "boiled wine discusses the heroes", are all The classic story of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the Three Kingdoms period but a heroic figure, will have a lot to do with wine. Cao Cao wrote in his "Short Songs of Songs": "Singing to wine is the geometry of life! It's like the morning dew, but the days are long. When one is generous, one's sorrows are unforgettable. How can I relieve my worries? Only Dukang".

"Wine" is a kind of liquid fermented from grain, and many people also call wine "grain essence", a small drink can be happy, but drinking is easy to hurt the body. The wine culture of the Three Kingdoms period can be said to be full of flavor, both military generals and literati were addicted to wine. It is not an exaggeration to say that the drinking style in the society at that time was absolutely no less than that of any other dynasties.

Nearly no one could resist the charm of wine, from the king to the general public. However, the technology of brewing liquor had not yet been invented because the society at that time did not have high brewing technology. The wine that people drank in their daily lives was the rice wine that is more common in modern society, which has a low degree of alcohol but is very sweet after entering the mouth.

Because of the frequent wars in society at that time, the demand for grain was particularly high, but grain had to be used in brewing. Under this premise, in order to curb the trend of folk drinking, many rulers of the ruling regimes had once issued a ban on alcohol, but it did not fundamentally curb the drinking craze.

Conclusion

The Three Kingdoms period was a chaotic period in ancient times, and there were times when the people were not happy. And on all aspects of society has caused a great impact, but deep in the bones of the people's dietary philosophy, which is not because of the frequent wars and so died.

On the contrary, while taking over the food culture of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it also further created the food characteristics belonging to the Three Kingdoms. Since the social productivity of the Three Kingdoms period was to a certain extent greatly improved, the food in people's daily life gradually became more abundant. This provided the preconditions for the development of food culture, and also promoted the food thinking of the society at that time.

The author believes that the food culture of the Three Kingdoms period is mainly characterized by seeking development in the midst of war and standing on the shoulders of giants to take a big step forward. Whether it is the main food, side dishes or wine culture, all of them have made a leap in the steady development. It is no exaggeration to say that the three countries food culture, but also played an important role in the beginning and end.