such as Emperor Wendi of Han, Emperor Jingdi of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, etc., pay more attention to the personal behavior of the frugal emperor, whose normal diet is mostly a combination of meat and vegetables with a few dishes, the staple food to rice, pastries, pasta, etc.

And to the Manchu emperors represented by the extravagance of the faction, it is the typical full of Chinese feasts, the Emperor Kangxi is considered to be more frugal, and every meal are going to spend 300 taels of silver, and at that time, the Qing Dynasty, a first-class officer rated salary (basic salary) is 400 taels (not counting additional income and local filial piety, etc., which is the big head of the income of Qing officials), to the Xianfeng era, even if the escape to Chengde, each meal is still hundreds of dishes. Including fireplace hanging suckling pig, Peking duck, charcoal roasted lamb, roasted whole sheep and other high-grade luxury cuisine.

Each historical period of the emperor's diet is also different

From the beginning of the Qin Shi Huang, each emperor's diet is different, such as the Qin and Han Dynasties, due to the poorer supplies (less variety, not a lot of), the emperor's diet is relatively single (compared to the late emperor), including pancakes and nuts, including may become the emperor's diet, the emperor is also often to the wild game, meat reward ministers (the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there is also a reward to the ministers). In the Ming and Qing dynasties, did they still reward their ministers with meat?) In other words, vegetables, meat, game, rice and noodles constituted the main diet of the emperor, along with wine, cakes and honey.

But in the Sui and Tang dynasties, due to economic development and cultural integration, in addition to the diets of the Qin, Han and Three Kingdoms, many foreign diets were also integrated into the Chinese diet, including the diets of the Northwest and Southwest, and the emperor's diets, in addition to the above, also added a lot of Western flavors.

Yuan Dynasty period, the diet of the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, in addition to its inherent Mongolian nomadic sheep, cattle, etc., and gradually integrated into the food culture of the Han Dynasty.

By the Qing Dynasty, the emperor's diet reached its peak: its mat includes Han cuisine, Manchu cuisine, as well as Xinjiang's barbecue, Mongolia's cattle and sheep's milk, etc., the whole dish once up to more than 300 courses.

The only thing is the same, is the emperor's meal, there is always a test dish attendant, and then gradually evolved into a personal eunuch as they use silver chopsticks, each dish by the emperor designated to test dishes, to confirm that there is no toxicity, the emperor can be eaten without fear.

In addition, the emperor is not every dish only eat a mouthful, only eat a mouthful of only the Qing Dynasty emperors, such as the Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms period of the emperor, its diet is sometimes very simple, three or four dishes plus staple food only.