The emperor's meal time
The royal family of Qing Dynasty originated from Manchus in Northeast China, so it followed the eating habits of Manchus in Northeast China, and only ate two meals a day, called breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is usually from 6: 00 to 8: 30 in the morning, and dinner is in the afternoon 12:00-2:00, one hour earlier in summer and autumn. After two main meals, add a snack each. Time is not fixed. The emperor wants something to eat temporarily and can pass it on at any time.
Emperor dining terms
The emperor has his own special terms about eating. Guanfan is called "rice", eating is called "rice" or "rice", opening is called "passing rice", and the kitchen is called "imperial dining room". When it was time to eat-there was no fixed time, it was entirely up to the emperor-I ordered "Pass the rice!" "The little eunuch in front of him said the same thing to the eunuch in the hall of Ming Cheng." Pass the rice! " In this way, the order to "pass the rice" went all the way down to the chef. Dozens of eunuchs' food brigade went straight to hall of mental cultivation.
Huangdi Mikuriya Team
According to the regulations of the Qing Palace, the Imperial Tea Restaurant under the Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible for the daily meals of the emperor, with 370 official chefs. There are more than 20 people in the Imperial Tea Room and Green Tea Room 120, and there are 50 or 60 eunuchs in the two places. The Imperial Tea Room consists of a meat bureau, a vegetarian bureau, a stove hanging bureau, a dim sum bureau and a dinner party. All kinds of banquets are jointly hosted by the ritual department of Guanglu Temple, the clerical department of the ritual department and the Imperial Tea Room. The Imperial Tea Restaurant includes a restaurant, a tea room and a green tea room, in which the restaurant is equipped with three directors, two funerals, fifteen funerals, three waiters and twenty waiters. There are more than 120 people in the imperial tea room and green tea room, in addition to 150 and 60 eunuchs. The emperor's daily meals were first listed by the officials of the Imperial Tea Restaurant, and then examined and filed by the competent minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs before cooking.
The emperor feasted and showed off.
The so-called "play" is not the genealogy of the northeast people, but the menu. The standard imperial meals in Qing dynasty, each meal 120 dishes, should set three tables. In addition, there are staple foods, snacks, fruits and so on. Later, some emperors thought it was too wasteful, and the number of recipes decreased from 120 to 64; During the Xianfeng period when Empress Dowager Cixi's husband was emperor, it was reduced to 32. After Yi Kun's death, the number of the Empress Dowager Ci 'an who listened to politics decreased to 24.
After the death of Empress Ci 'an, Empress Dowager Cixi, who had all the power, put on a show again and restored the old rule that every meal should cost at least 200 taels of silver. There is another meaning for the emperor to put on airs when eating, that is, what is the name of each dish and who is the chef, and it must be marked on the side of the plate. One is to ensure the quality of food and show cooking skills; Second, in case of food quality problems, such as toxicity, it is also convenient to investigate.
Huangdi imperial tableware
The emperor's tableware is also exquisite, mainly gold and silver, and even ceramic products are of high quality. Among them, golden bowls, dishes, plates and other utensils can best reflect the royal style, so the royal family likes the "golden rice bowl". If you use other utensils to hold rice, it will make the host angry.
For example, on March 3, 200 1 year1/kloc-0, Qianlong recorded it in "Jade Articles for Imperial Chefs". The tableware used by Emperor Qianlong that day was 1 golden spoon, 1 golden spoon, 1 golden fork, 1 Duijinya brand, 2 Yinxi hot pots, 23 covered silver hot pots, 6 covered small silver hot pots, and 10 uncovered silver hot pots. 24 warm bowls with silver covers, 6 bowls with silver covers, 5 bell covers, 2 carved bowls with silver covers, 2 silver spoons, 3 silver spoons 1 each, half-black lacquered gourds 1 each, 6 silver bowls, 2 silver buckets1each, and 2 sets of gold-inlaid dentures. 2 5-inch leather cups, 10 silver-inlaid Lippi tea cups, 1 silver-inlaid 5-inch leather cups, 9 silver-inlaid 3-inch 6-cent leather cups, 22 silver-inlaid 3-inch leather cups, 10 silver-inlaid Lippi plates, 6 silver-inlaid leather cups and 10 silver-inlaid 5-cent leather plates.
Yellow glaze is a symbol of imperial rank.
In the middle of Qing dynasty, a pair of bowls were changed from yellow glazed blue and white glazed.
Yellow pastel eight auspicious flower pattern plate
Gan Qing Huanglong Sudi Tricolor Dragon and Phoenix Flower Pattern Disc (a pair)
But why are they all yellow as palace vessels? Some are just a little yellow? Full yellow glaze for emperors, queens and queens. The outer yellow glaze and the inner white glaze plate are used by the imperial concubine. The yellow three-color flower Yunlong pattern plate was used by the concubines of Emperor Kangxi, and the blue-and-white rehmannia dragon pattern bowl was used by the concubines. "It is understood that in the Qing Dynasty, the number of yellow glazes marked the user's status level, from full yellow glaze to yellow glaze, and then to yellow glaze color change. Even if there is no yellow, the grade regulations are very strict and it is not allowed to leapfrog.
Where are the fish bones left by emperors?
Yellow pastel painting golden longevity unbounded pattern slag bucket
Yongzheng used the slag bucket of furnace jun glaze. This slag bucket is dark blue with a bulging abdomen, which looks a bit like a squashed spittoon. This is a special "garbage basket" for emperors and concubines in the Qing Dynasty. "Look at this slag bucket. It looks very small and exquisite. I can hardly find it now. " It is understood that the emperor and his concubines put the dregs bucket on the table, and the leftover food dregs spit in it. Slag bucket in Ming and Qing dynasties was also placed beside the bed and on several cases to put small waste. Later, their uses were gradually broadened and their materials were increasingly diversified.
The imperial system of the emperor shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty revealed the abolition of Queen Bolzigit from the very beginning. One of the reasons is that she is "extravagant" and "when she tastes food, there is a person who is not gold but not happy".
Cixi chooses to cover the bowl according to the season when drinking tea.
Wanshou Wujiang famille rose bowl in late Qing Dynasty and Republic of China
Drinking tea was the favorite of the Qing emperors. It is said that Ganlong drinks tea three times a day in the morning, noon and evening, regularly and quantitatively, and never stops. Emperor Jiaqing, the son of Qianlong, is also a tea lover, and there are poems written by himself on the bowl covered by Jiaqing.
Qing Yongzheng blue and white gold hand cup
Qing Kangxi blue and white colorful December flower pattern cup
The saucers in the imperial palace in the Qing Dynasty were mostly made of gold, silver and copper tires, and made into round, lotus leaf, lotus petal and ingot shapes. From 1862 to 1874, Empress Dowager Cixi used tea sets to the extreme. When drinking tea, she chooses to cover the bowl according to the season. When drinking Mo (crab) Li (crab) scented tea in winter, she covers the bowl with Huangdi Wanshou boundless porcelain. This bowl is as thin as paper, with smooth and even porcelain surface, exquisite shape and colorful patterns. In summer, Empress Dowager Cixi likes to make honeysuckle tea in a bowl covered with white jade and gold. The bowl is made of suet white jade, and the cover is in the shape of a four-story golden pagoda. The faint tea soup is clear, lively, refreshing and pleasant against the background of white jade and gold, which sets off the noble status of the drinker. "
Wine was also indispensable in the imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty.
Blue and white spend december Cup (12 pieces)
The blue-and-white spend december Cup fired during the reign of Kangxi. There are 12 flower cups, and each flower cup has different patterns: 1 month daffodil, February winter jasmine, March peach blossom, April peony flower, May pomegranate flower, June lotus flower, July orchid, August osmanthus, September chrysanthemum and 10 hibiscus flower. Also known as the Flower December God Cup, one side of the cup is decorated with patterns, and the other side is equipped with corresponding Tang poems. The bottom of the cup also says: Kangxi year system in Qing Dynasty.
Contents of imperial meals of Qing emperors
According to the rules, the daily food standard of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty is: 22 kg of meat, 5 kg of soup, lard 1 kg, 2 sheep, 5 chickens, 3 ducks, Chinese cabbage, spinach, parsley, celery, leek 19 kg, 60 radishes, radishes and carrots, and 65,438 melons and wax gourd. 8 plates of cakes in the morning and evening, 30 for each plate. In addition, there are 50 cows prepared by the Imperial Tea Room for the emperor, and each cow gives 2 kg of milk every day, totaling 100 kg. Use 12 cans of Yuquan water, 1 kg emulsifiable concentrate and 75 packs of tea every day.
In the Qing Dynasty, there were many gourmet masters who were full of Chinese characters, and there were 56 kinds of main dishes.
In the middle of Qing Dynasty, a blue-and-white bowl with yellow glaze was changed to 1
The first batch: the first five baskets and ten bowls.
Bird's nest chicken soup, braised pork tendon with sea cucumber, fresh shredded radish soup, shredded pork belly soup with kelp, stewed pearl with abalone, mushroom and shrimp soup, shark's fin and crab broth, braised chicken in Magu, roller hammer, shark's skin chicken soup, blood noodle soup.
The second batch: No.2, five baskets and ten bowls.
Braised bear's paw with crucian carp tongue, stewed pig's brain, fake leopard fetus, steamed hump, pear slices mixed with civet cat, steamed deer's tail, sliced pheasant soup, sliced pork, sliced sheep and rabbit's breast.
Qing Xuan Tong official kiln yellow pastel painted Jin Fushou Wan Nian Wen Bowl
Part III: Ten thin white soup bowls.
Braised pork belly, fake Jiang Yao, duck tongue soup, chicken shoot porridge, pig brain soup, hibiscus egg, goose gizzard soup, fake grouper liver, steamed shad, Xishi milk, Vince bean curd soup, turtle slice soup and cocoon son soup.
Part IV: Ten Hairy Blood Disks
Roasted badger, haba, piglet, fried pork and mutton, fried chicken, fried goose, fried pigeon (live on the moon), miscellaneous pigs, miscellaneous sheep, roasted pork and mutton, white steamed pork and mutton, white steamed piglets, white steamed mutton, white steamed chicken, white steamed duck, white steamed goose, white flour cake, plum buns and assorted mutton.
Part V: 20 dishes and 20 hot drinks.
Twenty pieces of side dishes, dead fruit and fresh fruit.
The emperor's way of passing on rice
The place where the emperor usually eats is not fixed, mostly in the east, west or office of his bedroom. When eating, the east and west sides are not allowed to leave, and all the people serving food take the south gate in the middle. The east and west sides are reserved for the emperor, because the emperor has to sit east and west when dining. The eunuch in the restaurant is responsible for setting the table and laying the table list. As soon as the meal time arrives, the guards will inform the imperial dining room to deliver the meal, which is called "delivering the meal". Then, the eunuchs lined up with red paint boxes in their hands, and quickly put all kinds of dishes, meals, soups, etc. on the table and put them in a good position according to regulations. Irrelevant personnel stepped down one by one, leaving only eunuchs to serve meals. At this time, the emperor, surrounded by eunuchs, stepped into the dining table and prepared to eat. Four eunuchs hung behind the emperor, and an elderly waiter eunuch stood by, responsible for serving the emperor. The dining table is generally composed of three tables in the north-south direction. The middle table is used by the emperor to eat, and mainly contains several seasonal fresh vegetables and fruits. Next to the dining table, there are one or more boxes for the emperor to give. The emperor thinks that a dish is particularly delicious, so he says "reward" and this dish will be put on several cases. Later, it will be put into a box heated by boiling water and sent to the home of the rewarded official or the palace of the concubine.
The emperor's dining rules
Before dinner, the emperor would wait for the eunuch to put a poison test card on each dish to see if it changed color, so as to check whether the food was poisonous or deteriorated, and also to check whether the raw materials used in each dish would have a toxic reaction when combined. The poison test card is a small silver sign half an inch wide and three inches long. It is said that if food contains poison, the silver medal will change color. If the color is changed, the emperor will never eat it to prevent poisoning, and even the chef will be held accountable. If it is not good, it will be beheaded. After the poison test card is used for inspection, the eunuch personally tastes each dish, which is called "tasting food". After verification, the emperor motioned the eunuch to put his favorite dishes in the bowl and began to enjoy them.
The emperor had a rule of "no more than three spoonfuls" when eating. No matter what kind of food, you can't eat three mouthfuls at a time, and the food that has eaten three mouthfuls will be immediately taken off the shelf. Because the emperor likes it or not, he can't let outsiders know. When the emperor was eating, the eunuch next to him would move the dishes to the place where the emperor could reach them and spoon them into the cloth dishes. If the emperor says "this dish is good", the eunuch will scoop it again and then move it back. If you eat three bites in a row, the eunuch head will shout, "withdraw." There will be no more food for ten and a half months.
The rule of the emperor eating alone
Most emperors eat alone, and no one will eat with the emperor. Empresses and concubines usually eat in their palaces. The food that the emperor can't finish will be distributed to concubines, princes, princesses and ministers. Leftovers can be left at any time, but it is a great honor for the emperor to get a reward after eating leftovers. It is said that Emperor Qianlong liked to eat fish in his later years. According to the records of the case, during the ten days from October 21st to October 30th in Qianlong's forty-six years, he ate lobster sauce fish twice, scallion fish four times, braised fish three times and watered the juice fish once.
The Qing royal family favored ducks.
According to records, the emperors and queens of the Qing Dynasty liked to eat ducks, and ducks were indispensable for every meal. For example, there are stewed ducks in wine, stewed ducks in soup and steamed ducks in the breakfast of Lord Qianlong, and stewed ducks, braised ducks, roast ducks, duck tongues, duck feet, duck livers and duck intestines are included in the daily imperial meals of Empress Dowager Cixi. The old lady likes them. Because Cixi loves ducks, Zhang Xiaode is lucky because of a "stewed duck strip". It is said that Zhang Xiaode will fry several dishes that Cixi likes to eat, such as stewed duck strips, fried dried orchid bean curd, fried carrot sauce, fried cucumber sauce and so on. Cixi put him in charge of Shoushan Room. According to the records of the Qing dynasty, the emperor's daily routine is: 22 Jin of meat, 5 Jin of soup, 2 sheep, 5 chickens and 3 ducks. The greeting of three ducks a day shows the degree of love for ducks. As for the reason, it may be that duck meat clears the heart and calms the nerves, strengthens the spleen and stimulates the appetite.
The days of the emperor
According to the research on the archives of the Qing Dynasty, the daily life of the emperors of the Qing Dynasty is very regular, except for the grand ceremony of the national dynasty, the general situation is as follows:
Pearl folding plate of three-color Shuanglong drama in Kangxi of Qing Dynasty
1. Get up around 5:00-7:00 in the morning, be quiet and read early;
2. Breakfast is from 7: 00 am to 9: 30 am;
3. 9: 30 am-11:00 am, go to the court to manage politics and handle official business;
4. 165438+ lunch break and meal from 0: 00 am to 2: 30 pm;
5. From 2: 30 pm to 5: 00 pm, read books and study, recite poems and draw pictures, or be accompanied by concubines to watch plays, listen to songs and other entertainment;
6. From 5: 00 pm to 9: 00 pm, have a snack or a drink, and then go to bed.