Yunnan food culture is deeply influenced by the natural environment. Yunnan is located in the southwest of the motherland, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau extends to the south. Mountains account for 84% of the total area, plateaus account for 10%, and basins only account for 6%. Generally speaking, the terrain is high in the northwest and low in the south, and the terrain is gradually reduced. The topography of the whole province is roughly divided into two parts, Dali and Jianchuan to Yuanjiang Valley. The eastern part is the rugged Yunnan Plateau, and the southwestern part is a gradually open valley. The larger lakes are Dianchi Lake, Erhai Lake, Fuxian Lake and Chenghai Lake. Most of the basins with an area of 1 km2 are located in central Yunnan. These basins, with small annual temperature difference and moderate precipitation, are important grain producing areas and food culture forming areas. The lowlands below 1300m above sea level are mostly distributed in southern Yunnan, where the climate is hot and the precipitation is abundant, which is suitable for the growth of rice and tropical cash crops. Yunnan's climate belongs to subtropical-tropical plateau humid monsoon climate, which is characterized by distinct wet and dry seasons and diverse climate types. Because of the low latitude in Yunnan, the terrain varies greatly in a short distance, and the climate changes obviously vertically with the change of terrain height. From the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain, several different vertical zones may be drawn, which is commonly known as "three-dimensional climate".
Yunnan Province is connected with Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and India, and is adjacent to Thailand, Bangladesh and other countries. Among the 25 ethnic minorities in Yunnan, 16 ethnic groups live across borders. Cross-border ethnic groups have close relations at home and abroad, and their living customs are the same or similar. The distribution characteristics of ethnic minorities in Yunnan are that they widely live in plateaus, basins, hills and mountains, and the population distribution density is low, and the distribution density varies from place to place, so the development of ethnic society is very uneven. Therefore, Yunnan's food culture is rich and diverse, especially in ingredients, dishes, processing methods, eating habits, drinks and so on.
In terms of staple food, there are rice, taro and other crops grown in paddy fields or wetlands, as well as corn, potatoes, buckwheat and sweet potatoes grown in dry land. In terms of raw materials, there are all kinds of vegetables that have been domesticated for a long time, as well as wild mushrooms, flowers, wild vegetables, insects, moss and so on. The way of food processing in the Han area of Yunnan is basically the same as that in the mainland, and at the same time, it reflects the Sichuan style characteristics of paying attention to quick frying and eating all kinds of kimchi. In areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, cooking habits formed by farming, slash-and-burn collection, mountain planting and animal husbandry collection have been preserved for a long time. For example, Bai, Zhuang and other agricultural nationalities are used to frying, boiling, frying and roasting, and eight bowls are served on slightly formal occasions. Influenced by nomadic life, the Yi and Hani nationalities in mountainous areas retain the tradition of emphasizing barbecue and cooking, while the Bai and Dai nationalities also have the habit of eating raw meat and cold dishes. In terms of alcohol, all parts of Yunnan drink highly distilled wine brewed with corn, rice, sweet potato, sorghum and other grains, and also drink low-alcohol fermented wine brewed with various fruits and sugarcane.
Yunnan is a multi-ethnic province, and some ethnic minorities with large populations have concentrated communities. Because the Han nationality is widely distributed in Yunnan, the influence of the local Han nationality still occupies an important or even dominant position. Yunnan's food culture is characterized by the combination of multi-ethnic culture and regional culture, which cannot be simply divided by ethnic distribution and ethnic characteristics.
Yunnan's regional food culture can be roughly divided into several types: central Yunnan centered on Kunming, Qujing, Chuxiong and Yuxi, western Yunnan centered on Dali, northeastern Yunnan centered on Xuanwei, southwestern Yunnan centered on Baoshan and Tengchong, northwestern Yunnan centered on Lijiang and Zhongdian, southern Yunnan centered on Dehong, Lincang and Banna, and southeastern Yunnan centered on Honghe and Wenshan. Due to geographical location, altitude, latitude, ethnic distribution, economic types and other factors, the distribution of food culture in various regions is complicated, such as staggered and diverse.
Among the above seven food culture areas, central Yunnan and northeastern Yunnan are greatly influenced by the food culture of Han and Yi people. Western Yunnan has rich characteristics of Bai diet culture; Dietary characteristics of Han nationality and ethnic minorities living together in the southwest frontier of Yunnan. Northwest Yunnan is deeply influenced by the eating habits of Tibetan, Naxi and other plateau nationalities. Southern Yunnan clearly reflects the dietary traditions of rice-growing ethnic minorities, such as the Dai people. Southeast Yunnan shows the eating habits of Dai, Zhuang and Yao ethnic minorities.
Second, the historical factors affecting Yunnan's food culture
Yunnan's food culture has a long history, during which it has experienced thousands of years of development and evolution. Yunnan's food culture is closely related to the distribution and activities of various ethnic groups in Yunnan, the migration of foreign immigrants, and the exchanges and integration between ethnic groups.
In terms of ethnic origin, the 26 ethnic groups in Yunnan belong to several ancient ethnic groups, such as Shi Qiang, Baiyue and Wuling Man. Among them, the Tibetans and Burmese are from Shi Qiang; Zhuang and Dong nationalities all originated from Baiyue nationality. All ethnic groups of Miao and Yao languages are from Wuling Man, and the gathering place of Wuling Man in Han Dynasty is Wuling County (now western Hunan). All ethnic groups of South Asian language family settled in southwest Yunnan earlier, which was called "Min Pu" in Han Dynasty. Han, Mongolian, Hui and Manchu migrated to Yunnan in different historical periods.
In the process of contact and integration of various ethnic groups in Yunnan, the Ming and Qing Dynasties were a watershed in the transformation of integration methods. Before the Ming and Qing Dynasties, in the southwest frontier provinces such as Yunnan, the main way of integration was that ethnic minorities gradually absorbed the Han population who moved in. The integration of ethnic minorities and Han nationality has experienced the process of "barbarization" of Han immigrants, and at the same time, ethnic minorities themselves have been enriched and expanded. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to a large number of Han Chinese entering Yunnan, and the obvious narrowing of the economic and cultural gap between Bai and Zhuang ethnic minorities and the Han nationality, the tendency of ethnic integration changed, and a considerable part of the population of Bai and Zhuang ethnic minorities merged with the Han immigrants who moved in, thus forming several regional Han groups in Yunnan, and the Han nationality gradually became the largest and most influential ethnic group in Yunnan. Due to the existence of Han nationality and Yunnan ethnic minorities in history
The situation of mutual penetration and deep integration has led to the mixing and even close combination of the eating habits of Han nationality and ethnic minorities in Yunnan.
The natural migration of local ethnic groups in Yunnan is mainly due to the proliferation of population and the decrease of population density and needs to be dispersed. The direction of migration is usually to move to an area similar to the ecological environment of the place of departure. Migration is characterized by slow movement, and some people often stay or even settle in new places. For example, the ancestors of Jinuo nationality in Han Dynasty first lived in northern Yunnan and southern Sichuan, and then gradually moved south, and only in Qing Dynasty did they enter Jinuo Mountain in Xishuangbanna. Influenced by the characteristics of migration and activities, the deep connotation of local ethnic food culture such as Dai, Bai and Yi has not changed significantly for more than a thousand years, so it is not difficult to recover some dishes and cooking methods recorded in ancient times. The migration of foreign nationality is different. From Han Dynasty to Song Dynasty, the foreign Han population entered Yunnan in the form of official or folk immigrants, as well as businessmen, soldiers and officials, and mainly lived in towns and transportation areas ruled by counties. Because of the small foreign population, they are gradually integrated by local ethnic groups. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the population of Han nationality who immigrated to Yunnan has obviously increased. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, regional Han groups gradually formed around several large river basins, and developed into the largest and dominant ethnic group in Yunnan.
Judging from the flow of immigrants, before the Yuan Dynasty, the traffic lines from Yunnan to other places were mainly Wuchi Road (from Yunnan to Yibin, Sichuan via Xuanwei) and Qingxi Road (from Yunnan to Dacheng via Yao 'an and Xichang), so the migrants were mostly Sichuanese, and Yunnan's food culture was influenced by Sichuan flavor and paid attention to sweetness, which should have been formed before the Yuan Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, the People's Lake-Guanglu, which runs through Qujing and Guiyang, replaced the first two roads and became the main road leading to other places in Yunnan. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, most of the immigrants who entered Yunnan came from Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and other places, and Qujing, Kunming, Chuxiong and Yuxi became the areas with the most concentrated foreign population. The food in these areas has the characteristics of Hunan, Hubei and Guangdong, which should have been formed after the Yuan Dynasty.
As for the route from central Yunnan to western Yunnan, Baoshan and Tengchong were the only roads that Sichuan, Yunnan, Myanmar and India had to pass through during the Qin and Han Dynasties. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the floating population spread along Qujing, passing through Kunming, Baoshan, Baoshan and Tengchong, and ushered in a new immigration climax. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to the overcrowding of bazi, a large number of Han immigrants entered the frontier and mountainous areas, gradually forming a modern ethnic distribution pattern. Influenced by the migration trend of immigrants in past dynasties and the formation of settlements, there are many differences in the food culture of several important Han settlements in Yunnan, which cannot be equated. The formation of Yunnan food culture has many characteristics, which is also related to the unbalanced social development of various regions and ethnic groups in Yunnan. For example, Yi people are widely distributed in mountainous areas and dam areas of Yunnan, and their social development is very uneven, forming colorful eating habits. In the early days, the Yi people mainly engaged in animal husbandry and lived in mountainous areas. Up to now, most Yi people like to eat beef and mutton, corn, potatoes and other foods, and like to drink corn wine. Cooking methods are mainly steaming and boiling, which can reveal the traces of the influence of mountain living and nomadic life. At the same time, the eating habits of different branches of the Yi people are different due to different regions and altitudes.
Several important local ethnic regimes have been established in Yunnan history, such as Yunnan, Nanzhao and Dali, and their rule and management have also profoundly influenced Yunnan's food culture.
Dian existed from the mid-Warring States to the mid-Western Han Dynasty. The distribution of Yunnan culture is roughly centered on Dianchi Lake, with Qujing, Lvliang and Huxi in the east, Lufeng in the west, Huize in the north and Yuanjiang and Xinping in the south. People in Yunnan live on rice and grow wheat. Non-staple food includes livestock and poultry meat, fish, shrimp, snails, fruits and vegetables. Yunnan people are good at curing meat and cooking food in bronze or pottery kettles, retort, pots and pans. Drinking is very popular in Yunnan, and many bronze pots, statues, cups and other wine containers have been unearthed in tombs around the country. According to Records of the Historian, the diet of residents in central Yunnan was still obviously influenced by Yunnan people during the Western Han Dynasty. Because Yunnan people catch snails for food in Dianchi Lake, a large number of snail shells are left on the shore of Dianchi Lake, and a snail shell found in Jinning County is 8 meters thick. There is a small hole in the tail of the left snail shell. It seems that Yunnan people knock holes to eat snail meat. Interestingly, ethnic minorities in Dehong still use the method of eating snail meat by Yunnan people.
Nanzhao was a local political power established by the ancestors of Yi and Bai in Tang Dynasty, which lasted for more than 200 years. Dali was established on the basis of Nanzhao, with Bai ancestors as the main ethnic group and Dali enjoyed the country for more than 300 years. Nanzhao and Dali countries take today's Dali as their capital and Kunming as their capital, and their ruling scope includes today's Yunnan Province and some nearby areas. Some dietary customs in Nanzhao and Dali countries, such as taking rice, wheat and broad beans as staple food and supplementary food, eating raw meat and snails mixed with spices, entertaining guests with roast pigs and various game, drinking tea and wine, and satisfying grasshoppers and bee pupae, can still be seen in some areas of Yi and Bai nationalities. However, the habit of Nanzhao nobles cooking tea with pepper, ginger and cinnamon is no longer visible.