The Manchu-Han banquet was conceived under the historical background of the political situation in which Manchu people settled in Beijing. Its origin can be traced back to the "Manchu-Han Banquet" and "Han Banquet" in the Qing Palace after Kangxi, which prevailed in some upper-level officials at first. During the period when Qianlong went down to the south of the Yangtze River, it spread in local restaurants and restaurants.
After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, at first, their eating habits still maintained the traditional national characteristics. With the strength and prosperity of the Qing Dynasty, Manchu rulers greatly improved their diet. During the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, the dynasty was at its peak. According to the rules of Guanglu Temple in Qing Dynasty, all kinds of banquets held in Guanglu Temple at that time were divided into "full seats" and "Han seats", of which full seats were divided into six grades and Han seats were divided into three grades. The amount of raw materials, the quota of cakes and the quota of dried and fresh fruits for each full seat and Han seat are clearly defined.
All kinds of banquets held by Guanglu Temple were either full or middle seats. Judging from the Records of the History of Qing Dynasty and the published information about recalling the life of the Qing emperor, there is no record of a Manchu-Chinese banquet in the middle of Qing Dynasty. As you can imagine, in the Qing Palace, where the ethnic hierarchy was strict, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty were not allowed to juxtapose other ethnic groups with Manchu in any form.
During the reign of Qianlong and Shenjia (A.D. 1746), there was a man named Li Dou in Yizheng County, Jiangsu Province. He wrote a "Painting a Boat in Yangzhou", which included a menu of Manchu-Chinese Banquet, which can be said to be the earliest record of Manchu-Chinese Banquet. This book was written by Li Dou based on what he saw and heard during his stay in Yangzhou. Yangzhou was a prosperous city at that time, and it was also a place visited by Emperor Qianlong many times. So it is not surprising that there was a Manchu-Chinese banquet in Yangzhou at that time. Another book that records the feast of Manchu and Han is the Menu with Garden by Yuan Mu, a poet in Qianlong. Among them, it says: today's official dish ... also known as the Manchu-Han banquet ... for new relatives to come to the door and the boss to enter the country. It can be seen that the Manchu-Han banquet was originally formed in the Qianlong period and began in the official government.
In the middle of Qing dynasty, luxurious banquets were all the rage in the imperial court, and Manchu and Han officials often gave banquets to each other. Manchu officials hosted a banquet for Han officials to use Chinese food, and Han officials hosted a banquet for Manchu officials to use full dishes. This practice has caused some criticisms, such as "forgetting its responsibilities" and "being particularly flattering" (see Yuan Mu's "Menu and Garden"). So later, the Manchu-Han banquet was selectively gathered in one seat to show that they could not be separated from each other. Some officials who go out to work are mostly skilled chefs, so they spread this form to other places, and constantly absorbed the essence of folk banquets and diets in various places, so there were "small full seats" and new full seats, including Tibetan, Mongolian and Hui dishes. This banquet was related to the appeasement policy of the Qing rulers at that time.
After the Qing Dynasty made Beijing its capital, Manchu and Chinese were mixed, and the food culture communicated imperceptibly. In their contacts with Han officials, Manchu dignitaries absorbed the cooking methods and banquet procedures of Chinese cuisine and reformed them, gradually forming a pattern of "Manchu-Chinese banquet". However, folk stories are more legendary:
"Man-Han banquet" was initiated by Zhang Dongguan, a Suzhou citizen. He also rose from a civilian to a royal chef and became a generation of culinary masters. Zhang Dongguan used to be a mediocre cook. But he has two unique skills, the same in his hands: miscellaneous skills to cut vegetables; The same is true of his mouth: he has a tongue that can taste all kinds of ingredients, is eloquent and can recite long dishes.
After Emperor Kangxi captured Ao Bai's peaceful San Francisco, the country was stable, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the Qing Dynasty entered a peaceful and prosperous era. Kangxi knew that "winning the hearts of the people is prosperous." He decided to travel all over the south of the Yangtze River, visit the sages of the past dynasties, and destroy the territory of Manchu and Han, but he was opposed by the powerful Manchu Prince Yan and others in the DPRK. Kangxi decided to take "appetite" as a breakthrough and go to Jiangnan to find food. During this period, Zhang Dongguan was named "the first chef in the south of the Yangtze River" by the Kangxi royal family for his eloquence, and was elected to the imperial palace. From then on, he began the Manchu-Chinese banquet trilogy of his life.
Zhang Dongguan, who doesn't know the rules and can't cook, is at stake in the palace. Zhang Dongguan was forced to escape from the palace and embarked on the road of learning cooking experience in the process of avoiding capture. He learned from others, and with superhuman talent, he "stewed" the essence of Chinese cuisine and became a generation of culinary masters.
After Zhang Dongguan was recalled to the palace, he became the chef of the "Thousand Wedding Banquet", which was completed at this famous banquet. Zhang Dongguan compiled a set of 108 banquet recipes and founded the Manchu-Chinese banquet. After the "Thousand Banquets", Zhang Dongguan resigned as the head chef and opened the largest restaurant in Beijing to "cook for the whole world". Kangxi imperial pen gave the signboard "Man Han Lou". Man-Han banquet was full of guests, and the "Man-Han banquet" spread among the people and gradually became the first banquet in the world.