For ancient officials, they had to go to North Korea every day. The morning shift is called the morning shift, which is very early. Many officials inevitably went to see the emperor hungry. In Chen Jiru's book Breaking the Cold in the Ming Dynasty, it was mentioned that Ada, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, went to the early dynasty at five o'clock before he became prime minister. Because of the cold weather, he saw a shop selling steamed cakes, so people bought cakes wrapped in robes and sleeves and ate them quietly in court.
In the Song Dynasty, there was a story about going to court with mutton, which was recorded in Volume I of Zhu Cheng's Zhou Pingke Tan. At that time, at four o'clock, officials got up early and left home for the imperial city. They gathered outside the Forbidden City. Because it was dark, they all carried lanterns. It is spectacular to get together, and it is called "the city of fire". The Prime Minister finally came, and the lantern went out after it came. The prime minister and other ministers, Wang and Xu, have special houses waiting to enter the DPRK outside the imperial city, which are called "Dailouyuan". They are not in the same company as the low-level officials in the "Fire City" and are eligible to sit in the "Dailou Courtyard" and enjoy a working breakfast with wine and fruit. Some officials also specially brought their own meat to drink. Sometimes, after the early generation, the emperor sent meals to officials, and the place where the meals were delivered was under the porch of the main hall, so it was called "porch rice".
According to the ancient book Yuan Gui, after five dynasties, a memorial under the door of Zhongshu in the first year of Tongguang in the Tang Dynasty said: "Allow this story to retreat, and give food to the porch, which is called porch rice, and all will be grateful for food." Even if you eat the porch food given by the emperor, you should thank him. You can't just wipe your mouth. Five Dynasties later, Chai Rong of Zhou Shizong also wrote an imperial edict for Xuan Dining, saying, "All civil and military officials will eat Xuan Dining in the future." When the emperor dined in Guanbai Gallery, he also boarded the west wing of Guangde Hall to watch the grand occasion. He also hit the yellow door and read one by one, demanding that "all are ashamed of wine" to show merit.
The scale of corridor meals in the Ming Dynasty is also considerable, which is described in detail in Volume I of Zhu Guozhen's Zhuang Yong Sketches. Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, "visited the DPRK every day, finished the play and gave the officials food". Deliver meals at Fengtianmen, or at Gaihuatang and Wuyingtang. "The duke and Hou Yipin officials sit in the door, two to four products and officials of the Imperial Academy sit outside the door, and the remaining five products are in Dan. Wen Wudong Xi resumed his position, praised and kowtowed, and then sat in his seat. After dinner, Guanglu Temple was built as a branch library. After eating, the officials are still worshipping. Bow down and retreat. " Kowtowing is naturally for the emperor, who is watching his liegeman eat on the high platform at this time.
Let's talk about the ancient working people first. Living conditions and the need of agricultural cultivation forced them to do so. They didn't have breakfast. They only eat two meals a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, just some miscellaneous grains and pickles. For breakfast, there is a popular saying: living in the same era, how can there be such a big gap in life?