High chairs were introduced from ethnic minorities, and people began to eat together at the same table, but this does not mean that this period has entered the shared dining system (it can be considered a transitional period).

A typical example is the mural in Cave 473 of Dunhuang in the Tang Dynasty. It looks like this ↓↓↓ Did you see that this picture is a picture of a dinner party. There are high stools on both sides of the rectangular dining table, but if you look carefully

, everyone has his own plate of food in front of him, which is actually very similar to the "meal-sharing system" of Western food.

So, when did the "meal-sharing system" begin in ancient China?

The source may be traced back to prehistoric clan culture.

Due to low productivity, people have to work together to resist risks. Food is scarce and has no choice but to distribute it strictly according to portions. Therefore, the "meal sharing system" at this time is a very helpless choice.

During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, Chinese people began to sit on the floor and eat with their desks in hand. The meaning of food was no longer a "sacrifice" but gradually evolved into a "banquet" custom. This spirit of "excessive enjoyment" originated from culture.

It laid the foundation of "natural diet", but in fact it is still far from "natural diet".

By the pre-Qin period, Confucianism had a profound impact on traditional culture. "At the beginning of husband's etiquette, diet began."

Etiquette and music begin with eating.

In order to reflect the order of seniority and inferiority, these regulations were made: "The emperor has nine cauldrons and eight guis, the princes have seven cauldrons and six guis, the officials have five cauldrons and four guis, and the scholars have three cauldrons and two guis."

"Eighty-year-olds have five beans, ninety-year-olds have six beans, and they are used to support the elderly"... What does it mean?

"Ding" is a cooking utensil, and "gui" is a vessel used to hold cooked meals. The number of tableware used by the Emperor Zhou and other princes and officials was different.

Dou is not just bean. Dou is also a kind of food container. When common people gather to drink, they should respect their elders.

It can be said that the idea of ????differentiating the host and guest between elders and juniors influenced the entire feudal era. For example, the famous "Han Xizai Night Banquet" of the Southern Tang Dynasty (Han Xizai and four other court officials listened to ditty and had a banquet together. Two dining tables

, one large and one small, Han Xizai sat at the same table with three of them, and the other sat at the small table. From this, it can be inferred that the status of these people is different.) Therefore, there are two main reasons for the ancient meal sharing system.

The first is the lack of material conditions, and the second is the order of seniority and inferiority.

When did the meal-sharing system come into being?

Shang Binghe's research is that "Chinese people sitting on chairs and eating around the table appeared no earlier than the Northern Song Dynasty." Do you still remember what high school history taught?

The commercial economy of the Song Dynasty was highly prosperous, and many commercial towns emerged.

The most critical reason why the meal-sharing system appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty was the commercialization of food culture.

The diversity of ingredients and the increase in cooking styles greatly enriched the dishes on the Song Dynasty table. The emergence of public dining spaces such as Jiaofang Restaurant and Goulan House was an important reform of the Chinese people's food culture.

I have always felt that the Song Dynasty was a market-style dynasty, because starting from the Northern Song Dynasty, food began to become more down-to-earth.

Food has moved from wealthy aristocrats to the common people on the streets, from dazzling feasts to teahouses and restaurants close to the people, and eating has gradually become a citizen activity with the flavor of human fireworks.

From the perspective of traditional Chinese family concepts, the way of starting a family with "household" as the family unit also determines the way of eating. Even if a brother starts a new family, it is just dividing the big "household" into small "households"

, still eating as fast as possible.

No matter what the dining situation is, as long as guests come to the door, the hospitable Chinese people will certainly entertain them with sumptuous dishes. The wedding and funeral "table culture" and "banquet culture" formed since the Song Dynasty have made eating a social means, and there is no such thing as

What better occasion to promote feelings and enliven the atmosphere than sharing a table to eat and chat.

Drinking and eating together is a symbol of emotional connection. Eating has evolved from satisfying one's hunger to a kind of human communication.

After entering the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this kind of humane dining system continued and became fully mature.

In fact, China's shared meal system later experienced the impact of Western food, including the impact of health concepts, and there were many episodes, such as the invention of the "revolving dining table" during the Republic of China and the call for "serving chopsticks" (it is too long to go into details)

.

But in general, the development of modern Chinese food culture has formed an inclusive culture that takes the "shared meal system" as the mainstream and is compatible with the "shared meal system".

For thousands of years, this nation's love and respect for food and diners have all been written in the shared meal system. This is also my favorite point - the shared meal system has a tradition of "equality" and "sharing"

Human characteristics.

After all, no matter how hygienic and delicious Maocai is when eaten alone, we still like hotpot cooked by a group of people.