Influenced by my parents, I started reading A Dream of Red Mansions (children's edition) about the first day of junior high school. At that time, I only remembered the general story. After work, I read A Dream of Red Mansions again and found that there were four big scenes in the dining scene in A Dream of Red Mansions: the third time, "Lin Daiyu entered Jia's house for the first meal"; The 38th "Crab Banquet of Haitang Poetry Society"; Back to the 41th time, "Grandmother Jia took Granny Liu to visit the Grand View Garden for two banquets". During the four dinners, the Jia family did not have a fixed dining room, and the tables and chairs were temporarily put up by domestic slaves.

It's not hard to see that the Jia family temporarily opened the table and there was no fixed restaurant. "Xifeng is busy setting the table and wants a cup of chopsticks." Xiangyun, Baochai, set out to eat crabs and enjoy chrysanthemums, and stood in the Grand View Garden.

The Grand View Garden hosted a banquet for Granny Liu, which was held temporarily in the autumn-refreshing lent in the spring. At the same time, several tables were placed in Xiaocui Hall to "open the console table".

Large banquets and banquets are held in the newly-built large drawing room of Rongguo Mansion, which can hold a dozen tables. Such as Wang Xifeng's birthday, such as New Year's Eve, Lantern Festival and other celebrations.

The above are temporary and large-scale banquets, and tables and chairs are temporarily placed. So, is it normal for the Jia family to temporarily place tables and chairs?

Lin Daiyu, who first entered the Jia family, called on Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang, and then went to eat at the grandmother's place. In A Dream of Red Mansions, it was described in detail: "When Mrs. Wang came, she didn't install the tables and chairs. Grandmother Jia is sitting alone on the couch with four empty chairs on each side. " When everyone arrived, "the tables and chairs were installed", which proved that the tables and chairs were temporarily placed.

There are many similar details in A Dream of Red Mansions. Granny Liu entered the Rongguo Mansion and waited in Wang Xifeng's wing. She heard someone in the hall say that "rice was set" and "nothing was heard for a long time". Obviously, Wang Xifeng was eating at her residence. "Suddenly I saw two people carrying a kang table and putting it on the kang here. The dishes on the table were still full of fish, but they moved a little." After the meal, the pots and pans are carried out together with the tables and chairs, which also shows that the tables and chairs are carried up and moved away after the meal.

There is a similar description in A Dream of Red Mansions. It's still Xifeng's residence. Once, Jia Lian's wet nurse and Zhao Momo were just in time for dinner. "While speaking, Jia Lian came in, put wine on the table, and the husband and wife sat opposite each other." "At that time, Zhao Momo, Jia Lian's wet nurse, came, and Jia Lian's Xifeng was busy letting him eat wine and make him go to the kang. Zhao Momo insisted on refusing. " Combined with the above, it is not difficult to see that granny Liu saw and heard that Jia Lian, the young couple, ate on the kang, moved the tables and chairs before the meal and moved away after the meal.

There are many similar details in A Dream of Red Mansions. One day, when Mrs. Wang's residence came to have dinner, "Xifeng was watching people set the table in the back room"; One day, Mrs. Wang gave a banquet to Grandmother Jia, and "everyone set the table"; One day, it was time for dinner at Grandmother Jia's residence. "Daughter-in-law and maids had already carried the dinner table, and Mrs. Wang You's wife and others rushed up to put the maids and hold the rice."

The well-known Jia family, with countless domestic slaves and maids, is rich. How can it be that there isn't even a restaurant, so that we can eat in the bedroom and even temporarily put tables and chairs on the kang?

actually, when you think about it carefully, the reason is very simple. Outside the customs, in the countryside, there is still the custom of eating on the kang. The Manchu Dynasty came from outside the Commissioner, and Cao Xueqin, a great literary master, also came from outside the Commissioner.

Life is the only source of literary creation. Therefore, in A Dream of Red Mansions, there is no fixed dining room in Jia's house. Before eating, the table is always set temporarily in advance, which comes from life and is the result of customs.