Imperial diet, in short, is the diet enjoyed by the imperial clan. China's ancient imperial court meals had different flavor characteristics in different dynasties, but one thing is recognized, that is, the emperors in China paid great attention to the appetite. By virtue of their supreme status and arbitrary power, they serve famous chefs from all over the world and gather delicious food and drinks from all over the world, forming a luxurious and exquisite flavor of imperial cuisine. Basic introduction Chinese name: Imperial mbth: the food of the imperial household; Pinyin: yù shàn Zhuyin: ㄧㄩˋㄕㄢˋ Interpretation: refers to the diet of emperors. Concept of words, basic information, citation and explanation, basic meaning, classification of imperial meals, imperial meals at the end of sacrifice, imperial meals for farming, imperial meals for private use, imperial meals for betrothal gifts, imperial meals for celebrating achievements, imperial meals for competitive shooting, management institutions, main features, strict selection of materials, exquisite cooking, novel products, imperial meals in Wei and Jin Dynasties, imperial meals in Tang Dynasty, imperial meals in Song Dynasty, imperial meals in Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. Tang Liu Yuxi's "Metabolic Giving Wine and Food": "Fu Yi En descended to Wang Ren, and he was honored with imperial meals." Tang Shunzhi's Biography of Wu Gong in the Ming Dynasty: "It is divided into imperial meals, and it is fortunate that the public can't get it, but the public can get it." Basic meaning Although the imperial palace meals were exclusively enjoyed by emperors of past dynasties, every delicious drink and delicacy came from the cooking materials and techniques provided by the common people. If the diet of folk houses and restaurants in the city is the basis of China's cooking, then the imperial palace cuisine is the peak of China's ancient cooking art. Therefore, the imperial palace meals in each era can actually represent the highest level of China's cooking skills in that era. In the long history of China's catering culture, the imperial cuisine of China Palace experienced a development process from rough to refined, from simple to complex, from simple to luxurious, and then formed an endless development system with peaks, which, like a symphony of exultation and excitement, constituted the main theme of the process of China's culinary art's continuous enrichment, development and self-improvement. As early as the Zhou Dynasty, the flavor of imperial court meals had already formed a preliminary scale. The ruling class in the Zhou Dynasty attached great importance to the relationship between diet and politics. Zhou people have nothing to feast on, and there is no day to feast on. Investigate its reason, in addition to the enjoyment needs of Zhou Tianzi and princes, there are political purposes. Through feasting, strengthen the spirit of rites and music and maintain the ruling order. "Poem Xiaoya Luming Literature" is all about the feast scene of King Zhou and his guests. What is the purpose of Zhou Wang's banquet? "(the son of heaven) does its kindness, and then the loyal minister guest Pei Horne's book has to do its best to be loyal. Going up to the dragon and reporting down, the monarch and the minister are sincere, so it is also the beauty of politics "("Mao Shi Justice "). Because of this, the types and specifications of the royal meals in the Zhou Dynasty are very complicated. In terms of the participants and scale of the royal meals, there are private seats and official seats. A private banquet is a gathering of relatives and friends. This kind of banquet is usually located in the palace of the emperor or monarch. Official banquet refers to the banquet hosted by the emperor and the monarch to entertain courtiers or foreign envoys. This kind of banquet is grand in scale, and the host usually entertains the guests with too much prison. Poem Xiao Ya Tong Gong is about the scene where the Emperor of Zhou gave a banquet to entertain the princes. From the two sentences of "The bells and drums are set once, once they are enjoyed", the official banquet scene usually has bells and drums, and music is used to add a solemn and harmonious atmosphere. "Dine", Zheng Jian said: "Drink heavily to entertain guests." It serves to show that the ostentation and extravagance of the imperial banquet official seat is quite large. Classification of imperial meals The first is "Sacrifice to Imperial Meal". "Zuo Zhuan's Thirteen Years as a Duke": "The great event of the country lies in worship and Rong." Zhou people attached importance to sacrifice, and one of the important manifestations of the sacrifice ceremony was to recommend food sacrifices. After the sacrifice ceremony, the Zhou royal family and their entourage gathered for a banquet. Judging from the ostentation and extravagance, the imperial meal at the end of the festival is bigger than usual, and the quality of the food is higher. The Book of Rites: "Governors don't kill cows without reason, doctors don't kill sheep without reason, scholars don't kill dogs without reason, Shu Ren doesn't eat treasures without reason, and he's ashamed of himself." Zheng Note: "Therefore, it is called the genus of sacrifice." Only when offering sacrifices can the Zhou royal family kill cattle and sheep and list all kinds of ostentation and extravagance. Xiaoya Chutz, Zhou Song You Ke, Shang Song Lie Zu, etc. in the Poems of Agricultural Imperial Family all describe the final banquet to varying degrees. The second is the "Agricultural Imperial Diet". Since the beginning of the week, the rulers have attached great importance to farming and directly participated in agricultural labor. The history is called "Wang Geng borrows land", which is generally held in the early spring. The emperor, princes, officials, doctors and agricultural officials at all levels all hold farm tools, and symbolically plow the fields in the manor of the emperor. The number of plows varies from person to person. On the contrary, the title is held in the big bed, and the princes of the three public officials and nine noble officials are all imperial, and they will drink wine every day "("Book of Rites, Monthly Order "). After the ceremony of "borrowing fields", it will be a feast for farmers. The emperor will hold a banquet and the public will hold a banquet. Xiaoya Datian, Xiaoya Futian, Zhou Song Zai Ji, Zhou Song Liang Ji, Lu Song You Lu, etc. in the Poems all describe the imperial food of agriculture to varying degrees. The third is "Private Old Imperial Diet", also known as "Swallow Drink", which is a private banquet between the old and the old people. According to "Yili Yanli", Jia Gongyan shunned the day: "The princes have nothing to do but swallow, one also; Doctor Qing has the work of the king, and the second is also; Dr. Qing has been hired again, but also, with Yan, three also; The four parties are hired, and the guests are Yan, and four are also. " Although the banquet in the latter three cases is related to state affairs, the feelings of the monarch and the minister are deep and the atmosphere of the banquet is leisurely and easy-going, so it is called "Yan", which is a common situation in private imperial meals. The fifth is "betrothal royal meal" and "hiring and visiting" (Shuo Wen Er). The betrothal banquet is a banquet hosted by the emperor or monarch to entertain visiting envoys, which is also called "enjoying gifts" in Zhou Dynasty. Zuo Zhuan recorded a lot about this, and the atmosphere was warm or solemn; Participants either recite poems or sing songs; The scene is either set with bells and drums or accompanied by dancing. During the banquet, there is a conventional requirement that "poetry must be of the same kind", that is, poetry, song, dance and music should all express the theme of the banquet. According to the report: "The marquis of Jin and the princes gave a banquet in Wen, which made the doctors dance and said,' Poetry must be like that!'" Qi Gaohou's poems are not of the same class. Gou suppressed his anger and said,' the princes have different ambitions!' Make the doctors ally with Gao Hou, and Gao Hou will flee. Therefore, the doctors of Uncle Sun Bao, Jin Gouyan, Song Xiangxu, Wei Ningzhi, Zheng Gongsun, and Xiao Yi made an alliance day:' Let's discuss it together! (Zuo Zhuan's Sixteen Years of Xianggong) It can be seen that enjoying the ceremony has a strong diplomatic color. It takes a banquet as the form, poetry and dance as the means of expression, and diplomacy is the purpose. Participants understand and grasp the contents of diplomatic negotiations through listening to and viewing poetry and dance music, and even make major decisions based on this. Celebration Imperial Banquet VI is "Celebration Imperial Banquet", that is, a banquet for Buddhist or Julian Waghann who returned home in triumph after going out to win the victory. This kind of banquet is grand in scene, grand in scale, full of beauty, singing and dancing, warm in atmosphere and grand in occasion. This scene is described in Xiaoya June, Luton Panshui, Luton Migong, etc. Although the specific degree is different, it can still be seen. In 632 BC, Chu and Jin fought a fierce battle for supremacy, which was the famous battle of Chengpu in Jin Chu in the history of war, and the Jin division won the battle. In the autumn of July, Bingshen returned home in triumph, and Jin Wengong held an unprecedented celebration feast (for details, see Zuo Zhuan's twenty-eight years of Xi Gong). The banquet was held in the Jinzong Temple, and the Duke of Jin rewarded the three armed forces with a prison and rewarded the meritorious soldiers. The number of participants and the scale are self-evident. Competing for the Imperial Diet IV is "competing for the Imperial Diet", and the Zhou people re-shoot the ceremony, "This is why they view virtue" ("Book of Rites Shooting Righteousness"), which is an important event for the Zhou rulers to view virtue, choose ministers, be polite and happy, and there must be no banquet. "Poetry, Elegance, Walking Reed" is generous in pen and ink, and depicts the banquet of shooting ceremony for us. "There is a banquet, and a few awards are made." Or offer or chop, wash the Jue and drink. Acyl sugar is recommended, or burnt or roasted. Jia Yao spleen cavity, or song or hiss. The bow is strong, the four forging is jun, the arrow is even, and the order is good. The bow is a sentence, and it carries four cymbals. Four is like a tree, and the guest will not regret it. " During the banquet, people drew bows and shot arrows, which not only enlivened the banquet atmosphere, but also embodied the spirit of rites and music of Zhou people. According to Zuo Zhuan, the minister of Qi, Fan Xianzi, visited Lu, and Duke Xiang of Lu gave a banquet to entertain him, and held a shooting ceremony between the banquets. Participants needed three pairs. "Home ministers: show flaws and show jade fathers as a couple; Gongchen: Gongwu Zhaobo and Zhongyan Zhuangshu are a couple; This kind of "guest shooting" banquet between vassal States was quite frequent at that time, and it was characterized by some diplomatic activities. The Zhou Dynasty, the governing body, also designed a complete set of governing bodies for the imperial meals of the Emperor and his royal family. According to the Rites of Zhou, there are 59 departments under the administration of the Prime Minister's affairs, among which 2 departments are designed to serve the diet and life of the Emperor of Zhou, the Queen and the Prince, such as the "Chef" in charge of the royal meals, the "Jiren" and "Neiren" who are in charge of the cooking of the royal meals. According to the existing information, the Eight Treasures in the Book of Rites is the representative of the imperial banquet in the Zhou Dynasty, which embodies the highest level of cooking technology of the Zhou royal family. Zhou Tianzi's diet has a certain courtesy, eating six grains (rice, millet, millet, sorghum, wheat, and glutinous rice), drinking six clear (water, pulp, glutinous rice, cold, and glutinous rice), and eating six animals (cattle, sheep, tapirs, dogs, and glutinous rice) Rites are the quantification of the ritual system, and the emphasis on health preservation in the royal catering ritual system of Zhou Dynasty is based on the idea of "valuing life" advocated by Confucianism, which is embodied in "Shui Mu is rich in gold and earth, and diet must be timely" (Book of Rites, Liyun). Taking meat-eating as an example, the requirements for slaughtering animals should change with the seasons. Lambs and pigs should be killed in spring, dried pheasant fish in summer, calves and elk in autumn, and fresh fish and geese in winter. From the aspect of eating fish, tuna, bream and carp were the most precious cooking materials in the imperial palace. "Poetry Hengmen": "If you eat its fish, you will be caught in the river. ..... the carp of the river. " "Zhou Li Qian Ren": "Spring presents the king's tuna." There are not many varieties of vegetables in the imperial diet of the Zhou Dynasty. According to Zhou Li Yi Ren, the vegetables eaten by the emperor, the empress and the descendants mainly include sunflower, turnip, leek, celery, changben and bamboo shoots. Because of the limited variety of vegetables, they were made into sauces or vinegar products by Yi Ren for supply. If the royal catering of Zhou Dynasty represents the food culture of the Yellow River valley, then the royal catering of the southern Chu State, which represents the food culture of the Yangtze River valley, confronts it at a distance, showing the cultural charm of the ancient royal catering in China more than 3, years ago. The two articles "Evocation of Soul" and "Da Zhao" in the Songs of Chu describe a wide variety of dishes, which are quite exquisite, and are the afternoon literature materials for studying the imperial meals of the court in Chu State. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Central Plains culture was mostly absorbed by Chu people. By the Warring States period, Chu's territory had expanded eastward, and Chu had been a teacher in Qilu for many times, and the Central Plains culture had penetrated into Chu more deeply. Chu's imperial cuisine was eclectic and eclectic, which was exquisite, delicate, rich and elegant, and formed the flavor form of Chu's imperial cuisine. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, the imperial chef enriched and innovated the imperial cuisine on the basis of summarizing the cooking practice of the previous generation. According to the relevant data, the number of pasta in the imperial meals of the Han Palace has increased obviously, and the typical ones are soup cakes, steamed cakes and Hu cakes. In addition, the variety of bean products has made great changes in the imperial diet of Han Palace. The appearance of condiments such as lobster sauce and soybean paste has changed the situation that only salted plum was used in the past; The invention of tofu was deeply loved by the imperial emperor Zhou, and became a nutritious cooking material in Xian Yi. The imperial banquet in the Han Palace has been very large. When the emperor feasts and enjoys his ministers, there are thousands of products in the court. The purpose is to drink ten thousand minutes, to be full of gold and jade, to be royal and precious, and to be too strong. Orchestral bells and drums, wonderful sounds, nine merits and eight strokes, singing and dancing together. It can be said that delicious food is endless, bells and bells are full of food, and princes are staggered, and the scale is grand. There were two main institutions in charge of imperial catering in Tang Dynasty: Guanglu Temple and Monk Food Bureau. Guanglu Temple lasted from the Northern Qi Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, and consisted of Taiguan Department (utensils), Delicious Department (ingredients), Liangyun Department (wine and drink) and Zhangchong Department (meat sauce seasoning). Guanglu Temple is mainly responsible for major sacrifices, court banquets, weddings, funerals and weddings, foreign affairs reception and meals for officials, and belongs to the organization that keeps up appearances. The second imperial catering institution opened in the Sui and Tang Dynasties was the Shangshi Bureau of the Temple Province, which was responsible for the emperor's daily diet. There are two royal servants in Shangshi Bureau, whose role is crucial. They will choose the corresponding ingredients according to the season and adjust the menu to ensure that the emperor can enjoy delicious food and achieve the effect of health preservation. In addition, all the royal meals served must be tasted by the royal servants, which is safe and non-toxic before being presented to the emperor. It can be said that it is both a royal dietitian and a vegetable tester. The main features are strict material selection. First, strict material selection. Imperial cuisine has the characteristics of strict material selection since its inception. In the Zhou Dynasty, there was a saying that "young turtles were not eaten". Wolves remove intestines, dogs remove kidneys. The raccoon dog goes to the right ridge, the rabbit goes to the top, the fox goes to the head, the pig goes to the brain, the fish goes to the b, and the turtle goes to the ugly "("Book of Rites "). To a great extent, the making process of "Eight Treasures" shows the good intentions of the chef in selecting ingredients. For example, when cooking "Cannibal Dolphin", you must take pigs that are less than one year old, and when cooking "Daozhen", you must take the meat from the backs of cattle, sheep and elk. According to "Zhou Li", the Zhou royal family set up an "internal stomach", whose duties include "cutting, tempering, frying and reconciling the shame of the king and the queen and the prince." It can be seen that, at least since then, the selection criteria for cooking materials in the imperial cuisine have become increasingly strict and have become a major feature of the imperial cuisine. Exquisite cooking. Second, exquisite cooking. All the emperors in China collected the best chefs in the world with their unparalleled rights to satisfy their personal appetite. These court chefs have superb cooking skills. They have good operating conditions and cooking environment in the imperial palace, and the court has strict division of labor and management of cooking procedures. For example, the Interior Office and Guanglu Temple are huge and sound management institutions of the imperial palace in Qing Dynasty, which strictly limit and manage the form and content of dishes, the selection and processing of materials, the modeling and blending, the taste and nutrition, and the names of utensils and dishes. Cooking in this situation can't be exquisite. Novelty of food is novelty of food. From the early slave society to the long feudal era, the rulers' pursuit of taste is often higher than that of sound and color. In the content of material desires, food enjoyment occupies the main position, which is not only the responsibility of the chef, but also a breakthrough for courtiers to please the emperor. It is with this historical pace that the imperial palace meals are constantly new and surprising. Take the Qing Dynasty as an example. Before entering the customs, raw materials such as cattle, sheep, pigs, deer, roe, chicken and duck were often used in the royal meals for the birthday of Emperor Taizong of Qing Dynasty. After entering the customs, the emperor and the nobles of Wangfu refused to eat food, prompting the royal chefs to deliberate all day, not only to make the world delicious, but also to create many famous dishes, such as "royal meals" The period of Wei-Jin Imperial Meal, Wei-Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties was a special period in China's history, in which division and turmoil intertwined and national cultures blended. In terms of food culture, the eating habits of people of all ethnic groups meet in the Central Plains, which greatly enriched the royal meals of the court. For example, the barbecue in Xinjiang, the roast goose and raw fish in Fujian and Guangdong were all absorbed into the court by the royal chefs at that time. Volume 11 of Southern History, Biography of Empress Chen of Emperor Xuan of Qi Dynasty, records that in the ninth year of Song Yongming, among the foods offered for the royal sacrifice, "Emperor Xuan recommended bread and duck soup, the filial queen recommended bamboo shoots, duck eggs, preserved meat, sauce and roasted white meat, the Qi emperor recommended meat soup, and the Zhao queen recommended tea and rice books.