1. The ancient Chinese saying "Food is the first necessity of the people" comes from the earliest theoretical basis of Chinese food culture. It should be the familiar saying "Food is the first necessity of the people" and the ever-popular saying "Food, sex, and sex are also the same." Anthropologist, American

Zhang Guangzhi, academician of the Academy of Sciences and professor of Harvard University, once asserted: "One of the best ways to reach the core of a culture is through its belly." "Eating", the most biological and material level, may be the key to understanding the spiritual temperament and temperament of a nation.

The most important entry point for spiritual core.

That being the case, what does “eating” really mean to the Chinese?

"Food is the most important thing for the people". What kind of medicine is contained in this gourd?

Only by excavating the full meaning of "food is the most important thing for the people" and only by exploring all the psychological motivations of the behavior of "eating" can we accurately understand and interpret the endless absurd phenomena surrounding "eating" that occur around us.

"Food is the first thing for the people" comes from "Book of Han. The Biography of Li Shiqi", which says: "The king regards the people as the first thing, and the people regard food as the first thing." China entered the agricultural era very early. In the long agricultural society, due to

The level of productivity is low, the social population is relatively small, and natural and man-made disasters have been frequent in history, forcing the people to pay more attention to the issue of food and clothing.

In ancient times, the country, the country, and the country were called "sheji", and this "ji" was said to be millet in some ancient books, and cereals in other books. In short, it was a kind of grain.

In ancient times, Ji has always been regarded as the king of grains, so emperors worshiped "Ji" as the god of grains, and then used it to refer to the country.

Most of the previous dynasty changes were overthrown by peasant uprisings or severely weakened. Often there was severe drought and farmers had no harvest. However, the government continued to impose excessive taxes and the people were deprived of their livelihood, and finally revolted. Therefore, the root cause of social unrest is from an academic point of view.

It's caused by the means of production and living, or in layman's terms, by food, by "eating".

Guan Zhong, a great statesman in the Spring and Autumn Period, warned rulers: "If you have enough food and clothing, you will know honor and disgrace; if you have enough barns and barns, you will know etiquette." He believed that governing a country means "herding people", that is, the way to govern people is to let them have food, and then they will obey the law and obey the law.

Know the rules.

It is related to the country, the country, and the country. “Food is the first priority for the people” is not only at the core of Chinese food culture, but also the foundation of the country in all dynasties.

The ruling classes of all dynasties have emphasized agriculture over commerce, and the country has always centered on agriculture.

"Book of Zhou" introduces eight major national affairs ("Eight Policies"). The first is food - in today's terms, it rises to the height of politics. Without agriculture, instability is overwhelming.

"Book of Wei. Biography of Li Biao" said: "If a country does not have three years' reserves, it is said that the country is not its own country." Food is the most important strategic material.

In ancient times, warehousing was regarded as "the great destiny of the world". All dynasties attached great importance to it, actively built warehousing facilities, and tried every means to raise grain.

In the Xia Dynasty, the warehousing system officially became one of the country's basic systems.

There has been no relaxation in the past dynasties. Until the early 1990s, China's food policy was still a "unified purchasing and marketing" system that had been in place for decades, with a high degree of monopoly. Even now, it has not been fully liberalized.

In addition, China's household registration system, taxation system, salary system, etc. all use this as the basic criterion.

China's etiquette, morality, etiquette and other superstructures are built on such an economic foundation, and all irreconcilable social contradictions are also concentrated here. Therefore, reforms and reforms in the past dynasties are usually about agriculture and revolve around eating.

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In turn, the system prevents food culture from sinking and continues to thrive.

Therefore, food culture is ultimately an agricultural culture and is at the core of agricultural culture. This standard is the same in the world. Looking around China and the world, most of the places where food originated were areas with highly developed agricultural culture, not commercial cities.

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Such as Guangzhou, Chengdu, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Paris and other places.

Because the pace of life of businessmen or capitalists is very fast, they are busy with business and have no time for delicious food.

The landlords are a typical leisure class. They have fertile land and can only collect rent when the time comes. They have plenty of time to eat and study.

In Chinese history, in addition to those who could open up food sources, the social status of those who improved their "eating skills" was particularly prominent, and that was the chef.

Shakespeare once said: "A cook who cannot lick his own fingers is not a good cook." Tolstoy described the charm of chefs in this way: "God has sent us food, but the devil has sent us cooks."

The evaluation of chefs is nothing more than this. They are excellent craftsmen or artists.

In Chinese history, the status of chefs is much higher. The ancestors who invented cooked food and were good at cooking are regarded as saints.

For example, the legendary Suiren, Fuxi, Shennong, etc. were revered as the ancestors of the Chinese nation by later generations because of their great achievements in opening up food sources or teaching people to cook cooked food.

The first chef with a chronological record was Shaokang, the king of the Xia Dynasty four thousand years ago.

"Zai" also means to manage and preside over in Chinese, such as to dominate and dominate.

As the saying goes, "xiazaizi" means "making decisions", "giving instructions" and "making decisions".

In ancient times, there was also an official name: Dazai.

"Prime Minister" is of course the highest official position in ancient times.