1. China's ancient food aesthetic thought

sweet, good and beautiful —— the bud of China's food thought

Yuan Mei —— "The way to learn, the prophet should act before he acts, and so should the food"

"All the five flavors are palatable are sweet"

"The sheep are big and fat"

"The words of food are good"

It is called. ("Eating in the Garden, Notices")

Here, "Prophet before Action" is not an idealistic inversion of epistemology in which knowledge precedes practice, but it means "it is not difficult to know before action", which is the regression and deepening of "knowledge-practice" in the second stage of cognitive process. In other words, only after mastering the necessary experience and knowledge can we make a good dish, and only after having considerable aesthetic cultivation can we create a corresponding gourmet life.

It can be said that the brilliant development of China's ancient food culture is the result of countless gourmets, food theorists, food producers and countless active participants in food activities in the long history of national food life. They created their own unique aesthetic theory in food practice, and they pushed their food life and food culture to a brilliant historical height under the guidance of this theory.

1. sweetness, beauty and goodness-the germination of the idea of dietary beauty. The question of the origin of "beauty" has always been the first question that aestheticians should answer.

Due to the different aesthetic angles, research methods and understanding levels, there are various theories such as "primitive religious consciousness theory", "human nature of loving beauty", "labor theory" and "game theory".

it should be said that all the above-mentioned theories of origin have some truth. "Everyone has a love for beauty", and the feeling and consciousness of "beauty" are human beings' different understandings of my life in the world.

therefore, it can be said that all the above statements are not comprehensive enough. Because the awareness of "beauty" and the objects caused by it are extremely extensive and all-encompassing.

in this way, the origin of beauty should be human life-all areas of human thinking tentacles. This determines the extreme extensiveness and heterogeneity of beauty consciousness.

The aesthetic consciousness of the standard of diet life can be understood as the feeling and consciousness of human beings (nations or individuals) about the "beauty" of diet life. The aesthetic thought of diet is the enrichment, deepening, leap and systematic perfection of the above consciousness, the feeling, comprehension, thinking, exploration and creation of the beauty of diet life, and the understanding, understanding and theorization of the beauty of diet life. Of course, it can't exclude the enlightenment and understanding of other objects and fields. But it can't be understood as the simple and mechanical transplantation and borrowing of the latter. Rich written records and unearthed cultural relics provide a lot of credible evidence for our understanding.

the concept of "beauty" has existed for a long time in ancient China. Shuowen explains: "Beauty is sweet. From the sheep. Sheep are fed by six livestock owners. Beauty and goodness agree. " Paragraph note: "The words of food are good. Sheep, auspicious also. Therefore, beauty follows sheep. " "The sheep are big and fat." This seems to tell the general law of China's ancient diet aesthetic consciousness: it comes directly from the practice of diet. Mutton tastes "sweet", and Shuowen explains: "Sweet and beautiful. Take one from the mouth. First, Tao also. " Paragraph note: "All five flavors are sweet to the mouth." "The food is different, but the Tao is one. The so-called taste is also awkward. " Delicious food is beauty, beauty is a feeling, a realm-"Tao", and all kinds of foods have concrete and abstract "Tao". The so-called "Tao is one" is not a kind of "taste", but an artistic conception that all kinds of flavors have, or can be achieved, and a subjective examination of the objective.

In ancient times, sheep was one of the livestock widely raised by ancestors in Huangsa Valley, and it was the main meat source for people's daily consumption. Secondly, probably because sheep is needed by anyone, and it can walk (so as not to burden the bearer), produce milk, reproduce and gain weight (as a token, it does not wear out), so in ancient times, sheep was the easiest to act as a medium in barter. This point is * * * in the commercial development history of many nationalities in the world, so Marx regarded sheep as "a general or social equivalent form" in his Capital. Thirdly, sheep are used as sacrifices in sacrifices and alliances. Probably because of this, the sacrifice of sheep is of great significance. "Show" and "Shuowen" are interpreted as "astronomical phenomena. See good or bad. " "Show" and "See good or bad luck." In order to avoid bad luck, sacrificing sheep can bring good luck. This is the birth of the "beauty" of sheep. Fourthly, sheep is a "sacred object" to worship ghosts and gods, so in personnel, giving people sheep is regarded as a heavy gift. Because the sheep is a symbol of the ceremony, a grand ceremony is not a ceremony unless it is a sheep. When Zi Gong "wanted to tell the new moon's sheep" (The Analects of Confucius, the third), he was opposed by Confucius, a teacher who abided by the ceremony. From the above four points, we can see that sheep played an extremely important role in the economic life and religious sacrifices of ancient people in China. Therefore, it can be inferred that when the ancients created the word "beauty", it was this universal "sheep" that was chosen as the pictograph and understanding of the word "beauty".

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However, we still feel that the above four points are not enough. Because it only answers the important position of sheep in people's lives, the degree of attention and the general reasons. This only shows that sheep have important economic and general cultural significance, and it is not enough to fully explain the aesthetic significance. So, what is it, that is to say, what is the essential attribute of sheep that induces people's love and triggers our ancestors to have beautiful reverie and thinking? Let's look at the explanation in Shuowen again: "Beauty is sweet. ..... Beauty and goodness agree. " Looking up the "Gan" section of Shuowen again, we can know: "Beauty also has a population of one." Duan Yucai respectively explained: "Gan is one of the five flavors, and all the five flavors are delicious." "The beauty of the five flavors is sweet. Everything that is good is called beauty. " The word "goodness", Xu Wen and Duan Zhu are all "beauty and goodness agree". Also, "Interpretation of Names": "Gan, containing also, people contain also." That means delicious food. Thus, "sweetness" and "beauty" are mutually trained, and beauty and goodness are synonymous; Taste is known in the mouth, beauty comes from it, goodness comes from it, and the aesthetic feeling of diet appears.

The sweet taste, after being chewed by people, causes people to feel comfortable and comfortable in touch, taste and psychology. This image can also be painted and decorated in the painted pottery basin with fish pattern on the face of Yangshao culture in Banpo, Xi 'an (sketch). Although the meaning of the picture has another interpretation, intuitively, it is more appropriate to understand that a population contains two fish, with a smile on its face, and seems to be intoxicated by the sweetness of this fish. We believe that the aesthetic consciousness in diet life originated from the delicious taste of "sweetness"-that is, the first is the sense of functional pleasure.

harmony of five flavors-the search for harmonious beauty

the ideological source of "harmony"

the content of "harmony"-the method of cooking things, the most important thing is the heat, those who need to use fire, frying is also right, and weak fire makes things tired. If there is a need for slow fire, it is also necessary to simmer, and the fire is fierce and dry. Those who use fire first and then slow fire will collect soup, while those who are impatient will be scorched in the skin and unfamiliar in the interior.

the effect of harmony-"sweet but not strong, sour but not cool, salty but not reduced, pungent but not strong, light but not thin, fat but not thick"

the fifth generation of elders know about diet-high-level aesthetics

people don't know how to eat, but rarely know the taste

Ten beautiful styles-systematic and perfect aesthetic principles

quality <

The quality beauty of raw materials is the foundation and soul of all other beauties, so it was put forward as a gourmet element long ago and has always been the basic element of China's ancient diet aesthetics.

incense

the smell that evokes emotions and stimulates appetite

The so-called invisible smell, "Anyone who smells its odor will be exhausted after ten steps." (Biography of Chef Wang Xiaoyu in Collected Works of Kokura Mountain House) Smelling incense is one of the most important signs of food beauty, and it is also a key aesthetic link to identify beauty, predict delicacy and an important sensory index to test cooking skills.

the word "Xiang" expresses meaning, which originated from people's feeling of the beauty of diet. "Shuowen" explains: "Sweet, fragrant. From glutinous rice, from sweet. "

color, pleasing to the eye and moist in color, refers not only to the natural beauty of raw materials (quality beauty is the premise, but also to the cooking temperature and other factors), but also to the combination of various raw materials. Taking beauty as another criterion. Beauty, not only can see the beauty of raw materials, but also can see that the cooking skills and cooking methods are just right. You can also see the beauty of harmony between the colors of various raw materials. The aesthetic value of Yaozhuan can be basically determined by the intuitive judgment of the two sensory indicators of color and fragrance, and the

shape

is an artistic and aesthetic shape that reflects the gourmet effect and serves the purpose of eating.

China's understanding and pursuit of formal beauty in ancient food aesthetic thought is a combination of natural beauty and artistic conception based on the beauty of raw materials. Like China's ancient poems and paintings, they all pursue a natural, simple and elegant artistic conception.

Compared with hot dishes, the occurrence and development of cold dishes in China are much later and worse. Cold dishes have an important development period in the Tang and Song Dynasties, focusing on the requirements of quality, taste, color, fragrance and shape. It is necessary to show the natural essence of raw materials and the skills of cooking and knife-cutting in the combination, rather than carving and carving at the expense of the whole.

utensils

exquisite and suitable cooking and drinking utensils, mainly catering utensils.

The eating utensils include not only the dishes, tea, wine and spoons, but also the special dining tables and chairs.

"luminous glass of grape wine", "delicious food should also be beautiful" and "delicious food is not as good as beautiful utensils". Beautiful utensils have not only become one of the important standards for judging ancient cuisine, but even developed into independent handicrafts with unique appreciation standards.

taste

the taste of satisfying the appetite, also refers to delicacy

It emphasizes the two purposes of "innate" natural taste beauty of raw materials and "harmony of five flavors".

This is the key to the beautiful effect during eating. Whether it's the innate taste of "lone" raw materials or the compound taste of "anti-leather collocation" of various raw materials, it's necessary to "taste at the right time" (Book of Rites, Zhong Ni Yan Ni, 28th)

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Delicious food is the main goal pursued by China in ancient times, and the beauty of taste has become the highest ideal realm.

taste discrimination is a comprehensive appraisal activity of nose, eyes, tongue and spirit. By smelling the fragrance, observing the color, shape, taste and understanding the flavor rhyme, it is finally completed.

(fitness)

Comfortable taste is the pleasant effect of the touch of the tongue.

For the understanding and pursuit of "fitness", "slippery" and "brittle" are the two most common words.

Crispy, because the texture of raw materials is timely and beautiful, and the cooking is ingenious, so the taste is crisp and moist.

"Slippery" and "Crispy" are often used as delicious compliments, and "Crispy" and "Slippery Beauty" are frequently found in the literature.

besides "smoothness" and "crispness", another important indicator of palatability is temperature.

The aesthetic feeling caused by the proper sense of touch, such as smoothness, crispness, heat, cold, etc., makes the diners get a very satisfying feeling in the process of eating, reaching a pleasant artistic conception.

preface

refers to the reasonable collocation of raw materials, humidity, color, flavor and shade of a table or the whole banquet; The scientific order of serving; Banquet design and the harmonious and rhythmic procedures of the diet process.

the injection of "preface" is the inevitable result of taking diet as a pleasure and seeking beautiful enjoyment in the process of eating.

。 "The method of serving food: the salty should be first, the light should be later, the thick should be first, and the thin should be later; No soup comes first, and soup comes first ... If you eat and drink too much, your spleen will be sleepy, so you must use spicy to vibrate it. Worrying about drinking too much wine will make your stomach tired. It must be reminded with sweetness. " (

Scenery

An elegant, harmonious and elegant banquet environment.

there are natural, artificial, internal, external, large and small banquet environments.

After eating and drinking life is recognized as a cultural aesthetic activity, "environment" naturally becomes one of the aesthetic factors

interest

pleasant taste and elegant style.

while being familiar with material things, we need spiritual enjoyment, and finally achieve the purpose and situation of enjoying life by combining the two.

For this reason, various colorful activities such as singing, dancing, dancing, playing on bamboo, playing musical instruments, talking elegantly, writing and painting, etc. should be arranged along with the whole banquet process, so that the banquet process becomes a psychological process of activities and physiological activities, and it becomes a harmonious enjoyment of physiology and psychology that fully embodies cultural characteristics.

(Huan) The ultimate goal of ten beauties

In Yuan Hongdao's "Zheng Zheng", thirteen criteria were listed for the "waiting time" of banquets, and sixteen disadvantages were pointed out at the same time. The concentrated expression of ten beautiful styles can be expressed in one word, that is, Yuan Hongdao's "Huan", that is, Tao Tao, whose taste is elegant and refined, and who is finally happy with the banquet, Stop having a good time

2. China's aristocratic diet thought

The traditional diet idea of "cooking big to cultivate great virtue" has never been realized

The double personality thought of "a gentleman is far away from cooking" deviates from his behavior

The common people's diet thought

The people are satisfied with their food-food is the day

Prepare for famine. If you have a meal, you should guard against it.

You should be thrifty in managing your family —— you should tighten your belt to live with clothes and food.

You should be poor and masturbate —— you can eat coarse tea and light rice until you are old, and you can eat coarse cotton-padded clothes until you are old.

China intellectuals' dietary thoughts

"It is said that most people in this nation have been honing their amazing virtues all their lives.

Plato's Republic: "Only those who are addicted to wealth and goods are low"

The food thought of upright people-respecting the esophagus, observing the food ceremony, being ashamed of the taste desire, being content with frugality and keeping in good health

The food thought of herbalists

Four principles of reasonable diet-harmony with five flavors, moderation in diet and diet. "A doctor never gets sick when he goes to work"

Emphasis on dietotherapy-medicine is better than food, and medicine is better than food.

Dietary thinking of vegetarians

Early quasi-vegetarians-"Hungry and frugal, everyone is vegetarian"

The vegetarian view of Taoist health preservation-"Fat meat is thick and wine is strong, Life says "rotten intestines eat"

Vegetarian thought about Buddhist precepts —— Xiao Yan's "Duanrou Jiuwen"

the national tradition of showing filial piety and vegetarianism

Zoroastrianism's "eating vegetables is evil"

the food thought of gourmets

The formation of tea-drinking gourmets

who love monks.