The Song Dynasty was a dynasty that loved and knew how to eat. The Chinese people’s habit of eating three meals a day began here. A five-meter-long "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" depicts the lively and prosperous street scene of Bianjing, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty at that time. Nearly half of the hundreds of shops in the picture are catering shops. It can be seen that "eating" was not only a very important thing in the Song Dynasty. important things. A magazine in the United States once selected the 100 major events that had the most profound impact on human life over the past thousand years. The restaurants and snacks of the Song Dynasty were ranked 56th. What charm did the food of the Song Dynasty have that could affect human life? The heat is unbearable, so today we will start with the unique and unique “Song Dynasty Drinks” that relieve heat and quench thirst.

The bustling streets of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival"

A bowl of healthy soup? Awakening your energy

The book that records the scenery and customs of Bianjing "Tokyo Menghualu" has a description of people entering the market at dawn at dawn. There is a sentence: "There are also people selling facial cleansing water, boiling some soup, tea and medicine until dawn." We have said many times before that there is a "face wash" sold on the streets of Bianjing, but what does "the one who fry some soup, tea and medicine" refer to? The "medicine" here is not medicine to be taken when you are sick, but a bowl of "health soup" to awaken your energy and spirit. Soup and tea are a very popular health drink in the Song Dynasty. They are mostly made from medicinal materials and seasonal fruits and have certain health effects. Zhu Yu, a geographer of the Northern Song Dynasty, once recorded in "Pingzhou Ke Tan" that today's secular guests sip tea when they arrive and sip soup when they leave. The soup is made from sweet and fragrant medicinal materials. It can be warm or cool. There is no one who does not use licorice. This custom is spread all over the world. It is said that this method of drinking health care was popularized from top to bottom in the palace. It was most common in the streets of the Song Dynasty in summer. The drink is "perilla water" made from perilla as the main raw material. Ordering soup, tea and medicine? Not only in the morning market, most of them carry pots and walk through the streets, stopping at any time. When you go to the Zhouqiao Night Market in the evening, you will still see them selling pots.

Look at the one-stop service provided by the Song Dynasty. You may be coming out sleepy from home, or you may be a businessman who has just entered the city. You can wash your face and drink health tea comfortably on the street. What a shame. The day in the capital has just begun.