There is such a metaphor in ancient times, saying that since ancient times, a monarch must have a minister, just as a person who has a meal must have a chef. If you want to eat, you must have people who make food. In ancient times, people who took cooking as their profession were called people, which is what we call chefs now. Chefs sometimes had a high status in ancient times and were respected by society; Sometimes they struggle at the bottom of society and are treated unfairly.

Youren is one of the main creators of ancient food culture in China, and their work and achievements deserve fair evaluation. Sima Qian wrote "Historical Records", and later Sima Zhen added "Biography of san huang", which described Fuxi, the legendary ancestor of humanity, as a person with professional connection with the kitchen. "Ji Ji" said: "Taihao Fuxi raised sacrifices to cook, so he said that he was willing to sacrifice." Or "sacrifice", it is also called getting prey.

This phrase comes from the lost book "The Emperor's Century", not a fabrication by Sima. Our ancestors were born as cooks, and they were named after this profession, which shows that in prehistoric times and in the early days of history, this must be quite noble and not looked down upon by people. A monarch is like a gourmet, and his ministers are cooks. Some of these ministers with superb cooking skills are good at slaughtering, some are good at cooking, some are good at seasoning, and the dishes will be beautiful, and the country will not worry about bad governance. Wu Ding, the king of Shang Dynasty, was famous for Fu Shuo. He saw the man he wanted in his dream, which made people ask for help everywhere.

Wu Ding attaches great importance to Fu Shuo, ruling the country. He compares Fu Shuo to a yeast for brewing wine and a salt plum for a spoon, and he also uses cooking as a metaphor to govern the country. Wu Ding praised Fu Shuo's words as follows: "If you are a wine cellar, you can only sing;" If you make a soup, you will only be salt plum. " Later generations, there are people who get high positions and high salaries because of their superb cooking skills, especially when emperors who like to enjoy their tastes are in power. "Song Shu Mao Lazy Biography" said that Mao Lazy was captured by the Northern Wei Dynasty. He once made delicious mutton soup and presented it to the ministers, who "thought it was delicious and presented it to the Emperor Wu".

Emperor Tuoba-tao also felt beautiful and very happy, so he promoted Mao Qing to be an official order. Later, Mao Shi took Gong Zhuo as the minister of history and conferred the title of South County, but the position of official order still held concurrently. According to "Biography of Liang Shu Official", Sun Qian is good at cooking, and often cooks delicious food for prominent officials in the DPRK, so as to keep close affection. After getting the opportunity to serve as a prefect, the emperor cooked all his meals by himself, and he was not afraid of fatigue, so he was deeply appreciated. "So he was the prefect of Lieqing, Yushi Zhongcheng and the two counties."

Hou Gang, a native of Luoyang in the Northern Wei Dynasty, also entered the official career by a chef. Hou Gang was born in poverty. When he was young, he was "good at cooking, getting in and out of meals, accumulating officials and tasting food". Later, he was named Hou of Wuyang County and became a public official. The phenomenon that chefs entered the official career once became a common fact in the Han Dynasty. According to the Biography of Liu Shenggong in the Later Han Dynasty, many of the people who were awarded the official titles of meritorious service by the late Emperor Liu Xuanshi were merchants and even servants, and some of them were born as cooks. Because this practice is unreasonable, it has aroused the concern of public opinion, so there was a satirical ballad in Chang 'an at that time, which said, "Raise the corps commander under the stove;" Rotten sheep stomach, riding a captain; Rotten sheep's head, Guan Neihou. "

At that time, the chefs won many official posts with military exploits, which is another matter. In the past dynasties, people served the dignitaries more, and there were not many opportunities to be officials, and there were even fewer opportunities to be officials. People stand in the world, relying on their own skills, stunts, and social respect. Zhuangzi talked about how to solve the problem, and he was good at skillful knife cutting. People's respect is also manifested in wartime.