More than 1, years ago, Dunhuang people loved to eat cakes and porridge, and the dining system was implemented. Hotels were always crowded, and even monks and nuns liked to take a few mouthfuls while chanting on the side wall. Most of the millet earned by the temple is used to make wine or change wine.

In Dunhuang, Buddhist scriptures, social documents, silk paintings, utensils and other documents, a large number of food and drink materials in the Tang and Song Dynasties are preserved. This gives us a chance to go back more than a thousand years and see what Dunhuang people ate at that time. How to eat?

There are many staple foods, vegetables and fruits.

Among the staple foods of Dunhuang people, wheat includes wheat, barley, highland barley, luomai and buckwheat. Shells include millet, millet and japonica rice; Beans include peas, kidney beans, black beans, soybeans, cowpeas, adzuki beans and wild beans. In addition, Dunhuang people also collected certain grass seeds as food in famine years.

Dunhuang people are also rich in non-staple food. Dunhuang has a relatively developed animal husbandry, and livestock such as cattle and sheep are the sources of meat and dairy products. Dunhuang has been a multi-ethnic mixed area since ancient times, and the dietary customs of all ethnic groups have left traces here more or less. Tubo ruled for a period in the Tang Dynasty, and the habit of Tubo people's love for milk also influenced Dunhuang people. Dunhuang people like hunting, surrounded by rabbits, wild horses, wild camels, argali, antelope, etc. Many documents record that they have the words "Orion", "antelope" and "game" and "net eagle" and "catch eagle", which shows that hunting is not only a pastime of Dunhuang nobles, but also a means for them to obtain meat.

Oil crops in Dunhuang include flax, hemp, red and blue, and rapeseed may have been cultivated. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Dunhuang had a well-developed garden economy. In addition to private vegetable cultivation and trading, many monasteries owned vegetable gardens with varieties such as radish, lettuce, turnip, onion, garlic, leek, gourd, cowpea and alfalfa. Dunhuang people also collected some wild plants and fungi, such as fermented soybean, shepherd's purse, mushroom seeds, horse celery seeds, etc., to supplement the shortage of vegetables and improve the taste.

Dunhuang is known as the "hometown of melons and fruits". As early as the Han Dynasty, Dunhuang was famous for its high-quality melons, which were used as a tribute when Emperor Han Ming of the East China. The planting area of melons is also very large. According to a Dunhuang document, there are more than a dozen melon gardens in each canal in Shazhou. The fruits in Dunhuang include grapes, pears, pears, peaches, apricots, jujubes, Zizyphus jujuba, Hu Linzi and so on, including almost all the fruits in northern China at that time.

Dunhuang people's condiments include pepper, ginger, salt, black beans, vinegar, sauce, syrup and so on. Zanthoxylum bungeanum and ginger come from other places, and "Qindi Ginger" is the best; Other seasonings are made locally. Dunhuang people are fond of acid, and it is recorded in the literature that the temple not only brewed vinegar sauce itself, but also traded raw grain for it in the street. It shows that there were many workshops brewing vinegar sauce in Dunhuang at that time. Slurry water is a kind of pickled vegetable water produced by fermenting vegetables, which has the effects of relieving summer heat, reducing temperature, relieving boredom and facilitating digestion, and is still a favorite condiment in northwest China.

Dunhuang people who love cakes and porridge

Like the vast areas in northern China at that time, Dunhuang people's staple food was all kinds of cakes, on the one hand, because wheat and processed flour have replaced millet and millet as staple food, and on the other hand, since the Han Dynasty, cake food has gradually become a favorite food of northern people. There are nearly 3 kinds of names of cakes in Dunhuang, which are more than those in any historical materials, including Hu cakes, luobing cakes, steamed bread, water cakes, white cakes, pancakes, steamed cakes, sesame cakes, sand cakes, milk cakes, vegetable cakes, pancakes, glutinous rice cakes, cage cakes, sycamore cakes, ring cakes and cakes. Most of these cakes are made of wheat flour, and a few are made of millet flour or minced flour.

Of course, these foods called "cakes" are not cakes today. Because people used to call all foods made of flour "cakes", such as fried food, steamed food, stuffed food and noodles, which are not consistent with today's cakes.

The methods and tools for making some cakes are recorded, from which we can know the inheritance relationship between them and some foods today. For example, Hu cake, sesame cake, Chinese parasol cake, milk cake, luobing, etc. are similar to the barbecue cakes popular in the north today; Steamed cakes and cage cakes are similar to the current steamed bread; Dragon-tiger-snake cake is a kind of steamed food in the shape of dragon-tiger-snake, which is often used in some ceremonial ceremonies, such as birth ceremony, adult ceremony and other sacrifices. Steamed bread, vegetable cakes and vegetable molds are similar to the current steamed buns; Pancakes, pancakes, etc., are the same as today's pancakes and pancakes; Some are similar to today's oil cakes, and some are the same as today's dumplings, but with different shapes; Some are the same as today's snacks, and some are similar to today's fried cakes, which are often used as meals or snacks for distinguished guests; Cake paste is a common way to eat cereal flour and paste flour in northwest China, that is, after scalding the flour with boiling water, add yeast and steam it into a cake. This way of eating can still be seen in some mountainous areas of Gansu today. Other cakes, such as preserved cakes, are only recorded by the amount of flour used, and it is not yet possible to determine their production methods.

in addition to dozens of kinds of cakes, there are more than a dozen kinds of foods popular in Dunhuang, such as porridge, glutinous rice, water noodles, cooked noodles, fine noodles, sausage noodles, fried noodles, wheat rice, rice, rice cake and so on. Today's popular foods, such as cold noodles, wonton, stuffed skin, zongzi, etc., were already on the plate of Dunhuang people at that time. In addition, Dunhuang documents also recorded "beard noodles", which should be the earliest record of dried noodles in historical materials.

There are several kinds of porridge in Dunhuang. There are syrup porridge, rice congee, rice syrup, porridge and so on. Its material is not just rice or millet, but flour. Soup is also a regular diet of Dunhuang people. Dunhuang people love porridge and soup because they often eat fried food. The meaning of "rice" in Dunhuang is also wide. It is called "wheat rice" steamed with wheat, which was recorded in the papers in the early Tang Dynasty, but disappeared in the Five Dynasties and the early Song Dynasty. Some kind of food made of noodles is also called "rice", which should be the same as what Hexi people call noodles and so on today; The other is "rice" made of japonica rice.

Hu Shi and Hu Qi

An important feature of Dunhuang diet is Hu Shi and Hu Feng in eating habits. Almost half of its diet varieties are Hu food or evolved from Hu food, especially pasta represented by cakes. Laying, sitting posture, wine containers, etc. are also more or less stained with Hu qi. Businessmen from east to west bring all kinds of cake making techniques, and making all kinds of cakes to satisfy businessmen's hobbies for different cakes is also a successful business policy of Dunhuang cake shops.

At that time, there were some special snacks in Dunhuang, such as sausage noodles and Ciba. Enema noodles are a kind of food that is filled with the mixture of noodles, oil and blood in the intestines of animals and then steamed. It is still a common way to eat in Tibetan areas today. Dunhuang was ruled by Tubo for a period of time, and it was inevitably influenced by it. Dunhuang people often use enema noodles to worship the gods. It seems that it is a high-grade food. Ciba is also a Tibetan food variety, which is recorded in Dunhuang Tibetan papers. It shows that during the reign of Tubo people, their food culture also influenced Dunhuang people.

In Dunhuang during the Tang and Five Dynasties, people's food etiquette was in a kind of alternation between the old and the new. Meal system, sitting posture, utensils, etc., all show this feature.

In ancient Dunhuang, people practiced separate meals

During the Tang and Five Dynasties, the meal system was still in the transitional stage from two meals to three meals. According to the literature, sometimes it is three meals a day, sometimes it is two meals a day, and sometimes it is to use snacks after two meals. When engaged in heavy physical labor, it is also recorded that there is a "night meal", but the quantity is less than the other two meals.

In the era of "case", Dunhuang people sat on the floor and practiced the system of sharing food. The food was put on the case, and the chef or servant put it in front of the eater. From the perspective of murals, in Dunhuang during the Tang and Five Dynasties, the dining table has completely replaced the case, and people sit around and eat. From the dining chart, it can be clearly seen that Dunhuang people have been sitting around the dining table (a low rectangular table, like the current coffee table), but it is essentially different from today's co-eating system. That is, everyone's food is still separated, with plates in front of everyone, and the chef or someone will distribute the food to each diner.

In the records of some eating activities, bowls, plates, wine glasses and other tableware are often divided according to people's heads.

In the tombs of Wei and Jin Dynasties in Dunhuang and Jiayuguan, people in Dunhuang can be seen kneeling and eating, inheriting the ancient tradition. By the Tang and Five Dynasties, most of them had sat cross-legged on the floor. From the murals, we can see people sitting cross-legged on the kang, or sitting cross-legged or kneeling on a wide bench as high as a food bed. The advantage of this sitting method is that it avoids the disadvantage of numbness caused by prolonged kneeling in the thigh, which may be influenced by ethnic minorities. At that time, there were high stools in Dunhuang. Although there was no picture of eating on the high stools, the possibility of sitting on them was not ruled out.

In addition, influenced by the eating habits of many ethnic minorities, they also have the habit of eating on the paved food blanket. Because in the distribution of eating items in the temple, "laying" is indispensable, and in the account of the items in the temple, food blankets, food blankets, food lists and so on have appeared more than once. This can easily remind us of the eating habits of some ethnic minorities.

There are many reasons to treat people to dinner

After basically meeting their physiological needs, people's eating activities gradually increase their social significance. Some fixed eating activities followed, which is what we call a "banquet" today.

There are many banquets recorded in Dunhuang documents. However, it was not called a banquet at that time, but it was called "bureau" (or "bureau seat"), "feast", "meal", "setting", "watching", "snacks", "Chinese food", "relieving fire", "relieving fatigue" and "fasting" according to different scales and properties. "Bureau" is also called "bureau seat", or simply "seat" and "banquet". At the earliest, people's more important eating activities were held in seats made of some plants, which were also called "feasts", and later they were called banquets by "seats" or "feasts". Up to now, some areas still call banquets "seats". "Banquet" is a popular saying for banquets in the Tang and Five Dynasties, which was popular until the late Qing Dynasty. Today, it has become fashionable to call banquets "bureaus", which is to call banquets "meals". In Dunhuang at that time, "bureau seats" generally referred to more formal banquet activities.

"Setting" originally refers to offering sacrifices, offering sacrifices, making offerings, etc., and later it is extended to a feast.

The original meaning of "seeing" is a courtesy visit, but in Dunhuang it refers to eating and drinking activities for something, which means hospitality and sympathy.

"Dun" was originally meant to knock on the ground, and later it was extended to a place for gathering and lodging. The "Dun" in Dunhuang is all related to an activity, such as celebrating Sheung Shui, going up and down the grottoes, and after the funeral, everyone will buy wine and get together.

"Snack" and "Chinese food" are undoubtedly a banquet activity. "Small" and "Chinese food" are not the concept of time, nor the number of participants, but mostly refer to the level of diet. From the retrieved examples, the scale is not small, and there are many people, which are often used in activities such as seeing off and getting together as usual.

The original meaning of "relieving fire" and "relieving fatigue" means that a fire is caused by fatigue, and you need to eat some food to extinguish the fire. This was originally a simple eating activity, but the "relieving fire" and "relieving fatigue" in Dunhuang have evolved into more complicated banquet activities.

"Zhai" originally refers to the monks' eating activities, but Dunhuang is a society where Buddhism is very prosperous, and the name of monks' eating has also influenced the secular society, and the layman's banquet activities are sometimes called "Zhai".

Monks and nuns also drink

There is the world's earliest map of distilled liquor brewing in Dunhuang Grottoes. There are nearly 3 wine merchants and hotels in the vast Dunhuang, not including monasteries and a large number of private winemaking. There are many varieties of Dunhuang wine, including millet wine, malt wine, highland barley wine, millet wine, wine and so on. According to the varieties, there are sake, Hu wine, sweet wine, white wine, medicinal wine and mixed wine. The brewing technology of wine has reached a very high level.

In Dunhuang, people from almost every social class like drinking. Leaders of the Guiyi Army, envoys from various political regimes to Dunhuang, pawns and peddlers, and Buddhist monks are all frequent guests of the hotel. Even monks and nuns, in addition to chanting on the wall of the ancient Buddha, came to take a few mouthfuls. Most of the millet earned by the temple is used to make wine or change wine. The role of wine is far from being a drink, but it has become a lubricant for the relationship between people in social life. Almost all secular social activities and even some religious activities are indispensable. Such as entertaining envoys, offering sacrifices to entertain gods, seasonal ceremonies, various banquets, welcoming and sending, wedding and funeral celebrations, etc., there must be wine.

in formal occasions, each person has a cup. The wine vessels in Dunhuang are urn, horn, note, pottery and spoon. Taozi is used to warm wine, which shows that Dunhuang people like to drink hot wine.

At that time, people in Dunhuang had a common way to draw boxing at that time, which was called "Xuanquan". In addition, there was an elegant way to make wine orders with "awkward cage", which required certain cultural knowledge, so it prevailed among scholars or nobles.

The capacity for drinking of Dunhuang people is no small matter. The amount of wine provided by Gui Yijun to the envoys in Dunhuang ranged from more than 2 liters to 3 liters per person per day. According to the records in some documents, the drinking capacity of some people ranges from 5 liters to 7.5 liters per day, which is about 6 kg to 9 kg today, which is even worse than that of Wu Song in Jingyanggang. Of course, most of the wine they drink is millet wine, and the alcohol content is low, which can't be compared with today's liquor.