At present, rice should be the preferred staple food in most parts of China. Besides breakfast, rice should be eaten at noon and evening. Did the ancients eat the same staple food as ours? In fact, there are still some differences. The ancient staple food is mainly divided into three categories: cakes, porridge and rice, but rice is not rice, but small rice and glutinous rice, and rice is still a luxury. I believe many friends are very curious about what the staple food of ancient people was. This time, I will give you a brief introduction. If you want to know, let's take a look.
In Historical Records Biography of Li Sheng and Lu Jia, it is said: "The king regards the people as the sky, while the people regard food as the sky."
divination means "food is the most important thing for the people", which means: two chopsticks, and two innate divinations are exchanged. Exchange, for mouth, for eating. Chopsticks are straight and long, which is a hexagram. Xun, for the wood, for the entry. Together, it means eating with chopsticks. What's in the entrance? It's a chopstick head Chopsticks with round heads are for divination and for heaven. Isn't it "heaven" to eat like this? Therefore, it is believed that "food is the most important thing for the people" comes from here.
As a country with a large population, China people have always paid attention to diet. After the economic development in the Han Dynasty and the ethnic integration in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the food culture in China really became rich and colorful in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
So, what was people's food culture like in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, a relatively prosperous and open era?
In modern society, the staple foods in most areas are rice, wheat, corn, etc. In fact, the ancients were similar. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were abundant grains. Although there were no corn and sweet potatoes, there were all kinds of miscellaneous grains such as rice, wheat, millet (millet), yellow rice and beans, and finally, the eating habit of "rice in the south and wheat in the north" was formed.
At that time, there were three main staple foods: cakes, rice and porridge.
cakes include not only steamed bread, sesame cakes, steamed cakes and steamed buns, but also soup cakes, water-induced cakes, cold utensils (similar to sesame flowers), paste rings (similar to glutinous rice balls) and cut cakes (similar to biscuits). Portable flour cakes and steamed cakes are very popular and become the most common food to satisfy hunger in Tang Jun. Even, some officials ate steamed cakes on horseback and were punished after being discovered, which delayed their career.
At that time, the meals were mainly glutinous rice, small rice, wheat rice, etc. Due to geographical restrictions, the transportation cost of rice was higher and the price was more expensive. Most middle and lower officials and ordinary people ate millet and wheat. Du Fu asked his friend Wei Ba Chu Shi to be the "new chef of yellow millet" and cook rice with yellow rice.
porridge mainly includes rice porridge, millet porridge and wheat porridge. Because it is convenient and easy to make, it can quench thirst and satisfy hunger. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, both ministers and people generally liked to eat porridge, and it has become a custom to eat porridge cold and clear. Noble officials also added honey, almonds, cheese, sesame seeds or other ingredients to the porridge, adding some flavor to the light porridge.
Grain was hard currency at that time. In the early and middle Tang Dynasty, * * * implemented a real tax system of "rent and supervision", and the official "Lumi" was mainly composed of rice and wheat. The grades and standards of Lumi are different. Except Lumi, which is directly taken over under the equal system, other incomes of officials, such as land rent, monthly salary and wages, are usually calculated according to Lumi price.
In addition to these staple foods, dietary fiber and vitamins must be supplemented from fruits and vegetables to regulate metabolism and promote health. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were various fruits and vegetables, such as sunflower, leek, celery, radish, taro, wax gourd, cucumber, mushroom, shepherd's purse, bamboo shoots, amaranth, lotus root, green shield and so on.
In the north, people often eat leeks and horseradish, while in the south, people often eat bamboo and stew bamboo. Soup fire (soup), zuji (sauce) and vegetables have also been effectively preserved by pickling or processing. During this period, fruit varieties are also very rich, such as jujube, peach, plum, apricot, plum, pear, persimmon, chestnut and hazelnut.
Jiangnan, Lingnan and other places are also rich in citrus, bayberry and loquat. Similar to vegetables, people also process fruits into preserved fruits. After hundreds of years of communication along the Silk Road, in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, many foreign fruits and vegetables, such as eggplant, spinach, grapes, pomegranates and sugar cane, still enriched people's stomachs in China.
exotic spices such as coriander (coriander), orchid (basil) and pepper make people's food more delicious. Since the Sui, Tang, Ming and Qing Dynasties, pepper has become one of the most extravagant tastes of China people, even a symbol of wealth. The prime minister of the Tang Dynasty was found guilty of stealing 8 stone peppers (equivalent to tens of thousands of kilograms).
in the sui and Tang dynasties, besides vegetarianism, people also had meat. At that time, the most delicious meat was fish and mutton, but the raising cycle of livestock was long and the cost was high. Ordinary people and junior officials rarely ate meat, while senior nobles could eat all kinds of meat.
The meat products in Sui and Tang Dynasties mainly include pigs, sheep, dogs, donkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, fish, shrimps and crabs. Similar to staple food and vegetables, the meat-eating habits in the north and south are also different. The north has a long nomadic culture and likes to eat mutton, while the south likes to eat fish and shrimp.
"preparing me chicken and rice, old friend, you entertain me at your farm", the cost of poultry breeding is very low, so it is deeply loved by officials and people at the bottom, and it is also an important choice for them to improve their lives. Meat such as deer, goose, sparrow and quail often appears on the table. The main cooking skills of meat and poultry are barbecue (open fire), dried bacon, steaming and frying.
aquatic products are mainly eaten raw with thin slices of dipping sauce. Soup fire (stew), stew, salting and golden jade appeared in the late Southern and Northern Dynasties, and were popular among famous dishes in the south of the Yangtze River in Sui and Tang Dynasties. Fish and sheep, the different food cultures in the south and the north have merged together to form a "fresh" word. All kinds of popular meat made the food world in Sui and Tang Dynasties more colorful.
after eating, people must enjoy some drinks. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, tea, wine, cheese and various drinks led the trend. Tea gradually spread from Jiangnan Shui nationality to all parts of the country. With the development of Buddhism, tea drinking in meditation has become a fashion, and it has become the first choice for literati gathering. Lu Yu, a Cha Sheng in the Tang Dynasty, has a Book of Tea, which elaborates on the taste of tea and water, the method of cooking tea, etc.
entertaining guests with tea has become an important social habit in the Tang Dynasty, and tea drinking has gradually spread to Tubo, Silla, Japan and other places. With the increasing status of tea in the social life of the Tang Dynasty, "tea tax", like "salt tax", gradually became an important source of income in the Tang Dynasty.
in the Tang dynasty, besides tea, wine also developed greatly, and the progress of agriculture led to the increase of wine production. The Tang Dynasty controlled the western regions, which made the brewing technology of wine spread to the east, and the types of wine were constantly increased: Jiannan Roasted Spring, Dried Wine and Grape were all famous wines at that time.
The pulp of Tang Dynasty is similar to modern fruit juice, and it can be divided into mulberry pulp, grape pulp and peach pulp according to different raw materials. Because of immature crystallization technology, sugarcane pulp was widely used as sweetener in Sui and Tang Dynasties. At that time, there was a kind of "sugar" fruit powder similar to today, which could be preserved for tourism for a long time.
in addition, a kind of drink called "sanlejiang" appeared in the Tang dynasty, which originated in Persia and is similar to today's cocktails.
Due to frequent contacts between Hu and Han, northerners prefer to eat mutton with a lot of cheese food since the Northern Dynasties. During the Tang Dynasty, "frozen cheese" appeared in Chang 'an, similar to shaved ice today. Shaved ice is poured with sugar cane syrup, and even mixed with cherries, which has become a delicious food for dignitaries in summer.
The Tang Dynasty was an era of highly developed economy and culture, and food culture promoted the development of the catering industry, and various banquets came into being. Among them, it is divided into "official banquets" and "private banquets". Most of the official banquets are normal working meals, and officials discuss some things related to government affairs while eating. This kind of banquet is more like a social platform to enhance the communication between officials.
In addition, common private banquets include: Jinshi banquet, family banquet, sightseeing banquet and welcome banquet. Among them, "Qujiang Banquet" is the most famous. This Jinshi Banquet prevailed in the middle and late Tang Dynasty and was named after the apricot garden beside Qujiang Pool in the southeast of Chang 'an. Organized by the new division Golden Lion, please perform kabuki in the square to cheer. On the day of the banquet, officials get together and sometimes invite the emperor. After the banquet, there are often activities such as boating and inscription on the tower.
However, although the banquet for Jinshi has brought the relationship between Jinshi and examiners closer, it has also played a role in fueling the cronyism. Therefore, during the reign of Prime Minister Li Deyu, such banquets were banned.
Mountain seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables, jade liquid agar, and colorful food reflect the rich and colorful food culture of people in Sui and Tang Dynasties, and also reflect the innovation and tolerance of Chinese civilization in that era.