In the "History of Li Sheng Lu Jialie", it is said: "The king regards the people as heaven, and the people take food as heaven." ”
The meaning of "the people take food as heaven" is: two chopsticks, two numbers of congenital gua for exchange. For the mouth, for eating. The chopsticks are long and straight, and they are Sunggua. Sundanese, for wood, for entry. Together, you eat with chopsticks. What is the entrance? It's chopsticks. The chopsticks are round, for the dry gua, for the dry for the sky. Isn't it "heaven" to eat like this? Therefore, it is believed that "the people take food as heaven" comes from here.
As a large gastronomic country with a large population, Chinese has always paid attention to diet. After the economic development of the Han Dynasty and the integration of the nationalities of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the food culture of China in the Sui and Tang dynasties did become colorful.
So, in the Sui and Tang dynasties, that era of relative prosperity and openness, what was people's food culture like?
In modern society, the staple food in most areas is rice, wheat, corn, etc., in fact, the ancients are similar. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, grains were abundant, although there was no corn and sweet potatoes, but rice, wheat, millet (millet), yellow rice and beans and other grains, but everything was available, and in the end, it formed the eating habit of "southern rice and northern wheat".
At that time, the staple foods mainly included: cake, rice, and porridge.
Cakes include not only: steamed buns, flax cakes, steamed cakes, buns, etc., but also: soup cakes, water cakes, cold utensils (similar to sesame flowers), paste rings (similar to glutinous rice balls), cut cakes (similar to biscuits) and so on. Portable pasta and steamed cakes were popular and became the most common hunger-filled foods for the Tang Army. There are even officials who eat steamed cakes on horseback, and when they are discovered, they are punished and delay their careers.
At that time, the main meals were: glutinous rice, millet rice, wheat rice, etc., due to geographical restrictions, rice transportation costs were higher, the price was more expensive, and most of the middle and lower-level officials and ordinary people ate millet and wheat. Du Fu asked his friend Wei Bashi to be the "new chef of yellow millet" and cook rice with yellow rice.
Porridge mainly includes: rice porridge, millet porridge, wheat porridge and so on. Because it is convenient, easy to make, and can quench thirst and hunger. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, both ministers and ordinary people generally liked to eat porridge, and cold food and Qingming porridge had become a custom. Noble officials also added honey, almonds, cheese, sesame seeds or other ingredients to the porridge to add some flavor to the light porridge.
Grain was the hard currency of the time, and during the early and middle Tang dynasties, the government implemented a real tax system of "rent and supervision", and the official "Lu rice" consisted mainly of grains such as rice and wheat. In addition to the lu rice that is directly taken over under the equalization system, the other income of officials, such as land rent, monthly wages, wages, etc., is usually calculated according to the price of lu rice.
In addition to these staple foods, dietary fiber and vitamins must also be supplemented from fruits and vegetables to regulate metabolism and promote good health. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, there were a variety of fruits and vegetables, such as: sunflowers, leeks, celery, radishes, taro, winter melon, cucumbers, mushrooms, cabbage, bamboo shoots, amaranth, lotus root, green water shield and so on.
In the north, people often eat leeks and horseradish, while in the south, people often eat bamboo and stewed bamboo. Vegetables are also effectively preserved by pickling or processing them into soups (soups), zugi (sauces). During this period, fruit varieties are also very rich, common are: dates, peaches, plums, apricots, plums, pears, persimmons, chestnuts, hazelnuts and other dried fruits.
Jiangnan, Lingnan and other places are also rich in citrus, bayberry, loquat and so on. Similar to vegetables, fruits are processed to fruit. After hundreds of years of exchanges along the Silk Road, by the Sui and Tang dynasties, many foreign fruits and vegetables, such as eggplant, Puling (spinach), grapes, pomegranates, sugar cane, etc., were still enriching people's stomachs in China.
Foreign spices such as coriander (coriander), orchid (basil), pepper and so on make people's food more delicious and delicious. Since the Sui, Tang, Ming, and Qing dynasties, pepper has become one of the most extravagant flavors in the Chinese, and even a symbol of wealth. The Tang dynasty chancellor was convicted of stealing 800 stones of pepper (equivalent to tens of thousands of kilograms).
In the Sui and Tang dynasties, in addition to vegetarian food, people also had meat food, that is, meat. At that time, the most delicious meat was fish and mutton, but the livestock had a long feeding cycle and high cost, and ordinary people and lower-ranking officials rarely ate meat, while high-ranking nobles could eat a variety of meat.
The meat of the Sui and Tang dynasties mainly includes: pigs, sheep, dogs, donkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, fish, shrimp, crabs and so on. Similar to staple foods and vegetables, the meat-eating habits of the North and the South are also different. The north has a long nomadic culture and likes to eat lamb, while the south likes to eat fish and shrimp.
"The old man has a chicken, invite me to the field family", the cost of poultry breeding is very low, so it is deeply loved by low-level officials and people, and it is also an important choice for them to improve their lives, deer, geese, sparrows and quail and other meat, often appear on the table. The main cooking techniques for meat and poultry are grilling (open fire), dried bacon, steaming and stir-frying.
Aquatic products are mainly eaten raw with thinly cut dipping sauce, and soup fire (stew), stewing, pickling, and golden jade appeared in the last years of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and were popular in the famous dishes of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Fish and sheep, the different food cultures of the South and the North blend together to form a word for "freshness". A variety of popular meats made the food world of the Sui and Tang dynasties more colorful.
After eating, people must enjoy some drinks. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, tea, wine, cheese and various beverages led the way. Tea gradually spread from the Jiangnan aquarium to all parts of the country. With the development of Buddhism, zazen tea has become a fashion and the preferred way for literati to gather. The tea saint Lu Yu of the Tang Dynasty had the "Tea Book", which elaborated on the taste of tea and water, the method of boiling tea, etc.
In the Tang Dynasty, in addition to tea, wine was also greatly developed, and the progress of agriculture led to an increase in wine production. The Tang Dynasty controlled the Western Regions, so that the winemaking technology was transmitted to the east, and the types of wine were constantly increased: Jiannan roasted spring, dry and grapes were all famous wines at that time.
The pulp of the Tang Dynasty is similar to that of modern fruit juices, and according to the different raw materials, it can be divided into mulberry pulp, grape pulp and peach pulp. Due to the immature crystallization technique, sugarcane pulp was widely used as a sweetener during the 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, the Tang Dynasty also appeared a drink called "Three Music Pulp", which originated in Persia and resembles today's cocktails.
Due to the frequent exchanges between Hu and Han, since the Northern Dynasty, northerners have preferred to eat lamb, accompanied by a large number of cheese foods. During the Tang Dynasty, "frozen cheese" appeared in Chang'an, similar to today's shaved ice. Shaved ice was poured with sugarcane pulp, and even cherries were tossed with cherries, making it a delicacy for the magnates in the summer.
The Tang Dynasty was an era of high economic and cultural development, 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 which are normal working meals, and officials discuss some things related to government affairs when they eat. This kind of banquet is more like a social platform, enhancing the communication and communication between officials.
In addition, common private banquets include: entrance banquets, family banquets, sightseeing banquets and welcome banquets. Among them, the "Qujiang Banquet" is the most famous, this kind of jinshi banquet was popular in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, named after the apricot garden on the banks of the Qujiang River in the southeast of Chang'an. Organized by the new division Golden Lion, please cheer for the Kabuki performance in the square. On the day of the banquet, officials gathered together and sometimes invited the emperor, and the banquet was often followed by activities such as rowing boats and inscriptions on the tower.
However, although the jinshi banquet has brought the relationship between the jinshi and the examiner closer, it has also played a role in promoting the formation of the party for personal gain. Therefore, during the reign of Prime Minister Li Deyu, he ordered that such banquets be banned.
Mountain and sea flavors, fresh fruits and vegetables, jade liquid agar, and colorful cuisines reflect the colorful food culture of people in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and also reflect the innovation and tolerance of Chinese civilization in that era.
Resources:
["History of Li Sheng Lu Jialie Biography", "Tang Liudian", "Fish Eating Paste", "Spring and Autumn of the Ten Kingdoms", "Tea Classic"]