In ancient times, how many people wanted to seduce the emperor, not to mention the emperor's invitation to dinner, presumably many people could not refuse, but the ministers of the Qing Dynasty were very afraid of the emperor inviting themselves to dinner, why is this? The so-called Qing Dynasty emperor invited to eat the traditional point called the gift banquet, which belongs to the customary banquet, which are: winter solstice banquet, imperial wedding banquet, Dingding banquet, Yuan Day banquet, Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, longevity banquet and a series of large-scale and grand royal banquets.
First of all, the Qing Dynasty's Yuan Day Banquet was scheduled to be held on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the founder was Emperor Taiji, and it was changed to the New Year's Day Banquet by the Yongzheng Emperor. The banquet pays attention to the dress, class personnel, and traditional etiquette, and has certain rules and regulations to follow. Throughout the Qing Dynasty, from its inception to its destruction, almost every year the emperors needed to hold a regular "New Year's Day banquet", but the Kangxi Emperor broke down and cancelled it once for other reasons. It can be seen that its festivals are grand and the traditional customs are deep.
In addition to the Qing Emperor to hold a "New Year's Day Banquet" during the Spring Festival, when the winter came every year, he also had to hold a "Winter Solstice Feast" on the day of the Winter Solstice Festival, which was invented by the Shunzhi Emperor and may be celebrating the winter harvest, etc., the purpose is not very clear. Later, for some reason, the winter solstice feast was no longer held on time every year, but only once every few years. In addition to the solemn festival, the emperor should set up a banquet to invite hundreds of officials to participate, and in addition, every time the emperor's relatives and relatives have a big birthday, they must also hold a birthday banquet, and the emperor's big birthday is called "longevity banquet" which means that there is no boundary to longevity.
The Longevity Feast was one of the large banquets of the Qing Inner Court, and the scale was larger and more solemn than the above-mentioned festivals, as if it was a folk festival, and the emperor's birthday was the largest. It is said that in the late Qing Dynasty in 1894, the power queen Cixi held a 60th birthday for himself, that big style is the world's long-lived, the whole longevity banquet was completed, the cost of about 12 million silver two, the amount of consumption exceeded the birthday banquet consumption of any previous Qing emperor, belonging to the most expensive "longevity banquet" in the Qing history record.
When the emperor is 60 years old, he will celebrate his birthday with the people. However, another "feast of a thousand sorrows" is the real joy with the people. The banquet was a charity banquet invented by the Kangxi Emperor, the purpose of which was to invite the elderly over the age of sixty-five from all over the country to participate, so it was called the Banquet of a Thousand Sorrows. According to Ye Shi's account, in fact, Kangxi's thousand feasts were not enough for 1,000 old people to eat. In the end, it was the Qianlong Emperor who was very powerful, and the banquet he held came to a total of five thousand elderly people over the age of 65, although the old people could not eat so many delicious dishes, but the scene was very lively and warm, and the positive energy was bursting. The imperial wedding banquet refers to the large-scale wedding banquet of the emperor's marriage. In the rise and fall of the Qing Dynasty in three hundred years, only 4 emperors held imperial banquets in the Forbidden City, and they were arranged in order: The Shunzhi Emperor, the Kangxi Emperor, the Tongzhi Emperor, and the Guangxu Emperor. This wedding banquet is extremely luxurious and grand, the palace is full of lights, a big red, the palace eunuchs are given big fish and meat, and they are happy and harmonious. It was the biggest wedding banquet for the Qing Dynasty royal family.
In addition to the Qing Dynasty banquets mentioned above, there are many other banquets such as the emperor's enthronement banquet, the Shangyuan banquet, the Dragon Boat Feast, the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet Chongyang banquet, the princess marrying the brother and the empress's birthday, and the emperor must invite hundreds of officials to dinner according to the custom. At this time, the imperial kitchen of the imperial dining room would hold banquets in the Qianqing Palace and other palaces, which also had seats such as the Nine Secretaries and Six Ministries, the Manchu Han Ministers, and many envoys. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty sometimes held small banquets if they wanted to express their love and kindness, such as the banquet of the temple test, also known as the "Enrong Banquet", which was a banquet held by the emperor for the students who had received the jinshi after the imperial examination. Whenever a general returns from a victorious battle, he will inevitably eat a "triumphal feast."
And so on, so that the hundred officials came to eat the emperor's meal were afraid, although a group of officials gathered together to eat and drink, chatting and laughing and enveloping feelings. But the terrible thing is that the emperor's banquet rules are complicated, and there are many etiquettes, so that the officials do not dare to take it lightly, in case they do not get it right, they will offend the emperor, and in the end, they may be exchanged for the fate of losing their official lives. Therefore, the hundred officials were afraid of the emperor's food, and it was for these reasons.