China is not only an ancient civilization with a long history, but also a gastronomic capital. Since ancient times, Chinese have been particularly particular about eating and drinking.
As for the extent to which it is exquisite? It can be seen from the various eating utensils of ancient times
1.Simmering utensils
The earliest cooking utensils are Ding, which was used as a tool for cooking meat and storing meat, which lasted for more than two thousand years from the three generations to the Qin and Han Dynasties. And the earliest ding was clay fired pottery ding, and later there was a copper ding cast in bronze.
(Ding)
Later, people invented manes, including ceramic bristles and bronze bristles. Bronze bristles were originally made from pottery already available in the Neolithic age.
(Mane)
The shape of the mane looks similar to that of a ding, and it is also used as a cooking utensil, so why do people still make bristles? In the "Mengxi Pen Talk", it is written, "There are three legs in the Ding, and those who can accommodate things in the middle are the so-called manes." ''There are three hollow feet, and the mane is easier to absorb more heat when heated than the ding. I really have to admire the wit of the ancients!
In the Warring States period, due to the widespread use of stoves, the function of the mane lost its meaning and was replaced by a kettle.
The bottom of the kettle is round and insufficient, it must be placed on the stove or support the boiling object with other objects, and the kettle mouth is also round, which can be used directly for cooking, stewing, frying, frying, etc., which can be regarded as the predecessor of the modern use of the pot.
(Kettle)
In order to more easily pour out the cooked food, people invented a kettle with ears - a magnesium.
(Hammer)
Gradually, simple cooking utensils can no longer meet people's needs for food, so on the basis of the previous, the earliest steamer - 甗 was born.
As a steaming utensil, it can be divided into two parts, the lower half is the bristle, which is used for boiling water, and the upper half is the koshiki, which is used to place food and can be steamed.
（
甗)
The upper part of the koshiki is connected to the mane through the hollowed out grate and is used to place food, and the steam in the bristle is used to cook the food in the koshiki. Individual koshiki are rare and mostly round, with or without ears.
(Koshiki)
It is worth mentioning that a set of triptychs has also been unearthed in the tomb of the woman, which can steam three different foods at the same time. I have to say that the ancients, while paying attention to eating, are constantly exploring how to eat more conveniently.
(Women's Good Triptych)
2.Serving utensils
When the cooking utensils are ready, they need to be put into the feeding utensils, so there is the following series of feeding utensils.
Yikes
It was used as a utensil for ancient sacrifices and feasts to hold rice such as millet, millet, sorghum, and rice. The basic shape is a rectangular vessel, the cover and the body are the same shape, the same size, symmetrical up and down, integrated into one, divided into two utensils. It appeared in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, mainly in the early Spring and Autumn period of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and disappeared after the late Warring States period.
Gui
It is an ancient bronze or pottery container for food, and is also an important ceremonial vessel, which is used in conjunction with the ding during sacrifices and feasts, with open mouths, necks, drums, and ears.
honest
Also an ancient food vessel, Dun also placed crops such as rice, millet, rice, and beams during sacrifices and banquets. It appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period, and later gradually evolved into a cover. By the time of the Warring States period, it was mostly cover-shaped. It is often three-legged, and sometimes the cover can be used in reverse.
Cup
It is a ceremonial vessel or food utensil that holds rice such as millet, millet, rice, and sorghum, and changes from it. The cover is similar to the shape of the body but slightly smaller, and there are four square feet on the cover, which is its general judgment standard. After removing the lid, it is turned over to form another vessel, and the food is placed in the same place. It became popular late in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and has basically disappeared in the early Spring and Autumn Period.
beans
Beans in ancient times, specially held pickles, meat sauce and other utensils and flavors, is also a kind of ceremonial vessel, appeared in the late Shang Dynasty, prevailed in the Spring and Autumn Warring States.
The above utensils, in addition to beans, are all filled with rice such as millet, millet, rice, and sorghum, which shows that the ancients paid attention to eating and attached importance to sacrifice.
3. Wine vessel
China's wine culture is also broad and profound, with a long history. The ancients used no less than a dozen kinds of utensils for serving wine, drinking and warm wine, which were very exquisite.
respect
Zun is a large and medium-sized wine container in China during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Bronze, zun shaped circle foot, round or square abdomen, long neck, open mouth, larger caliber. Zun flourished during the Shang Dynasty to the Western Zhou Dynasty, and was rare in the late Spring and Autumn Period.
Sir
Jue is an ancient Chinese vessel used to hold, pour and heat wine. Jue is very common in archaeological finds of Bronze ware from the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty.
Yikes
As an ancient wine container, it was popular from the late Shang dynasty to the early Western Zhou Dynasty. Oval or square body, circled or quadruped. With a lid, the lid is made into a horned animal head or an elephant head with a long nose rolled up. Some of them are made into animal shapes, with a cover for the head and back, a belly, and four legs.
goblet
It was also an ancient vessel for drinking alcohol and was also used as a ceremonial vessel. The legs are rounded, open, long, and the mouth and bottom are all trumpet-shaped. Yao first appeared in the Erlitou culture, which was very rare by the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty. It flourished in the Shang Dynasty and the early Western Zhou Dynasty.
Yikes
It is a large wine vessel and ceremonial vessel in ancient times. It is popular from the late Shang to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period. The volume is slightly smaller than that of Yi, and there are two kinds of square and round, the square one appeared in the late Shang Dynasty, and the round one appeared in the Shang Dynasty and the early Zhou Dynasty. From Shang to Zhou, the form of the silk gradually changed from thin and tall to short and thick, and the elaborate patterns gradually became less and less elegant.
Cup
It is also an ancient wine container, which is an instrument used by the ancients to mix wine and water, and use water to reconcile the thickness of wine. The shape of the cup is more numerous, generally round mouth, deep abdomen, cover, anterior flow, posterior with a bow, three or four legs underneath, and a chain connection between the cover and the chain. Bronze cups first appeared in the Erlitou culture period (that is, Xia culture), flourished in the late Shang and Western Zhou, and became popular in the Spring and Autumn Warring States.
Yikes
It was used as a vessel for drinking alcohol in ancient times. Made of bronze. It resembles a dignified and small, or has a cover. It is one of the traditional ceremonial vessels in ancient China and is used for serving wine. It was popular in the late Shang Dynasty and early Western Zhou Dynasty.
Axe
The axe is a wine vessel used by ancient ancestors to warm wine, and is also used as a ceremonial vessel, usually cast in bronze, with three legs, one iron (ear), two pillars, and a trumpet-shaped mouth. After king Shang Tang defeated Xia Jie, he was set as a wine cup for the royal family, and the princes used horns.
Umbilical
It is also an ancient wine vessel. The specific time of occurrence is unknown, and the prevailing period of use is the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty. It was used to hold wine. So the appearance is mostly round, oval, with feet at the bottom, and exquisitely carved craft patterns around it.
Yi
Yi is also a kind of instrument used by ancient ancestors to hold wine, and also refers to the sacrifice vessel commonly used in ancient temples. In ancient books, the name of Fang Yi as a ceremonial vessel is not seen. The Song people were known for their square shapes. The names of the instruments have not been found in the Fang Yi texts made by later generations, so the archaeological community still uses the old Song theory.
feast
It is also an ancient wine-holding vessel, with an oval shape, shallow abdomen, flat bottom, and half-moon-shaped ears on both sides, and sometimes a cake-shaped foot or high foot, which is also called an ear cup by archaeology.
horn
Horns were used as ancient utensils for serving wine. Made of bronze. Shaped like a knight without columns and streams, the two tails are symmetrical, with a lid, used for warm wine and wine, one corner and one scatter.
In addition, there are also tungsten, urns, etc., and there are also functions for serving sake. Among them, 觥, 罍, 盉, 觯 as wine holding utensils, different shapes, but also for people to aesthetically, but the horns, knights and axes look very similar.
I have to say that compared with the modern people's eating and drinking life of a pot, a pair of chopsticks, and a wine glass, the ancients paid attention to eating and drinking, which is really difficult for us to compare.