Looking at China's ancient dynasties for more than 4,000 years, from the establishment of the Xia Dynasty in 2070 BC to the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 AD, there were twelve unified dynasties in the land of China, in order of Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Jin, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing, which were also mixed with many transitional regimes, and there were 494 emperors alone. Every change of regime has promoted the course of China's history, and the driving force behind this is most likely from our daily ordinary meal and chopsticks.
How we ate it step by step
Chinese the historical context of food change is now summed up in a total of five major processes: the first stage is Ru Mao drinking blood, that is, mixed raw and cooked food, all edible animals and plants in nature are human food, the so-called "raw swallowing and peeling", "Ru Mao drinking blood", reflects this state of existence, this period of our old ancestor Fu Ren clan mastery of fire, for future generations of us can be described as a matter of immeasurable merit (come, let us praise the old ancestor).
At this time, everything that can be eaten and drunk is firmly controlled by the source of food, due to the ecological environment and seasonal factors, its food source is very unstable, to put it bluntly, what to eat, what to eat. At this time, our male ancestors heroically stood up and used the food returned from hunting to seize the right to speak--- matriarchal society ended, which is really a slap in the face.
The second stage is to plant a hundred grains, hunt a hundred birds, that is, gathering, fishing, hunting and farming, this period is actually a selection period, everyone has no past experience, the ancestors can only eight immortals across the sea to show their magic, drill the forest to pick wild fruits, fishing fishing, hunting hunting, planting crops, in the final analysis is to let the stomach eat enough. Looking back, how important the experience accumulated during this period was, so much so that it determined the future development direction of the Chinese nation.
Next, the third stage is five grains and six livestock, that is, agriculture and animal husbandry, with the accumulation of experience, this period has reached the final choice period, after eliminating many backward food production methods, agriculture and animal husbandry finally stood on the stage of competition, in the end, agriculture won, we also entered the fourth stage, that is, the farmers and animal husbandry, which also determines that China is bound to become an agricultural power, this period millet, millet, millet, wheat, rice gradually occupied the table of the Chinese, is what we now call the five grains in the five grains, Also because of the large span of the north and south of the Chinese land, the pattern of southern rice and northern wheat has been formed, so the southerners like rice, and the northerners like noodles is really the inheritance of the ancestors; and in animal husbandry, horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, and chickens are the six livestock, which is what we now call the six animals in the prosperity of the six animals.
Nowadays, with the advanced production methods and the popularization of science and technology, our society has entered the fifth stage, that is, agriculture and animal husbandry go hand in hand, the food supply capacity has been significantly enhanced, the total grain output and yield have doubled, and now our food diversity, eating enough is no longer a concern for everyone, and more attention is paid to health and diversification.
The people take food as the heavens, and if you don't let me eat enough, I will turn over your heavens
Compared with our ancestors, we are happy, looking back at China's feudal history, from the pre-Qin period of Chen Sheng WuGuang uprising, followed by such as the Chimei Uprising, the Yellow Turban Uprising, the Wagang Uprising, the Huangchao Uprising, the Fang La Uprising, the Red Turban Army Uprising, the Li Zicheng Uprising and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Boxer Rebellion, the revolts of the people at the bottom directly or indirectly led to the collapse of one feudal dynasty after another: Chen Sheng Wuguang Uprising, resulting in the demise of the Qin Dynasty; the Huangchao Uprising at the end of the Tang Dynasty, which shook the Li Tang Dynasty The peasant revolt of the Red Turban Army at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the end of the Yuan Dynasty's rule; the peasant revolt of Li Zicheng at the end of the Ming Dynasty, directly hit Beijing, the fall of the Ming Dynasty, and so on. The reasons for these peasant uprisings are varied, but the point that cannot be escaped is that the people at the bottom really can't get by, and whoever makes me hungry will turn over the sky of whom, although the sky here refers to the upper ruling class, but a large agricultural country like China really relies on the sky to eat, according to authoritative experts, the more important driving force of global climate change is from the change of the sun. After hundreds of years of observation, especially the study of sunspot activity, it has been found that solar activity not only has an activity cycle of 11 years and 22 years, but also a longer cycle of 80 years and 200 years. The change of the strength and weakness of the long period of solar activity largely restricts the fluctuation of the cold and warm climate of the earth's surface climate, such as the first cold stage of the Ming and Qing Xiaoice period in China, which actually corresponds to a long period of decay of the sunspot number, that is, the Mondell minimum period (1645-1715), when the sunspots almost disappear. The second cold phase of the late Qing Dynasty also corresponds to a small period of solar activity weakening, that is, the "Dalton Minimum Period" (1790-1820), since the mid-1880s, sunspots have begun to grow from the trough, and are generally in a phase of continuous enhancement, so the global climate has begun to warm again, roughly from the 90s of the last century, the solar constant began to decrease, since the 21st century, further accelerated, according to American scientists, the sun will enter a fairly long period of time." Super Quiet Mode", perhaps into hibernation. A good harvest is a good harvest, a good harvest can be full of food, and a full meal can be a hot kangtou for wives and children, which is the wish of the most simple lower working people, so eating is really greater than the sky.
There is money to do well, and grain to feed people
We always mock the Warring States era of the Neon Nation as a mutual fight between villages, and the origin of this ridicule is because the population base of the Neon Country is too low, and if it is really as thrilling as they say, it is estimated how many times the Neon People will die. What about our demographics? According to statistics, at the time of the Three Kingdoms, China's population size was about one million, and during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it exceeded the ten million mark; the Han Dynasty increased to more than 60 million, and the Song Dynasty exceeded 100 million. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was about 160 million (or 200 million), according to the estimates of population historians, after the great turmoil in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, including wars and famines, the population fell to about 90 million, then to the nineteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1680) rose to about 100 million, by the first year of Qianlong in 1740, the total population of China rose to 200 million, and then continuously broke through the 300 million (1790) and 400 million (1830) marks, until 1850, which was the year before the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement. It has reached 450 million, or 500 million, and the so-called 450 million people of China were almost formed during the Jiadao period. Such an explosive population growth, can not but bring great catastrophic damage to the entire natural ecosystem of China and Chinese society, each time the Chinese mouth increased significantly, the introduction of alien species played a vital role, according to complete statistics into China's foreign crops including corn, sweet potato, soybean potato, potato, cassava, pumpkin, peanuts, sunflowers, peppers, tomatoes, beans, lima beans, Western apples, pineapples, cherimoches, guava, oil pears, cashews, cocoa, American ginseng, papaya, land cotton , tobacco and other nearly 30 species. Especially since the Ming Dynasty, corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes and other foreign dryland crops have been introduced to China, and quickly set off China's second agricultural revolution, which has had a huge impact on China's agricultural production and natural environmental changes.
Nothing can be lost to our mouth
Chinese love to eat, Chinese will also eat, people rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, rely on the sea to eat the sea, such as the north of China, more cattle and sheep, often with beef and mutton cooking; southern China is more productive aquatic products, poultry, people like to eat fish, meat; China's coastal seafood, then seafood cooking, so gradually formed with strong local characteristics of the dish.
As early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, China's dietary culture has taken shape, with Tai Gongwang as the most representative, and then to the Spring and Autumn Warring States of the Qi Huangong period, food culture in the northern and southern dishes showed differences, to the Tang and Song dynasties, southern food, northern food each formed a system, to the Southern Song Dynasty, the southern sweet and northern salty pattern formed, developed to the early Qing Dynasty, Lu cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Su cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, became the most influential local cuisine at that time, known as the "four major cuisines". At the beginning of the Republic of China, the culture of all parts of China has developed considerably, Su-style cuisine is divided into Su cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine and Hui cuisine, Cantonese cuisine is divided into Cantonese cuisine, Fujian cuisine, Sichuan cuisine is divided into Sichuan cuisine and Hunan cuisine, because Sichuan, Lu, Guangdong, Suzhou four major cuisines formed a relatively early history, later, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan, Hui and other local cuisines have gradually become famous, forming a complete system, and later formed the most influential and representative is also recognized by society: Sichuan, Guangdong, Suzhou, Fujian, Zhejiang, Xiang, Hui, Lu and other cuisines, that is, people often say that China's "eight major cuisines." ”。 The formation of a cuisine and its long history and unique culinary characteristics are inseparable, but also by the natural geography of this region, climatic conditions, resource specialties, eating habits, etc., the formation of the cuisine also reflects the social, cultural and economic status of the whole region in China, for example, some people use anthropomorphic methods to describe: Lu cuisine is like the emperor of the king, that is because most of the ancient Chinese regimes were established in the north; Hunan cuisine is like a rich and rich connotation, full of talents, Only Chu Youcai is the true portrayal; Cantonese and Fujian cuisine are like elegant princes, the land of Guangdong and Fujian, rich in money and grain; and Su, Zhejiang and Hui cuisine are like beautiful And beautiful Jiangnan beauties.
Who would have thought that this simplest daily meal would be the driving force behind the social process, planting a grain of millet in the spring, harvesting ten thousand seeds in the autumn, no idle fields in the four seas, and farmers starving to death. "Frugality, virtue is the same; extravagance, evil is also the greatest", practicing diligence and thrift is the fine quality of the Chinese nation; China's grain supply has always been in a tight balance; although in recent years grain has been bumper harvested every year, but the current situation of China's large population and thin foundation has not changed, and saving grain is of strategic significance to the entire country. "Opposing extravagance and waste and strictly practicing economy has a bearing on the rise and fall of our nation, and we must persistently guard the threshold of saving grain."