Science and Technology Spring Science Lecture - Mrs. Xin Chai's Table: Food and Culture in the Han Dynasty
At 19:00 on april 15, 2022, the second lecture of the "Spring of Science and Technology" science popularization activity series - "Mrs. Xin Chai's Table: Food and Culture of the Han Dynasty" was successfully launched at the School of Cultural Heritage of Northwest University. In response to the requirements of the epidemic prevention and control work in Xi'an, the lecture was held in the form of an online conference, and many teachers and students of the college and people from all walks of life who pay attention to archaeology and cultural and cultural undertakings actively participated in the lecture.
Mr. Yu Chun introduced the theme of the lecture - the cuisine and culture of the Han Dynasty with the relaxed and humorous topic of "Did you have dinner today", and launched the "Culinary Talent Test" in the form of a "questionnaire star" questionnaire to interact with the audience, and then, the results of the questionnaire were analyzed in detail on the spot, and the lecture kicked off in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.
CHAPTER ONE
"Mrs. Sincha's Table"
Teacher Yu Chun first introduced the origin of the excavation of the Mawangdui Han Tomb and the relevant situation of the tomb. From 1972 to 1974, the Mawangdui Han Tomb has undergone three archaeological excavations, and the structure is magnificent and complex, there are three in total, all of which are rectangular vertical cave tombs with tomb passages on the north side. Among them, tomb No. 2 is the tomb of Marquis Licang of Changsha in the early Han Dynasty, tomb No. 1 is the tomb of Li Cang's wife, that is, "Lady Xin Chai", and tomb No. 3 is the tomb of Li Cang's son Li Feng (xi). In addition to the well-preserved female corpse preserved in Tomb No. 1, the tomb unearthed more than 3,000 relics such as coffins, silk fabrics, books, paintings, lacquerware, Chinese herbal medicines, etc., covering all aspects of life, art, calligraphy and culture, which can reflect the spiritual consciousness and ideological cognition of the society at that time, and outline a comprehensive Han Dynasty society for us. Subsequently, Mr. Yu Chun showed some of the remains, including "Mrs. Xin Chai's Dining Table" - a beautiful lacquer plate.
CHAPTER TWO
"Mrs. Sim chai's table."
What's the food?"
The Mawangdui Han Tomb also unearthed a book recording Mrs. Xin Chai's diet, which shows that in the composition of Mrs. Xin Chai's table, there are three main categories:
One is the meat-eating animals provided by pigs, cattle, dogs, etc., of which pork is the most, which is because pigs are one of the earliest domesticated and utilized animals in China, since the Neolithic Age, the remains of pigs have begun to appear in archaeological remains, such as the pottery pig in the Hemudu site, the pig mandible in many sites in the Longshan Era, etc. To the Han Dynasty, pigs occupy a very important position in human survival, in addition to sheep, horses, rabbits, deer and other mammals. The second is poultry, such as chickens, ducks and eggs. The third is aquatic products, including crucian carp, mandarin fish, white fish, carp, bream, loach and so on.
In general, the composition of Mrs. Xin chai's table is closely related to her living environment at that time.
CHAPTER THREE
"The way the chef cooks"
So, when Mrs. Xin Chai's meal ingredients are prepared, what kind of cooking is used? Teacher Yu pointed out that at that time, the more popular cooking methods for meat were hot, soup (boiled, stewed), boiled, boiled, wet, used (wax), and preserved. Among them, "hot" is the most widely used one, in Mrs. Xin Chai's menu, "hot food" is listed in a variety of ways, and this cooking method requires the use of tools such as "barbecue oven", such as the Warring States bronze cloud pattern square furnace unearthed in Anhui, the Han "Shanglin square furnace" unearthed in Xi'an and the Han Dynasty "barbecue set" unearthed from the tomb of the King of Nanyue in Guangzhou. Secondly, the cooking method of "soup (boiling, stewing)" is also frequently used, as shown in the portrait brick of the "Han Dynasty Feast and Drinking Map" collected by the Sichuan Museum, using tools such as stoves, kettles, and pots.
Based on the results of his own research and fieldwork in Tibet, Teacher Yu concluded that the difference between pigs and sheep is ostensibly a difference in choices and living habits, but in essence it is the difference between agricultural peoples and animal husbandry peoples, the difference between south and north, and the difference between east and west, and pigs are the most important resources for agricultural peoples to obtain protein.
In addition, staple food is also an indispensable item on Mrs. Xin Chai's table, the staple foods unearthed in her tomb are wheat, barley, millet, millet, soybeans and red beans, etc. Among the cooking methods of staple foods, "boiling", "branding" and "roasting" are traditional Chinese staple food cooking methods. Dry steaming method, stone boiling method, etc. are also more commonly used in ancient societies and continue to this day, such as noodles excavated from the Lajia site in Qinghai and today's Liquan noodles, Shaanxi Shizi steamed buns, etc. Corresponding to the cooking method of meat, the "boiling or roasting" of staple foods is essentially a different choice for people under different ways of life, and it is the difference between the living habits of the East and the West, which can be confirmed by the fact that the stove in the House of the East and the stove in the House of the West are confirmed.
CHAPTER FOUR
"Mrs. Sinchai's Wine Cabinet"
Food and drink are inseparable, and Mrs. Xin Chai's "drinks" are also recorded in the dispatch of the Mawangdui Han Tomb, of which only "wine" has four kinds of liquor, rice wine, warm wine, and ribs. Among them, "baijiu" is a highly alcoholic, and its birth and development are closely related to the development of distilled spirits technology, and Qian Yaopeng and Liu Li of Northwest University have conducted a lot of research on this issue. Chinese wine utensils represented by "甗" are important research objects of "wine culture", and many wine utensils unearthed in the Western Han Dynasty have a large amount of liquid left in them, which need to be analyzed and tested by science and technology to determine whether they are wine. In the results of the questionnaire, most people were able to brew their own red wine, and combined with this result, Mr. Yu introduced the drinking customs of the Roman nobility and the Greek god of wine in the West, "Dionysus".
In addition to wine, the Han Dynasty also had homemade "immortal water", such as an unknown liquid excavated from the Western Han Tomb on the West Road of the Yarn Factory in Luoyang West Industrial District, which was tested to be mainly composed of potassium nitrate and alum. According to the record of "five stones scattered" in the "Thirty-Six Water Law", combined with the image of ascension on the tomb painting of Mrs. Xin Chai, it can be seen that people generally held the "dream of ascending immortals" during the Han Dynasty.
CHAPTER FIVE
"Mrs. Sincha's Last Bite"
Although Mrs. Xin Chai's "Melon Mystery" is one of the key points of public attention to the Mawangdui Han Tomb, from the records in the dispatch strategy, the melon fruits of the Han Dynasty are very rich, and there are as many as seven kinds of burials in the Mawangdui Han Tomb. With the title of "Melon Killer", Teacher Yu took the melon seeds found in the tombs of Mrs. Xin Chai and Hai Dihou as an example, introduced the important position of melons in Han Dynasty society and extended the medicinal functions of melon seeds that can "dissolve phlegm and discharge pus, eliminate knots and scatter stasis, clear the lungs and moisten the intestines", explained the statement that "Mrs. Xin Chai died of melons", and "tested the risk with oneself" and showed "eating melons" on the spot, answering "Is the melon really so dangerous?" "Is melon really a killer?" These questions, finally, pointed out that the death of Mrs. Xin Chai should be more related to her weak spleen and stomach and poor physical condition in her old age.
Mrs. Xin Chai's tomb also found medicines such as thatka, galangal, cinnamon, peppercorns, etc., and there are medical books, medical jane, earlier than the "Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic" written in the "Fifty-two Sick Prescriptions" recorded 52 diseases, mentioned the names of more than 100 diseases, contained more than 280 prescriptions, used more than 240 kinds of drugs, is China's earliest prescription, is a precious medical heritage.
To taste food, it is naturally impossible to ignore the most common and indispensable condiments, including "sauce, salt, sauce, sugar, honey, leaf, and grate" in Mrs. Xin Chai's condiments, and Professor Wang Zijin, director of the History Department of Northwest University, once studied the main condiments in the social dietary life of the Han Dynasty, "sauce" and "sauce".
At the end of the lecture, Teacher Yu sublimated the theme of the lecture "Han Dynasty Cuisine and Culture": under the influence of the Xian Taoist thought of the Han Dynasty, people believe that death is not death, and maintain the concept of life and death of "death as life", which is the traditional Chinese concept of life and death before the introduction of Buddhism to China, it is under its guidance that there is a delicacy on Mrs. Xin Chai's table, leaving us with materials for exploring the lives of our ancestors today, in this exploration, scientific and technological archaeology is a very important means, in the study of human food composition, Eating habits play an important role, among others.
SUMMARY
summary
In the course of this lecture, Teacher Yu Chun infected every listener with his sincere and enthusiastic discourse style and broad and diverse research perspectives, and with the "Mrs. Xin Chai's Dining Table" money, he stepped into the rolling torrent of history, spying on the material and cultural system and life of ancient Chinese society, from prehistoric period, historical period to modern society, from materials, methods to utensils, from materials and systems to ideas and spirits. Before the end of the lecture, students from Northwest University, Lanzhou University, Henan University and other universities and audiences from all walks of life asked questions one after another, and Teacher Yu gave patient and meticulous answers to the questioners.
Finally, everyone thanked Teacher Yu for his wonderful sharing, and the lecture ended successfully.