Since ancient times, eating has been the top priority in life.
Nowadays, people basically follow the frequency of eating three meals a day in the morning, noon and evening, and sometimes eat supper to add meals, but in ancient times, people also ate three meals a day?
In 1975, Qin Jian, the sleeping tiger land in Yunmeng, Hubei Province, appeared in the world, which has many precious historical materials, after collation, a total of ten articles, which contain a lot of divination, politics, law and other content, but also related to marriage and social customs.
From these ancient cultural relics, we can explore the life of the ancients, and in them also happen to describe the eating habits of people in the Qin and Han dynasties.
Meals should be eaten on time
As for eating, people are very free in today's society, and they can eat as many meals as they want, but this was not the case in ancient times.
The ancients had many rules, and eating was no exception, and it also depended on their status and class status, for example, for people with high class status, the emperor needed to eat four meals a day, while ordinary people only had two meals.
When we were children, we all read an article in Mozi called "The King of Chu is Good Thin Waist", which wrote, "The King of Chu Ling is a good soldier with a thin waist, so the ministers of the King of Chu all take a meal as a festival, coerce and then bring, and then support the wall and then rise." ”
During the Warring States period, the way of eating Chinese had not yet entered the "three meals a day", and at that time only two meals a day were eaten, which was called Korean food and food food.
The morning eclipse is the first meal, and when the sun reaches the southeast corner, it is about the same time, the ancients called it Yuzhong, and before the Yuzhong is the time of the morning eclipse, which is called the eclipse time, which is roughly around 9 to 10 o'clock in the morning.
Feeding is the second meal eaten by ordinary people, when the sun has reached the southwest corner, also known as feeding time, around four o'clock in the afternoon.
"Mozi" describes that at this time, it is no longer possible to eat out, and the morning food and food are also called food and food, because ordinary people only have two meals a day, so the word "food" is sometimes used to refer to food.
Time came to the Yin Shang period, according to the relevant records of the oracle bone inscription, people at that time also had two meals a day, the first meal was commonly known as the "big food day", also known as the "food day", and the second meal was commonly known as "small food".
This diet system has lasted almost forever, and the habit of two meals a day was still retained in the pre-Qin period.
And the reason for this is not difficult to understand, at that time, most people still worked in the fields, started the day's work after breakfast, and returned late for dinner, the typical "sunrise work, day income".
Buddhism also put forward its own view of "not eating at noon", they believe that early morning is the time of eclipse, which is the time when God makes people eat, noon is the time when the Buddha eats, that is, the time when the Buddhas of the three worlds eat, the sunset is the time when animals eat, and the night is the time when hungry ghosts eat.
Ancient people had a unique reverence and belief in the gods and Buddhas, and people generally listened to the guidance of the Buddha, so people almost did not eat after noon, because after all, eating in the afternoon and evening meant that they were hungry.
Eat more for breakfast, then go to work, and after dinner, because there is no entertainment, and it gets dark quickly, and you rest early, so you naturally eat less.
This habit is very suitable for the work and rest of the working people, and even until now, some mountainous villages in the Central Plains still retain the habit of eating two meals a day and eating leftovers for dinner without making another meal.
However, two meals a day are for the general public, and there are different regulations for the Son of Heaven and the princes.
"Zhou Li" once recorded the diet of high-class people, making it clear that the king kept three meals a day, and their three meals were not simple breakfast, lunch and dinner, but morning eclipse, midday eclipse and evening eclipse, although the time was slightly different, but it was basically the same as now.
During the Warring States Period, even the scholars had three meals a day.
In addition to the royal family, the nobles may also have three meals a day, but because the ancient society is still relatively backward in society, agriculture is underdeveloped, and the total output of grain is not very high, mainly depending on the sky to eat, so after all, there are only a few people who can eat three meals a day, and most people still maintain the habit of two meals a day.
However, two meals a day also leads to a further decline in social productivity, which in turn exacerbates food scarcity, so even a daily supply of two meals a day is sometimes difficult to get enough to actually eat two meals.
Not only the general public, but also the soldiers can only eat two meals, which are almost less than the supply of the soldiers, but sometimes in order to reward the meritorious or boost morale, the leader can also choose to add a meal to the soldiers.
At that time, Xiang Yu once added a full meal to his soldiers, and then went to conquer Liu Bang with full morale.
But why do people now default to three meals a day instead of two meals a day? It seems that no one has ever asked this question.
That's because during the Han Dynasty, the transition from two meals to three meals had already begun.
The advent of three meals a day
In the early days of the Western Han Dynasty, ordinary people still had two meals a day, but three meals a day had become very popular among princes and princes, and the emperor's meals were also upgraded, even reaching four meals a day.
And for those who committed crimes or those who were under society, they could only get very little food to survive, barely survive, and even in ancient times, there were extremely cruel starvation punishments to deal with those who committed the most heinous crimes.
However, with the development of social economy, the supply of food is no longer insufficient, and people begin to add meals for themselves, for example, after special activities or labors that are extremely physically demanding, people will also add another meal in the evening, called supper.
When people wake up in the morning, they eat a dessert, which is usually high in sugar and has the energy they need for a day's work.
This shows that people at that time had realized the importance of breakfast for the physical support of the day, and these desserts were called "cold utensils", but this could only be regarded as morning tea at most, not a formal meal, but it has already shown that the public eating habits have begun to transition to three meals.
Therefore, by the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a mature three-meal system was finally formed, which has been reflected in the "Analects", and the Eastern Han Dynasty has taken the morning, the middle of the day, and the evening as the time to eat, which is basically the same as now.
The economy of the Song Dynasty was prosperous, the wine shops were more open, free from the constraints of the market, and there was no curfew in the Song Dynasty, and everyone's nightlife was also rich, and the food also increased, so on the basis of the original meal, one more meal was added.
So the time of eating should be fixed, and is there a rule on what kind of meal to eat?
You can't just eat it
In addition to the regulations on the frequency and amount of food and drink, the bamboo slips also emphasize eating etiquette and rules.
China is known as the country of etiquette, this is because everything is done with standardized etiquette, and food is the most direct manifestation of it, and certain etiquette norms must be observed.
First of all, the ancients were very particular about the way the food was placed and the seats of the guests and hosts, they generally sat on the ground and put the tableware directly on the table.
On the murals and portrait stones of the Han tombs, you can often see people sitting on the ground, one person and one case.
For example, the portrait of the No. 1 Han Tomb unearthed in Mi County, Henan Province has a scene of eating, and there is a rectangular case in front of the owner, and the tray on the case is full of cups and plates.
Such a classic seating scene also appeared in the famous scene Hongmen Banquet, when it was precisely because the host and guest sat in different directions of the seats, and there was an open space in the middle, that there was a sword dance program
In addition, in the early days, men and women were supposed to eat separately, which was the eating etiquette of ordinary people, and if it was a state banquet, men and women were even more separated, and women could not even eat at the table.
The order in which the meals are arranged is also very particular: most of the dishes on the left are meat and rice, the right side is alcohol, the seasoning must be placed in the innermost part, the grilled meat is placed on the outside, and the dried meat dishes are curved on the left and straight on the right.
If there is a fish on the table, the tail is facing the guest, if the fish is fried, the head is facing the guest, in winter, the belly bites to the right of the guest, and in summer, the spine is facing the right of the guest.
Before the meal begins, a meal ceremony is held, in which both the host and the guest greet each other and say some words of gratitude, followed by a ritual of sacrificial food to show respect for the ancestors.
There is also a lot of etiquette when drinking, and after the feast is followed by the ritual of drinking.
The host toasts to the guests, the guests return to the host, the host first drinks himself, and then advises the guests to drink, and when drinking, they should take small sips, and not drink in large gulps, let alone get drunk, otherwise they will be very foreign, and even invite death.
When picking up vegetables, you can't stretch your chopsticks far away to pick up the dishes across the table, and you should rather not eat them, and you should also abide by the etiquette of not holding chopsticks to cross the "river".
Three meals a day in modern times
However, with the development of society, the habit of three meals a day has lasted for a long time, and modern medicine has also proved that three meals a day is the most suitable and scientific dietary concept for the human body.
Breakfast is provided with energy needs in the morning and during the day, and its quality must be guaranteed, if you don't eat well or even don't eat it, it will not only have a negative impact on the spirit of the day, but also affect your health over time; Lunch should not only be of good quality, but also filling; Dinner also consumes the least amount of energy in the day, so eat less.
Throughout the history of dietary development and changes in the mainland from ancient times to the present, we may be able to glimpse that the so-called "three meals a day" is the capital that only highly developed societies have, and if the society is in turmoil, everyone will immediately eat up the food as long as they have the opportunity to fill their stomachs.
What is interesting now is that in order to maintain a healthy and good-looking body, many people will still move out of the "two meals a day" diet method of the earliest ancients, and the theory of "skipping lunch without food" seems to have returned to the public eye and become the latest trendy concept.
In modern times, with the advent of the eight-hour work week, there are exactly three prime times for eating before work, during lunch breaks, and after work, thus further strengthening the habit of eating three meals a day.
In today's well-off society, people no longer only seek food and clothing in their diet, but also have higher requirements for three meals a day, and even have more spiritual significance to comfort busy people.
There is nothing to complain about in life, and the three meals a day alone are full of anticipation.