How does Cixi eat every day?

The institution catering to Cixi's diet is called Shoushan Hotel. The situation of eating in Cixi's daily life is described in detail in Jin Yi and Shen Yiling's "Talking about Maids". The protagonist in the book is Rong Er, a maid-in-waiting who waits on Cixi to smoke. According to Rong Er's memory, Cixi had lunch around 10: 30, dinner around 5: 00, and two meals at 2: 00 and 7: 00 in the afternoon. On New Year's Day, there are generally 120 kinds of dishes on New Year's Eve, and all of them are fresh when they are taken out. "No matter where the food is placed, Ningshou Palace, Tihe Hall and three tables of the same food should be put at the same time. Tianyi table is placed at the easternmost end, the floor table is placed at the westernmost end, and the table for people is placed in the middle. " Cixi dines at the middle table. "There are three kinds of dishes. The first is auspicious dishes that should be celebrated, such as longevity is better than Nanshan, good luck, and the integration of mountains and rivers. The second category is tribute dishes, such as bear's paw, big scorpion, flying dragon, deer breast and so on. The third category is the model dishes made by Shoushan Restaurant according to the holiday diet. " "The last one is a plate of boiled frozen jiaozi in the coming year" and "Boiled cake in the northeast is a traditional food for the ancestors to celebrate the New Year before entering the customs" to show that they will not forget their ancestors. When Cixi was eating, the emperor was in the east and the queen was in the west. When delivering meals, there are always more than 500 people from the palace gate to the longevity dining room. According to the book, when Cixi had a meal, there were four old eunuchs who served the emperors of past dynasties, and they had credit and prestige. When Cixi saw what kind of food, the eunuch immediately distributed what kind of food. But no matter what dishes can only be served twice, there will be no third time; If there is a third time, the four old eunuchs have the right to shout "withdraw", which means not to let people know what flavor Cixi likes, and people in the palace are not allowed to talk about Cixi's likes and dislikes, just in case.

Cixi's daily dining place is nothing more than Changchun Palace, Palace of Gathered Elegance or the Le Shou Tang in the palace; In the Summer Palace, we only eat in Leshou Hall. There is a chair in the middle of the room, and a banquet table similar to a kang table is placed in front of the chair, which is called "Tusgen" in Manchu. Put a picture root on this picture root. The height of the roots of the two pictures is equivalent to the height of an ordinary square table. The picture above shows Cixi's favorite dishes. When changing food, remove the top root and replace it with a new one, and replace it with a new food. There are many foods that are not like usual, and they are placed on many high tables. These foods are for people to enjoy.