How to treat the characteristics of China ancient food culture and its food concept?

A country's history is long and short, its territory is large and small, its strength is strong and weak, its population is large and small, and its ethnic composition, religious belief, political nature and economic structure are also different, so the food culture of different countries is also different.

Chinese food culture

Influenced by the philosophy of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, Confucian ethics, traditional Chinese medicine nutrition theory, cultural and artistic achievements, aesthetic fashion of diet and national personality characteristics in China's traditional culture and education, China's cooking skills were created in history, and a profound China diet culture was formed.

From the evolutionary point of view, China's food culture lasted for more than 1.7 million years, and it was divided into four stages: raw food, cooked food, natural cooking and scientific cooking. It has introduced more than 60,000 kinds of traditional dishes, more than 20,000 kinds of industrial foods, colorful banquets and colorful flavor schools, and won the reputation of "the kingdom of cooking".

In terms of connotation, China catering culture involves the development and utilization of food sources, the use and innovation of tableware, the production and consumption of food, the service and reception of catering, the operation and management of catering and food industry, the relationship between catering and national security, catering and literature and art, and catering and life realm.

Broadly speaking, China's food culture can be classified from the perspectives of times and technology, region and economy, nationality and religion, food and tableware, consumption and level, folk customs and functions, showing different cultural tastes and reflecting different use values.

Specifically, China's food culture highlights the nourishing theory (vegetarianism, paying attention to medicated diet and nourishing), paying attention to "color, fragrance and taste", the theory of harmonious realm of five flavors (unique flavor and delicious taste, with the reputation of "tongue food"), the cooking method of changing the strange into the right (kitchen rules-based, flexible and changeable), and the refreshing food concept (.

From the perspective of influence, China's food culture directly affects Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and other countries, and is the axis of the oriental food culture circle; At the same time, it also indirectly influenced Europe, America, Africa and Oceania, such as vegetarian culture, tea culture, sauce and vinegar, pasta, medicated diet, ceramic tableware and soybeans in China, benefiting billions of people all over the world.

In a word, China food culture is a regional culture with a long history, with broad vision, deep levels, many angles and high taste. It is the people of all ethnic groups in China who have created, accumulated and influenced the material wealth and spiritual wealth of neighboring countries and the world in the aspects of food source development, tableware development, food preparation, nutrition and health care, food aesthetics and so on in the production and life practice of more than 6,543,800 years.

Characteristics of China's Food Culture

China is a civilized country with a long history of food culture. I have lived in the world for more than 20 years and learned something. Now I summarize the following characteristics of food culture, I hope you can learn:

First, the tastes are diverse. Because of China's vast territory and rich resources, there are differences in climate, products and customs. For a long time, many flavors have been formed in the diet. There has always been a saying in China that "southern rice goes north", and the tastes are divided into "sweet in the south, salty in the north, sour in the east and spicy in the west", mainly including Bashu, Qilu, Huaiyang, Guangdong and Fujian.

Second, the four seasons are different. Eating according to the season is another major feature of China cooking. China has been seasoning dishes according to seasonal changes since ancient times, with strong winter and light summer. Stewed in winter and frozen in summer.

Third, pay attention to beauty. China's cooking is not only superb, but also has a tradition of paying attention to the aesthetic feeling of dishes, and paying attention to the harmony of color, fragrance, taste, shape and container of food. The aesthetic feeling of dishes is manifested in many aspects. No matter whether it is carrot or cabbage, it can carve out various shapes and have a unique style, achieving the harmony and unity of color, fragrance, taste, shape and beauty.

Fourth, pay attention to taste. China has a long history of paying attention to taste in cooking. It has strict requirements not only on the color, aroma and taste of snacks, but also on their naming, tasting methods and the rhythm of dining and entertainment. China dishes can be said to be superb and elegant. The names of dishes are not only realistic based on the main, auxiliary, seasoning and cooking methods, but also historical.

Fifth, the combination of food and medicine. China's cooking technology is closely related to medical treatment. Thousands of years ago, there was a saying that "medicine and food are homologous" and "medicine and food are homologous". Using the medicinal value of food raw materials, various delicious dishes were made to achieve the purpose of preventing and treating certain diseases. "

In ancient China, people especially emphasized that diet should be coordinated with the cosmic rhythm, and different foods should be eaten in spring, summer, autumn and winter. Even when cooking food, factors such as season and climate should be considered. These thoughts were formed as early as the pre-Qin period, and were clearly recorded in the Book of Rites, which opposed the reversal of seasons, such as "summer", "autumn" and "winter" in spring. Of course, we are also opposed to eating out-of-season food. Confucius said, "Don't eat when you can't" has two meanings: one is to eat regularly, and the other is not to eat out-of-season food. Contrary to contemporary consciousness, some people eat seasonal food to show off. In the Western Han Dynasty, the palace began to plant "onions, leeks and shavings" in greenhouses, and Shi Chong, a rich man in the Western Jin Dynasty, also had greenhouses. This emphasis on adapting to the rhythm of the universe is indeed unique to China's food culture.

The theory of "yin-yang and five elements" is a world model set by traditional thought and is also considered as a universal law. Man is one of the "three talents", and diet is indispensable to human life. Cooking to make a diet must also follow this rule. Therefore, there are not only five flavors, but also the theory of "five flavors" (in fact, people can feel more than five flavors, but they can distinguish five kinds two or three thousand years ago). Moreover, a large number of grains, livestock, vegetables and fruits are tailored into the fixed pattern of "five grains", "five meats", "five vegetables" and "five fruits", which makes people feel absurd. What is even more surprising is that "everyone drinks and raises yang"; All foods should be nourishing yin and benefiting qi (Book of Rites, Suburb Sacrifice). It is believed that only by eating and drinking in harmony with the yin and yang of heaven and earth can we "communicate with God" and "communicate with heaven" and achieve the effect of "harmony between heaven and man". Therefore, the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements should be strictly followed when offering sacrifices to heaven. This statement was inherited by later Taoists and became a starting point of their diet theory. For example, eating food is considered to increase the yin and yang of the human body.

The beauty of neutralization is the highest aesthetic ideal of China traditional culture. "The golden mean is the foundation of the world; A harmonious person is also a person who reaches the top of the world. Harmony, heaven has no place, and everything is nurtured "(The Doctrine of the Mean). What is "Zhong"? It can't be simply summarized by "zhong". This "middle" means just right, just right. It's a bit like "zhong" in Henan dialect. Harmony is also a cooking concept. There is a famous saying in Ming Shou, an ancient prose history, which means that the key to making a good soup is to mix salt (salt) and point out that "harmony" is not "sameness", but coordination based on different opinions. Therefore, China philosophers believe that everything in the world finds its place in a "harmonious" state, and can be multiplied and developed. The basis of this aesthetic ideal is the harmonious unity of individual and society, man and nature. This idea of achieving "harmonious beauty" through tuning is inspired and influenced by ancient cooking practice and theory, and then affects people.

Contrary to "neutralization", extremes in cooking are not considered authentic. Although those "salty, spicy and sour" foods will be sought after by some abnormal people, in the long run, they are harmful to the health. Extremism in social and political life is more harmful.

As mentioned above, the dietary life of the Chinese nation embodies the characteristics of traditional culture. Although some features are incomprehensible or unscientific to modern people (for nearly a century, the word "science" has almost become a religious belief in China, and it is only a yardstick to measure right and wrong in various fields, but it is unquestionable in itself), can it be said only by the word "science"? If we pay more attention to "culture", then studying China people's diet is not only a necessary link to study China culture, but also a key to study China culture.

At present, food culture is still a vague concept. Some researchers generally say it includes three aspects: what to eat, how to cook and how to eat. Some researchers believe that food culturology has bred six sciences, namely, cookery, food manufacturing, dietotherapy, food folklore, food literature and art, and food manufacturing; Some researchers also advocate increasing food aesthetics, food business, food utensils and so on. I am too ignorant to cover so many subjects. My understanding of food culture mainly refers to the relationship between food and people, people and their social significance. So, although I also discuss food, dishes, food processing, cooking, eating habits, dining environment, tableware and so on. However, in the history of China's food culture, they are all introduced and evaluated around their relationship with people and their social significance. As for the pure technological process that has little to do with people, except the necessary knowledge introduction, most of them are omitted, which is intended to highlight the material and spiritual enjoyment brought by gourmet life and the deliberate pursuit of China's food culture in these two aspects.