According to Zhou Li, ancient people in China ate separately. Why did it later become a joint meal?

Chinese food is world-famous, and foreigners who have tasted authentic Chinese food are all amazed. However, the way China people eat Chinese food has always been criticized by foreigners, because China people eat together instead of separately, and they don't use public chopsticks, which makes foreigners who are used to eating separately feel unsanitary and even disgusting.

Eating without chopsticks is really unsanitary and easy to spread diseases, but China people enjoy it. Although after the SARS epidemic in 2003, overeating was advocated and advocated, it soon recurred.

It is generally believed that people eat together, regardless of each other, and the atmosphere is warm and pleasant. This way of eating is a long tradition in China since ancient times and a part of China culture, which is hard to change. So do people in China really eat like this for thousands of years? No, people in China used to eat separately. The real history of eating together is only a few hundred years.

In primitive society, clan commune practiced primitive * * * productism and distributed materials according to the head. At that time, food was the most important substance to sustain life. Only by sharing food and giving everyone a share can all members of the clan have a chance to survive, otherwise some people will starve to death and the clan will not prosper. Therefore, during the primitive tribal period in China, the system of separate meals was implemented.

In the late period of clan commune, classes began to appear. At that time, there was a strong grade difference in all aspects, including food distribution. People with high status get good quality and plenty of food, while people with low status certainly can't get the same food as people with high status. Therefore, they can't eat together, they must eat separately.

Etiquette system appeared in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, which was based on strict hierarchy. The etiquette reflected by diet is food etiquette, and the establishment of etiquette begins with diet. "The Book of Rites" said: "The beginning of a husband's ceremony begins with diet". By the Western Zhou Dynasty, the food ceremony had formed a fairly complete system, and people of different identities had extremely strict regulations on what to eat, what tableware to use and what seats to sit in. For example, the tableware of the son of heaven is "Jiuding Bagui", the tableware of the princes is "Seven Ding and Six Gui", and the doctor is "Five Ding and Three Gui"; Another example is "the bean of the son of heaven, six out of twenty, six out of ten princes, two out of ten doctors, and six doctors." "Bean" is a container for food; At that time, people sat on the floor when eating, and the number of mats laid by people of different identities was different. The emperor is a five-story mat, and the prince and doctor have fewer layers. Judging from the food, "the emperor eats too fast, and there are all kinds of cattle, sheep and tapirs." Governors eat cows, Qing eats sheep, doctors eat tapirs, and scholars eat fish and vegetables. " Everyone must strictly abide by these systems, and if they exceed them, they will be severely punished. In this case, it is necessary to eat alone. When giving a banquet, everyone has a food box with food and tableware that match their status.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the etiquette system was not so strict. For a certain purpose, high-ranking people will eat the same food as their subordinates. For example, Meng Changjun boasts that he eats the same food as the general public. However, it was incredible at that time, so it was questioned by the doorman, but when the doorman found that Meng Changjun's food was really the same as his, he committed suicide in shame. It can be seen that although Meng Changjun and the public eat the same food, they eat separately, and everyone is far apart, so the public can't see the food in Meng Changjun.

Feng Gui, who defected to Meng Changjun, once complained that "there is no fish to eat", which shows that the level of food ceremony is still there. Even the public in Meng Changjun has graded food. Some guests have fish and meat, some guests only have fish, and others like Feng Gui don't even have fish. The existence of this level allows these people to eat separately when eating.

There was still a separate meal system in Qin and Han dynasties. The famous Hongmen Banquet is a separate banquet, and each person has a box. Xiang Zhuang had to be near Liu Bang's grain case when he was dancing the sword to kill him. If he sits around the table, it is unnecessary.

Historical records? Han Xin commented on Xiang Yu in Biography of Huaiyin Hou: "Wang Xiang respected people, spoke and spat, suffered from illness, cried and drank ..." In other words, Xiang Yu was very kind to his subordinates. When he heard that someone was ill, he would give him food in tears. This shows that Xiang Yu's food is much better than his men's, so he can only share meals when eating.

In ancient China, meals were divided not only in public social occasions, but also in daily life at home. Otherwise, there would be no idiom Qi Mei.

In the Tang Dynasty, the system of separate meals was still used in formal banquets.

After Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, because the world was just stable and there were many things, Emperor Taizong also made great efforts to govern and be diligent in government affairs. In order to better handle court affairs, he extended the early court time from Shi Mao to Chen Shi, which made it more difficult for civil servants to eat. Emperor Taizong ordered that after retiring from the DPRK, he would give everyone a "morning meal" under the porch of the Golden Hall. Because the meal is eaten under the porch, this meal is also called "porch meal"

Although the "Xuan meal" given by the emperor is "small talk", it is actually very rich, not as simple as "four dishes and one soup", and the specifications depend on the level of officials. In the Six Classics of the Tang Dynasty, the types and quantities of dishes that officials of different ranks can enjoy are recorded in detail. For example, the standard of Sipinguan is: two liters of polished rice, two liters of flour, one and a half liters of wine, seven vegetables, three portions of mutton, two melons, and the remaining sauces, vinegar, salt, black beans, onions, ginger, sunflower, leeks and other condiments are different; It can be seen that the "Xuan meal" is of high quality and large quantity, and one person can't finish it at all. The reason why it is so rich is that it is the emperor's treat to show the royal style and the emperor's generosity and care for his courtiers. But everyone can't put such a rich ration on a table, because it can't be put down at all, and only a box can be put in front of each other.

During the Zhenyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, there was a civil servant named Yu Zhuo who had a widowed sister at home. At that time, the price in Luoyang was very expensive, and most people could not afford to eat good things. Yu Zhuo always saves his working lunch and takes it back to his sister. At first, his colleagues laughed at his poverty, but later, when they got to know his family, they were all moved by him and praised him. This incident was recorded in Zhao Lin's Shuo Wen Jie Zi Ji in the Tang Dynasty.

Yu Zhuo can take the working meal home, which shows that this meal is entirely in his charge and can only be done when sharing meals.

When the official offices in the Tang Dynasty used working meals, it was just like accepting a "cloister meal" given by the emperor. Officials had to sit down according to their own different levels and enjoy the corresponding level of meals. When eating, everyone abides by etiquette and enjoys delicious food, and feels very happy. Liu Zongyuan wrote in the article "The New Dining Hall in Mixian County"

When I was in middle school, there was such a scene description when an official was having a working meal: "It was a gathering of officials from the new library, sitting on the floor and starting from the class; Etiquette and laughter, talk back and forth, the beginning of politics; Banquet for Su Zhuang, beans for Jing Jia, cooked with fire, is good for wine, and is a pleasure for friends.

It can be seen that every official should enjoy the food corresponding to his status according to his rank, so he can only eat it separately.

However, the dining system in the Tang and Song Dynasties also changed a little from the previous generation. As the Tang and Song Dynasties were an open era, a large number of foreign things entered. With the introduction of furniture such as "Hu Chuang", tables and chairs have appeared in people's lives in China. In the past, people slept on the floor, and the way of kneeling was changed to sleeping on the couch and sitting with their feet down. In life, there are not only a few cases in front of us, but also a large table. At that time, the food gift was already weak and was for everyone. But even if we sit together, there is a multi-grid dish in front of us, and everyone eats their share instead of a meal.

The dining system in ancient China was not only related to the etiquette system, but also related to the cookers and cooking methods at that time.

Today's common cooking methods, such as frying, boiling and frying, have never existed since ancient times, because this cooking method must put the ingredients in an iron pot. However, China's ancient metallurgical technology could not produce large-area thin iron plates for a long time, let alone curved plates, such as wok. This is also the reason why China could not produce western plate armour in ancient times, but only used small-area iron plates in series to form a nail.

There was no cooking in the iron pot era, so it could only be cooked or steamed with pottery or heavy bronze ware. Pork and Huimian Noodles were common dishes at that time, and they were not fried. When hosting a banquet, if many people eat around a clay pot or bronze tripod, they can only eat one dish at a time, not to mention people of different identities are crowded together, and the kitchen can only cook one dish in each pot and then scoop it out, and each dish is given to everyone.