During the feudal period, Emperor always considered the son of heaven, the head of the world, living the most luxurious and fulfilling life. In dramas and cultural products, we also always imagine that the Emperor’s daily meals must be like a lavish banquet, full of delicious flavors, nutritious and expensive. best.
To this day, there are still many historical documents documenting life in the Forbidden City during the Qing Dynasty – the last Chinese feudal dynasty. Many of them have described the Emperor’s daily meals in detail and it is actually more sophisticated than we ever imagined.
For example, in the memoir My previous half life written by the last emperor Puyi, who once described that when he was king, his food and drink alone amounted to 14,794 taels of silver per month.
Just looking at this number, people cannot imagine the luxury. But when compared to the common people, we will know how “terrible” it is. In the Qianlong period, the average person’s monthly income was about 2 to 3 taels of silver. That meant that each king’s meal could equal a whole year’s income of a commoner.
However, the eating and drinking of emperors, concubines and nobles of the Qing Dynasty also had many differences from previous eras because they were Manchu people in the Northeast. The Emperor only ate two meals a day: breakfast at 6 o’clock and the main meal at 12 noon. Of course, then if they are hungry, they can also eat a snack and this meal time is not fixed.
King meal scene in a movie.
According to the family rule of the Qing ancestors, those who were not related to the king were not allowed to appear in the room when they ate meals, leaving only four eunuchs to serve. There will be a special elderly eunuch serving the Emperor as the main job. Before the owner eats, this eunuch must use a poison test dish to test first whether the food is poisonous or not.
The king’s meals also did not have hundreds of dishes but also had a certain amount, about 8 to 10 dishes. But porridge and soup can have up to 20 different dishes. There are so many dishes, could the Emperor be able to taste them all in one meal? The answer is yes, because they follow a special rule, that no matter how much they like it, the king will only eat a maximum of 3 pieces of each dish.
The reason for this strange regulation is not so that the eater can enjoy many dishes, but to prevent the Emperor’s preferences from being known by outsiders, thereby preventing the plot to harm the king through the meal.
The ingredients for cooking in the royal palace must be of the freshest, highest quality and of clear origin. The dishes containing the food are all gold and silver plates. Specifically, the soup or soup must always be placed in a deep bowl with a silver lid, silver-plated bowl, jade spoon… Therefore, eating and drinking of kings and queens is expensive not only in ingredients but also in everything.” mustache” another.
Among the Qing Dynasty rulers, the one with the most expensive and sophisticated eating habits was not the Emperors but Empress Dowager Cixi – a woman who was not a king but had greater power than a king. Cixi had her own palace dedicated to serving her meals.
Her daily menu has up to 4,000 desserts of all kinds and more than 400 types of dim sum exchanged. The total number of dishes per meal of Lao Phat Gia can be up to more than 150 dishes, and there are more than 20 types of snacks such as dried fruit, tea, …
The kings of the past were truly luxurious, more expensive than in the movies (Artwork).
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