The Song Dynasty can be said to be the dynasty with the most modern life. There were a dazzling array of delicacies; there were cities that never had curfews; there were endless entertainment; there were all kinds of convenient and fast services; there were exquisite The rich material culture and artistic pursuits may differ in details, but the living conditions of the people in the Song Dynasty are undoubtedly the closest to modern people among many feudal dynasties.
In an era where commerce has become increasingly prosperous and the commodity economy has gradually replaced the natural economy, people have more space and opportunities to enjoy. Take the take-out service, which has brought great convenience to our lives, for example. Ordering takeout began as early as more than a thousand years ago in the Song Dynasty. So, did people in the Song Dynasty really love going out to restaurants and ordering takeout? Today, this article will discuss in detail why people in the Song Dynasty lived such an exquisite life?
1. Everyone likes to eat out
In ancient times, the Chinese basically adopted a two-meal system, one at noon and one in the evening. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, with the lifting of the curfew , people gradually developed the habit of eating late night snacks. People in the Song Dynasty liked to eat out very much. The restaurants and various restaurants mentioned in the book "Tokyo Menghualu" alone accounted for more than half of the total shops. "Meng Liang Lu" says that ordinary people in the capital do not have stoves in their homes, and the citizens basically have three meals outside.
Food life
Many shops in the city are already open for business at the fifth watch. There are breakfast stalls that offer enema, fried lungs, porridge and rice snacks, and there are slaughterhouses that slaughter animals on the street. stalls, as well as tea soup and medicinal stalls. In the evening, there were gradually more customers in the restaurants on the streets. People in the Song Dynasty were very particular about their food. It can be said that they did not hesitate to spend money in order to taste fresh and delicious food.
However, dining out at that time was not just for the rich. In addition to wealthy citizens, people at the bottom of the city also liked dining out. Because the restaurants at that time had dishes specially prepared for the lower class that were both high-quality and low-priced and could effectively satisfy their hunger.
For example, it is recorded in "Meng Liang Lu": "Specializes in selling daily meals, such as meat soup, bone soup," and also sells butterfly noodles and fried meat. Such shops are inferior. If people want to have a good meal, they go to the market to get it?
It can be said that all classes in Song Dynasty society liked to eat in restaurants. Regardless of their financial strength, there was always a place to eat that suited them.
2. The booming takeout industry
How much do people in Song Dynasty love takeout? The Song Dynasty had a developed economy and abundant goods. According to "Tokyo Menghua Lu", "market brokers often only buy food and drinks in market stores and do not buy vegetables at home." It can be seen that the middle class in the Song Dynasty, like modern people, like to spend time after get off work. Packing meals directly to take home, or ordering takeaways, especially for wealthy people with a petty bourgeois sentiment, rarely starts cooking. As it is said in "Meng Liang Lu": "Purchasing food becomes food, and this is fast defecation." ?, such convenient and fast services are naturally loved and sought after by many people in Song Dynasty, which also provides good business opportunities for the development of the takeout industry.
1. Take-out service in the Song Dynasty
At that time, many restaurants provided services such as "order by hour". The take-out service at that time required diners to order at the restaurant in advance. , after ordering, the restaurant is responsible for sending someone to the door at the agreed time, and the payment is also made by cash on delivery, but it must be said that this has greatly facilitated people's lives at that time. In the Song Dynasty, professional food delivery people were called "Xianhan", and "Xianhan" were responsible for running errands in restaurants and tea shops. In front of a foot shop in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", we can clearly see a "Xianhan". Idle man? He is going out to deliver takeout with two bowls in his hands.
2. The emperor also liked ordering takeout
How popular was the takeout industry in the Song Dynasty with people at that time? The most representative one is the takeaway food of the Song Dynasty, which even the emperor loved to eat.
Song Taizu was the first Emperor of the Song Dynasty to propose ordering takeout. According to historical records, Emperor Taizu proposed to have a banquet for all the officials at his birthday party, but the chefs in the imperial dining room did not prepare the ingredients in advance. Just when everyone was in trouble, The emperor asked officials to order takeout from major hotels in the capital. From then on, it became the first time for an emperor to order takeout. Later, Song Gaozong Zhao Gou and Song Ningzong Zhao Kuo were both very happy with the food.
According to the Song Dynasty literati Zhou Mi’s book "Guixinza Identification Collection and Deshou Maishi": When Emperor Xiaozong returned to Mengxiang on the first day of the winter lunar month, he announced that the food song in the market was called Zhiguanyin, and he was rewarded with two Guansi. ?, the book also records that popular takeaways in the capital at that time included "Popo Li Fish Soup" and "Nanwa Zhangjia Yuanzi".
3. Life as exquisite as porcelain in the Song Dynasty
The life of the Song Dynasty people is very exquisite. From the above mentioned Song people's love for eating out and ordering takeout, we can see that they are relatively advanced in food culture. There was a lot of development before. As the saying goes, the economic base determines the superstructure, so what factors played a boosting role behind the increasingly refined and luxurious life of Song people?
1. The development of food culture and catering industry
The progress of eating habits and cooking technology
In the history of Chinese food, the two Song Dynasties can be said to be a historic event. The turning point? With the introduction of early-maturing rice varieties and the promotion of re-cultivation technology, agricultural productivity in the Song Dynasty achieved a revolutionary improvement, and the Chinese people's food began to transition from scarcity to abundance. Under the influence of the warm climate of the Tropic of Cancer, people in the Song Dynasty used crops to create more abundant food through intensive farming techniques, and transported it to various places through developed transportation networks. During this period, the eating habits of common people also changed from a two-meal system to a three-meal system.
In the Song Dynasty, the yield per mu of rice fields in the south could reach three times that of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, there was a proverb among the people: "When Suhu is ripe, the world is full." After getting rid of the threat of hunger, the people of Song Dynasty had a more leisurely mind to study diet, ponder cooking methods, and invent various delicacies to satisfy the enjoyment of their tongues. For example, cooking techniques such as cooking, roasting, roasting, stir-frying, popping, stewing, and boiling that are indispensable for cooking in every household today were matured in the Song Dynasty; another example is the ham and Dongpo pork that we often eat today , sashimi (called "脍" in the Song Dynasty), fried dough sticks, glutinous rice balls, as well as various pastries and gourmet snacks were all invented and popular in the Song Dynasty.
The rapid development of the hotel industry
In the Song Dynasty, the market system that originally restricted commercial freedom completely collapsed, and the street market system began to take shape. It is recorded in the history books that from the main streets to the alleys, there are shops of all sizes, with no empty houses. Every morning in the two streets and alleys, there are hundreds of markets, and the business is lively. This is something that did not exist before the Song Dynasty. At the same time, the economic prosperity of the Song people also played an important role in promoting the development of the hotel industry. The Northern Song Dynasty writer Meng Yuanlao described the Song Dynasty at that time as "the smell of Huihuan District, all in the kitchen", which shows that the strong flavor at that time The business atmosphere has greatly promoted the catering culture.
How developed was the hotel industry in the Song Dynasty? First of all, high-end and elegant luxury hotels abound. "Tokyo Menghualu" once described a high-end hotel, and the article wrote: "The front of the door is tied like a shed with canopies and patterns, and half of the pigs and sheep are hung on it." Each store has its own hall, east and west verandahs, which are called seating areas.
It is worth noting that such a hotel not only relies on its shape and decoration to attract diners, but also improves its popularity with sumptuous dishes and thoughtful service. It can be said that it has truly achieved the goal of The customer is regarded as God and is allowed to choose. Although everyone has different requirements and sometimes even some tricky requirements, the hotel staff can do it. Everyone's request will be accommodated without any room for error. If a hotel clerk attracts customer complaints due to poor service, he will be reprimanded by the boss, or his salary will be deducted, or even fired directly. In such an environment, people in the Song Dynasty seemed to have no choice but to live a refined life.
2. The rise of consumerism
With the rise of the commodity economy, money worship, consumerism, and hedonism have emerged one after another. Although Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism wanted to suppress human nature in an attempt to remedy the situation, the effect was not significant. The society of the Song Dynasty was like modern times, with rampant material desires and widespread money worship.
The development of commerce allowed people to have more money, and the rich material life also created greater space and opportunities for people in the Song Dynasty to enjoy. More importantly, people at this time were no longer ashamed of business and money. On the contrary, , the rise of consumerism has become a spiritual driving force for people to pursue wealth openly.
Song people who both had the ability to consume and also liked to consume began to like and value high-quality goods more and more. For a time, the trend of luxury became popular in the market, and the workmanship and style of the products became the most important factors for customers. Important indicators when choosing. It can be said that they are like "soldiers' uniforms and farmers' silk shoes". Women also like to wear those expensive and exquisitely crafted hairpins. The exquisiteness of Song people's clothing can also be seen from the decorations on their heads. On the one hand, the people of the Song Dynasty mainly relied on market supply for their daily consumption. Such consumerism promoted the prosperity of the market economy. In turn, the prosperity of the silk handicraft industry and urban commerce also provided guarantee for the exquisite life of the Song people.
3. The improvement of social welfare undertakings:
The exquisite life of the Song Dynasty people is inseparable from one thing, that is, a complete set of social welfare systems established by the Song Dynasty government? A welfare system from cradle to grave? In ancient Chinese history, the welfare system of the Song Dynasty can be said to be the most developed, truly ensuring that children are provided with adequate support, education is provided, and illnesses are treated.
Take education as an example. In the Song Dynasty, education was divided into two types: official schools and private schools. Official schools, as the name suggests, are schools run by the government. They have a very high coverage and are open to all people. At first, the annual tuition fee was 2,000 yuan, but later it was completely cancelled. The fee has become free education, so that children from poor backgrounds can also go to school. When students go to Taixue, the state will increase education subsidies to support those poor students.
In addition, the Song Dynasty officials also established an organization called "Lou Dian Wu", which was responsible for managing state-owned properties and offering some houses for public rent (somewhat similar to our current low-rent housing) , to solve the housing problems of poorer urban residents. At that time, the monthly rent for each room in the capital city of Kaifeng was only 170 Wen. In such a city with high housing prices, such a rental price can be said to be very conscientious.
Through the above description, we can see that the happiness index of people in the Song Dynasty was very high. A wide variety of restaurants provide most people in the Song Dynasty with three meals a day. People who have been busy working for a day no longer have to worry about lighting the fire and starting the stove after get off work. The takeaway industry with considerate service has greatly facilitated the lives of the people in the Song Dynasty.
The exquisite life of the people in the Song Dynasty is obvious to all. Mr. Chen Yinke once said: The culture of the Chinese nation has evolved over thousands of years and reached its peak in the Zhao and Song Dynasties. The developed agriculture and commodity economy during this period provided guarantees for the people's happy life, and the meticulous social welfare system also protected this "golden age". If one day we can really travel through time and space, I think the Song Dynasty would be the most suitable choice for modern people.