Coarse Tea and Insipid Rice: The Politics of Food in the Northern Song Period

Abstract

This article investigates the politics of eating during the Northern Song period. In particular, it aims to consider the historical-political circumstances that gave rise to two polarizing schools of gastronomic practices: the excessive gourmands who viewed food as an expression of wealth and social status and the frugal literati who condemned this gustatory indulgence as unvirtuous and morally improper. In doing so, it hopes to shed light on the extent to which gastronomy during the Song Dynasty could be understood as a form of social and philosophical expression.

Keywords:

• Northern Song period
• gastronomy
• extravagance
• frugality
• Su Shi

Acknowledgements

An early draft of this paper was presented at the “International Interdisciplinary Conference on Middle Period China, 800-1400” at Harvard University in June 2014. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my fellow panelists as well as the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions and comments. I am also grateful for the Center for East Asian Studies at Stanford University for offering me a Visiting Scholarship in 2015 to allow me to finish work on this article.

Notes

1 Stephen H. West, “Playing with Food: Performance, Food, and the Aesthetics of Artificiality in the Sung and Yuan”, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 57 (1997): 67-106 (93).

2 Ouyang Xiu, “Chushi che’ao” 初食車螯, in Quan Songshi, ed., Fu Xuancong et al. (Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 1991), 287.3636.

3 For example, it is stated in Dream of Paradise that “all the exotic food of the world are found in the kitchens of the local households” 會寰區之異味，悉在庖廚. Meng Yuanlao, Dongjing menghua lu (Taipei: Sanmin shuju, 2004), 1.

4 Peng Cheng, Moke huixi (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1991), 8.44.

5 In fact, the Song predisposition for extravagance extends far beyond gastronomy, as similar practices can be readily observed in a number of ways, including social networking practices, the writing of epitaphs, and travels. For more information on these and other socio-cultural changes of the time, see Peter Lorge, War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900–1795 (New York: Routledge, 2005) and F. W. Mote, Imperial China: 900–1800 (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1999).

6 See Mark Elvin, The Pattern of the Chinese Past (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1973); Kenneth Pomeranz The Great Divergence: China, Europe and the Making of the Modern World Economy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000); and Yoshinobu Shiba, “Commercialization of Farm Products in the Sung Period” Acta Asiatica 19 (1970): 77–96.

7 See Dai Yixuan, Song dai chaoyan jidu yanjiu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981); Guo Zhengzhong, Song dai yanye jingji shi (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1990); and Song yan guankui (Taiyuan: Shanxi jingji chubanshe, 1990).

8 Qi Xia, Zhongguo jingji tongshi: Song dai jingshi juan (Beijing: Jingji ribao chubanshe, 1999), 65.

9 See Peter Golas, “Rural China in the Song”, The Journal of Asian Studies 39 (1980): 291–325.

10 Fuwei Shen, Cultural Flow between China and the Outside World throughout History (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1996), 158.

11 For example, Qingyi lu records that Duan Wenchang 段文昌 (772-835), chief minister to Emperor Muzong 唐穆宗 (795-824) of the Tang Dynasty, employed a “food matron” (laobi 老婢) who oversaw the running of his kitchen by more than one hundred servant girls. It should be pointed out that this title of “food matron” was in fact a reference to her age and commanding status, rather than an official position or occupation. See Tao Gu, Qingyi lu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1991), 4.318.

12 Liao Yingzhong, Jiangxing zalu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985), 5. My italics.

13 Hong Xun, Yanggu manlu (no publication information), 34.

14 Huang Tingjian, Preface to “Xixiu jushi shi sanshou” 四休居士詩三首, in Quan Songshi, 997.11437-11438.

15 According to Chinese customs, tea and rice are considered to be two of the seven most crucial items in any kitchen; the others being firewood, oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar. The earliest mention of these seven items is found in the Song Dynasty text Account of a Dream (Mengliang lu) by Wu Zimu, which actually mentions eight items including wine (juan 16). However, most later mentions of this idiom contain only the above seven items.

16 Zhou Hui, Qingbo zazhi xiaozhu, ed. Liu Yongxiang (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1994), 9.404.

17 Wen Ying, Yuhu qinghua, ed. Zheng Shigang and Yang Liyang (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984), 5.53.

18 Chen Yanxiao, Gengxi shihua (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985), 11.

19 This story resonates with another more famous story concerning Lu Mengzheng 呂蒙正 (946-1011), which is recorded in the Sequel to the Book of the Hard Gourd (Jianhu yuji 堅瓠餘集). According to this story, Lu has the habit of beginning his day with a bowl of soup made from chicken tongue. One day, while taking a stroll in his garden, he spotted a tall heap that resembled a small hill. He asked his servants about its nature, and received the reply that it was in fact a heap of chicken feathers made by the chickens he had consumed in his soup. Because each chicken has only one tongue, hundreds of these birds had to be slaughtered each morning in order to make him the soup that he liked. Lu became very ashamed of himself and stopped consuming this delicacy thereafter (Chu Renhu, Jianhu yuji, in Biji xiaoshuo daguan [Taipei: Xinxing shuju, 1985], 6354-6355). Although the creditability of this story is questionable, as it is recorded only in Hard Gourd, a Qing Dynasty work, its similarity with and correspondence to the story of Cai Jing mean that it could still provide useful insights to our understanding the Northern Song gastronomic culture.

20 A contemporary of Ouyang named Wu Zhen吳縝 (?-?) even wrote a text entitled Errors in the New Book of the Tang Dynasty (Xin Tang shu jiumiu 新唐書糾謬) in which he accuses the compilers of the New Book of the Tang Dynasty of being “ignorant of the importance of revision and approaching the task with biased agendas” 不知刊修之要而各徇私好. Wu lists more than 400 errors to support his claim.

21 Pang Yuanying, Wenchang zalu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985), 3.21. The popularity of the painted eggs as a Tang delicacy is further evident in Bai Juyi’s 白居易 (772–846) poem entitled “High Spring no. 16” (He chunshen 和春深), which contains the following lines:

• What is best about high spring, 何處春深好

• Is to spend the Cold Food Festival at home; 春深寒食家

• With delicate painted eggs, 玲瓏鏤雞子

• And colorful ribbon balls. 宛轉綵毬花

Quan Tangshi (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1999), 449.5088. My italics.

22 “Wangchuan Portrait” is one of the most famous landscape paintings in Chinese history. It was painted by the Tang poet Wang Wei 王維 (701-761) in the later stages of his life and depicts the sceneries of the region.

23 Chu Renhu, 5746–5747.

24 To an extent, this attitude is also perpetuated by such high Tang poems as Li Bai’s李白 (701–762) “Yi jiuyou ji Qiao jun Yuan Canjun” 憶舊遊寄譙郡元參軍, which boasts a dining setting with “beautiful cups and exquisite gourmet on a jade table” 瓊杯綺食青玉案 (Quan Tangshi, 172.1770). For more information on Tang Dynasty gastronomic customs, see Wang Saishi, Tangdai yinshi (Jinan: Qi Lu shushe, 2003).

25 Liu Baonan, ed., Lunyu zhengyi (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1935), 2.13. Trans. James Legge, The Four Books with English Translation and Notes: Confucian Analects (Taipei: Wenhua tushu gongshi, 1960), 191.

26 Yuan Cai, Yuanshi shifan, in Congshi jicheng xubian (Taipei: Xinwenfeng chuban gongsi, 1989), 1.153.

27 Meng zi, Mengzi zhengyi, ed., Shen wenzhuo (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1994), 22.743.

28 According to Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200), as long as the human heart devotes itself to the principles of heaven, then it is possible to eliminate human desire 人之一心天理存，則人欲亡. Zhu Xi, Zhuzi yuli, ed. Li Jingde (Taipei: Zhongzheng shuju, 1970), 13.356.

29 Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, “Shanggu jun jun jiachuan” 上谷郡君家傳, in Er’cheng ji, ed. Wang Xiaoyu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981), 12.654.

30 Wang Yucheng, “Shushi shi shedi Yugui bing Jiayou” 蔬食示舍弟禹圭并嘉佑, in Quan Songshi, 59.662. The actual phrase is a paraphrase of the sentence, “Shuren wugu bu shizhen” 庶人無故不食珍 from Lu Youren, ed., Liji zhengyi (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2008), 18.530.

31 By hosting the “Gathering of Unpretentious Modesty” (Zhenshuai hui 真率會), Sima Guang’s 司馬光 (1019-1089) embrace of such a culinary ideal is revealed through his specific invocation of the rule that, at any given time, “there should never be more than five rounds of alcohol or five flavors of food” 酒不過五行，食不過五味. See Shao Bowen, Shaoshi wenjian lu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983), 10.105.

32 Although it remains true that Su Shi is seldom thought of as a Confucian philosopher, and is in fact more commonly labeled as a “literati Buddhist”, as in the case of his contemporary literati who aspired to a political career, an increasing number of modern scholars are beginning to shed light on the extent to which Neo-Confucianism impacted Su’s arts and personal outlook. For more information, see Leng Chengjin, Su Shi de zhexue guan yu wenxue guan (Beijing: Xueyuan chubanshe, 2004) and Joh Tae-Soon, “Ru, Shi, Dao sixiang dui Su Shi shangyi shufeng zhi yingxiang”, Shuhua yishu xuekan 15 (2013): 55-80.

33 Wu Tao, “Bei Song Dongjing de yinshi shenghuo”, Shixue yuekan 2 (1994): 22-29.

34 Da’an Pan, “Tasting the Good and the Beautiful: The Aestheticization of Eating and Drinking in Traditional Chinese Culture”, The Cal Poly Pomona Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 16 (2003): 67-76 (69).

35 Zhu Zhenfan, Shijia liezhuan (Taipei: Lianhe wenxue chubanshe youxian gongsi, 2005), 27.

36 For a recent well-informed study which adequately summarizes this viewpoint, see Qiu Liqing, “Su Shi shige yu Bei Song yinshi wenhua”, Unpublished Master’s thesis, Northwest University, 2010.

37 Zhu Bian, Quwei jiuwen (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2002), 6.172.

38 Although the exact composition of the eight great delicacies remains unknown, the term, first evoked in the Rites of Zhou (Zhou li 周禮), has since acquired symbolic meanings as the greatest tastes known in this world.

39 Hui Hong, Lengzhai yehua (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1988), 10.76.

40 Toqto’a, et al., Songshi (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1977), 1.4355.

41 Xu Song, Song huiyao jigao (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1957), 2857.

42 Meng Yuanlao, 3.109.

43 Zhou Mi, Wulin jiushi (Suzhou: Jiangsu Guangling guji keyin she, 1983), 9.202.

44 “Zhurou song” 豬肉頌, in Su Shi, Su Shi wenji, ed. Kong Fanli (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986), 49.597.

45 Shaoyou 少游 is the courtesy name of Qin Guan 秦觀 (1049-1100) who was a good friend of Su. The myth of him being Su Shi’s brother-in-law originated from the Ming dynasty vernacular story “Su Xiaomei’s Three Challenges for her Groom” (Su xiaomei sannan xinlang 蘇小妹三難新郎) but has no basis in history.

46 “Yangzhou yi tuwu ji Shaoyou” 揚州以土物寄少游, in Su Shi, 20.2718.

47 Zhang Ruiyi, Gui’er ji (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1958), 61.

48 See Hou Yanxi, “Songdai yinshi wenhua chutan”, Kaifeng daxue xuebao 18 (2004): 13-19; Hou and Liang Liuke, “Bei Song shiqi Kaifeng yinshi wenhua fanrong jili fenxi”, Shangye yanjiu 374 (2008): 202-205; and Chen Suzhen, Bei Song wenren de yinshi shuxie (Taipei: Da’an chubanshe, 2007).

49 One of the more interesting questions which came up during the course of writing this essay concerns the paucity of Song-era literati essays on food and its consumption, at least when compared to tales and gossips recorded in contemporary miscellanies. I suspect that this phenomenon may have something to do with the lingering notion that a virtuous man ought to stay away from the kitchen 君子遠庖廚 (Mencius, Ch. 7). It is, however, also evident that society was ready (and eager) to move away from such philosophical constraints as, toward the Southern Song period, not only did literati like Lu You 陸游 (1125-1209) make prominent contributions to this discourse, the composition and publication of recipe books also began to flourish, paving the way for the eventual emergence of such literati-cookbooks as Zhang Dai’s 張岱 (1597-1684?) The Old Glutton’s Collection (Laotao ji 老饕集) and Yuan Mei’s 袁枚 (1716-1797) Recipes of the Sui Garden (Suiyuan shidan 隨園食單). For an in-depth discussion on the no longer extant Old Glutton and its cultural implications, see Duncan Campbell, “The Obsessive Gourmet: Zhang Dai on Food and Drink”, in Isaac Yue and Siufu Tang, ed., Scribes of Gastronomy: Representations of Food and Drink in Imperial Chinese Literature (Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong Press, 2013), 87-96.

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Isaac Yue

Isaac Yue 余文章 is Associate Professor of Chinese at the University of Hong Kong. His research interest includes the studies of Chinese narrative forms in the late-Imperial period, food literature and culture, and literary translation. He is currently writing a book on the construction of Chinese cultural identity during the Song-Yuan-Ming period.