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Food in Ming Dyansty The culture of food is the most fundamental of the behaviors in the productive and cultural activities of civilization. Among the ancient era when the transport was tedious the food in culture was supposed to be molded by the availability of the resources in the area. Any agricultural activity on a small piece of land can feed about ten to twenty people in comparison to the counterpart of meat in accordance it the calories it gives. There was a spectacular increase in population in the Far East during the time of early settlement. The emphasis on the production of food is associated closely with the growth in population and civilization.

History of food in Ming Dynasty

A comprehensive study of the food of Ming dynasty will give exposure to the material and economic concerns of the Ming dynasty. The name Ming dynasty means "brilliant" and was one of the longest and the most stable period in China's history. The last emperor of this period was Chongzhen, but he had other rulers who followed from this family. In this dynasty, agriculture developed. The founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang had his capital in Nanjing. His food was mainly from South China. In 1420, in September, his son Zhu Di shifted the capital to Beijing.

The butcher in the Ming Dynasty

. The palace cooks and butchers came to the place with him. Here Mongolian flavors came into the food. It now had different kinds of meats and vegetables that also included mixed flavors from Muslims. In the Ming dynasty, the food progressed (Warren, 2018). The butchers used different cooking methods especially when the emperor, Kublai became the first emperor to upkeep his health through the food and diet. The meat-eating style was different for all the seasons which kept the butchers busy. They used multiple flavors and spices and prevented the wrong use of tastes and flavors. The butchers of the Ming dynasty were great cooks of meat. They improved the quality of taste in their meat. During the sacrifices, festivals, and celebrations they remained extensively busy. They offered their dishes to the ministers and officials of the court. There was a special event called the Dragon boat festival. During this festival, the court officers were given different kinds of food outside of the Meridian Gate. This food was wrapped in a pyramid shape with reed or bamboo leaves. The emperor also received a cake wrapped in silk. In the season of Autumn, the people of the Ming palace began eating fat squirrels from the ground. The Ming dynasty considered these squirrels to be a gift from Shanxi. The eating of the squirrels from the ground was a tradition that came from the Mongolian dynasty to the Yuan dynasty. In addition to these customs, the butchers also followed the Chronicles of ceremonies and Rites, which gave them the type of food and meat to provide as per the lunar calendar month (Wang, 2011). The butchers worked all through the year strictly adhering to the lunar calendar. The first month they cooked duck and chicken, and in the second month, they provided with goose. This month was followed by carp in the third month and the fourth lunar month comprised of a vegetarian diet. After this time chicken again was the major source of meat. The following months six and seven again were comprised of a vegetarian diet. (Wang, 2011) The butchers then cooked Mandarin fish, Chinese yam and rabbit and served them along with an assortment of different roots and honey in the following months. The remaining two months the butchers cooked deer, rabbit, whitefish and golden carp. During this dynasty, the food and drinks came from their own source (Sterckx, 2006). Good butchers received rewards and prizes for their cooking from the palace. The meat was mainly roasted or fried. The good cooks and butchers received a lot of favoritism from the palace.

Dishes in the Ming Dynasty

Some imperial dishes of the Ming dynasty included Roast mutton, which was served in addition to soya bean sauce. It was given in different forms like in big and small slices in fried, roasted, and steamed form. The second most popular work of the meat bitchers was to make Stir, which was made from fried sheep tripe and was served with chicken fat.The meat was a major food consumption but was still expensive for the lower level and lesser earning people. When sweet potato came from the west, the meat consumption reduced and the work of the butchers got limited to serving the palace officials and royals.