Three earthenware bowls of congee, noodle soup and rice stand side by side on a small wooden table, with a plate of bok choy and a plate of shredded cabbage and carrot in front and a pair of chopsticks on a rest.
Meals through the day
Introduction
How meals are arranged through the day, and everyday eating habits in the regions.
Daily meals cover everyday eating arrangements and habits, such as the number of meals in a day and how staples and dishes are paired. The Shang had a large and a small meal, the Zhou king ate three times, and three meals became more common among ordinary people from the Tang and Song, while rural commoners often still ate twice into the Ming, the Qing and the Republic, so the change was gradual and uneven. People speak of rice in the south and wheat in the north, and the north does prefer flour foods and the south rice, but this is only a broad preference: the old northern staple was millet, and wheat became dominant only in the Ming and Qing. This class deals only with the pattern of eating, and particular dishes belong to the regional cuisines or the appropriate class.