there were 22 departments with more than 2,300 staff
During the Han and Wei Dynasties (206 B.C. – A. D. 265), imperial food and drink followed the system initiated in the Zhou Dynasty. By this time China’s strengthened economy and its cultural exchanges with other countries had provided new sources of raw materials, better cooking utensils and cooking skills, wider adoption of ironware, and higher standards for imperial dishes.
The Han Dynasty imperial kitchens grew vegetables in hothouses, so their availability was not limited by the season. In the final years of the Eastern Han Dynasty food sweetened with honey began to appear in the palace.
Stir-frying was the chief cooking method during the Southern and Northern Dynasties (A.D. 420 - 589), and stir-fried dishes became popular as everyday meals among the common people. Buddhism was spreading in China by this time, and vegetarian dishes began appearing because the Buddhist monks ate vegetarian food. In response to the demand for vegetarian dishes, the cooks of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty (502 -557) introduced the use of gluten.
The system of people taking separate meals, which was popular before the Han Dynasty, changed gradually into joint meals with several people or a family sitting together around a table, as is done today. The gradual change began with the use of wooden armchairs. This transition took more than 1,700 years.
To some extent peoples’ food and drink are influenced by regional divisions, but the primary influences are peoples’ income, education, culture, and religious beliefs. For these reasons, China developed several dietetic cultures. These include the imperial, aristocratic, literati, market, and temple cuisines. Especially during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, imperial food and drink were closely tied to preserving health, which led to the development of unique imperial food.
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