The Feast And Food Reward Of The Ming Dynasty

The feast from the Emperor in Ming Dynasty had four Standards, including banquets, feast, conventional feast and small feast. Unlike the first three categories which were given as common practice, a small feast was basically on the subjects as a special case from the Emperor to his official(s). Compatible with the feast, the Emperor would give food to his officials and common people as common practice or special case under variety of names. If the feast couldn't be held as scheduled because of the eclipse or famine , the Emperor would offer something else as compensation, such as bestowing special money not for spending but as an honor , giving food to those officials who couldn't attend the feast or granting money or other things which were equivalent with the banquet. As we know China is a most courteous civilization, ceremony was an important component on the feast. The arrangement of the seat, the order of drinking, the table and the food of the banquet, as well as the performance of the music and dance were all ranked by the status of the participants and the scale of the feast.Guanglu Si,Honglu Si and Jiaofang Division had their respective responsibilities for the banquet. Guanglu Si was responsible for arrangement of the banquet and food supply. Hunglu Si was responsible for providing servants and arranging attendance order ,setting tables and chairs and passing drinks and soups. Jiaofang Division was responsible for arranging music and dance performances. Food given as special grant by the emperor was prepared by Shanshi Jian and was delivered by Xingren Division.Regardless of the scale and food category of the banquet, the emperor would achieve multi-purpose by rewarding feast and food. It would promote the exchange between the emperor and his officials, strengthen the emperor's control to his officials and common people. The most important thing was it would be helpful to reinforce hierarchy and make court orderly. It would help to construct a world with picture of peace and prosperity, entertain foreign envoys and show the strong of the country. It also would reflect the basic national policy of taking Confucianism seriously, and lead the social customs of attending to agricultural works and respecting for the elderly.