From The Divine World To The Secular: Study On Dietary Culture Of Taiping Guangji

Taiping Guangji is a collection of stories compiled in the early Song dynasty under imperial direction by Li Fang,which records a large number of dietary novels and highlights the dietary culture from the divine to the secular.Immortals and ghosts are the characters in the imaginary world,and food serves as a "bridge" between the secular society and the world of immortals and ghosts.The food of the immortal world includes both secular customs and Taoist characteristics.The food of the gods is exquisite and abundant.The diet condition of ghosts is relatively bad,and the image of hungry ghosts is more common.Ghosts have their food likes and dislikes.Although their food can be obtained by human sacrifice,many of them can only be obtained by stealing,cheating and rebellion.Mortals can use food to realize the transformation to the immortals,but the food of the immortals is not easy for mortals to get and eat.There is a system of officialization in the food world of ghosts.The higher the level,the higher the food abundance,which is similar to the secular society.Mortals who eat food from the underworld will not be able to return to the mundane world,which reflects the concept of "separation between Yin and Yang".The food culture of the immortals is deeply influenced by Taoism,while the food stories of ghosts are mostly influenced by the Confucian thoughts of filial piety,gratitude for kindness,punishment for evil and good,as well as the Buddhist thoughts of fatalism and retribution.Influenced by Buddhism,some people practice fast,but many laymen who practice at home do not initially follow a completely meat-free diet.Buddhism in the moment of crisis to the believers of the apparition of relief will become the lay people put up with the opportunity.There is also interaction between monks and secular people in terms of diet: the people set up fast to entertain the monks,and the monks hold rituals for the people.Most people fast to their parents,partners,children and other family members.Most people fast at home,and some of them fast in temples.At the same time,the temple also plays a certain role in food relief,some of the people will follow the monks to the temple to solve the problem of food and clothing.Begging for food is an important way to guarantee the basic diet of traveling monks.Out of compassion and the mentality of increasing their own blessings,most of the people are happy to meet the needs of the monks who beg for food,and the monks will also provide spiritual consolation,cure diseases and forecast disasters and good fortune to the followers in return.Secular women are important participants in dietary activities.Taiping Guangji mainly focuses on the dietary stories of secular women in the Tang dynasty.In the family space,cooking and eating is a daily task that women cannot completely avoid.The link of worshiping the well stove in the wedding ceremony is the beginning of women’s dietary activities in their husband’s family.During special times such as pregnancy and childbirth,family members take the initiative to take care of the woman’s diet.In the social space,women in the Tang Dynasty not only devoted themselves to the catering industry,but also often saw them in some banquets and entertainment places.In a word,Taiping Guangji provides information basis for restoring people’s dietary activities and concepts of the time,and the dietary descriptions in the book draw a comprehensive and vivid picture of dietary culture for us.