Naan:Anthropology Of Food Perspective

The human body cannot function without the intake of food,and most of the body’s energy supply comes from staple foods.Over the millions of years of human evolution,different economic and cultural types have been developed according to different natural climates,geographical environments,human preferences and economic characteristics.The Chinese people,who account for 18% of the world’s population,have used their initiative to create a wide variety of foods with their hard work and wisdom.The tropical and subtropical climate,abundant rainfall,natural lakes and the Yangtze River have led the industrious and brave southerners to choose rice as their staple food,while the temperate climate,abundant sunshine and the nourishment of the Yellow River,the mother river,have led the bold and generous northerners to choose wheat as their staple food.Xinjiang,the nearest place to the origin of wheat-Central Asia-naturally adopted wheat as the staple food of its own region and people,due to its geographical location."Naan is the soul of the Xinjiang diet.This paper is an exploration of the material culture,spiritual culture,food life,ethnic interactions and cultural flows behind the naan in Xinjiang,using it as a vehicle.The first chapter is an introductory section,covering the origin of the topic,the current state of research and the research methodology.The main focus is on why Naan was chosen as a graduation project,and how it is a review of the anthropology of food and Naan culture to explore the interactions between the various ethnic groups behind Naan culture.In the second chapter,we look into the field,firstly focusing on the development of naan culture in Xinjiang,to understand the location,natural climate and human environment of the region on a macro level.Secondly,we focus on Kashgar,the most traditional place in Xinjiang where naan is made,to learn more about the culture of naan in Xinjiang.Finally,we travel over 2,000 kilometres to Yinchuan,under the city of Phoenix,to look at the interactions between people of different ethnicities and regions through naan.The third chapter is about the material culture of naan,focusing on the types of naan,the tools used to bake it,and the making of naan to explain how naan is made from raw wheat to the fragrant naan of ten miles.The fourth chapter is about the cultural symbolism of naan,which focuses on the role that naan played in different occasions of people’s social life,and explores how people have used naan as a vehicle to give more cultural connotations to naan over the course of history.These include the role of naan in the rituals of life,the role of naan in traditional festivals,the role of naan in everyday life and the role of naan in the concept of health.The fifth chapter looks at naan in the context of Yinchuan,a city of migrants,to see how the people of Xinjiang brought naan across more than two thousand kilometres to Yinchuan,where they interacted and mingled with other ethnic groups in an era of convergence,to witness the national cohesion of the Chinese people united as one family.