A Geographical Study Of The Cooking Methods Of Chinese Cuisine Since The Qing Dynasty

As "people" and "food" are inextricably linked,food in historical times has always been one of the main focuses of scholarly attention,involving food and region,food and migration,food and customs,food and ethnicity,and many other aspects.However,in general,traditional food studies have focused more on the cultural aspects,and there are few systematic studies on the technical aspects of cooking in the historical period.The research area is mainly focused on a specific area,and there is a lack of regional comparisons across the country.In addition,among the studies on cooking techniques in historical periods,scholars have explored the application of cooking methods in different stages of historical periods,mainly focusing on the Wei,Jin,North and South Dynasties and the Tang and Song Dynasties,with less knowledge and exploration since the Qing Dynasty.Therefore,this paper takes "cooking methods since the Qing Dynasty" as the object of investigation,and through combing the development of cooking methods in various stages of Chinese history,explaining the outside world’s perception of the application of Chinese cooking methods since the Qing Dynasty,recovering the common cooking methods in various regions from the Qing to the Republic of China,and counting the common cooking methods in various provinces and cities after the founding of the PRC The first chapter is devoted to the study of the geographical distribution of cooking methods based on objective criteria,and further explores the interaction between human cooking and the environment.The first chapter compares the development and application of cooking methods in Chinese cuisine during the historical period.Since primitive society,humans have learned to use fire,and cooking has gone through "fire cooking," "pottery cooking," "bronze cooking," "iron cooking," and "electric cooking." Cooking methods have been gradually enriched from simple cooking such as cooking,boiling and roasting to dozens of cooking methods including frying,deep-frying and burning.Early cooking mainly used water as the heat transfer medium,but due to the lack of written records,most of the relevant information was obtained from the unearthed cooking utensils.With the improvement of social productivity and the development of small farmers’ economy,cooking materials gradually increased.After the Qin and Han dynasties,the cooking method using oil as the heat transfer medium began to enter the daily dietary life of the public,and cooking with oil became a more common culinary phenomenon in the Song dynasty.After the Wei-Jin-North and South Dynasties,as the population moved southward,the center of economic gravity finished shifting southward to the Southern Song Dynasty,and the center of food culture also shifted,under the influence of which the food culture in the southeast was highly prosperous.The introduction of Western cooking methods in modern times also brought Western cooking concepts and cooking utensils into China,and under the combined influence of many factors,a very unique and complete cooking system was formed by the Republic of China.Chapter 2 describes the overall knowledge of cooking methods since the Qing Dynasty,as well as the specific knowledge of each region.The Chinese food culture,which has been passed down for thousands of years,has always been a source of pride for the Chinese people,and has been polarized by the impact of Western culture,although in general approval has been higher than disparagement.With the introduction of scientific knowledge in recent times,the overall knowledge of cooking methods has become more scientific.In addition,regional knowledge has become more abundant and comprehensive.In this chapter,we deliberately choose to summarize the knowledge of each specific region under the food culture circle that encompasses the whole country.According to the relevant records from the Qing dynasty,such as the local chronicles,travelogues,and newspapers,the overall cognition of cooking method application shows a strong subjectivity,lacking specific field research and empirical evidence.Since most of the technicians have accumulated relevant life experiences,although their views on the application of cooking methods in specific regions are not entirely consistent,they can generally correspond to the actual situation.Chapter 3 analyzes the spatial distribution and regional differences of Chinese cuisine cooking methods since the Qing Dynasty.Because the main texts used in the recovery of cooking methods from Qing to Republican China are old and new local records,ancient documents,Republican newspapers and magazines,city guides,and old recipes,etc.,and because they are influenced by the limitations of technical inheritance,the subjective experience of the subjects who recorded the recipes,and the social environment,the statistical results are difficult to accurately recover the real historical situation.The local recipes published by the national organization after the founding of the People’s Republic of China are more geographically representative and the data are more accurate and abundant.Therefore,the geographical distribution characteristics of the application of various cooking methods in different time periods are illustrated by comparing two stages: from Qing Dynasty to Republic of China and after the founding of the People’s Republic of China.Finally,the scientific concept of heat transfer medium of dishes is used to re-divide the cooking regions and reconstruct the overall geographical perception of the application of cooking methods by the public.Chapter 4 explores the causes of the geographical differentiation of cooking methods and their geographical influences.The influencing factors are mainly the natural geographic environment and the human and social environment.The influence of natural geography on cooking methods is reflected in the cultivation of oil crops,fuel distribution,altitude,and latitude,while the influence of human and social environment on cooking methods is mainly reflected in the degree of economic development,cultural customs,migration,and the introduction of foreign cooking.On this basis,we further analyze the impact of common cooking methods on the environment and human health in the corresponding regions.It is reflected that the geographical environment influences the development of cooking methods,and the progress of cooking methods also influences the human-earth interaction of the geographical environment.The concluding section is divided into two aspects.The first part summarizes the "five eras and four transformations" of culinary methods in the historical period from the perspective of "epochalism".The analysis is combined with economic development and population growth,which leads to the conclusion that economic development is positively related to the development of rich cooking methods,and population growth also has a strong role in promoting their development.Secondly,from the perspective of "regional changes",we firstly conclude that the overall spatial layout of the historical period shows a "balanced-variable-balanced" development trend,from a single balanced area to a contrasting economic development area and peripheral areas,and then to a more balanced spatial distribution in modern times.The spatial layout of modern cooking has been gradually weakened in the development of modern cooking.Secondly,we conclude that the culinary methods have shifted from west to east and from south to north,concentrating on the southeast region.At the same time,we further reflect on and summarize the application of culinary methods with the help of relevant anthropological research theories.