Manchu–Han Imperial Feast

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Manchu–Han Imperial Feast
Hanyu Pinyin
Mǎnhàn quánxí
Bopomofoㄇㄢˇ ㄏㄢˋ ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄒㄧˊ
Wade–GilesMan³han⁴ ch'üan²hsi²
Wu
RomanizationMoehoe ziezih
Hakka
RomanizationMan²⁴hon⁵⁵ qion¹¹qiag⁵
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingMun⁵hon³ cyun zik⁶
Southern Min
Hokkien POJBuánhàn tsuânsi̍k
Vietnamese nameVietnamese alphabetMãn Hán toàn tịchKorean nameHangul만한전석Hanja滿漢全席Japanese nameKanji満漢全席Kanaまんかんぜんせき

The term Manchu–Han Imperial Feast (

China (1636–1912). The origins are disputed, but by the nineteenth century, the style became popular and was emulated in twentieth and twenty-first-century restaurants.[1]

History

Qing dynasty

When the

Qianlong emperor invited notable chefs from the south to join the palace kitchen. The new style of cooking included Shandong, southern, and Manchu elements, and resulted in what was called a "Manchu-Han banquet" (Man Han quanxi). This style of the banquet was not featured at palace banquets, but soon became fashionable and by the nineteenth had spread to cities such as Canton and Tianjin.[2]

Another legend is that the Kangxi Emperor wanted to resolve disputes between Manchu and Han peoples, so he held a banquet during his 66th birthday celebration (with 66 being a special number in Chinese culture, see Chinese numerology). The banquet consisted of Manchu and Han dishes, with officials from both ethnic groups attending the banquet together.[3]

There is also another theory that this kind of feast never existed in the history, but was a xiangsheng sketch comedy instead, which included a long list of various dishes.

Preparation

The meal comprised six banquets over three days with over 300 dishes. Altogether there are said to have been 196 main dishes and 124 snack dishes, for a total of 320 dishes sampled over three days. Depending on how the dishes are counted with the samples, at the absolute minimum there were 108 dishes.

which?] from the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1735–1796) gives a detailed description of the feast and the dishes and ingredients.[citation needed
]

The meal

It is said that there were "Thirty-Two Delicacies," referring to exotic ingredients used for the banquet. The "Eight Mountain Delicacies" includes such dishes as camel's hump, bear's paws, monkey's brains, ape's lips, leopard fetuses, rhinoceros tails, and deer tendons. The "Eight Land Delicacies" includes several precious fowls and mushrooms, and the "Eight Sea Delicacies" includes

bird's nest soup
and others.

Some of the dishes:

Utensils

The utensils, like the food, were lavish; the majority of utensils were finely crafted bronzeware and

porcelainware in the shape of many animals which was designed with mechanisms for keeping the dishes warm throughout the meal.[citation needed] In general the Manchu dishes were first sampled, followed by the Han dishes.[citation needed
]

In popular culture

The imperial meal was re-enacted in the movie

Cooking Master Boy and the television series My Fair Princess, as well as in chapters 106 and 142 of the manga Medaka Box
.

In modern times, the Chinese term "Manhan Quanxi" can be used as an idiomatic expression to represent any feast of significant proportions. As an example, various media outlets may refer to a dinner gala as "Manhan Quanxi", while in China there are also numerous cooking competitions which make use of the aforementioned name,[4] while not specifically referring to the original meaning of the imperial feast. The name is also used extensively in product names in the food industry, such usage evident as brands of sauces and instant noodles by various companies.

An abridged version of the Cantonese version of the imperial meal was depicted in Mister Ajikko, where the dessert: Almond Tofu dessert is used as a contest against the expert in the dish: A corrupt monk in the Cuisine Temple.[5]

An inspiration of the imperial meal was re-enacted in Kung Fu Panda Holiday.

A fictional Japanese version of the imperial meal was depicted in The Last Recipe.[6]

In the anime Kore wa Zombi Desu ka? (English: Is This a Zombie?) the mute character Eucliwood Hellscythe, who communicates by writing messages, demands that the main character make her dinner; then follows up this demand by demanding a "Manchu Imperial Feast."

Replicas

There have been attempts since 1720 to replicate the original Manhan Quanxi and in the late 1980s, a certain replica meal[

which?] was estimated to cost over one million Japanese yen.[7] Many of the animals used in the meal are endangered species
today.

See also

Further reading

  • Chang, Michael G. (2017), "12", Of Feasts and Feudatories: The Politics of Commensal Consumption at the Early Kangxi Court, Leiden: Brill, pp. 307–329,
  • Kuang, Lanlan (2017). "China's Emerging Food Media: Promoting Culinary Heritage in the Global Age". Gastronomica. 17 (3): 68–81. .

External links

References

  1. ^ . Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  2. .
  3. ^ .
  4. ^ 红厨帽快车-新闻中心 Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Episode 57 of Mr. Ajikko (Japanese with Chinese subtitles)
  6. ^ "The Last Recipe: Kirin no shita no kioku (2017)". IMDb. 3 Nov 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  7. ^ Chang, Jianhua 常建華, “Sheng Qing Yangzhou de chengshi shenghuo: yi Yangzhou huafang lu wei zhongxin 盛清揚州的城市生活:以揚州畫舫錄為中心”, in Sheng Qing shehui yu Yangzhou yanjiu 盛清社會與揚州研究 Feng Mingzhu 馮明珠(ed.), 227–258, Taipei: Yuanliu chubanshe, 2011.