Now, every time the life of the Qing Dynasty royal family is mentioned, many people will immediately remember the once infamous luxurious lifestyle.
And the truth about the expensive and elaborate meals of the Manchu Emperors below is the clearest proof of this.
Eating only 2 main meals a day, the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty still spent thousands of taels of silver on food and drink
It is not difficult to see, whether in historical records or on television dramas, the Emperors are characters who sit on mountains of gold and silver in the world and naturally enjoy delicious dishes.
In the memoir `The Last Half of My Life`, the last Qing Dynasty king, Pho Nghi, revealed an unbelievable truth: When he was still on the throne, the amount of money spent on food and drink was
If we simply look at this number, it is very difficult for future generations to imagine the level of expense back then.
However, it is important to know that, even at the peak of Qing Dynasty’s prosperity under King Qianlong, the average income of common people only fluctuated between 2 and 3 taels of silver a month.
The difference between these numbers is enough to show the level of luxury and expense in terms of dining of the Qing royal family members.
Illustration photo: Internet source.
In the past, the Qing dynasty’s royal family were all Manchus from the Northeast region.
That’s why the Qing Emperors only ate two main meals a day.
After breakfast, the Emperor will eat more breakfast.
If the Emperor suddenly wants to eat something, the Imperial Household will have to immediately prepare it and present it to him.
The truth behind the sky-high meals of the Qing Dynasty: Where is the waste and expense?
Illustration photo: Internet source.
But for the Qing Dynasty Emperors in particular, what they valued most was not the taste or the preciousness of the dish, but safety.
According to the family law passed down since the founding of the country, every time the Qing Dynasty kings had a meal, they would only have 4 servants at their side to serve them.
Before the Prince of Heaven eats, this eunuch will have to taste all the dishes, then personally try them to test them and then offer them to the king to enjoy.
The Emperor’s meals, in terms of the number of dishes, are also very clearly regulated.
Although these dishes were sometimes given to the harem, most of the delicacies in the king’s meals were ultimately wasted.
Because the Manchu royal family had family rules, the Emperor absolutely could not eat more than 3 pieces of each dish when dining.
Illustration photo: Internet source.
Among the people in power of the Manchu Qing dynasty, the person whose eating habits were the most expensive and wasteful was Empress Dowager Cixi.
During his time, Ci Hi also specially set up a Tho Thien room specializing in preparing his own dishes.
With such a strong number of chefs, Tu Hi’s Tho Thien room can prepare more than 4,000 dishes of all kinds and more than 400 specialty breakfast dishes from all regions.
Just providing the ingredients and paying the chefs to prepare these dishes cost the Qing treasury a large amount of money.
Each of Cixi’s meals even possessed a level of luxury far beyond that of previous Emperors.
A typical meal for her includes more than a hundred dishes, not to mention at least 20 types of fruits and accompanying snacks.
Not stopping there, the Western Queen Mother’s food was not even placed on the table but had to be personally presented to her by the trusted eunuch.
For a moody Elder Buddha like Tu Hi, there were many dishes that she only gave her with a glance without even touching her chopsticks but had to be thrown away.
From the above evidence, it can be said that the standards and costs for meals of the Qing Dynasty royal family were indeed so elaborate and expensive that it made future generations shake their heads in disgust.
*From Qulishi’s point of view.