Have all of us eaten three meals a day throughout the ages?

Modern people are accustomed to eating three meals a day, but in fact, before the Qin and Han dynasties, people only ate two meals a day. Due to the underdevelopment of agriculture and the limited availability of food, even two meals are treated according to the person. According to Mozi Miscellaneous, soldiers eat two meals a day, and the amount of food is divided into five levels.

The first meal is called "morning food" or "glutinous", and it is eaten when the sun travels to the southeast. The second meal is called "飧" or "食", and it is eaten at the time of Shen (around 4 p.m.). As for mealtime, the ancients said that "if you don't eat from time to time" (The Analects).

Eating at a time when you shouldn't be eating is considered a deviant act or a special reward. As recorded in "Historical Records: Xiang Yu's Benji", Xiang Yu heard that Liu Bang wanted Wang Guanzhong, and he was angry and ordered "to enjoy the soldiers every day", so as to reward the soldiers and stimulate morale.

After the Han Dynasty, two meals a day gradually changed to three or four meals. In addition, the three meals began to be divided into breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast, known as cold utensils in the Han Dynasty, refers to the snacks used after getting up and washing in the morning.

In the Tang Dynasty, the cold equipment began to be called a dim heart. "Neng Gai Zhai Manlu" cloud: "The secular example is to use morning snacks as snacks, which has been said since the Tang Dynasty.

To this day, breakfast is still called breakfast in many parts of the country. Lunch, the ancients used to call it "Chinese rice" or "over the middle".

When there are two meals a day, it is believed that "the sage and the people plough and eat together, and the feast begins" (Mencius Tengwen Gong I), and the use of food means the passage of the day. Today, people often use the phrase "three meals a day" to express different emotions about time, including the feelings of those who cherish time. begging

When you meet someone you like, rush up and kiss him, in case you both are really interesting to each other, then it's done, what if he pushes you away, whatever, you've kissed him anyway?

As the saying goes, "people take food as the sky", "people are iron, rice is steel, and there is no soup in the bones" People don't eat, they don't have the energy to work, and most of people's diets are three meals a day, so what about ancient times?

Before the Qin and Han dynasties, people usually ate two meals a day. Due to the relatively backward productivity at that time, people's living standards were not high, and it was often Youchai who could not afford to rent food and clothing, so two meals a day could not be eaten, which also depended on the family and people's status.

Normally, people eat their first meal at 9 o'clock, around 4 p.m., eat their second meal, and after eating the second meal, it means that the day is over.

In fact, there are also places to eat two meals a day, in many places in Heilongjiang in the Northeast, they eat two meals a day, but this is not that there is no food, nor is it unaffordable, the Northeast is very cold in winter, people don't get up until nine o'clock, and it gets dark at three o'clock in the afternoon, so people eat the first meal at ten o'clock in the morning, eat the second meal at four o'clock in the afternoon, and go to bed after eating, which I deeply understand, because I have worked in the Northeast.

In fact, the diet of three meals a day is the best omen arrangement for eating, and it is also in line with the principle of health preservation, breakfast should be eaten well, lunch should be full, dinner should be eaten less, and each meal has a specific arrangement, which is the best state of life.

The ancients often said that there are three meals a dayThree meals first appeared in the pre-Qin period, evolved from the "two meals" at that time, and then gradually spread from the rich and noble families to ordinary people, until the Song Dynasty, China officially established the habit of three meals a day.

Most of the nutrients our human body needs come from three meals a day, including protein, fat, vitamins and water. The eating habit of three meals a day is very common now, and people have the saying that "people are iron, rice is steel, and if you don't eat a meal, you will be hungry and panic".

In fact, the eating habit of three meals a day is only a dietary habit established in the past 1,000 years, and in the earlier period, people were not like this.

In ancient times, people did not have the habit of eating at fixed points, which was mainly caused by low productivity, people lived by hunting, and there was not enough food to eat, let alone eat at fixed points. At that time, the principle was that "if you are hungry, you will seek food, and if you are full, you will give up the surplus".

In the Shang Dynasty, people gradually established the habit of eating at regular times, but at that time it was a two-meal system. It is divided into large and small food, where large food refers to morning food.

Later, in the pre-Qin period, the habit of three meals a day began to emerge, which was first seen in Zhuangzi's book "Zhuangzi Inner Chapter": "Those who are suitable for the reckless and reckless, three meals are reversed, and the stomach is still true." "Basically, when you are hungry while playing, you add one meal in the middle, forming the germ of three meals.

Later, rich and noble families gradually began to be able to eat three meals a day, and poor people could not achieve this kind of treatment.

With the development of productive forces, in the Song Dynasty, with the development of China's agriculture and commerce, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and gradually became rich in life, and the eating habit of three meals a day was finally established.

The habit of three meals a day seems to have been established in the Song Dynasty, but as for how it came about, it should be based on the social economy of the time.

In fact, for a long time in ancient times, I ate two meals, I didn't eat after lunch, there was not so much food, and I didn't work at night, I went to bed early and didn't eat, and I didn't have three meals a day until the Song Dynasty.

Fundamentally speaking, the "three-meal system" is the diet system of the privileged class, which was the patent of the king of Zhou at the earliest, and the common people have two meals in the morning and evening. Later, in the Sui and Tang dynasties, the concept of "lunch" gradually took shape, and eating three meals a day became the basic dining habit of ordinary people.

The ancients ate three meals a day, that is, rich and noble families, but later the peasant families were forced to eat enough because they had to work a day and consume more, so it evolved into three meals.

I think this has something to do with people's physiology and historical background, because people work during the day and have to rest at noon, so they use it to eat when they don't work.

In ancient times, there were no three meals, due to low productivity, people did not have so much food, let alone three meals, and later the economy improved, only three meals.

In the Song Dynasty, the economic ability of the people improved, and they lived and worked in peace and contentment, and slowly two meals evolved into three meals, and the people's lives also improved.

Before the Song Dynasty, people had two meals a day, and after the Song Dynasty, it gradually evolved into three meals a day, which was a long development process.

Three meals a day were available in the Qin Dynasty, but the poorer people in ancient times did not eat three meals a day because they could not afford to eat.

Three meals a day was mainly because people in ancient times couldn't even fill their stomachs, let alone three meals a day, but later the economy slowly improved, and they could eat, so the eating habit of three meals a day was established.

Before the Song Dynasty, it was two meals a day, but in the Western Han Dynasty, it was changed to three meals a day.

Before the Song Dynasty, the common people only ate two meals a day, only four meals for the royal family and three meals for the princes. In the Western Han Dynasty, the holy decree to the king of Huainan who rebelled and was exiled was specifically pointed out:"Subtract three meals a day to two meals"。

This is due to the economic prosperity of the Song Dynasty, except that the wine shops are no longer confined to the middle of the market as in the Tang Dynasty, and the night market does not implement a curfew at night, and the nightlife is rich at night, so a dinner is added.

Three meals a day has become a habit for people nowadays, and some people even say that eating irregularly will cause stomach problems. So when did the three meals a day start? Why are there three meals a day instead of four or five?

In primitive societies, people could not get enough food**, so the diet was irregular, eating when they had something and starving when they didn't. With the continuous development of society and economy, people gradually began to eat regularly. According to the "Xia Shang Social Life History", it is recorded

The Shang Dynasty was a two-meal system, one meal was entered in the morning, about 7-9 o'clock today, called 'big food', and one meal in the afternoon, about 15-17 o'clock today, called 'small food', and the time of eating two meals was customary. It can be seen that for a long time in ancient times, the two-meal system was implemented, that is, there was no Chinese food in the morning and evening.

The Song Dynasty began to have a diet of "three meals a day" before it was determined. With the development of productive forces in the Song Dynasty, commerce flourished, the economy developed, and the residents were able to live relatively rich and stable, and ordinary people began to have the ability to add food. Therefore, three meals a day is also a major manifestation of the improvement of people's quality of life.