ipl-logo

Essay On Chinese Food

1118 Words5 Pages

CHINESE FOOD AND PHILOSOPHY
“The things that people cannot do without everyday are firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea.”
–Phrase coined in the late Southern Song dynasty
Chinese way of life is significantly influenced by its culture, customs, history and philosophy. For Chinese people even the smallest chores of everyday life hold a very important place and have to be done in a ceremonial way. This essay will highlight one of the most important facets of Chinese life that is food and its relation with yin and yang concept, Confucian ideas and Buddhist philosophy. In china, food is an essential part of lifestyle, by finding its place in their every tradition and even in the everyday business (H.J.Lin and T.Lin ,1927). Although, it 's a universal belief that food is an essential requirement in order to live but in China it is much more than that. By saying that it is part of their lifestyle, the aim is to emphasize that it is their culture which they follow because through that they fulfil their aim of living a happy life. Many say that China has a food –centric culture. As said, food was not just a necessity but people who had mastery of the art of cooking were sought after. (Frederick J. Simpsons). In royal court food was a resemblance for their grandeur. There were a large number …show more content…

This philosophy was developed by Shen Nong in 3000 BCE. The yin and yang philosophy draws its inspiration from nature.It largely says that everything that exist in the universe is through a balance of polar opposite forces. (T. Fang 2011). The main contention of this philosophy is that a proper balance is required between these dual forces. This philosophy is used in china to understand a variety of ingredients as being yin or yang in order to make a perfectly balanced dish. Yin usually refers to cold elements and yang refers to hot elements.Some of the examples

Show More
Related

  • Symbolism In Night By Elie Wiesel

    844 Words  | 4 Pages

    The infamous Yin and Yang symbol, a balance between good and evil. There isn’t one without the other. Balance is the way it’s intended, for everything to be equal. However this is simply not accurate, nothing is perfect, the balance can tip towards any side. For some there is more light than there is darkness.

    Read More

  • Daodejing Analysis

    501 Words  | 3 Pages

    Similar to Confucius, Laozi also sought out a solution to create harmony in a world full of chaos and fragmentation. But Laozi found the solution through Daosim. The three ideas, the Dao, wuwei and yin and yang, are three key concepts in Daoism that leads to the harmony that Laozi strived for. These ideas, although created hundreds of years ago, still deeply influence Chinese thinking and culture

    Read More

  • Zhuangzi's Argument Analysis

    838 Words  | 4 Pages

    Or are both of us right and both of us wrong?” We can easily think of situations in which both sides of an argument are wrong (for example, I say hexagons have seven sides while you claim they have five), but how can two opposing viewpoints be right at the same time? Fortunately, we can find such an example in the Zhuangzi itself: The renowned beauties Lady Li and Maoqiang might attract human men, but animals would find them repulsive such that “if fish saw them they would dive deep, if birds saw them they would fly high, and if deer saw them they would cut and run.” By raising the possibility of opposing sides being right at the same time, Zhuangzi emphasizes the importance of perspective. Men, fish, birds, and deer–“which knows beauty rightly?”

    Read More

  • How Does Daoist Influence Chinese Art?

    161 Words  | 1 Pages

    The elements of yin-yang principle can be found in Chinese garden design, for instance. Instead of the typical Western tendency

    Read More

  • Lee Smith's Recipe Box

    981 Words  | 4 Pages

    Though an immensely important aspect of food is a nourishing supplement; it is not the sole significance of food in human’s lives. Food is symbolic. Food connects people. It is a collective activity everyone must experience; thus meaning it allows people to relate more easily between each other. There is no universal type of food in each society due to the fact that the world is multicultural.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Confucianism And Buddhism

    1486 Words  | 6 Pages

    Compare and contrast the roles of Confucianism and Buddhism in both China and Korea until roughly the 7th century Introduction East Asia is the largest emerging economy of the world at present, and this phenomenon can be traced back to its cultural, demographic, political and social traditions and identities. Yang and Tamney (2011) said religion was an integral part of cultural which played an extremely great role in enriching people’s spiritual life, guiding people to do good (p.132), and strengthening the state authority and legitimating their rule by instilling people with the politics-oriented beliefs from the perspective of the ruling class. Confucianism and Buddhism played a dominant role in the feudal society in both China and Korea and they exerted far-reaching impacts on both countries until today. As religion, both Confucianism and Buddhism served similar purposes in maintaining the social orderliness and stability, despite the differences between them in the religions beliefs and their impacts. In this paper, the roles of two mainstream religions, Confucianism (including Neo-Confucianism) and Buddhism in China and Korea until roughly the 7th century are compared and contrasted in various aspects.

    Read More

  • Buddhism Dbq Essay

    1363 Words  | 6 Pages

    “Now of happiness there is none greater than the confirmation of one’s line, of unfilial conduct there is none worse than childlessness. The monks forsake wives and children, reject property and wealth, Some do not marry all their lives.” In China, having a family is crucial. To the monks, family is just another pleasure that they do not need. “Wives, children, and property are the luxuries of the world, but simple living and inaction are the wonders of the Way.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Food

    1040 Words  | 5 Pages

    Choi then quotes the Director of food studies at New York University, providing relevancy and authenticity to her work. The statement also establishes a link between what we eat and how it connects to particular memories and places in our minds. Moving on, the article is divided into six different subheadings. Each subheading explains the origin of indigenous food in different countries and what that denotes particular culture. Broadly speaking, food is necessary for survival, signifies status denotes pleasure, brings communities together and is essential for humanity.

    Read More

  • Eating The Hyphen: A Short Story

    1121 Words  | 5 Pages

    Everyone grows up eating what their family eats, and winds up enjoying the nourishment their family provides. Men, women, and children, raised from their heritage and food preferences, will continue on for generations. Yes, they will branch out and try new products, possibly adding them to their diet, but they will always find the food of their culture as comfort or ‘homey’ food. Therefore, food is a major part of cultures all over the

    Read More

  • The Tsubo Case Study

    1321 Words  | 6 Pages

    An understanding of the Meridians can help Aromatherapists to understand an illness pathway with greater clarity. Yin and Yang are two poles or phrases not exclusive of one another, but mutually convertible. Yin can become Yang and vice versa. And Tsubo are the actual pressure points. Aromatherapy is closely allied to Shiatsu, mainly because of the principals involved, which have a distinctive similarity.

    Read More

  • Informative Essay: The Food Industry In America

    1260 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Food Industry The food industry is the worldwide diversified industry which has to do with anything relevant with food from food education to marketing but principally the industry produces and or provides food to essentially all people on the planet. The only people who are excluded from the food industry are self-sustaining farmers and hunter-gatherers. It is one of the largest industries in the world and continues to grow because people need food and the population is increasing every day. In America, the food industry possesses such an important role, yet there are so many problems within the industry which is ruining the society as we know it.

    Read More

  • Food Culture Research Paper

    1949 Words  | 8 Pages

    There is a big connection between food and culture and it is passed down from generation to generation to help preserve and embrace those very traditions that make every country unique through food. It symbolizes pride for their

    Read More

  • Processed Food Essay

    1108 Words  | 5 Pages

    What is Processed Food? The term ‘processed food’ applies to any food that has been changed from its natural state in some way, either for safety reasons or convenience. Some foods need processing to make them safe, such as milk, which needs to be pasteurized to remove harmful bacteria. Other foods need processing to make them suitable for use, such as pressing seeds to make oil.

    Read More

  • Theories Of Qi In Traditional Chinese Medicine

    1739 Words  | 7 Pages

    “The concept of Qi is based on the ancient Chinese initial understanding of natural phenomena.” (Acuhealing.com, 2011) People in ancient China observed that some visible and touchable substances in nature would transform into another invisible and formless substances, namely water transform into fog under evaporation. The observation drives them realize the existence of qi. Besides, in the Yin-yang theory, they believe that all the things are in yin and yang cooperation system, and have yin side and yang side.

    Read More

  • Essay On Chinese Culture

    1243 Words  | 5 Pages

    The traditional Chinese cultures have a development process for thousand years, now we are creating another kind of traditional culture especially under the wave of globalization. Although the form of expressing or performing the culture experienced some changes but the basic idea and belief behind rarely changed. To promote Chinese culture we would refer to the essence of Chinese wisdom so the following is actual practicing of different dimensions of Chinese traditions which show the beauty of China. The family concept is the essence of Chinese culture.

    Read More

More about Essay On Chinese Food

Open Document