Research Of Catering Utsensils In Liao, Song, Jin And Yuan Periods

Served as people's daily use, catering utensils are endowed with strong dependency, which include tablewares and wine sets etc. This kind of concept primarily originates from two large series of utensils in dietary activities, namely "drinking" and "food" utensils. Its dependency lies in its close contact with some social factors such as the prosperity of living customs, trade and economy, arts and crafts. Liao, Song, Jin and Yuan Periods, with turbulent social background for confrontation and coexistence of political powers, are periods with frenquent interaction of cultures between nomadic ethnic groups in the north and farming ethnic groups, and also boom periods for Chinese ancient catering utensils. This article, taking the development and change of catering utensils in this period as a clue, analyzes the impact and propulsion of regional cultures on catering utensils in different periods, discloses cultural dissemination among various ethnic groups when shifting living areas, studies from the production and development of catering utensils and emphasizes the blossom, transmutation and combination of catering utensils in this period. Catering utensils are necessities for people's daily life and also epitome of social life, which concentratedly reveal the social customs and food cultures then. Since most researches in China refer to the cultures and customs of that period and very few researches touch upon the catering utensils, it is necessary to have a profound research on it.The development of catering utensils in Liao, Song, Jin and Yuan Periods is based on long-term social cultivation in earlier stages, which forms utensil groups with typical time characteristics and national characteristics. During discussion of natural background and social ground, it mainly researches on the social situations for producing and making catering utensils based on real evidence and admits the existence of environmental factors in its maturity. The integrated appearance is the objective and comprehensive demonstration of its shape and features. It mainly clears the classification of utensils with different functions and division of work and aims to seek for motives conceled behind the form of utensils, such as people's life needs, psychological needs and status etcs. The transition of economic relations and cultural communication between nomadic ethnic groups and farming ethnic groups has promoted social progress and mutual development and settle a basis for accelerating merger of ethnic groups. The broken ethnic groups deviated from original relevant stable living environment and placed in a changing and merging social structure that has a profound influence on the recreation and development of catering utensils.In conclusion, the inter-influence of catering utensils in Liao, Song, Jin and Liao Periods explains the motives favoring the boom of Chinese catering utensils, which has provided good opportunities for merger of ethnic group through inter-communication of social and economic cultures. Through research, this article has reached the point that the catering utensils in this periods have a trend for massive merger and important historical meanings for supporting Tang, Song and late Ming and Qing Dynasties. The development and combination resulted from catering utensils is able to perfect certain regret in the development history of Chinese catering utensils and also a makeup benefical to the research of ancient utensil cultures and food cultures.