Hist 410 Keynotes 6

Ancient "table" manners

Strict Rules of the dining mat according to the Classic of Rites

1. If a guest be of lower rank (than his entertainer), he should take up the grain, rise and decline the honor he is receiving. The host then rises and refuses to allow the guest to retire. After this the guest will resume his seat.

2. When the host leads on the guests to present an offering to the father of cookery, they will begin with the dishes which were first brought in. Going on from the meat cooked on the bones they will offer of all the other dishes.

3. After they have eaten three times, the host will lead on the guests to take of the sliced meat, from which they will go on to all the other dishes.

4. A guest should not rinse his mouth with spirits till the host has gone over all the dishes.

5. When a youth is in attendence on an elder at a meal, if the host give anything to him with his own hand, he should bow to him and eat it. If he does not give him anything in this style, he should eat without bowing.

6. When feasting with a man of superior rank and character, the guest first tastes the dishes and then stops. He should not bolt the food, nor swill down the liquor. He should take small and frequent mouthfuls. While chewing quickly, he does not make faces with his mouth.

7. When eating with others from the same dishes, one should not eat hastily to satiety. When eating with them from the same dish of grain, one should not have to wash the hands.

8. Do not roll the grain into a ball; do not bolt down the various dishes; do not swill down the soup.

9. Do not make noise in eating; do not crunch the bones with the teeth; do not put back fish you have been eating; do not throw the bones to the dogs; do not snatch at what you want.

10. Do not spread out the grain to cool; do not use chopsticks in eating millet.

11. Do not try to gulp down soup with vegetables in it nor add condiments to it; do not keep picking the teeth, nor swill down the sauces. If a guest adds condiments, the host will apologize for not having had the soup prepared better. If he swill down the sauces the host will apologize for his poverty.

12. Meat that is wet and soft may be divided with the teeth, but dried flesh cannot be so dealt with. Do not bolt roast meat in large pieces.

13. When they have done eating, the guests will kneel in front of the mat, and begin to remove the dishes of grain and sauces to give them to the attendants. The host will then rise and decline this service from the guests, who will resume their seats.