Scribes of Gastronomy: Representations of Food and Drink in Imperial Chinese Literature

This volume of eight essays examines the scribes of gastronomy – an interesting but vital theme in imperial Chinese literature. From stanzas on food and wine in the Classics of Poetry (詩經) to the articulation of refined dining in The Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢) and Su Shi (蘇軾)’s literary recipe for attaining culinary perfection, lavish textual representations help explain the unique appeal of food and its overwhelming cultural significance within Chinese society. The volume offers a colourful tour to the topic and explicates the importance of tea in poetry, “morality of drunkenness”, and food’s role in objectifying women, etc.

Isaac Yue is assistant professor of Chinese in the University of Hong Kong. His research interest falls into two broad areas: nineteenth-century China-West studies and imperial Chinese literature since the Song dynasty. Siufu Tang is assistant professor in the School of Chinese, the University of Hong Kong. His research focuses mainly on early Confucianism and its relevance to the modern world.

HKUP Fall / Winter 2013