Modern Japanese people have long been known for eating healthy and longevity, and have been selling their healthy recipes based on vegetarian and seafood to Shijie. And what about us Chinese, who have suffered from poisoned milk and gutter oil pits? Well, there's a joke about it, "As a Chinese, if you don't eat the elements on the periodic table, you're embarrassed to say hello when you go out......"

-- Alas, if the radioactive elements after No. 92 can be eaten, then we in China will probably become a national superman......

To get back to the point, although modern Japanese people boast of eating healthy, the Japanese ministers and aristocrats of the Heian period were very bad when it came to eating.

Ancient Japan's ministers and aristocrats were among the strangest in the country's diet, and generally embraced vegetarianism – shortly after the introduction of Buddhism to Japan in the 7th century (equivalent to the early Tang Dynasty), the emperor banned the consumption of cows, horses, dogs, apes, and chickens. After 200 years of repeated emphasis, by the Heian period after the 9th century, Japan's ministers and aristocrats had developed the habit of basically not eating meat.

This ban lasted until after the Meiji Restoration, when the Westernization Emperor Meiji ordered it to be lifted (the emperor took the lead in eating Western food and nibbling steak).

Of course, the scope of this ban was basically limited to the nobles in the Heian period, and others occasionally ate a little meat.

But the problem was that at that time, the whole society generally believed that meat was something that inferior people ate, and if they ate four-legged animals, they would be reincarnated as animals in the next life, so only uneducated farmers, hunters, and low-ranking samurai would eat meat. If the minister of the upper class actually went to eat meat, he would be universally despised and ostracized in aristocratic circles, which was almost like a modern person taking drugs.

However, no matter what era there are, there are people who break through tradition, even among the ministers, there are people who secretly eat meat behind closed doors and open a small stove. However, in order to eat a meal of boiled meat without oil and sauce, it is more unsightly than taking drugs, and it is too sad to make people feel too sad.

In fact, because of their devotion to Buddhism, the Japanese ministers and nobles of the Heian period not only did not eat meat, but also did not even eat much fish - in the late Heian period, there was a special Buddha Emperor Shirakawa, who felt that not eating meat was not pious enough, and issued a strengthened decree to further prohibit the consumption of fish, shrimp and shellfish, and not to eat anything but vegetarian food!

Compared with this Emperor Shirakawa, even Emperor Wu of Liang, who died because of his worship of Buddha (the first to formulate the precept that monks should not eat meat), is not pious. Because Emperor Wu of Liang only made the monks vegetarian, but Emperor Baihe got to the level of a vegetarian diet for the whole people......

What's even more amazing is that this ban, which is difficult to enforce no matter how you look at it, has been implemented to the letter for many years!

After the death of Emperor Shirakawa, this excessive ban was gradually relaxed, but there were still many people who insisted on not eating any meat.

Therefore, the main food eaten by Japanese ministers and nobles is rice, which is made into white rice, rice balls, rice cakes and the like. The variety of side dishes is also poor, with only salted fish, pickles, and miso soup. Miso soup was a battlefield instant food in Japan's Warring States period hundreds of years later, and it was not yet invented at this time, and people in the Heian period only knew that miso was used as a dipping sauce. When it comes to the Chinese New Year, they will take out some chestnuts, natto, plums, dried scallops and other "distant tribute" to improve the food, although the name is very good, but in fact it is not as good as the small landlords in the Chinese countryside.

-- Because Kyoto was located inland and not near the sea, and the conditions of preservation and transportation at that time were a tragedy, the nobles of the Heian period were rarely able to eat fresh fish and shrimp in Kyoto unless they were rich and noble, and usually only salted dried fish. Getting a fresh fish once in a while is something to boast about for the whole family. …,

Therefore, on the daily menu of the Japanese minister at that time, there were basically salted fish, pickles and pickled radishes except pickles, pickles and salted fish. Sometimes there is not even salted fish, just pickles and pickled radish. If you get a few fresh fish or some shellfish, and in time for spring and summer, you can eat fresh radishes and wild vegetables, and then have a cup of tea and a few small snacks made of rice noodles, it is already a very luxurious meal.

Also, even if you have haode ingredients, you don't want Japanese chefs in the Heian period to make dishes such as braised fish or sea cucumber with scallion oil due to the underdeveloped culinary culture in Japan. At that time, in addition to steaming or boiling, or eating raw, Japanese dishes were very rare, and stir-fried dishes were not popular until the Edo period, no matter what dishes were made light and tasteless, for Chinese the taste is the same as chewing wax.

The modern color of "Edomae" nigiri sushi covered with fish, vegetables, or egg rolls did not appear in Japan until nearly a thousand years later, at the beginning of the Edo period. In the Heian period, there was only one type of "old-style sushi" in Japan that was made by mixing fish, sake lees, salt, vinegar, and rice, fermenting and pickling it with stones, giving it a strong stench.

This thing is not the same thing as modern Japanese sushi at all, more like a mixture of sake lees fish and stinky tofu - in modern Japan, this thing is basically eliminated, but there is still a small amount of production, friends who like to eat stinky tofu may wish to try it if they go to Japan, but it is said that this thing contains a lot of carcinogens, it is better not to eat too much......

Also, in the families of the aristocratic ministers at that time, the number of dishes at each meal had strict etiquette regulations, and they could only eat three dishes and one soup at most. And there can only be one meat dish in the three dishes, followed by a pickle and a stewed wild vegetables, plus a bowl of miso soup. The number and type of meals were all regulated, and the number of dishes could only be reduced rather than increased, and remained unchanged until the end of the Heian period......

Therefore, even such a pitiful recipe could not be enjoyed by the ministers of the Heian period.

Although the modern Japanese regard the tea ceremony as the quintessence of the country, at the beginning of the Heian period, most Japanese ministers had not yet developed the habit of drinking tea. Only a few monks and literati learned the custom of drinking tea from China through the Tang Dynasty envoys.

In addition, in the Japanese archipelago at that time, there were no haode tea trees, and the local tea leaves were coarse and difficult to eat, and were usually used for medicinal purposes, while the best tea was imported from China, and the price was unbearably high.

Therefore, although the custom of drinking tea was briefly popular for a few times, it soon declined.

It was not until 1191, when the Heian period had come to an end and the Kamakura period was about to enter the samurai rule (the Kamakura shogunate was officially established the following year), that the "Book of Tea" written by the Tang Dynasty tea saint Lu Yu and the high-quality tea tree seeds were brought back to Japan from the Southern Song Dynasty by the eminent monk Eisi, and initially spread among the nobles and samurai, forming the prototype of the tea ceremony. The further development of the tea ceremony was carried forward in the 16th century.

Ramen and soba noodles, which are popular in modern Japan, as well as most of the dishes in kaiseki cuisine, as well as specialty snacks such as deep-fried tempura and Osaka grilled octopus balls, were all missing in the Heian period.

In general, most of the Japanese ministers and nobles of the Heian period believed in Buddhism, and generally exercised excessive self-discipline in their thinking, strictly abstaining from killing, and regarded appetite as a sin. Some aristocratic women were so hungry that they ate a fish, and when they turned around, they had to repent and pray to the Buddha, thinking that it was a great sin -- I really wonder what those Japanese monks who ate meat and drank wine all day long in later generations should think after seeing the actions of these ancient believers? …,

Just not eating fish is not the most masochistic. Some nobles listened to the foolery of the monks, so they simply didn't eat vegetables at all, and ate rice soup every day in addition to rice, and added a little salt at most...... And until the end of the Edo period, 1,000 years later, there were still many such fools in Japanese society.

Therefore, in this fanatical religious atmosphere of national masochism, although the Japanese ministers and nobles often feast and drink, they have always put the cart before the horse, and only work tableware, wine utensils and tables, making them beautiful and beautiful, and also pursuing elegant environments and artistic conceptions, but they regard the dishes themselves as insignificant. The practice of putting only a handful of vegetables on a large and gorgeous plate became popular at that time.

Therefore, even if you come up with something new in terms of food and drink, it will be difficult for everyone to be sought after, and you may even be severely reprimanded and criticized. But it's better than the ignorant European Middle Ages, and you won't be tied to the fire for a barbecue like a wizard - after all, you have to stop killing!

In addition, just as the knights in Europe could not take off their armor and had to ask their servants to "open cans" with screwdrivers, Japanese ministers and nobles also had similar troubles - because when wearing formal clothes, the clothes on their bodies were very heavy and complicated, and it was not easy to put on and take off, so they had to drink as little water as possible to avoid increasing the number of toilet visits...... And this is obviously very bad for health.

-- A monotonous diet with only rice, a vegan diet lacking fish and meat, you can't eat this, you can't eat that, you can't eat that, you don't have enough vitamins, fats, and proteins, and you have to drink as little water as possible...... As a result of these unhealthy diets, the ministers and nobles of the Heian period, regardless of gender, were malnourished and sickened. Despite their high status, their health was often inferior to that of the unrestrained commoners.

-- According to statistics, the Japanese aristocracy of the Heian period was very short-lived, and the average male minister lived only about 32 years old. As for the aristocratic women who live in the curtain all year round, the average life expectancy is only 27 years old!

This seems like a bad anti-example for the veganism that is now popular.

Moreover, about 55% of the nobles of the Heian period died of tuberculosis, 10% of them died of skin diseases, and 20% of their deaths were mainly caused by beriberi. It's just masochism!

On the contrary, the rest of the lower class people who were not so particular about food, clothing and grooming, especially the samurai who had better living conditions and were often able to shoot and eat meat, had a higher average life expectancy because of their relatively balanced nutrition, relatively healthy body, and diligent exercise.

-- According to the statistics left at the time, the samurai of the Heian period were the longest-lived of all classes of Japanese society at that time, with an average life expectancy of nearly 70 years (wars were relatively rare in the Heian period, and there were not many samurai killed in battle), and the average life expectancy of ordinary people was about 50 years old, far exceeding the average level of shijie at that time.

In contrast, the average life expectancy of these ministers and nobles who should be pampered is so short, that people really don't know what to say.

Seeing that these noble people did not live as healthy and comfortable as the ordinary people in the market, the nobles of the Heian period naturally felt psychologically unbalanced. Therefore, those erudite and talented ministers always like to moan without illness when they have nothing to do, lamenting their short life like a mayfly, saying that "life is as gorgeous as summer flowers, and death is as quiet and beautiful as autumn leaves"......

But these negative and misanthropic ministers and nobles don't seem to think at all that the reason why their lives are so short is because they are tossing themselves, and they have broken their bodies and tossed a lot of masochism!

Now everyone understands why the Japanese court has been hollowed out by the shogunate for hundreds of years! It is really unreasonable to let such a group of short-lived ghosts who like masochism drive and control a group of healthy and long-lived brave men!