The Kitchen

Tablewares the Mou family used to entertain guests at banquets.

Color-painted steamed bread, a local specialty.

There was no fixed menu for the lords, who could eat whatever they wanted. The accountants, private teachers, and their families, however, had to eat the same dishes every day: steamed bread and side dishes for breakfast and dinner, and rice and side dishes for lunch. Extra dishes would be added to the menu during festivals. The farmers, long-term hired hands, servants and nannies ate poorer fare, typically just coarse millet cakes and salt pickles.

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