The Chinese Culture in Dish Names

Xiaolei+Sun　Yantai+University

【Abstract】Chinese food enjoys great popularity worldwide and one of its characteristics is to strive for elegance in naming the dishes. The dish names reflect the traditional Chinese culture， customs and life values etc，. In the paper， the author picks out the corresponding dish names to explore the Chinese culture embodied in the dish names.

【Key Words】dish names the Chinese culture cultural connotation

【中图分类号】 G63.24 【文献标识码】 A 【文章编号】 2095-3089（2016）25-0-02

1.Introduction

Chinese food is well-known in the world. Naiji Yang （1999， p1） once said， “There are many people of other countries who dont know the four great Chinese inventions， but fewer people who dont know Chinese food.” Throughout the history， the Chinese have been regarding food as their primary want， which is clearly shown in the common saying， “Therere seven necessities in Chinese daily life-firewood， rice， oil， salt， sauce， vinegar and tea”. Chinese nation has been advocating the concept “Bread is the stall of life”. One of our great philosophers Confucius said， “The desire for food and sex is the nature of human beings”. Therefore its no wonder the splendid Chinese food culture appears in the world.

Due to its unique economic structure， mode of thinking and cultural environment， etc.， Chinese food has its own characteristics such as superior materials， good cutting skills， proper heating， various cooking methods， five flavors in harmonious proportion and elegance striving in diet utensils， dish naming and atmosphere. There is nearly no Chinese dish without a proper name. Being an important part of the dish， a marvelous name is not only a lively advertisement， but also makes people enjoy the beauty of the dish. Most Chinese dishes are named after raw materials， cooking methods， cooking utensils， ingredients， while some of them embody Chinese culture to some degree.

2.The Chinese Culture Embodied in Dish Names

2.1 The legendary creature dragon

There is no other legendary or mythological creature than dragon that is so closely linked with our country. The dragon has become the symbol of China and its culture and we Chinese proudly call ourselves “the descendant of the dragon”. For thousands of years， our ancestors have been inherently related to it. At the very beginning， it was regarded as a fetish that knew geography and astronomy， the god of blessing or auspicious omen of agriculture. Our forefathers began to worship it and it then became the totem worship. People tried to transfer its magic power that they felt or longed for to themselves， thus formed a cultural totem. In Chinese culture， it also stood for the king or the emperor. As an auspicious creature， the dragon gave rise to the saying that parents hoped their sons to become dragons （望子成龙）， that is， to be successful.

As the spiritual symbol and cultural sign of the Chinese nation， the image of “dragon” which stands for good fortune and good luck has penetrated into many aspects of the Chinese society ----- it appears in artistic works， Chinese characters， weddings， holiday celebrations， etc，. Of course it also shows up in the field of food. The dish names in which there is the character “dragon” are as follows： pork rolls with glutinous rice（龙眼烧白）； green tea and bamboo shoots （龙井竹笋） ； “dragon boat” live fish （龙舟活鱼）， chicken wings inserted with sea cucumbers （龙穿凤翅）， braised asparagus and mushroom （扒龙须香菇）， shrimp with lobster sauce （龙汁虾仁） and sliced whelk with chicken liver （龙肝螺片） etc，. Obviously， some of the dishes are named according to their shapes and forms and some their auspicious omens.

Amusingly， some foods have different names with the character “dragon” on a Chinese seasonal festival. As early as in Yuan Dynasty in China， there was the record “the dragon raises its head on lunar February the second”. On that day， flour foods are eaten in many places to express their wishes to have good harvests. The ordinary long thin noodles are called Longxumian （dragon whisker noodle），pancakes Longlin （dragon squama） and dumplings Longya （dragon teeth）. There are some other food culture activities related to “dragon”， such as： on the Lantern Festival （the 15th of the 1st lunar month）， the Chinese will dance with dragon-shaped lanterns in their hands； on the Dragon Boat Festival --- the 5th day of the 5th lunar month， there are dragon-shaped boat races.

Obviously， the image of dragon in China is very different from that in Europe， where its a symbol of evil， a fierce destructive monster.

2.2 The color of “red”

The Chinese like the color of red and we even call ourselves as Chizi （赤子）， which means a patriot. The beautiful ladies are called confidant （红颜）. As the most perfect color in the Chineses eyes， it symbolizes happiness and power. There are no bribes in China who arent in red and the Chinese character signifying double happiness used for wedding is red. Red is used not only on wedding days but also on festivals. On the most important festival --- Spring Festival， the old give red envelops filled with money （红包） to children as gifts and wishes for the new year. Red robes were worn by the officials in many dynasties and the different shades of red on the official caps in Qing Dynasty demonstrated different rankings. Headlines of official documents are often printed in red and are therefore called “read-head documents”. In China， red is also said to have the function of frightening away evil spirits and disease. Red has become the color of the nation. Due to different cultural atmosphere and ecological environment， the color of red may convey strikingly different association in the west， where its usually connected with blood， violence and caution.

One of the characteristics of Chinese dish is its beautiful color， which is reflected in the dish name. When we read such kind of dish name， what appears before us is the appealing colors of the dishes. Our mouths will be watering even without tasting it. The following dish names are the ones in which there is the color of red： fish soup with tomato （红鱼汤）， diced chicken with pepper sauce （红鱼鸡丁）， sliced pigs ear in chili oil （红油耳片）， steamed patties of crab meat and minced shrimp with crab roe on top （白雪映红梅）.

As one of the external symbol s of food， the color of red conveys other information. Those who gave birth to babies will give eggs dyed in red to their friends， workmates and relatives to express their happiness. In some places， the eggs dyed in different shades of red represent the babies of different sexes. If a boy was born， the eggs will be dyed in dark red， otherwise in light red.

2.3 The Official Rank

In the traditional Chinese society， people of all levels to some degree had a desire for wealth and honors. The latter can be achieved through advancement in official ranks. As early as in the Wei and Jin dynasty in China， the official ranks were divided into nine grades （品）， the first grade was the highest while the ninth was the lowest. Some dish names related to the first grade of the official ranks symbolize peoples desire for it. Confucius， the founder of Confucianism， had been highly admired by the emperors for 2，000 years. The mansion of Kong Family was regarded as the official one of the first grade official in the Qing Dynasty. The first grade casserole by the mansion of Kong Family （孔府一品锅）is the dish whose name was given by the emperor. The soup is made of some costly materials such as chicken， duck， trotter， sea cucumber and maw. It later became a famous dish in the mansion of Kong Family and those of other first grade officials. There is a well-known flour food in Kaifeng in Henan province which is named the first grade steamed stuffed bun （一品包子）. Actually， its just ordinary steamed bun which dated back to the Song Dynasty. Musu Zhu， the 5th son of the 1st emperor of the Ming dynasty， liked to have it and used to treat the officials to Kaifeng. He was the 1st grade official， therefore， the name of the common bun was changed into a more royal one. There are other dishes names in which there are the official ranks， such as chicken cake （一品鸡糕）， three kinds of meat in hot pot （三品炖鸡）. Peoples life value to strive for dignitary may be clearly seen.

Imperial examination is way to choose officials in feudal dynasty in China， through which many Chinese got promoted. There is an old saying in China， “There are two most blessed events in ones life： one is getting married， the other passing the imperial examination”. For more than one thousand years， to get an official rank through passing the imperial examination had been the most important goal to the Chinese intellectual. Those who came first in the imperial examination were called Yuan in Chinese. The one passing the imperial examination at the county level who came first at the provincial level was called Jie Yuan；the one passing the exam at the provincial level who came first in the exam held in the capital was called Hui Yuan；the one who came first in the final imperial examination presided over by the emperor was called Zhuang Yuan， second Bang Yan， third Tan Hua。To come first at the three levels was Lian zhong san yuan in Chinese。Some auspicious foods are usually regarded as the symbols of Jie Yuan， Hui Yuan and Zhuang Yuan to encourage people to strive for them. There is the Chinese character “圆” （yuan）whose pronunciation is the same as that of “元”（yuan）in fish ball （鱼圆）， meat ball （肉圆）and rice dumpling （汤圆）. In some places in the Qing Dynasty， the three foods were eaten， which meant to come first in the imperial exam at three levels. The popular soup made of dates， lotus seeds and longan was named San Yuan soup（三元）. The trotter braised in a small restaurant was appreciated by 3 Zhuang Yuan because of its unique flavor， therefore， it got a lucky name San Yuan trotter（三元蹄膀）. Zhuang Yuan， Bang Yan and Tan Hua， the first three in the final imperial exam， were called San Jidi. In the Qing Dynasty， Jidi congee was very popular in Guangdong province， which was made of meat ball standing for Zhuang Yuan， pork liver Bang Yan and sausage stuffed mainly with bean starch paste Tan Hua. Moon cakes are eaten on the mid-autumn Festival in China and on that day in Fujian Province， the 1st biggest moon cake is called Zhuang Yuan， the 2nd Bang Yan and the 3rd Tan Hua. Some auspicious foods symbolizing official ranks such as Zhuang Yuan cake， Zhuang Yuan rice were popular in some places. All of these illustrate the strong desire of the Chinese for official ranks.

2.4 The Number eight

Numbers from one to nine， hundred， thousand are widely used in naming the dishes. Except the basic function --- counting， they embody much cultural information. In Chinese， the pronunciation of the number eight is similar to that of the character 发 （Fa） which means making a fortune and thus its liked by the Chinese， especially the ones from Guangdong Province.

Ba Bao （eight treasures or delicacies） used to refer to the eight seals representing the emperors powers. In the Song Dynasty， another seal was added and there were altogether nine seals， which were called Jiu Bao （nine treasures）. Later， the emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty had its capital moved to Linan. The nine treasures fell into the pocket of its enemy. The emperor ordered to reproduce the eight treasures of the nine ones. To celebrate getting the eight treasures again， many dishes named after the eight treasures appeared in the restaurants， such as rice-stuffed chicken （八宝鸡）， spinach with 8 delicacies （八宝菠菜）， steamed eel with 8 treasures （八宝蒸河蟹）， beancurd with 8 delicacies （八宝豆腐）， duck stuffed with 8 delicacies （八宝酿鸭）， sunflower-shaped eight delicacies （八宝葵花） etc，. Gradually， the dish names were spread into other places.

Laba Festival in China is on December 8th of lunar calendar. We have the habit of eating Laba congee also known as Babao congee. According to the legend， that day was the time when the Buddha attained the enlightenment. The monks in the temple made congee with eight kinds of grains and nuts. Therefore， it got the name Laba congee. Due to its simple cooking method， rich nutrient and sweet flavor， it became very popular in the Song Dynasty and until now its still most peoples favorite.

2.5 Legend， allusion and fairy tale

China， a country with a long history， has plenty of legends， allusions， fairy tales and historic stories. Some dish names are also connected with them， in which some cultural connotations are embedded.

Tai Bai tender chicken （太白童鸡） Legend has it that Li Bai， a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty， once had a drink with his friends during his tour in Sicuan. While he was a bit tipsy， with a cup in his hand， he walked into the kitchen. Walking unsteadily， he spilled liquor in a wok， which burst with a rich liquor fragrance. So， the chef mad a good dish， which is bright red and richly fragrant. The main ingredient is a tender chicken， hence the name. （Peng Peng， 1996， p15）

The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea （八仙过海） “The eight immortals crossing the sea” is an old Chinese legend. It says when the eight immortals were crossing the sea， each displayed his or her special prowess. So， the cold dish is made up of eight saucers， each topped with an immortals magic weapons. Tie Guailis gourd and walking stick， Han Zhonglis fan and Lu Dongbins double-edged sword are all made of carrots. Female immortal Hes long life glass is made of egg wrapper in the shape of a spiral. Han Xiangzis flute， Cao Guojius Chaowangjian （a bamboo slip used as a privilege permission to have an audience with a king）， Lan Caihes flower basket and flat beach and Zhang Guolaos donkey and Dao Qin （a Taoist fiddle） and so on are made of more than one hundred ingredients and seasoning. The features are diversified in pattern， elaborate in cutting and savory in taste. （Peng Peng， 1996， p.203）

Beggars Chicken （叫化鸡） There is a legendary story connected to it. Long， long ago there was a beggar. One day he stole a chicken and was pursued by the owner. He was almost caught when he suddenly hit upon a good idea. He smeared the chicken all over with clay which he could found nearly and threw it. After a long while， the beggar removed the mud-coated chicken from the fire. When he cracked open the clay， he found， to his astonishment， that the clay together with the feather had formed a hard shell in which the chicken had been baked into a delicious dish with wonderful flavor. That night he had a very enjoyable mea. Hence the name of the dish. （ Chen Genpei， 1990， p.181）

3.Conclusion

Almost all the dishes in the menus of other countries are named after the ingredients or cooking methods， which is just like what appears in The James Beard Cookbook. Most Chinese dishes are also named like this， while some of their names embed Chinese culture， which is shown above. “Its no wonder some Americans say that eating Chinese food is really an enjoyment. You can not only reward yourself and repay others， but also have a chance to appreciate the dish names.” （Xu Xiong， 2001， p.2） Maybe I should add one： you can also have a chance to know a little about Chinese culture. To study the Chinese dish names enables to help people know not only the cultural connotation of the Chinese food culture but also the traditional Chinese culture， customs， life values， etc，. Therefore， how to translate the related dish names properly so as to spread the Chinese culinary culture is what a good translator should be concerned about.

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