Is It True What They Say About Chinese Food?

 

The Legend of Mi Yue is a made-in-China 81 episode historical court drama set in the Warring States period (about 300 BCE). It aired on Chinese television during 2015 and 2016. The actors, including its star, Sun Li, all spoke in Chinese.

What follows is a conversation between the king of Qin and his queen, a former princess of Chu. (Qin and Chu were the two primary contenders for hegemony during much of the Warring States period, with Qin ultimately prevailing.)

King Huiwen: This hair pin and your hair style complement each other.

Queen Huiwen: Qin’s LanTian jade [jewellery] is the best in the world. I have this [pin] because of you.

King: [The] Queen likes Qin’s LanTian jade. But does not like Qin’s food. I heard that you think the grains [ie, wheat from northern and western China] are too rough.

Queen: My body is weak—grains can easily upset the stomach. So I dare not use it.

King: No harm. You are the Queen. The [relatively expensive] rice [from southern China] in the palace can be eaten at your discretion. But I prefer those rice. After eating the rice, I will be hungry in one or two hours. It is not useful.

Episode 29 (bold added), <https://tinyurl.com/z6k43r3a> (quoting close captioned materials) (at 7:20-8:15).

The concept that you might be hungry soon after eating certain traditional Chinese delicacies is not some foolishness rooted in bigotry, prejudice, and ignorance. Many people—including some Chinese people—have recognized that certain rice-based dishes can be digested quickly leaving the person feeling hungry in a relatively short period.

Of course, when my wife and I saw this scene, we both laughed, as I suspect many viewers in China did in 2015. The king merely stated what many know to be a true.

PS: The Legend of Mi Yue is an extraordinarily beautiful and moving historical drama. I give it 10 out of 10, only because I cannot give it an 11. 

Seth Barrett Tillman, ‘Is It True What They Say About Chinese Food?,’ New Reform Club (June 21, 2023, 13:51 PM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2023/06/is-it-true-what-they-say-about-chinese.html>;