Food

Both wealthy people and commoners ate well during the Tang dynasty. Food was usually divided into two groups, grains (fan) and vegetables (cai). Grains were the main ingredient of most dishes, and were noodles and dumplings made from wheat, and rice. Anything that wasn't a grain was considered a vegetable. This included fish, fowl, duck, and pork. Meat was rarely consumed though. Food would be cut into small pieces, so they were able to use chopsticks, and never used forks and knives. They added a lot of different spices and seasonings to their food, like salt, ginger, plum and soy sauces, garlic, cinnamon, and honey. Many new, exotic foods were introduced at this time from the Silk Road like dates, dried oysters, melons, sea horses, sugared ginger, and persimmons. It was normal for them to drink a lot of wine because drinking large amounts of alcohol was an old tradition, and they believed that it relaxed them. Tea (cha) was also a popular drink during the Tang Dynasty. People would drink it after they had eaten their meals. They thought that it clears the mind, and help digestion.