Abstract

During the Song period, food and drink culture was widely developed. Food service venues like pubs, teahouses, and restaurants assumed a role in the flourishing of this culture. This article discusses five aspects of this culture, based on stories about food service venues in the Southern Song period Yijianzhi by Hongmai. First, pubs, teahouses and restaurants of that time were spread out over northern China and southern China, centering on Jiangnan, during the Northern and Southern Song periods. These establishments were called various names. Second, owners who opened and managed pubs and teahouses were from a wide segment of the population, from officials and affluent people to paupers, and the size of the premises was often different according to the gap between rich and poor. Third, in drinking parlors and large-scale pubs there was a diversity of service staff such as sales assistants, female assistants at liquor shops, sex workers, and female entertainers. On the other hand, most of the pubs and teahouses were managed on a small scale by the owner, his wife and daughters. Fourth, purposes of making use of food premises included drinking and eating, personnel exchanges, and recreation, apart from adult entertainment. Fifth, customers at these food premises included officers, intellectuals, Taoist priests, monks, merchants and ordinary citizens.