When discussing the famous female monarchs of the feudal Chinese dynasties, one cannot overlook Wu Zetian. However, besides the empress Wu, there is another woman who is equally renowned in the history of this nation: Empress Dowager Cixi (November 29, 1835 – November 15, 1908) of the Qing Dynasty – a figure known for her unparalleled power, opulence, and the many mysterious aspects of her lifestyle that still surprise many people today.
Among all these mysteries, her daily eating habits have also been studied with quite intriguing details…
Portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi painted by a foreign artist after 1900. (Historical archive of the Republic of China).
The Exquisite and Luxurious Dining of Empress Dowager Cixi
During the Qing Dynasty, all royal meals were managed by the imperial household department, which included various rooms such as: the kitchen, tea room, pastry room, wine room, food storage, and many other facilities. Among them, the kitchen, staffed by over 370 servants and dozens of eunuchs, was the most critical. These individuals were meticulously selected from ordinary citizens across China.
During Empress Dowager Cixi’s time, her private kitchen featured the best chefs in China, and ingredients were sourced from all over the country to create the finest dishes using a myriad of elaborate cooking methods. Each day, she had two main meals. According to regulations, each meal had to consist of 100 different dishes. Additionally, she had two light meals daily with 40 to 50 dishes, with at least 20 plates of food.
Portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi painted by a court artist, year unknown. (Historical archive of the Republic of China).
Historical records indicate that the most extravagant and fascinating meals of Empress Dowager Cixi occurred during her travels by train. Four carriages were allocated for the kitchen, with one carriage containing 50 stoves, each responsible for cooking two dishes, and up to 100 chefs accompanied her, not including the serving staff. Each meal consisted of 100 main dishes, 100 types of fruits, and various pastries to ensure her palate was always satisfied throughout the journey, avoiding any culinary mishaps.
Staggering Figures in the Daily Portions of the Powerful Empress Dowager
The meal schedule in the Qing household was clearly defined, with breakfast from 6 to 7 AM, lunch from 12 PM to 2 PM, and dinner at 6 PM. Other meals could be served at different times based on requests. For Empress Dowager Cixi, breakfast was the most important meal, thus it was always ensured to be of the highest quality from the selection of ingredients to the cooking process.
Empress Dowager Cixi with the princesses of Prince Chun. (Historical archive of the Republic of China).
Reportedly, each meal for the Empress Dowager in a single day included 2 goats, 5 chickens, 3 ducks, 11 kg of sliced meat, 2 kg of lard, 8.5 kg of various green vegetables, 3 kg of radishes, 5 types of turnips, and 3 kg of onions. Other ingredients included 1.5 kg of Yangtze River wine, 1 kg of vinegar, 240 types of pastries made from 16 kg of flour, 4 kg of fragrant essential oils, and 4 kg of sugar made from walnuts and black dates…
However, these numbers and types of food varied depending on the status and position of different individuals within the royal family. Yet, Empress Dowager Cixi could be said to have the privilege of enjoying the most lavish meals of the day. Meals for the royal family were pre-planned by the kitchen, submitted to the imperial household for approval, and only then did the kitchen begin preparations.
Portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi in her later years. (Historical archive of the Republic of China).
Exquisite and Noble: From Dishes to Dining Etiquette
Empress Dowager Cixi dined alone, with her food displayed on the table or placed in jade boxes, then transported by servants to her dining area. While the close palace maids served her, they were only allowed to eat standing or after she had finished her meal. Once the food was laid out, the eunuchs would use silver chopsticks to check for poison and taste the dishes before she began her meal. During dining, Empress Dowager Cixi sat facing south at the north end of a square table, with a two-tiered display of exquisite dishes. The eunuchs would introduce each dish by name and serve only those that pleased the Empress Dowager.
Despite the abundance of food, the Empress Dowager only ate dishes close to her, often ignoring those far away. For her favorite dishes that were out of reach, a eunuch would bring them closer. Each meal, she only consumed 3 to 4 dishes, while the rest would be cleared away after the meal. Leftover food or what was discarded was often given to the palace maids and eunuchs, and much of it remained untouched as it was served.
According to the book “Empress Dowager Cixi” by author Xu Zhi, a scholar and expert on the Qing dynasty, the story of the Empress consuming 150,000 apples each year, which averages over 400 apples a day, is inaccurate. In reality, the Empress did not eat apples, but rather enjoyed their scent. She also liked to smell various other fruits like pears and peaches. When the fragrance of the fruit faded, new ones would be presented to her.
Empress Dowager Cixi next to the wife of American diplomats. The woman holding the Empress’s hand is Sarah Conger, the wife of the American ambassador to China. (Historical archive of the Republic of China).
On festive days, such as the Double Ninth Festival (a holiday for the elderly in China), the kitchen prepared additional chrysanthemums, apples, eight-treasure porridge, and various other pastries to present to the Empress Dowager. It is said that on this day, she often visited the Summer Palace to admire the clouds and went to the Biyun Pavilion to enjoy her favorite meat pie. For this dish, the chef had to use wood from pine trees for roasting.
Among the snacks favored by the Empress were “Little Oat Heads” (a Chinese dish made from corn flour) and stinky tofu. The stinky tofu had to be the kind sourced from “Yuan Chihua Nan Xiangyuan” (a location in China) on the same day.
Photograph of Empress Dowager Cixi in a temporary tent resembling the Ren Shou Palace – her main resting place at the Summer Palace. The inscription behind her notes her full title. (Historical archive of the Republic of China).
Regarding beverages, Empress Dowager Cixi preferred floral teas and was particularly meticulous about her tea-drinking rituals. The water used for brewing tea had to be sourced fresh daily from Mount Yangtze River, and the flowers used for scenting the tea, such as roses and jasmine, had to be freshly picked and mixed with the dry tea leaves to create a fragrant infusion. The Empress sipped her tea from white jade cups, arranged on a gold tray with three cups, with tea in the center and flowers on either side, while two eunuchs presented the tea tray, announcing: “Your Majesty, the tea is ready!” Only after this announcement did Empress Dowager Cixi begin to enjoy her tea.
The Empress Dowager: A Luxurious Yet Knowledgeable Approach to Food
And although she was a royal figure with such elaborate and luxurious dining habits, it must be said that Empress Dowager Cixi possessed a significant amount of knowledge about culinary arts that could astonish many renowned chefs.
Empress Dowager Cixi strolling and enjoying the snow. (Historical archive of the Republic of China).
In the “Chronicles of the Thirteen Emperors of the Qing Dynasty”, it is noted: “Cixi was knowledgeable about food, and her understanding of culinary arts left experts amazed. The Empress preferred stewed duck, which was to be thoroughly cleaned, seasoned, placed in a sealed jar, watered, and stewed for three days until both meat and bones were tender, after which she only ate the skin of the duck. The Empress also enjoyed roast duck, roast suckling pig, black chicken, and lamb trotters. She once remarked that in her youth, her favorite was crispy roast pork skin. As she aged, dishes prepared with cherries became her new delight.”
Empress Dowager Cixi with her concubines and eunuchs. (Historical archive of the Republic of China).
Evidence of the culinary expertise of Empress Dowager Cixi can be seen in the remarkable dishes she created for a lavish banquet held on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month in 1873, which was one of the most extravagant events in Chinese history. While the dishes were undoubtedly impressive, they also featured some rather macabre items such as live rat stomachs, fresh monkey brains, and a dish known as “sān yáng chōng,” which consisted of resurrected goats from Tianjin that had consumed Cordyceps mushrooms and a rare herb that only grows in leap years in the Taihuang Mountains. Other specialties included large and high-quality bird’s nests cooked with ginseng water and Korean sugar, rare peacock eggs, and suckling pigs from Fuzhou that were fed with a unique and precious tuber grown in the Chaoji Cang hills.
