Did the Emperor Really Eat 108 Dishes Every Day? What Qing Dynasty Imperial Meals Actually Included, and the #1 Mistake Most Chinese Dramas Get Wrong

In historical Chinese dramas, when the emperor calls out "Serve the meal," eunuchs and palace maids quickly enter, filling the table with exotic delicacies. The empress and concubines sit beside him, and the family discusses court and palace affairs while dining. It's even rumored that emperors ate 108 dishes per meal—one served, one removed—with astonishing extravagance. However, examining the Qing Palace's preserved "Shan Di Dang" (Dining Records), the reality differs significantly from dramatized portrayals. While Qing emperors did eat more elaborately than commoners, the idea of "108 dishes per meal" lacks historical support. Even the notion of three daily meals or fixed family dinners with consorts diverges from actual court life.

### Did Emperors Eat 108 Dishes a Day? Palace Researcher: No Historical Basis

"An emperor eating 108 dishes per meal" is one of the most widespread myths about Qing imperial cuisine. However, Yuan Hongqi, a researcher at the Palace Museum in Beijing and former deputy director of the Court History Department, has studied Qing dining archives for years. In an interview with the Beijing Youth Daily, she directly refuted this claim.

Yuan stated that while Qing emperors indeed lived luxuriously, the idea of 108 dishes per meal "has no basis." According to Qing court regulations, the emperor's daily meals consisted of 48 "items," a number that included condiments like soy sauce and vinegar—so it cannot be interpreted as 48 full dishes. Actual meals varied greatly among emperors. For example, the frugal Emperor Daoguang sometimes had only five items—dishes and buns combined—for breakfast and dinner during certain periods.

As for the origin of the "108 dishes" myth, no single definitive source exists. The later-popularized "Man-Han Banquet" is often described as having 108 dishes, and records show Empress Dowager Cixi's birthday feasts included 108 items. These lavish banquet images likely merged over time with the emperor's daily meals in public imagination. Yet, Palace Museum researcher Yuan Hongqi emphasizes that Qing historical records do not support the idea of emperors eating 108 dishes every day.

Another possible origin of the number 108 may relate to major late-Qing festivals. The Chinese Culture Academy, citing the "Qing Palace Miscellany," notes that Cixi normally had about 48 items for breakfast and dinner, but during grand celebrations like her birthday, the scale could expand to 108 items. In other words, 108 items reflected special ceremonial extravagance, not a fixed daily standard for Qing emperors' two meals.

### Qing Emperors Ate Only Two Main Meals a Day

Modern people are accustomed to three meals—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—but for most of the Qing dynasty, emperors had only two formal meals.

According to Qing regulations and records from the Imperial Household Department's "Yu Cha Shan Fang" (Imperial Tea and Food Office), emperors primarily ate two main meals: "breakfast" (zao shan) and "dinner" (wan shan). Breakfast was typically served between 7 and 9 a.m., while dinner ended surprisingly early by modern standards—between 1 and 3 p.m. Beyond these two main meals, snacks, light meals, or late-night suppers were added as needed.

### A Real Qianlong Menu Revealed! Includes Bird's Nest, But Also Cabbage, Tofu, and Buns

So what did emperors actually eat?

The Qing Palace's preserved "Shan Di Dang" (Dining Records) provides a direct answer. These archives meticulously document where and when the emperor ate, what dishes were served, and sometimes even the chef and tableware used—making them crucial primary sources for studying Qing court cuisine today.

For example, on the 16th day of the first lunar month in the 30th year of Qianlong (1765), the emperor first drank a bowl of rock sugar stewed bird's nest. He then had breakfast in the East Warm Pavilion of Yangxin Hall. The menu included bird's nest hot pot with red and white duck, wine-braised meat and tofu, steamed duck, pork and deer tail platter, bamboo roll pastries, small steamed buns, rice, soup, and dishes presented by consorts.

At the afternoon dinner, dishes included bird's nest duck hot pot, stir-fried cabbage with oil, fatty chicken tofu soup, crystal meatballs, pork knuckle, smoked pork stomach, stir-fried spinach, buns, small steamed buns, pickles, and steamed rice. After watching fireworks in the evening, Qianlong had a late-night snack of pork shreds with sour spinach, fresh shrimp rice cakes, and vinegar-braised duck kidneys.

This real menu reveals that while the emperor's table did feature rare ingredients like bird's nest and deer tail, it also included everyday foods like cabbage, spinach, tofu, buns, and steamed buns—items considered quite ordinary today.

Moreover, not all dishes placed on the imperial table were necessarily eaten by the emperor alone. The "Shan Di Dang" frequently mentions "e shi" (extra food), with some items placed farther from the emperor. Palace Museum records also indicate that after meals, the emperor could bestow some dishes, buns, and snacks to consorts, princes, or officials.

### Imperial Meals Weren't Always Exotic—Each Emperor Had Different Tastes

Another often-overlooked aspect of Qing imperial cuisine is that it wasn't a fixed "royal menu" unchanged for centuries.

Teng Deyong, a research curator in the Palace Museum's Court History Department, analyzed Qing dining records and found that the emperor's ethnic background, upbringing, and personal preferences directly influenced the food prepared by the imperial kitchen.

For example, during the Kangxi era, many dishes used relatively common ingredients. Kangxi especially loved "jiang" (fermented sauces), and the palace produced large quantities of pickled vegetables—cucumber, eggplant, winter melon, and ginger were all used.

By the Qianlong era, imperial cuisine shifted noticeably, with bird's nest and Jiangnan (southern) dishes becoming prominent on the emperor's menu. Qianlong particularly favored Jiangnan cuisine. During his southern tour in the 30th year of Qianlong, Suzhou chef Zhang Dongguan was assigned to prepare his meals. Afterward, Jiangnan cuisine gradually became a key part of Qianlong's imperial diet. Palace records even show that after Zhang Dongguan retired, Qianlong requested that skilled Suzhou chefs from Jiangnan be selected to replace him.

Thus, "Qing imperial cuisine" was actually the result of long-term fusion between Manchu traditions, northern Chinese dishes, and regional flavors like Jiangnan—there was no single fixed menu used by all emperors across generations.

### The Biggest Mistake in Chinese Dramas Isn't About the Food—It's "Emperors Dining with Concubines"

More misleading than the 108-dish myth is the portrayal of the emperor's dining scene in Chinese dramas.

Many Qing palace dramas show the emperor seated at the head, the empress beside him, and favored concubines or even princes joining the meal, chatting, competing for favor, or plotting secretly. However, the Palace Museum in Beijing clearly states that emperors usually ate alone.

According to palace rules, no one could dine with the emperor unless specifically ordered. The Empress Dowager, empress, and concubines typically ate separately in their own palaces. Joint meals with other royal family members occurred only on specific ceremonial occasions, not as a daily family dinner routine.

Even the location of the emperor's meals wasn't fixed. It could be in his sleeping quarters or his office—wherever the emperor said "Serve the meal," the kitchen had to deliver. Palace records note that before dining, eunuchs would bring square tables to form a dining table, lay a cloth, and palace staff would arrange dishes, rice, buns, and soups according to protocol.

Therefore, the real Qing palace dining scene may not have been as lively as in dramas. While the emperor's table indeed held far more food than ordinary people's, supported by a vast imperial kitchen system, for the emperor, "eating" was still constrained by court status, rules, and etiquette.

The idea of 108 dishes per meal is a later legend formed by conflating grand banquets, festival meals, and the image of the Man-Han Banquet. In contrast, the actual "Shan Di Dang" records preserved by the Qing Palace reveal a more truthful picture of the emperor's table—featuring bird's nest and deer tail, but also cabbage, tofu, and small steamed buns; displaying dozens of dishes, yet not all were consumed; and in front of that seemingly luxurious imperial table, most of the time, the only person actually sitting and eating was the emperor himself.