Seven necessities

Seven necessities
Traditional Chinese開門七件事：柴米油鹽醬醋茶
Simplified Chinese开门七件事：柴米油盐酱醋茶
Literal meaningopen door 7 items-of-affairs: firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinKāimén qī jiàn shì: cháimǐ​yóuyánjiàngcùchá
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationHōi mùhn chāt gihn sih: chàaih máih yàuh yìhm jeung chou chàh
JyutpingHoi1 mun4 cat1 gin6 si6: caai4 mai5 jau4 jim4 zoeng3 cou3 caa4

The seven necessities stem from the phrase "Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea are the seven necessities to begin a day". The items were known as early as the Song dynasty travel book, Dreams of the Former Capital.[1]

The Chinese phrase "seven necessities" literally means "開 open 門 door 七 seven 件事 items" when translated, which is an old Chinese saying. They include firewood (柴 chái), rice (米 mĭ), oil (油 yóu), salt (鹽 yán), sauce (醬 jiàng), vinegar (醋 cù), tea (茶 chá). The seven necessities were made popular in modern tea culture due to the fact the beverage was mentioned as one of the seven necessities of Chinese life.[2]

References

  1. ^ Huang, Xingzong (2000). Fermentations and Food Science. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 394. ISBN 9780521652704.
  2. ^ "Chinese Tea Culture, Tea Drinking Custom, Tea Tasting, Yum Cha". Travel China Guide. Retrieved 2012-03-02.

External links

  • Chinese Culture Institute
  • "Notes on Chinese Culture- Food and Drinks (08) – Chinese Tea". dict.cn. Archived from the original on 2012-08-04. Retrieved 2012-01-09.