 Food and beverages from China have been part of global daily life for over a thousand years, from soy sauce and noodle to tea and wine, so many of the food and drinks we consume today have their origins in China. The history of food and drink in China is a fascinating story that is told through objects in the exhibition Ancient Thessal, a visual and material history of food and drink in China. Curated in partnership with the Museum of East Asian Art in the Bath, who provided the beautiful objects for the exhibition, Ancient Thessal opened at the Soas Brunei Gallery in January 2020. The exhibit dates from the later Neolithic period in China, circa 2000 BC, to the 19th century, and are made from a wide range of materials, including jade, corthulence, lacquer, bronze, and glass. The Soas exhibition presents the objects in 11 different but related themed sections. Through these new interpretations of the objects, viewers can explore historical Chinese material culture from a fresh perspective and gain an insight into the material world of food and drink in China before the 20th century. The first section, raising livestock, agriculture, and cooking, includes some of the earliest objects in the exhibition. Archaeological evidence shows that people in China domesticated animals from the Neolithic period onward. By about 4000 BC, domestication seemed to be widespread. Among the common animals kept were pig, which provided a ready source of meat and water buffalo that pulled plow. In this case, for example, you can see a ceramic model of a pigsty showing a pig and piglet. The two important early crops in China, rice and millet, were more suitable for boiling, in contrast to wheat and barley, which could be ground and baked. As a consequence, early Chinese cooking vessels, such as the ding and li, were designed for boiling. They have a wide body to hold water and food, and three legs to stand over fire. A number of cooking vessels have been found in tomb, such as those shown here in this section on Feeding Spirit. Archaeological evidence indicates that people in ancient China believed that the living should replicate the lifestyle of the dead in the afterlife, including catering for their gustatory pleasures. Some elite tombs are decorated with murals of banqueting scenes. Some contain a kitchen and food storage room, accompanied with cooking utensils and figurines of chefs. The unerary jars, often with fanciful shapes, such as this large seledun one in the form of a granary, were used to store rice and other grains to ensure the spirits would not be hungry. Wine vessels, such as this ceramic example with painted decoration, used for both storing and serving alcohol, were also buried in tomb. Feeding the spirits was one way to help maintain the bond between the deceased and the living. Whether for the living or dead, vessels used for eating and drinking in China are usually decorated. In this section, Eating and Drinking Design, we can see that often the decoration relates to their function or to the setting in which they are to be used. A white porcelain bowl in this case shows a picnic scene. In other examples, the decoration on food and drink vessels relates to the visual art and is taken from narrative illustrations, such as the scene on the large porcelain jar with polychrome decoration. The banquet seen on this jar is typical of the lavish ones appearing in illustrated books in the 16th and 17th century. The banquet here may be a court banquet for a festival or commemortification, as indicated by the senior officials seated at the table and the musical entertainment. The carved lacquer tray in this case depicts a similar event taking place in an elegant storied building in a watery landscape. Scenes like this were often reproduced in popular prints and pictorial albums during the late Ming and Qing dynasties. In other examples, symbolic food items form the main decorative motif, such as the peach on the small ceramic dish imitating lacquer, which is a traditional symbol of longevity associated with Taoism. Here it is accompanied by the Chinese character for long life, Shou. At the next section, which explores rituals and politics demonstrates, many bronze vessels cast in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, that is from about 1500 BC to 221 BC, were used in rituals for offering food and wine to ancestors, from whom ancient Chinese people obtained help and direction in life. Large numbers of various vessel types suggest that many different foods and wines were available. Through a system of etiquette, the vessels used at these ritual feasts came to play an important role in governing relations and reinforcing hierarchies in early Chinese society. The political symbolism of these food vessels, particularly that of the littered bronze ding shown in this case, is still important today. This is demonstrated by the bronze ding commissioned by the Chinese government in 2010, that is now on permanent display at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Chinese rulers also traditionally made sacrificial offering to the sun on the spring equinox, which since the Ming dynasty from the 14th to the 17th century required red offering vessels, like the porcelain stem cup shown here. Vessels are an integral part of religious practice in China, as the objects in this section are religion reveal. Of the three main belief systems prevalent in China, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, it is Buddhism that requires vessels for many of its rituals. Food was offered on trays to deities and in begging bowls to monks. The small sculptures in this case share a monk with a begging bowl. In addition to figures, Buddhist imagery appears on a number of vessels, not all of which were used in religious context. On the lacus stem cap in this case, you can see the popular motif of the eight Buddhist emblem, which originated in early Buddhist visual culture in South Asia, and then became part of the decorative repertoire in China during the Tang dynasty from 618 to 906. Other belief systems are represented by their symbolism, such as the red promagranate painted on the white porcelain stem bowl, which had many seeds, and is associated with the Confucian wish for many sons. The bronze offering stand below this has a 28-character inscription on its foot, which notes that it was made in 1485, or used in a Confucian temple. The next section on imperial dining presents tableware made for the Chinese court. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, from the 14th century to the very early 20th century, the scale of infrastructure needed to provide food for the imperial court was immense. There were different kitchens and offices responsible for the supply of ingredients, the preparation of meals, and the maintenance of dinner services and utensils. The use of food vessels was strictly regulated and hierarchical. For example, in this case, we can see plates covered with yellow glaze, both on the interior and exterior, that were reserved for the emperor and the empress. We can also see plates decorated with green dragons on a yellow ground that were used by lower-ranking concubines. More informal dining is represented in the next section, which explores snacks and light meals. In pre-modern China, there was no dessert, a sweet course that comes at the end of a meal. Sweet and savory snacks could be served alongside main dishes or consumed outside of proper meals at any time of the day. Compartmented boxes and plates, such as the one shown in this case, were used to present snacks or serve light meals, as they ensured that a variety of choices could be offered at the same time. They were also practical when picnicking. During the Lunar New Year, when spring rolls were traditionally eaten, various ingredients to be wrapped in thin pancakes would be placed in different compartments. These types of boxes and plates can also help make a selection of snacks or a light meal with various elements look visually coherent. Snacks and light meals were consumed along with hot beverages, including tea, which is the focus of this section. Tea has been produced and consumed in China since at least the 5th century BC. 2000-year-old tea leaves were recently discovered in the tomb of an emperor who died in 141 BC. From the 8th century AD, tea drinking became much more widespread after its promotion as both an aid to meditation by Buddhist monks, as well as an antidote to the drunkenness associated with wine. The objects in this case represent a range of vessels used in the consumption of tea, for serving, drinking, and storage. In China, tea was often sold along with tea vessels, such as the brown stoneware bowls shown here, which were made in the tea-producing region of Jiangxi Province in southeast China. From the late Ming dynasty, teapots with short spouts and tall handles were made in a unique brown stoneware clay, which is only found near Yixing in Jiangxi Province. Yixingware was made with this clay, such as the teapot in this case, became highly sought after and are still admired today for their ability to enhance the flavor of tea. In the Qing dynasty, the Qianlong Emperor, who reigned from 1736 to 1795, noted that jade bowls, such as the example shown here, were used to serve butter tea, which is a completely different tea tradition during celebratory ceremonies. In contrast to tea, wine and alcoholic drinks have an even longer history in China. In this section, we learn that the earliest evidence of wine production in China exists from the Neolithic period and was found in pottery jars dating to 7,000 BC. Wine made from both grain and grapes was used in both ritual and secular settings and is recorded in numerous early texts. From the Shang period, circa 1500 BC to circa 1046 onward, wine vessels made of cast bronze, like the large jar in this case, were buried in elite tombs along with similar vessels for food. It is during the next dynasty, the Zhou period, that the first texts denouncing drunkenness start to appear. Yet wine continued to be an important drink in China and vessels made in areas that produced wine, like the cream colored stoneware bottle shown here, were made alongside wine and used in everyday life and drinking establishments. In the Song period, from 960 to 1279 AD, wine was drunk warm and served from porcelain ureth and it was drunk from porcelain cups, such as this one, which were passed around in a stand. Wine cups were also made in other materials. In Chinese poetry, numerous references to wine can be found, often praising the drinking of wine from cups made from precious materials like jade as can be seen here. Wine and tea were not the only liquids consumed in traditional China, as noted in this section on condiments and other liquid. In the Song dynasty text, the Yijianjie from the 12th century, it was stated that there were seven essential things for every family, namely firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce paste, vinegar and tea. With the long history of soy cultivation in China, it is not surprising that soy sauce, known as Jiangyou in Chinese, is first mentioned in a Chinese text from a tomb dated 168 BC, which notes that it was prepared as a paste and remains of this were found in that same tomb. As today, soy sauce traditionally reserved from small ures or pots, like the turquoise example in this case, which were also used to serve vinegar. Salt was another important addition to cooking for seasoning and fermentation, and its cultivation made many families very wealthy in the Ming period. As today, it was served in small pots, such as the enamel one shown here. The final section of the exhibition, Foodstuffs and Medicine, explores medicinal food. In China, there is no essential difference between foodstuffs and medicine, it was why they recognized that a balanced diet had the ability to prevent disease, promote longevity, and help treat existing condition. The famous physician Sun Zumao, active in the seventh century, believed that the truly good physician first treats the patient with food, only when food fails does he resort to drugs. Rhinoceros horn, such as the carved cup, in this case, for example, was believed to treat a variety of ailments, including fever, rheumatism and gout. Snuff, with tobacco as the main ingredient, was used to expel cold, cure dizziness and treat headaches. Stored in exquisite small bottles, like those shown here, tobacco was in fact classified as a type of alcohol in the Qing dynasty, because if a person consumed too many puffs of tobacco smoke, he would quote, fall down drunk, and it will take a long time to revive him. This brings us to the end of the exhibition. It is stories like those recounted in this exhibition that bring museum objects to light. And in the case of ancient vessels, we are reminded that museum exhibits can play an important role in recreating the material worlds of our past.