Cultural origins · OrienX Journal
The meaning of moderation at the table in Laolao Hengyan
The flavour of food, how much one can eat and how one drinks: three passages from a chapter on eating in later life.
The Laolao Hengyan is concerned with everyday life in older age. Its chapter on food offers no single ideal recipe. It brings together observations, quotes earlier works and considers how a person might eat and drink according to their circumstances. Three passages show what the book means by a sense of measure.
Let the food’s own flavour come through
Cao Tingdong wrote this Qing-era work about everyday life in older age. His phrase “少加使淡，淡则物之真味真性俱得” asks for restraint in seasoning so food’s own taste can come through; it does not demand tasteless food.
The chapter cautions against pushing flavours too far. It suggests adding salt sparingly so the food’s own taste remains perceptible. This statement belongs to a traditional understanding of the five flavours and the organs. It provides neither a modern sodium limit nor an instruction to eat bland meals.
“Measure according to one’s own stomach”
Later, the author discusses liang fu jie suo shou: judging for oneself how much one can receive. The commentary stresses that another person cannot know that exact measure. In this book, the thought belongs to care in older age and to avoiding the effort of eating beyond one’s comfort.
Drinking with attention
The same chapter discusses thirst and the amount drunk at once. It advises against waiting for extreme thirst and against drinking to excess in a single sitting. Other lines discuss the temperature of food and drink in the medical language of the period. None of them establishes today’s daily water requirement or one correct temperature for all.
The three product links point to three different actions. The large low bowl spreads out cooked vegetables and pulses for others to see and serve. The small plate holds a side portion, but “量腹节所受” leaves the measure to the eater: its 310 ml is not a serving rule. The handleless cup can be refilled as wanted; “勿极渴而饮，饮不过多” does not set 180 ml as a hydration limit. The vessel supports attention rather than creating a health effect.
Source: Laolao Hengyan, book I, “Yinshi” (food and drink). The work expresses historical views on ageing; this article is not contemporary medical advice.
Cover image: Qing-era Laolao Hengyan by Cao Tingdong, Wikimedia Commons, public domain. It shows the edition, not the three quoted passages.