How emperors have meals

There were special terms for emperors having meals-Jinshan, Yongshan. The special organization responsible for emperors’meals i.e.the imperial kitchen was run by officials.
In most cases, the emperor ate alone in his dwelling palace or places where he often stayed. During festivals, he would also invite the empress or concubines to a meal. Between 7 and 9 in the morning, and 1 to 3 in the afternoon, the emperor had his two main meals. He would also partake some of snacks between 5 to 7 pm., as well, dishes were always at his command.
When meal time was due, eunuchs set up the table and arranged the food. The emperor would not start eating before checking whether the food was poisonous, first with a tiny silver tablet then tasted by eunuchs.
Water for cooking imperial meals was expressly transported from Yuquanshan Mountain in the western suburbs of Beijing. The rice was grown in western Beijing , while the chickens, ducks fish, pork and fresh vegetables were directly purchased from the market. A variety of rare fruits and sea food were national tributes. The cost of the emperor’s meals amounted to over 20 000liang of silver, indicating the luxuries imperial everyday life, to say nothing of important ceremonies, weddings and funerals.