In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

112 May-bo Ching Beyond Canton The practice of entertaining foreign guests with a grand dinner party seemed to decline a few years prior to the outbreak of the First Opium War and on the subsequent collapse of the Canton Trade System. Bryant Parrott Tilden was sensitive enough to feel the change in the air. He noted in a journal that he kept during his fifth voyage to China (1833–34): As partly before remarked, strangers do not now receive such friendly invitations from the Hong merchants, as they did some fifteen years ago. The old social conversation, and intercourse, with occasional invitations to their interesting dinner entertainments have nearly ceased, and they but seldom see us except on business; all which unfortunate state of affairs, is altogether in consequence of the frequent misunderstandings between the British and the Chinese authorities, and whenever troubles are abroad, we poor fanquis suffer all alike. Even we quiet trading Americans—though estimated as No. 1 first chop fanquis customers, are nevertheless treated “all same same” as Englishmen.37 Nonetheless, if we follow the tracks of the Cantonese Hong merchants and their successors, we may realize that the uniquely Cantonese-style banquet, by then a blending of Western and Chinese tastes, appeared in newly emerged Cantonese dominated cities or ports such as Hong Kong and in San Francisco’s Chinatown. A typical banquet held in San Francisco’s Chinatown took place in January 1868, when a new Chinese theatre, funded by Chinese capital and for Chinese dramatic companies, was inaugurated on Jackson Street.38 According to the Daily Alta California, “as a prelude to the opening of the theatre, a grand banquet was served to one hundred invited guests at the Hang Heong Low Restaurant, No. 808 Dupont Street.” “The list of guests are [sic] made up from attachés of each of the different papers of San Francisco, the entire bench, prominent members of the bar, the army, navy, Legislature, Board of Supervisors, foreign consuls, merchants and others.” Because of the presence of American guests, the menu of the banquet seemed to be a combination of Chinese and Western services. The Daily Alta California reports: The dinner was served in the same rooms in which the “Colfax Dinner” and the “Burlingame and Van Valkenburg Dinner” took place, and the bill of fare was so near a duplicate of the last that it will hardly be necessary to repeat it. Suffice it then to say that it comprised, as was intended Chopsticks or Cutlery? 113 to comprise, seven courses each, consisting of about 20 dishes, or say 130 to 140 dishes in all, exclusive of tables at the outset, and fruits of all kinds now obtainable in the markets. Claret, Champagne and brandy of the costliest brands, cigars, cigarettes and Chinese liquors were served in profusion with every course, and the lavish hospitality of the Trustees manifested in every detail of the feast was remarkable. From this description, then, we can infer that in San Francisco the host of a Cantonese banquet dinner provided both Chinese and Western spirits, echoing the practices in the pre-treaty era of Canton. The following description of the San Francisco feast might further remind us of those hosted by Puankhequa II: We could not, if we had space, describe a tenth part of the various dishes set before the guests. From bird-nest soup to water chestnuts and chicken tit-bits fried in batter, nothing whatever usually set before guests at such an entertainment was omitted, and everything appeared to be of the finest quality. Chopsticks of ivory were provided for the guests, but knives and forks were also set on for those who could not swing the food with the sticks.39 By the late nineteenth century, Cantonese merchants all over the world must have been accustomed to offering standard and elaborate banquets to entertain foreign guests. When the Duke and Duchess of Connaught visited Hong Kong in 1890, the Chinese community of the colony was “desirous of testifying their good wishes towards the Royal Visitors” with an entertainment that consisted of a Chinese dinner and a dramatic performance. What is particularly worth citing is the full menu included in a current account of the event. It runs: Menu 1. Birds’ Nest soup 2. Stewed Shell-fish 3. Cassia Mushrooms 4. Crab & Sharks’ Fins 5. Roast Beef (À L’Anglaise) 6. Roast Chicken and Hams 7. Pigeons’ Eggs 8. “Promotions” (Boiled Quail, & c.) 9. Fried Marine Delicacies 10. Roast Turkey...

Share