Manchu-Han Imperial Feast (1720)
The three-day banquet to celebrate Emperor Kangxi of China’s 66th birthday is one of the most massive feasts in history. He was not just celebrating his birthday, though. He was trying to soothe relations between the Han and Manchu ethnic factions.
To impress his 2,500 guests and make the proper political statement, he laid out a table with around 300 dishes. The table was full of wine, bear claws, shark fin soup, and monkey brains. If guests had their fill of those delicacies, they could dine on camel humps, leopard fetus, and bird nests. It took three days to finish the food, but his ploy worked; the Han and Manchu were able to find compromise and started the peace process.
