Dreams of Splendor in the Eastern Capital

For a long time, I’ve been intrigued by life in China in the city of Kaifeng 1000 years ago. In a series of brief chapters, the author Meng Yuan Lao (active 1126-1147) described many features of life in that era. A translation (or maybe interpretation) of this book with new illustrations has recently been published by Valentin Saric, illustrated by Mistral AI and Claude AI. I’ve been reading this with interest.

Among the many aspects of life in this vibrant city, the authors particularly liked to describe food and drink and the way these are offered to attendees at the many and various bazaars and market places in the city. Here’s a detailed passage illustrating the presentation of food shops and vendors: 

In all shops that sell food to accompany wine, the cooks are called "tea and rice measuring wine doctors." As for the young boys in the shop, they are all commonly called "eldest uncle." There are also neighborhood women, with blue flower cloth hand towels tied at their waist, with high coiled buns, who for wine guests change soup and pour wine, commonly called "dregs tenders." There are also common people who enter wine establishments, see young gentlemen drinking wine, carefully serve them nearby, run errands to buy things, summon courtesans, receive and deliver money and goods and such, called "idle men." There are also those who come forward to change soup, pour wine, and sing, or present fruits, aromatics and medicines and such. When guests disperse they get money, called "attendant waves." There are also lower-class courtesans who come uninvited to sing in front of the banquet. (p. 38)

Each chapter elaborates on another aspect of the life in this remote and fascinating city, which was known to westerners as a center of the silk trade (though Marco Polo, the most famous European traveler to China, did not mention visiting the city). Consider this description of a visit by the emperor to a location in the city:

The emperor first visited the pool's waterside pavilion to hold banquets for his ministers. In front of the pavilion they set up water stages and arranged ceremonial guards in formation. In the water near the pavilion, four colorful boats were arranged in a horizontal line, with various military variety shows on top, such as large flags, lions and leopards, sword dancing, barbarian shields, spirits and ghosts, variety plays and such. There were also two boats lined up, both music departments. There was also one small boat with a small colorful tower built on top, with three small doors below, like a puppet show booth, directly facing the water. (p. 142)

Many translations of this book are on offer at amazon, most of them illustrated. Here are a few of the illustrations from the edition of the book that I read: 

This book dates from an era when Kaifang was a key city on the trade routes through China, including the rare European visit. Among the merchants who visited, there were a few Jewish traders who settled there and who established a synagogue at about that time; however it is not mentioned in the book. I have been quite intrigued by the history of this mainly-lost community, whose synagoge artifacts are now in the museum in Toronto, Canada. (Documented here)

Stone plaque from the Kaifeng Synagoge, now in the museum in Toronto.

Review © 2026 mae sander