A Menu Written by a Founder: Wenzhou's Bowen Family Banquet - The Hands Behind Wenzhou's Culinary Heritage

In the mountains of Wencheng, the descendants of Liu Bowen — a strategist who helped found the Ming Dynasty — still cook from a book he wrote. The Bowen Family Banquet is held after the Taigong Sacrifice, an ancestral ceremony held twice a year, and its menu is drawn from his own book of practical knowledge. Six hundred years later, his descendants still cook from it — and now, so can a visitor who books a stay.

In the mountains of Wencheng County, at the Liu Bowen Memorial Temple, a banquet is held only at certain times of year, because it follows a ceremony that follows the lunar calendar.

The Bowen Family Banquet is the feast served by Liu Bowen's descendants after the Taigong Sacrifice, an ancestral ceremony held at the temple built by imperial order for Liu Bowen, the Earl of Sincere Intention. The Taigong Sacrifice is a nationally recognised item of intangible cultural heritage, held twice a year, in spring and autumn. At the 2025 autumn ceremony, more than 500 tables were set for the banquet in a single day.

The menu is drawn from Liu Bowen's own book, Many Skills, Humble Matters, a collection of practical knowledge that includes recipes. Each dish has a name: "Three Firsts", a wish for success in the imperial examinations, and "Clean Sleeves", a symbol of integrity in public service. The food is Wencheng mountain fare: nourishing soups, local vegetables, river fish and rice cakes — the everyday cooking of a family that has lived in the same valley since the fourteenth century.

The banquet has outgrown the temple. Wencheng County has expanded the tradition into intangible-heritage experiences, homestay stays and the night-time economy. Visitors can book a table at Wencheng Yeye · Wuyang Homestay throughout the year, where a smaller version of the family banquet is served to guests. During the spring and autumn Taigong Sacrifice ceremonies, the full banquet is open to the public — but the dates follow the lunar calendar, and priority is given to Liu family descendants.

What makes the Bowen Family Banquet different from other folk feasts in Wenzhou is where its recipes come from. Other banquets are cooked from memory. This one is cooked from a book — and the book was written by the man being honoured in the ceremony.

Liu Bowen was a strategist, a man known for his predictions, and, apparently, an author whose work included recipes. His Many Skills, Humble Matters collected practical knowledge for daily life, including how to feed a family in a mountain valley. Six hundred years later, his descendants still cook from it — and now, so can a visitor who books a stay.

How to experience it: The easiest way is to book Wencheng Yeye · Wuyang Homestay and request the Bowen Family Banquet menu. For the fuller experience, attend the Taigong Sacrifice ceremony — the spring ceremony is usually held around Chinese New Year, and the autumn ceremony in October or November — and join the banquet that follows. Check Wencheng County's cultural calendar for exact dates.