Barbarian Head Dumplings? The Mantou/Baozi

Growing up my family used to go to Windsor, Canada for dim sum (a traditional Chinese meal made up of small plates of dumplings and other snack dishes, usually accompanied by tea). About an hour drive from where I grew up, this trek was made on weekends, the best time for dim sum as weekends usually have the largest selection. One of my favorite dim sum dishes was, and still is, steamed pork buns. These slightly sweet, incredibly fluffy buns are filled with a glazed pork filling. They are brought freshly steamed to your table, served in their bamboo steamer. An order typically contained 3, and my family consists of more than 3 people. So, it usually turned into a fight over who got one, or two…. If you haven’t had them, I highly recommend you check out your nearest dim sum restaurant (and take me with you!).

I know that steamed buns are a staple of Chinese cuisine. But, I wanted to know more about their history. And what I found was a fascinating look at the use of language to trace cultural connections through time. Most people do not realize that linguistics (the study of language) is a subfield of anthropology. But, when you think about it, it is not that surprising. In many ways, language is uniquely human. We use arbitrary symbols to communicate with each other, a skill we have likely had for thousands of years. Perhaps even as far back as the time before we split from Neanderthals (some 200,000 years ago (1, 2).

Anthropologists, archaeologists included, study language because it is how we communicate culture. All facets of language, even how we speak, reflect cultural norms and values. And like culture, language is not static. It is constantly evolving, shaping, and being shaped by, the world around us (the study of language through time is called historical linguistics). If you think about it, understanding language through time can offer many insights into the past. The introduction of a new technology, through invention or perhaps contact with other people, triggers change. Suddenly, we need a new word for the new thing. The textbook I use in class gives the example:

Just think of all the words we use today that have either changed their primary meanings, or are completely new: mouse and mouse pad, google, app, computer (which used to be a person who computes!), texting, cool, cell. How many more can you think of?

Linda Light. Chapter 4: Language. In “The Past in perspective.” edited by Brown et al. 2020. pp. 88

Back to steamed buns. Chinese steamed buns go by both Mantou and Baozi (bao). Often the difference is attributed to their filling, with mantou being unfilled and baozi being filled. But it also varies by region. Because these were originally called mantou, that is the name I use in this post.

To explore the history of the mantou I read a great chapter written by Fuchsia Dunlop, “Barbarian Heads and Turkish Dumplings: The Chinese Word Mantou.” in Wrapped & Stuffed Foods (2013).

According to Dunlop, historically the word mantou has been used for thousands of years in China to refer to wheaten foods ( pp. 130). The word itself dates back to the Jin Dynasty (265 CE), first appearing in “Rhapsody on Bing” written by Shu Xi ( pp.130). However, the term baozi (wrapped thing) appears later, in the Song Dynasty (960 CE). Yet another word for a similar food appears in northwest China among the Turkic Uyghurs, who call steam buns stuffed with mutton and onions “manti”, and in Central Asia where un-leavened buns stuffed with minced lamb are also called “manti” (pp. 131). Variations are also found in Persian and Uzbek cuisine.

The similarities between the words mantou and manti, as well as what they reference, are notable and beg the question of what came first? The mantou or the manti? Solving this mystery required Dunlop to take a deep dive into historical linguistics (tracing words and meanings through time).

Early uses of mantou in China reference back to the food as a ritual dish served at special seasons/times, a tradition that has continued into the present. Legend has it that mantou originally represented a barbarian head, and were given in place of actual human heads as a sacrifice by Zhuge Liang, in the third century CE. Liang, engaging in battles during the “Southern Campaign to quash a rebellion around the area which is now Sichuan province”, was faced with enormous logistical challenges. In order to cross a river, necessary for his victory, the spirits demanded a sacrifice of human heads. His meat-filled dough balls fooled the spirits and his passage was granted.

However, when Dunlop explored the history and use of the word mantou in China, the results were surprising. Instead of a clear origin, with traceable changes through time, the use of mantou is wildly inconsistent.

mantou has been used to refer to “in various times and in various places, a large stuffed bun, a small stuffed bun, and an unstuffed bun; a ritual food used in seasonal feasts and sacrificial offerings; a snack for university students; a staple food and a dainty pastry.”

134

Moreover, the word mantou is comprised of individual meaningless Chinese characters. So, Dunlop hypothesizes that perhaps mantou is an attempt to reproduce the word manti used by the nomadic tribes bordering the ancient Chinese empire. Perhaps the Chinese were adopting a foreign concept (the stuffed wheat-bun) through their own cultural lens and by using similar-sounding Chinese characters, but that have no relevant meanings (135).

While the origin of the mantou, both the dish and the name, are hard to prove, this study shows how exploring more than just the material record in archaeology can elucidate hard-to-reach ideas in the past. Regardless of the origins, the mantou, and its many derivatives, is an example of the flow of foreign customs, traditions, words, and foods into China from Central Asia, and vice versa.

Thank you for reading! Did you enjoy the post? Make the buns? Let me know in the comments 🙂

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