本书总结了中国饮食文化的"四大理论"（食医合一、饮食养生、本味主张、孔孟食道）和"五大特性"（食物原料选取的广泛性、进食心理选择的丰富性、肴馔制作的灵活性、区域风格的历史传承性、各区域间文化的通融性），提出了"饮食文化圈"和"饮食文化层"的理论，追溯了中国饮食审美思想的历史发展，考察了中华民族传统的酒文化、茶文化、麦文化、菽文化、饮食滋味、饮食风俗、饮食礼节等，概述了各少数民族的饮食文化，基本上勾画了从夏商周三代以来中国饮食文化的发展概貌。(This book summarizes "four theories" (combining food and medicine, healthy diet, keeping foods' original flavors, and the diet doctrine of Confucius and Mencius) and "five characteristics" (the broadness of raw materials, the variety of eating psychological choices, the flexibility of cooking techniques, the inheritance of regional styles, and the comprehensiveness of the inter-regional culture) in Chinese food culture. It puts forward the theories of "food culture circle" and "food culture level", and reviews the history of Chinese dietetic esthetic thought. It also investigates traditional Chinese alcohol culture, tea culture, wheat culture, beans culture, food flavors, food customs, and food etiquettes. It introduces the food cultures of every ethnic group and depicts generally the development of China's food culture since the 3 dynasties of Xia, Shang, and Zhou.)