China has endured periodic famines throughout its history. From the earliest strata of its written record, the imperative of ensuring the populace possesses sufficient sustenance has been a central theme. Perhaps the most emblematic expression of this principle is the well-known 成语 chéngyǔ: 民以食为天 mín yǐ shí wéi tiān (the people regard food as their heaven).
This 成语 chéngyǔ originates from the monumental historical work《史记》Shǐjì, Records of the Grand Historian, compiled by 司马迁 Sīmǎ Qiān.
项羽 Xiàng Yǔ: A brilliant aristocrat and general from the kingdom of 楚 Chǔ, renowned for his martial prowess but equally notorious for his cruelty and lack of political foresight.
刘邦 Liú Bāng (The King of 汉 Hàn): A former minor official of humble origins, pragmatic and adept at surrounding himself with strategic advisors.
At the time of this narrative, 项羽 Xiàng Yǔ held the military advantage. King 刘邦 Liú Bāng was cornered in 荥阳 Xíngyáng and was considering abandoning his strategic positions in the East to retreat into a deeper defensive posture.
The author of the discourse was 郦食其 Lì Shíqí, a 儒家 rújiā (Confucian scholar) who styled himself as a "Mad Drunkard" to capture the attention of the King of 汉 Hàn. He belonged to the class of itinerant intellectuals who traveled between courts offering strategies rooted in rhetoric and geopolitical analysis.
The conflict presented in the text was not merely a matter of battlefield valor, but one of logistics. The 敖仓 Áo cāng (Ao Granary) was the most vital supply depot in the empire, originally constructed by the 秦 Qín on a strategic mountain near the Yellow River. He who controlled the granary controlled the grain; he who controlled the grain controlled the loyalty of the people and the capacity to sustain an army.
《史记 · 郦生陆贾列传》
Shǐjì: Lì Shēng Lù Jiǎ lièzhuàn
Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Lì Shēng and Lù Jiǎ
汉三年秋，项羽击汉，拔荥阳，汉兵遁保巩、洛。楚人闻淮阴侯破赵，彭越数反梁地，则分兵救之。
Hàn sān nián qiū, xiàngyǔ jī hàn, bá Xíngyáng, Hàn bīng dùn bǎo gǒng, luò. Chǔ rén wén huáiyīn hóu pò zhào, péngyuè shù fǎn liáng de, zé fēnbīng jiù zhī.
In the autumn of the third year of Hàn, Xiàng Yǔ attacked Hàn and captured Xíngyáng. The troops of Hàn fled to defend Gǒng and Luò. Upon hearing that the Marquis of Huáiyīn had defeated Zhào, and that Péng Yuè was repeatedly rebelling in the lands of Liáng, the Lord of Chǔ divided his forces to reinforce them.
淮阴方东击齐，汉王数困荥阳、成皋，计欲捐成皋以东，屯巩、洛以拒楚。
Huáiyīn fāng dōng jī Qí, Hànwáng shù kùn Xíngyáng, Chéng gāo, jì yù juān chéng gāo yǐ dōng, tún Gǒng, Luò yǐ jù Chǔ.
While Huáiyīn was moving eastward to attack Qí, the King of Hàn found himself frequently besieged in Xíngyáng and Chénggāo. He planned to abandon Chénggāo and the lands to the east, withdrawing to Gǒng and Luò to resist Chǔ.
郦生因曰：“臣闻知天之天者，王事可成；不知天之天者，王事不可成。王者以民人为天，而民人以食为天。
Lì Shēng yīn yuē: “Chén wén zhī tiān zhī tiān zhě, wáng shì kě chéng; bù zhī tiān zhī tiān zhě, wáng shì bùkě chéng. Wángzhě yǐ mín rén wéi tiān, ér mín rén yǐ shí wéi tiān.
Then, Lì Shēng said: "I have heard that he who understands the Heavenliness of Heaven may succeed in the affairs of a King; yet he who does not understand the Heavenliness of Heaven cannot succeed. A King regards the people as his Heaven, while the people regard food as their Heaven."
夫敖仓，天下转输久矣，臣闻其下乃有藏粟甚多。楚人拔荥阳，不坚守敖仓，乃引而东，令适卒分守成皋，此乃天所以资汉也。
Fū Áo cāng, tiānxià zhuǎn shū jiǔ yǐ, chén wén qí xià nǎi yǒu cáng sù shèn duō. Chǔ rén bá Xíngyáng, bù jiānshǒu Áo cāng, nǎi yǐn ér dōng, lìng shì zú fèn shǒuchéng gāo, cǐ nǎi tiān suǒyǐ zī Hàn yě.
"The Áo cāng has long been the empire's primary grain transport hub; I have heard that its subterranean vaults contain vast reserves of millet. Though Chǔ captured Xíngyáng, they did not firmly defend the Áo cāng, but instead retreated eastward, leaving only penalized or weary troops to divide the defense of Chénggāo. This is a gift bestowed by Heaven upon Hàn."
方今楚易取而汉反却，自夺其便，臣窃以为过矣。且两雄不俱立，楚汉久相持不决，百姓骚动，海内摇荡，农夫释耒，工女下机，天下之心未有所定也。
Fāngjīn Chǔ yì qǔ ér Hàn fǎn què, zì duó qí biàn, chén qiè yǐwéiguò yǐ. Qiě liǎng xióng bù jù lì, Chǔ Hàn jiǔ xiāngchí bù jué, bǎixìng sāodòng, hǎinèi yáodàng, nóngfū shì lěi, gōng nǚ xià jī, tiānxià zhī xīn wèi yǒu suǒdìng yě.
"At this moment, Chǔ is vulnerable, yet Hàn retreats and renounces its own advantage; I humbly consider this an error. Furthermore, two titans cannot coexist; Chǔ and Hàn have remained in a stalemate for too long without a decisive victory. The common people are restless, and the world is in a state of upheaval. Farmers have abandoned their plows, and weavers have left their looms; the heart of the empire lacks a fixed direction."
愿足下急复进兵，收取荥阳，据敖仓之粟，塞成皋之险，杜大行之道，距蜚狐之口，守白马之津，以示诸侯效实形制之势，则天下知所归矣。
Yuàn zúxià jí fù jìnbīng, shōuqǔ Xíngyáng, jù áo cāng zhī sù, sāi chéng gāo zhī xiǎn, dùdàxíng zhī dào, jù fēi hú zhī kǒu, shǒu báimǎ zhī jīn, yǐ shì zhūhóu xiào shí xíngzhì zhī shì, zé tiānxià zhī suǒ guī yǐ.
"I pray that Your Excellency rapidly advances your troops, recaptures Xíngyáng, secures the grain of the Áo cāng, blocks the strategic passes of Chénggāo, obstructs the Tàiháng road, defends the entrance of Fēihú, and guards the ford at Báimǎ. By demonstrating to the feudal lords a position of both material strength and strategic dominance, the world will then know to whom it should submit."
方今燕、赵已定，唯齐未下。今田广据千里之齐，田闲将二十万之众，军于历城，诸田宗强，负海阻河济，南近楚，人多变诈，足下虽遣数十万师，未可以岁月破也。
Fāngjīn Yàn, Zhào yǐ dìng, wéi Qí wèi xià. Jīn Tián Guǎng jù qiānlǐ zhī Qí, tián xián jiāng èrshí wàn zhī zhòng, jūn yú lì chéng, zhū tiánzōngqiáng, fù hǎi zǔ hé jì, nán jìn Chǔ, rén duō biàn zhà, zúxià suī qiǎn shù shí wàn shī, wèi kěyǐ suìyuè pò yě.
"Presently, Yàn and Zhào have been pacified, and only Qí remains unsubdued. Currently, Tián Guǎng occupies the thousand lǐ of Qí, and Tián Jián leads a host of two hundred thousand men encamped at Lìchéng. The Tián clans are powerful, relying on the sea and the natural barriers of the Hé and Jì rivers. To the south, they border Chǔ, and their people are adept at deception. Even if Your Excellency sends hundreds of thousands of troops, they cannot be defeated in months or even years."
臣请得奉明诏说齐王，使为汉而称东藩。”上曰：“善。”
Chén qǐng dé fèng míng zhào shuō qí wáng, shǐ wèi hàn ér chēng dōng fān.” Shàng yuē: “Shàn.”
"I request permission to bear the imperial decree to persuade the King of Qí, and compel him to become an eastern vassal of Hàn." The Sovereign replied: "It is well."
The Redefinition of the Mandate in the 汉 Hàn Dynasty
The dialogue cited marks a fundamental transition in Chinese political philosophy. While during the 周 Zhōu dynasty the 天命 Tiānmìng (Mandate of Heaven) possessed an eminently ethical and ritualistic character, the rise of the 汉 Hàn led to a pragmatic reinterpretation of sovereign legitimacy.
By asserting that "the people regard food as their Heaven," the strategists of the early dynasty situated the Mandate at the very base of the social pyramid. This dictum establishes a correlativity of dependence: the king's transcendence is not intrinsic but is mediated by his capacity to guarantee subsistence.
In this context, the 敖仓 Áocāng is not merely a military objective; it is the altar upon which the right to rule is validated. If the sovereign cannot secure the grain, he loses the people, and by losing the people, he loses Heaven. This vision laid the foundations for the 汉 Hàn to prioritize agriculture as the central axis of their political cosmology for the remainder of the dynasty, transforming the management of famine from a logistical problem into a moral and divine imperative.
The victory of 刘邦 Liú Bāng over 项羽 Xiàng Yǔ was, therefore, not merely a victory of arms, but of the understanding that in the new imperial structure, the stability of the throne depended upon the satisfaction of the peasantry's stomachs.
This article was originally published in Spanish: El pueblo considera el alimento como el Cielo
Díaz, M. E. & Torres, L. N. (April 24, 2026). The People Regard Food as Their Heaven. China from the South. https://chinafromthesouth.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-people-regard-food-as-their-heaven.html
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