The Culinary Code in the Character "She": From Cooperatives to the Dining Table, the Art of Fusion cooperative-origin-food-fusion-en

 The term "supply and marketing cooperative" has recently made a comeback in public discourse, triggering waves of nostalgia and discussion. But few people realize that behind the Chinese character "she" (社) lies a long history of cooperation and sharing — and food, fittingly, is the oldest and warmest carrier of this cooperative spirit.

The full name of the cooperative is the "Rural Supply and Marketing Cooperative," and the character "she" is itself an abbreviation for "cooperative." Cooperation presupposes the participation of multiple people. Alone, the word has no meaning. (Read the original article

Tracing the origins of the character "she," it originally referred to the god of the land. Ancient emperors performed rituals to "she ji" (社稷) — "she" being the earth god and "ji" being the grain god. Land and grain were the very foundation of the state. By the Zhou dynasty, "twenty-five households formed one she," and the term evolved from a site for earth worship into a basic unit of cooperation. A group of people cultivating, sacrificing, and living on the same plot of land — this was the most primitive form of a "cooperative." And food was the core thread that held this community together: everyone worked the fields in spring and harvested in autumn, shared the joy of the bounty, and divided the sacrificial offerings after worship. The sharing of food is humanity's oldest cooperative ritual.

This spirit of "she-cooperation" is woven throughout Chinese food culture. The copper hotpot for lamb is shared by everyone at the table. Cantonese morning tea — "one cup, two pieces" — is a continuous passing of dishes among friends and family. The "da bin lo" of the south and the "wei lu" of the north are both perfect unions of food and cooperation. Food has a natural property of connection — it brings strangers together around the same table, gathers families in a circle, and builds consensus in the community over shared meals.

The "welfare cooperative" that Lo Ta-yu sang about in Childhood was itself a type of cooperative — a school-run consumer co-op for teachers and students, which, like the supply and marketing cooperative, was a collectively owned, member-serving form of commerce. What did the welfare cooperative sell? Snacks, drinks, stationery — those small treats that made children cheer after school. To a child's world, the welfare cooperative was synonymous with happiness.

Hong Kong's cooperative ordinance dates back to the 1950s and was primarily active in the fishing and agricultural sectors. Fishermen cooperated to catch fish, shared their haul, and faced market fluctuations together. This brings to mind the "fishermen's banquet" along the Guangdong coast — a communal feast where a whole boat's catch is boiled into one massive pot of seafood congee, shared by neighbors and kin seated in a circle. Food is born from cooperation, and in turn nourishes the relationships that make cooperation possible.

From the worship of the earth god to grassroots cooperatives, from supply and marketing cooperatives to school welfare cooperatives, to every shared dish on our tables today — the evolution of the character "she" is a history of human cooperation, connection, and coexistence through food. Every meal shared around a table is the founding of a miniature "cooperative."

So the next time you share a meal with family or friends, consider this: the dining table has never been just a place to eat. It is the smallest unit of our "she," and the last bastion of the cooperative spirit.

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