These foreign girls at the table are weird and cute
In November of the 9th year of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty (AD 635), a long-legged mysterious fruit caused a sensation in the capital city of Chang'an. This is the golden peach from Samarkand.
Samarkand was the capital of Kang State in the Tang Dynasty, in present-day Uzbekistan.
It is said that the golden peach presented to Emperor Taizong by the Kangguo Mission was "big as a goose egg, and its color as gold", as if it came from a fairyland, and some people even thought that eating it would give you eternal life.
More than a thousand years later, American Sinologist Shaffer wrote a monograph on the study of imported products from the Tang Dynasty, named "The Golden Peach of Samarkand". In the book, he regretted to say: "This kind of fruit tastes to the end. How, we have no way to speculate now."
The golden peach of Samarkand, as the most mysterious alien species, has long disappeared in history. Perhaps it is just a beautiful imagination of the ancients.
However, many "foreign surname" foods have spread on the land of China and become more and more localized, thus changing the Chinese dining table.
"Food is the heaven for the people", a small dining table carries a history of the spread and exchange of ancient species. At the same time, it is also a testimony of cultural exchanges between the East and the West.
Nonsense for avoiding taboos
The names of these foods on your table have all been changed
The alien species on the Chinese dining table are not far away and have their own origins.
From their names, you can probably guess the time when they came to China.
For example, the "Hu" series of food were mostly introduced from the Northwestern Lulu during the Han and Jin Dynasties, the "Fan" series were mostly brought in by "Fanbo" (foreign ships) from the Southern Song to Yuan and Ming dynasties, and the "Foreign" series were mostly introduced in the Qing Dynasty. Even introduced in modern times.
"Hu", in ancient times, generally refers to foreign countries or ethnic groups, or refers to ethnic minority areas located in the Western Regions.
The term "Hu" prevailed in the Qin and Han dynasties and continued into the Sui and Tang Dynasties and beyond.
In 138 BC and 119 BC, Zhang Qian led a delegation to the Western Regions twice.
The many hardships in this process are beyond our imagination. People at that time did not understand that he ran all the way to eat the soil, even if he was detained by the Huns for ten years, why did he give him away again?
Zhang Qian's access to the Western Regions was naturally due to very complicated political reasons, but the people did not care about these. It was not until ten or hundreds of years later that people discovered that more and more food from the Western Regions appeared on the market. Someone might sigh: Thanks to Zhang Qian...
Zhang Hua, a famous official of the Western Jin Dynasty, was such a person who was keen on rare things. He was born in a famous family (the 16th grandson of Zhang Liang), and he was well-informed and well-informed. He compiled China’s first natural history book "Natural History". In his book, he said: "Zhang Qian sent the Western Regions to the Western Regions and also got garlic, pomegranate, walnuts, rose apples, sand spring onions, alfalfa, coriander, and yellow and blue." It is said that Zhang Qian brought many crops back to the Central Plains: Courgettes, beans, garlic, flax...
Walnut is what we call walnut now. The "Natural History" records that "Zhang Qian ordered the Western Regions to return the walnut and obtained the walnut seed, so he named it Hu Qiang." After Shi Le taboo, he changed the name to walnut.
Coriander, the scientific name cilantro, is often called coriander, and its origin is on the Mediterranean coast.
"The History of Natural History" records that, "Zhang Qian made the Western Regions return, and got coriander." "Compendium of Materia Medica" quoted Lu Ji to sparse "Juan Er" and said: "The leaves are green like coriander." From these two earliest records, it can be seen that People knew coriander from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
After Shile "took out Hu, so the people of Jinfen called coriander as fragrant coriander", and the name of coriander was changed to fragrant coriander (there is also "original coriander").
Cucumber is commonly referred to as "cucumber". It is native to the northwestern part of East India. The Compendium of Materia Medica says: "Zhang Qian made the Western Regions grow, hence the name Cucumber. According to Du Bao's "Supplementary Notes", it says: Sui Daye IV In 608 (608), he avoided taboos and changed cucumbers to cucumbers."
Hudou, "Compendium of Materia Medica" said "Hudou, peas." "Taiping Yulan" records: "Zhang Sai entrusted foreign countries, get the Hudou." Later, Shile was renamed "national bean" because of Shile's taboo.
Hu Suan, namely garlic, is different from the local small garlic. Guo Yigong of the Jin Dynasty "Guangzhi": "There are Hu garlic and small garlic in garlic." Get garlic, grapes, and alfalfa."
Flax, that is flax, was first seen in Huainanzi, written by Liu An, the king of Huainan in the Han Dynasty: "Fenshui is muddy, but flax is better." Du Du's "Bianlun" said: "The Han Dynasty conquered the Xiongnu. Take the flax, barnyard wheat, alfalfa, and grapes. , Shiguangdi also." At the latest in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Han people had introduced the method of sesame cake, and sesame seed was needed for sesame cake.
It is generally believed that the biscuits come from Hudi, and they use flax as the ingredients, so they are called Hubing.
Later, it was renamed sesame cake and sesame seed cake because of Shi Le's taboo.
The first "king of goods" in history
How big is Zhang Qian's "luggage"?
In addition to the "Hu" surname, the crops from the Western Regions include figs, pomegranates, grapes (Putao), watermelons, spinach (introduced to China in Tang Dynasty), carrots (introduced to China in Yuan Dynasty), etc. Among these crops, Except for the fact that carrots were introduced to China very late, almost all of them were attributed to Zhang Qian.
Zhang Qian's contribution is indelible. However, there is a saying that the food on our table cannot be simply traced back to the origin of Zhang Qian.
Take walnuts as an example. The earliest record of walnuts is "Eastern View of the Han Dynasty": "The Later Han Dynasty has...the walnut palace." "The Synopsis of the Golden Chamber" also records: "Walnuts are not to be eaten much, and they are irritating." This shows that walnuts. The time of introduction to China was the Eastern Han Dynasty.
"Art and Literature Collection" quoted Jin Liu Taomu's "Answer to the Book of Wu" saying: "Walnut is born in the West Qiang." During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the geographical concept of Qiang should be concentrated in the present entire Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Therefore, Walnut has nothing to do with Zhang Qian in terms of time or space.
Another example is the spread of alfalfa.
Alfalfa is a rare high-quality forage for raising horses. In fact, there is no record in the Han Dynasty literature that Zhang Qian introduced alfalfa. The "Historical Records·Dawan Biography" said: "The vulgar is addicted to wine, and horses are addicted to alfalfa. The Han envoys actually took it, so he was the emperor. They started planting alfalfa and Pu Tao fertile land.” Here we are talking about "Han Shi" instead of "Zhang Qian". Obviously, the two cannot be directly equated.
The Book of the Han Dynasty: Biography of the Western Regions makes it more clear that the alfalfa and grapes were brought back to the Central Plains after Li Guangli broke the Dawan in the first three years (102 BC) and after the alliance with the Dawan people, Zhang Qian had already passed away for many years. .
These "Hu" crops are named because they are produced in Hudi and resemble the original crops in China. However, there is no record introduced by Zhang Qian in "Historical Records", "Hanshu" and other Han Dynasty documents. They are likely to be scholars of later generations. It was added to Zhang Qian's head based on rumors.
The American Orientalist Laufer wrote "China Iran". The author explored the relationship between China and the ancient Western Regions plants. He believes that "there is such a widely spread legend in the academic world, saying that most of the plants were in the Han Dynasty. They have adapted to the soil and water in China and have grown up, and owe all this to one person, this person is Zhang Qian... In fact, Zhang Qian only brought two plants back to China-alfalfa and vine... just an author whose descendants are unreliable ( Most of them are Taoists) believe that the input of other Iranian plants should be attributed to him. Over time, he has become the central figure in the legendary story. Almost any plants from central Asia of unknown origin are mixed under his name. Therefore, He was finally promoted as a great plant importer."
Due to errors in the process of copying ancient books, the migration and association of geographical names and plant names, Zhang Qian and "Hu" crops were equated, and Zhang Qian, the first "king of goods with goods" in history, was so "shen". People have to be curious: if Zhang Qian really brought back so many "local products" from the Western Regions, then... how big is his suitcase?
In this regard, the "foodie" Qianlong expressed the same feelings, and they were both too "busy": if Qianlong was a Michelin "tester" who endorsed countless Chinese snacks, then Zhang Qian is what people think of as a belt for the Western Regions. The gold medal purchase of goods.
Tomatoes really become food
It’s only a hundred years since I walked on the Chinese table
Among China's "foreign surname" crops, the "fan" surname is another big family.
After the Tang Dynasty, as China's economic center of gravity began to move southward, maritime trade developed rapidly. After Columbus discovered the New America in 1492 and mankind entered a new era of navigation, some American crops began to be transferred to China through maritime trade.
Since people referred to foreign countries as "fan" during this period, many of the crops introduced during this period were named after "fan".
At the same time, due to the increasingly prominent conflicts between people and land, high-yield cash crops accounted for the majority, including sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes), savory (corn), scallions (peanuts), sweet peppers (chili), saffrons (pineapples), and scallions. Pomegranate, sugar apple, etc.
The name tomato is still in use today. It was originally grown in Peru, South America. It was called "Wolf Peach" by the locals. It was brought back from the Americas by Spanish and Portuguese explorers in the 15-16th century.
For a long time, tomatoes have been ornamental plants in European gardens, and no one dared to eat them, because it is said that this kind of beautiful food is highly poisonous.
It wasn't until the 17th century that a French painter who "made death" couldn't resist its temptation, so he risked his life to eat one, and then lay quietly in bed waiting for death.
The result was of course unscathed, so Tomato began to walk on people's tables.
Zhao Zihan's "Planting Products" written in 1617 in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty is the earliest document in my country that mentions tomatoes. The book records that Western missionaries brought tomatoes and sunflowers to China in the earlier Wanli period. , Known as "Banshi", later because of its bright red color, from the West, so it has the name "tomato".
In the second year of Qianlong (1738 AD), "Taiwan House Records" recorded "Ganzi honey (the name of tomato in Hokkien), which resembles a persimmon, is as thin as an orange, and can be brewed with sugar."
It can be seen that the tomatoes in the eyes of Taiwanese in the Qing Dynasty can be used to make tea.
It wasn't until the end of the Qing Dynasty that tomatoes truly became a food on the Chinese table.
Fan pepper, or capsicum, was cultivated by Indians in Central and South America as early as 2000 BC.
After Columbus discovered the American continent, he brought it back to Europe. It was introduced to Spain in 1493, then to Southeast Asia, and began to be introduced to my country in the late Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty dramatist and health scientist Gao Lian’s "Eight Notes of Zunsheng" records "fanjiao", which is described as "clustered, white flowers, fruity like bald pen heads, spicy and red in color, very impressive". This is Chinese tradition. Know the earliest record of pepper.
Thirty years later, Wang Xiangjin's "Fun Fang Pu" also included "fanjiao", which was described as "also known as Qinjiao, white flowers, like a bald pen, red and fresh, very spicy, sub-species".
Gao Lian was a native of Qiantang (present-day Hangzhou), Zhejiang. In the local chronicles of the Qing Dynasty, the local chronicles of Zhejiang also recorded peppers first. This shows that one of the early transmission channels of peppers was to first spread to Zhejiang by sea, and then from Zhejiang to the rest of China. Regional.
Sweet potato, which is what we call sweet potato.
Sweet potatoes were first cultivated in Mexico and Colombia in central America, and were brought to the Philippines and other countries for planting by the Spanish.
Sweet potato was first introduced to China during the Wanli year of the Ming Dynasty. Chen Zhenlong, a native of Changle, Fujian, who had been doing business in Luzon (the Philippines) for many years, and his son Chen Jinglun, saw a local plant called "sweet potato", both raw and cooked. Food, production is high, and no land is selected, so I am determined to introduce sweet potatoes to China to alleviate the current situation of more mountains and less fields and insufficient food in my hometown.
However, the Spanish colonial conquest at the time regarded sweet potatoes as a rare commodity, and "not allowed to leave the country."
After careful planning, Chen Zhenlong "takes potato vines and twists them into the rope for drawing water" and smears sludge on the surface of the rope. In the early summer of 1593, he cleverly avoided the colonial checkpoint and "before crossing the sea."
The introduction of small sweet potatoes has changed the dietary structure of the Chinese people for thousands of years, leading to rapid development of China's agricultural economy and explosive population growth.
According to historians, from the 39th year of Kangxi (1700) to the 59th year of Qianlong (1794), the population of the Qing Dynasty soared from 150 million to 313 million, which more than doubled.
Compared with the other two big families, the "foreign" surname was introduced into China later (mostly in the late Ming and Qing dynasties), and the way it was introduced into China was mostly related to the activities of foreigners coming to China to preach.
The main representative members of the "foreign" family are potato (potato), cauliflower (cauliflower), cabbage (cabbage), onion, Jerusalem artichoke (guizi ginger), pepper (okra), artichoke (strawberry), and olive (Olive) and so on.
These crops that have been introduced to China all have a gradual localization process.
At the same time, Chinese crops have been continuously imported to the outside world through the Silk Road on the Land and the Silk Road on the Sea, thus forming the interaction of multiple civilizations.
Text/Reporter Chen Pin