When was pepper introduced into China?

The exact introduction time of pepper has yet to be verified, but the earliest record of pepper in China's historical materials is Continued Han written by Sima Biao in the Western Jin Dynasty. At that time, people thought that pepper was produced in India, Persia or South China Sea countries. In fact, "Pepper plants first grew in Myanmar and Assam, first introduced to India, India, zhina and Indonesia, then introduced to Persia from India, and transported to Asia from Persia with sandalwood and medicinal materials in the Middle Ages".

In the Tang Dynasty, pepper was still a luxury. Pepper was a luxury in ancient China. Pepper was regarded as a valuable medicinal material in the Tang Dynasty and was only used in "Pan Hu Meat". Yuan Zai, a powerful minister, lost power and was robbed of his property. He "got 900 pieces of pepper". Mainly used as precious medicinal materials, only used as seasoning in "Pan Hu Meat". This situation remained until the Song Dynasty, when peppers were still a treasure. However, since the13rd century, the proportion of pepper in spice input has increased. This can be seen from Kyle Poirot's travels.

He once wrote in his travel notes that the daily consumption of pepper in Hangzhou is "as much as 44 loads, each load is 230 Jin". At that time, Quanzhou, the largest trading port in the Yuan Dynasty in China, was even more surprised by the amount of pepper imported: "If a ship carrying pepper for sale to Christian countries enters Alexandria, there will be a hundred times more ships coming to Quanzhou." Although this description seems exaggerated, there is no doubt that the proportion of peppers has increased.

In the Ming Dynasty, pepper gradually lost its luxury. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, "rare" pepper gradually became a "common thing" and was widely used by ordinary people, which had a lot to do with Zheng He's voyage to the West. What is more exaggerated is that Zheng He's voyage to the West led to a large influx of pepper. In order to deal with the surplus of pepper, the Ming government discounted the salary with spices such as pepper and sappan, and distributed it to civil and military officials in the form of salary. On the one hand, the high profits of spice trade were maintained and passed on to the national financial crisis. On the other hand, peppers have flowed into a wider range of people, and their prices have fallen sharply.