Then the question comes: Qin Shihuang eats and drinks in Xianyang every day. Besides eating dragon meat, venison, tiger meat, beef and mutton, elixir of life, what other fruits and vegetables will he eat?
Cucumber, pumpkin, lettuce, radish, pepper, coriander, corn, potato, sweet potato, cabbage?
Before answering this question, let's sort out the traditional vegetables in ancient China.
In Huangdi Neijing, there are five kinds of vegetables: sunflower, epimedium, onion and leek, which are the most common and frequently eaten vegetables in the pre-Qin period.
Sunflower: Sunflower recorded in Guofeng is the master of all kinds of vegetables. It is rich in resources, drought-tolerant, can grow without being affected by soil fertility, and has high yield. It is recorded in Li Shizhen's "A Compendium of Original Talents" in the Ming Dynasty that sunflower was planted by the ancients as a regular food, and it seems quite fresh today. It can be seen that by the end of the Ming dynasty, sunflower had gradually withdrawn from the table, and today, there are even fewer consumers.
Huo: Guangya-beans are called pods, and the leaves of pods are called Huo, and Huo is the leaves of bean seedlings. In ancient times, Huo eaters often referred to civilians, indicating that Huo was a vegetable that civilians often ate in ancient times, although its taste was poor. Until now, it has rarely been used as a dish and has been withdrawn from the table.
Xiè: There are many names, such as Shantou, Qiaotou, garlic, wild leek, etc., which were planted and eaten in the ancient Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Now many people still like to eat, and there are many fried and pickled places, which can often be seen in supermarkets.
Leek: It has been cultivated in China for a long time. In the Book of Songs, there is a poem "Sacrifice a lamb to a leek". The Book of Rites also said that Shu Ren recommended leeks with eggs in spring, indicating that the dish of scrambled eggs with leeks had existed in ancient times.
Of course, one of the most common places for leeks now is in barbecue stalls and the other is in the stock market-after all, once planted, leeks can be cut for a long time.
Onion: Onion is a unique genus of ancient vegetables, and now it is basically used as an indispensable condiment in the kitchen.
I: It's Chinese cabbage. Ya Ya has a saying: Elon doesn't carve in winter, but he sees pine in four seasons, which is understandable. In the pre-Qin period, Chinese cabbage was already one of the commonly used vegetables. The main raw material of kimchi next door is cabbage, and kimchi successfully applied for inheritance on 20 13. If we use the history books of our neighbors, the history of cabbage consumption in East Asia will be 5,000 years.
Soybean: Originated in China, it is cultivated all over China and widely cultivated all over the world. As the country of origin of soybean, soybean has been cultivated in China for a long time. China's soybeans were once world-famous. It can be said that soybean is the key grain crop in China, which is of key practical significance to ensure the safety of grain production.
Wax gourd: There is a record of wax gourd cultivation in Shennong Herbal Classic in Qin and Han Dynasties, with a cultivation history of at least 2,000 years.
Chinese kale: It belongs to the genus Panicum and has a long cultivation history. It is one of the special vegetables in China. Chinese kale contains cellulose, glycogen and so on. It is sweet in taste and pungent in nature, and has the functions of diuresis, relieving cough, resolving phlegm, detoxicating, clearing away heat, relieving fatigue, clearing heart fire and improving eyesight.
Bamboo shoot is a traditional delicacy in China, which has a long history of eating and cultivation. There are poems such as "adding beans, bamboo shoots and fish" in the Book of Songs. At present, the most famous dish is fried meat with bamboo shoots, which is often found on the dining table or in other places outside the dining table. Other places depend on where your mother stopped you, including but not limited to kitchen, living room, bedroom and so on.
Day lily: also known as day lily, a girl who has no worries. There is a cloud in The Book of Songs: "How can day lily be the back of a tree? Even the great poet Bai Juyi praised it: Du Kang relieves boredom and day lily relieves worries." It seems that the day lily not only has the function of vegetables, but also has the function of forgetting worries and sending feelings.
Pteridium aquilinum: Pteridium aquilinum, also known as Pteridium aquilinum, is commonly found in wild vegetables. Edible bracken was first seen in the Book of Songs: "Climb the South Mountain and pick its ferns." In ancient times, Boyi and Shu Qi did not eat Zhou Su, but picked ferns in shouyangshan, so later generations regarded ferns as a symbol of lofty seclusion. Today, bracken is still a common dish on the table.
Radish: In ancient Chinese, there were also nicknames for radish and radish. In Erya Cao Shi, it is pointed out that "turnips with purple flowers are called radishes". In Qi Yaomin's Book written by Jia Sixie in the late Wei Dynasty, the cultivation method of radishes has been recorded, and it is still one of the vegetables commonly eaten by China people.
Chrysanthemum: It is also called chrysanthemum because its flowers are like wild chrysanthemums. In ancient China, chrysanthemum was a court delicacy, so it was also called the emperor's dish. Chrysanthemum has the fragrance of Artemisia and the sweetness of chrysanthemum.
There are twenty or thirty kinds of vegetables mentioned in the Book of Songs, but most of them are wild plants, and we don't see much here. Generally speaking, there are so many vegetables handed down from ancient times in China.
Now you can answer the last question. In this pile of fruits and vegetables, in the palace of Xianyang City, our Qin Shihuang can not only eat cabbage and radish, but also eat other things, such as cucumbers, pumpkins, lettuce, peppers, parsley, corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes, not to mention eating them.
When were cucumbers, peppers, corn and other things introduced to China?
In fact, many famous fruits and vegetables were introduced to China from abroad, such as grapes, watermelons, peppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, onions and corn, and a large part of them were introduced to China only in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. However, due to the influence of film and television works, many people think that these fruits and vegetables have existed in China since ancient times.
Eggplant: Originated in Southeast Asia, it was introduced to China in Jin Dynasty. Emperor Yang Di liked it very much and named it Kunlun Purple Melon.
Carrots: Originated in southwest Asia (Iran and Iraq), they were introduced to China from Iran in the Yuan Dynasty. Li Shizhen said in Compendium of Materia Medica that it came from Hu Di in Yuan Dynasty, and it smelled slightly like radish, hence the name.
Pepper: It originated in tropical areas of America. The earliest record is in the Ming Dynasty, when Gao Lian was from Hangzhou. In Eight Chapters of Respect for Life, he wrote Yan Xianqing's Notes on the Four Seasons of Flowers, in which he wrote a passage: "Pepper is full of white flowers, and the fruit is like Logger Vick, with a spicy red flavor, which is very impressive." In China, peppers were planted only in the late Ming Dynasty. Prior to this, Cornus officinalis and ginger were used for spicy food.
Pepper, which was introduced to China only about 400 years ago, has profoundly changed the diet map of China. The impressions of Sichuan spicy hot pot and Hunan spicy girl are deeply rooted in people's hearts. However, during the Tang and Song Dynasties, Sichuan cuisine was mostly sweet.
Corn: It originated in America. 1492 Columbus discovered corn in Cuba and introduced it to China in the Ming Dynasty. It was first recorded in Gongxian Annals written in the thirty-fourth year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty, and it was called Yumai. Later, in the thirty-ninth year of Jiajing, Pingliang government ruled, which was called Fanmai and Xitianmai.
Pumpkin: Originated in Africa, I don't know when it was introduced to southern China through Persians. At that time, its name was pumpkin, and later it was renamed pumpkin.
Coriander: Originated from the coast of China, it was introduced to China after Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions.
Grape: After Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions, improved varieties were introduced to China.
Pepper: Native to India, it was introduced to China after Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions.
Spinach: Originally from Persia, it was introduced to China in the Tang Dynasty.
Onion: Originated in Iran and Afghanistan, it has a cultivation history of more than 5,000 years, and was introduced to China only for more than 100 years.
Sweet potato: Also known as sweet potato and sweet potato, Chen Zhenlong, a Fujian native who has been doing business in Luzon (that is, the Philippines) for many years, saw a local root crop called "sweet potato", which is "as big as a fist, scarlet skin, crisp and juicy heart, edible both raw and cooked, with high yield and wide variety of barren tolerance". Considering that my hometown, Fujian, is mountainous with few fields, the land is barren and the food is insufficient, I introduced sweet potatoes to China.
In the difficult times in China, most people lived through those difficult times by eating sweet potatoes. Today, many old people feel sick when they see sweet potatoes, because they are really tired of eating them.
Potato: Originated in South America, it was introduced to China in the late Ming Dynasty.
Mung bean: Native to America, it was introduced to China in Ming Dynasty.
Tomato: Also known as tomato. Peru, native to South America, was introduced to China by sea in the middle and late Qing Dynasty.
In fact, many fruits and vegetables can be judged by their names whether they were imported from abroad and when they were introduced into China. Traditionally, we have the custom of naming Hu, Fan and Yang. For example, fruits and vegetables imported from the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Tang and Song Dynasties are basically called Hu, such as peppers, gourds and walnuts, while those imported from the Tang and Song Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties are basically called Fan, such as sweet potatoes and tomatoes.
This nomenclature actually reflects the change of trade routes. The name "Hu" was introduced by land from the western regions. Those people named "Fan" and "Yang" were introduced by sea. Therefore, we can see a process in which sea power gradually replaces road rights, which implies the change of trade trajectory.
However, throughout human history, it was from 1492 that Columbus discovered India that it really had a decisive impact on the world. From then on, the west began a magnificent era of great navigation, and a large number of exotic species were discovered from America, which profoundly affected the progress of mankind.
For millions of years in human history, the eternal and unsolved theme is how to alleviate hunger! Round after round of regime change, the tragedy of how many children eat everywhere is nothing more than not having enough to eat, and the people do not have enough to eat.
Traditional cash crops, such as wheat and rice, have strict requirements on the growth environment and low yield, which led to farmers' inability to produce more food on limited land in ancient times. Corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes brought back from the American continent have strong environmental adaptability, and can be planted in mountainous areas, sandy land, dry land, barren land and scattered, with high yield and convenient storage, which greatly solves the hunger problem of civilians.
Current affairs politics: personal destiny depends on self-struggle, but we should also consider the historical process. There are some stories and some opinions. ?