Eating watermelon seeds became popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties. At that time, no other melon seeds could shake the status of watermelon seeds. Even the palace was also popular in eating melon seeds.
In the Ming Dynasty's "Ziu Zhong Zhi", it was recorded that the Ming God Zhu Yijun "is best to use fresh watermelon seeds lightly salted and roasted for use." Pumpkin seeds became popular from the late Qing Dynasty, and sunflower seeds started from the Republic of China period. Popularity.
Historical data records that the custom of eating melon seeds was already popular in the Ming Dynasty, and became more and more popular in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. Before the late Qing Dynasty, unlike today’s sunflower seeds, the “melon seeds” were mainly watermelon seeds. Pumpkin seeds became popular since the Qing Dynasty, and sunflower seeds suddenly emerged during the Republic of China, finally establishing a three-legged situation.
Before the Ming, Qing, and Qing Dynasties, there were no sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. Sunflowers and pumpkins are American crops. After Columbus discovered America in 1492, they were introduced to China. The earliest was during the Jiajing period of the late Ming Dynasty.
The origin of watermelon
The origin of Chinese watermelon has been debated since the Ming Dynasty. Some people advocate that Chinese watermelon was introduced in the fifth generation, while others advocate that watermelon is native to China.
Ouyang Xiu quoted from the "New History of the Five Dynasties" written by Hu Qiao in the Later Jin Dynasty as recorded in "The Entrapment":
From going up to the east of Jingdong...the tunnel entered Pingchuan, which was full of vegetation. Eat watermelon. It is said that Khitan conquered Huihe and planted it in a shed covered with cow dung. It is as big as Chinese winter melon and has a sweet taste.
It is speculated that watermelon was introduced to Xinjiang by the Uighurs from Central Asia after 940, and then flourished in China. In 1991, archaeologists unearthed the "Three Tang Dynasty" tombs in Tianjiawan, eastern suburbs of Xi'an City. "Colorful watermelon" strongly proves that watermelon has been introduced to the mainland in the Tang Dynasty.
Another theory mainly relies on the interpretation of ancient literature. For example, it is believed that "cold melon" and "five-color melon" are other names for watermelon.
Of course, no matter which theory is used, it can be seen that watermelon gradually spread southward after the Five Dynasties at the latest. In the early Southern Song Dynasty, watermelon cultivation was gradually promoted in the Central Plains and the Yangtze River Basin. By the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty, watermelon cultivation was It has been widely planted in the Jiangnan area, and after long-term cultivation and dissemination, the varieties of watermelon have gradually increased. There are more than 50 varieties of watermelon recorded in local chronicles.