The

Foodof
China
Published with assistance from
the Louis Stem Memorial Fund.

Copyright © 1988 by Yale University.

All rights reserved.
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Library ofCongress Cntnlogmg-m-

Pttbliauiott Data
Anderson, E. N ,, 19+1-
Thc food o f China.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Food habits— China, 2. Agriculture—
China— History. 3. Cookery, Chinese—
History. 4. China— SociaJ life and
customs. I, Title.
G T zSjj.Q iA jj 1988 641.3'009
8 7 -2 9 4 «
ISBN o—}o o -o )9 jj-7 (alk. paper)

The paper in this book meets the guidelines

for pcrmanencc and durability o f the
Committee on Production Guidelines for
Book Longevity o f the Council on Library
Resources,
Dedicated to the hungry people of the
world, in the hope that China1;
experience in feeding one-fourth of
humanity will be made more widely
useful through this book
Contents

Prcfacc ix
Acknowledgements x ili
Chronology .vp
The N atural En wronment I
Prehistory and the Dawm o f History 8
The Crucial M illennium : Chon
through Han 24.
Foodsfrom the West: Medieval
China 4 7
Definitive Shaping of the Food Systetn:
Sung and the Conquest Dynasties 57
In volution: Late Imperial China 77
The Clim ax of Traditional
Agriculture 101
Chinese Foodstuffs Today 112
Some Basic Cooking Strategies 14-9
Regions and Locales 159
Traditional Medical Values
of Food 187
Food in Society 199
Appendix: D inner at the Ngs 21s
Notes 223
Bibliography 231
Index 24-5
 Preface

In a world where hunger is all too common, China manages to teed onc-
tourth o f tlie human species on a relatively small area o f cultivable land. This
success is due, 111 pan, to .111 efficient socialist government. However, it also
depends 011 China’s agricultural system, which is not only productive but also
— at least in principle— sustainable. China’s agriculture docs not depend on
machines and chemicals so much as on highly productive crop varieties, re­
cycling o f nutrients, efficient use o f water resources, and highly skilled inten­
sive labor by hundreds o f millions o f peasant cultivators. As modern industrial
agriculture changes, due to rising energy costs and massive poisoning o f soil
and water, the Chinese option will become more attractive. The future o f
humanity' probably depends on combining Chinese-type intensive agriculture
with the techniques o f the “ high-tech” era.
Therefore, several years ago, I began research into the development of
agriculture in traditional China. My hope is diat modem governments and
individuals will learn from the Chinese some lessons about how development
can take place.
I began with the plausible assumption that China developed its agriculture
to feed its teeming millions. However, I found chat many o f the key innova­
tions were made before China’s population became large and dense. Indeed,
it now appears that high population density led to more intensification but
relatively less innovation than China had known in its less populous days
(Chao 1986; Elvin 1975}. This is not to deny the importance to China’s agri­
culture o f population pressure, or, more exactly, o f high effective demand for
food. However, the need for food can be met several ways: for example, by
expansion and conquest, by out-migration, by overdepcndcnce on one staple
crop {as in Ireland before the Great Famine), or by infanticide. All these were
tried at various times in Chinese history. China’s basic solution, however, was
to develop an intensive, highly diversified, sustainable agriculture. Why was
this option picked?
China’s varied ecology permitted, even encouragcd, a diverse farming sys­
tem. Relatively high levels o f trade, even in prehistoric times, led to the rise o f
a highly “ rationalized” market system soon after civilization began. This, in
turn, caused governments to be concerned about the availability o f food—
ix
(0* Prcftuc ,v

not just for the citizenry, but tor military security, Armies had to be ted; be­
sieged cities had to have provisions. Thus, by the time China’s imperial age
dawned, a we 11-developed agricultural policy existed, and the government was
committed to giving agriculture a high priority. This policy was successful.
In agricultural productivity, China was tar ahead of'anv other civilization until
relatively modern times.
Chinese fascination with food, cuisine, and elaborate dining came trom other
sources. Ritual and ceremony institutionalized social codes surrounding recog­
nition o f honor and status. Respect for the old and tor elite individuals was
expressed in feasts. The gods, those "collective representations'' o f the com­
munity, also insisted on the best; they ate the subtle essence ot the foods
sacrificed to them, while the human community shared rlie material portion.
Moreover, China early developed a medical science in which nutrition played
the most important role. Many ftHids were eaten and manv crops grown solely
for their medical and nutritional values (real or alleged).
These belief systems led to demands on the food production system. Kvcn
the poor wanted gourmet fare, at least for New Year and for their aged par­
ents’ birthdays. Even die healthy wanted to keep themselves in shape by eating
bean soup, chicken with ginger, or sea cucumbers. Minor crops o f nutritional
value thus remained in cultivation.
Imperial China displayed the paradox o f a highly evolved ttxid production
system and a hungry populace. This was partly due to the importance attached
to having as many children as possible— sons were the only security tor one’s
old age. The elite also attempted to squeeze whatever they could from the
people, often driving them below the margin o f subsistence. The tbod system
continued to intensify, as peasants tried to keep up.
No simple determinist explanation can account for the Chinese tbod system.
It was the product of human choice— the countless decisions o f emperors and
peasants, businessmen and housewives, doctors and fishermen.
In tli is book I offer a general overview o f Chinese food and discuss some
o f the problems we encounter in explaining how it came to be what it is today.
Many questions remain. We still know very little, tor example, about yields in
traditional times, but recent work by Wen and Pimentel (1986a, 1986b) sug­
gests that yields were even higher than we thought. If these scholars are cor­
rect, China’s tbod system was considerably more effective than we realized.
We need to know more about demography; recent work by Skinner (1986)
suggests that Chinese census figures for the old days may have been quite
inflated. We also need to know more about taxes and land tenure in imperial
China and how they affected production. We need to know more about the
origins o f the whole system (Kcightley 1983). We must learn about influences
from western Asia, about medical science, about aesthetics and epicureanism.
 Vrcjncc x i

and about regional variation in practices. But I rest confident that the main
outlines o f Chinese food history arc now dear.
This b<x>k is not a complete survey o f Chinese food: there is no reason to
repeat the excel lent histories provided by Bray (1984), Chang (1977 b), Young
(1984), and others, or surveys o f the contemporary nutritional scene such as
those o f May (i 9 f>0 * Whyte (1972,197+) andCrol! (198;). I do not attempt
to survey the changes in agriculture since the modem industrial world came to
China in the cartv nineteenth century: that would require another book far
longer tlian this one. My concern is stricdv with the traditional system, and
1 leave its modern transformations to those who are better qualified to discuss
them. My book does nor contain a comprehensive bibliography; I cite only
easily available sources used for specific points in the text. In particular, for
better or worse, 1 barely mention the Chinese literature (partly tor lack o f easy
access to libraries), 1 am currently working on projects to extend this enterprise
in some o f these directions. This book is a wav station.
 A cknowledgemm ts

This book owes its existence to hundreds o f people on several continents.

1 take this opportunity to thank, deeply, all those who arc not mentioned bv
name here. I have not forgotten you! Only the pressures ofspacc prevent me
from naming von all.
A prior and special debt is owed to my former wife and co-worker, Marja
L. Anderson, and to my three children— Laura, Alan, and Tamar— who suf­
fered years o f fieldwork and enjoyed thousands o f wonderful meals with me.
This book owes much to Marja’s aid, experience, and thought.
O f the many who have helped me in research, I remember especially Choi
Kwok-tai and his family, especially Cecilia Choi Lau; Wang Chun-hua; Cli’ng
Teng-liang; Kwok Wai-tak; John Ho; and Ali bin Esa. To them and many
others 1 am deeply grateful.
I also owe a debt to my teachers, especially Brent Berlin, Peter Boodberg,
Nick Colby, Wolfram Eberhard, Douglas Oliver, and Edward Schafer.
Among colleagues and friends that helped and sustained me in research, my
love and thanks go to my parents, and to David Akers-Jones, Stanley and
Anne Bedlington, Francesca Bray, Paul and Sally Buell, Chi-yun Chen, Alan
Fix, Hill Gates, Chester Gorman, Philip Huang, Judit Katona-Apte (for,
among other things, calling me to action toward explaining Chinese food-
ways), Michael Kearney, Carol Ladcrman, Victor Lippit, Robert and Katherine
Martin, Sucheta Mazumdar, James and Helen McGough, Carole Nagcngast,
Jacquclinc Newman, Marjorie Toplev, Barbara Ward, Christine Wilson, Billy
Wen-chi Young, and many, many others.
Thanks also to Ellen Graliam and Stephanie Jones for sympathetic editing,
and my eternal gratitude to Joyc Sage and a multitude o f typists and assistants
for dealing with an unruly manuscript.
This research was funded by the University o f California, the U.S. National
Institute o f Mental Health and the National Science Foundation, and the
World Health Organization. My hope is that this book will prove useful in
moving us toward a better world food system, and thus will— in part— repay
the taxpayers who were, ultimately, my supporters.
x iii
 Chronology

6 0 0 0 —6500 B.C. (ap p ro \.) First kn ow n agriculture in C liin.i: M illet in die north
<000 B.C. (approx.) First rice: H o-m u -tu , Yangtze Delta
4000 it.c. Cultivation widespread and well established; several plant and animal
species
30 0 0 it.c. A gricu ltu re universal in easily-cultivated parts o f C h in a ; social d ifferen ­
tiation; Luge villages, often w ith defensive arrangem ents; m oves tow ard civilization
20 0 0 b .c . C ivilized society in N o rth C h in a and M an ch u ria; ro u g h ly the b egin n in g
o f the H sia D vnastv
By 1500 B.C. S lu n g D yn asty (traditionally began c.i. 1751; perhaps actually ijo o —
1600)
By 10 18 n .c. C h o u D vnast}' (traditionally began 1122; n o w a ran ge o f dates, all
later, pro po sed)
+80 B .C . Chou breaks down into the Warring States
121 !t.c. Ch’in unities China, creating Chinese Empire
207 b . c . Fail o f Ch’in
206 B .C . Han Dynasty takes control
179-87 B.C. C hinese im perial agricultural policy takes shape (em perors W en ,
Ching and Wu)
220 A . D . Fall o f H an
2 2 0 - 26J a .D. T h re e K in g d o m s period
265—4 2 0 a . 1 1. Chin Dynast)' (China not truly unified)

420—589 A.D. Six Dynasties

589—618 a . d . Sui Dynasn'; China reunited
618—907 a . d . Tang Dynasty; splendor and flourishing trade, especially with central
and west Asia
907—960 a .d . Five Dynasties; China splits into warlord-dominated regions (actually
many more than five separate courts)
9 6 0 - 1 2 7 9 a .d . Sung Dynast)'
937—1125 a . d . Liao Dynasty; Alraic-speaking rulers occupy some o f northern
China
xv
 Chronoltxjy xvi

[125 a . d . Chin Dynast}' (Tungus-speaking rulers) conquers Li .10

112 6 a . d . Chin conquers Sung and takes all o f northern China; Sung survives in
south
1214 a . d . Mongols conquer Chin, take northern China
12 7 9 a . d . Yiian Dynast)'; Mongols conquer Sung, control all China
1 3 6 8 A .D . Fall of’ Yuan, r is e ot'Ming
1.168—1644 A.D. M ing Dynasty
16 4 -4 -19 11 a .d . Ch’ing Dynasty
 The Natural
J Environment

( Alina’s natural landscape is one o f the world’s must dramatic, ranging from the peak
o f the worlds highest mountain (Jolmolungma or Everest, usually given as 29,141
feet high) to one o f the lowest subaerial depressions (Turfan, ca. 900 feet below sea
level) and from tropic.il rainforest in the soudi to frozen glacial caps on die high
Himalaya. No other country approaches this range. China's endowment o f plant
and animal species is equally spectacular. Tlie mountains o f southwest China have
the highest floral diversity o f any temperate region in die world. The forests of
Southeast Asia— which extend north to China, diough not in their richest man­
ifestation— arc more diverse still; only die tropics o f Soudi America have a more
varied vegetation. When die glaciers swept soudi in die Pleistocene, die forests o f
North America and Europe were forced into die Caribbean and Mediterranean seas,
and die forests o f Asia and western North America were driven into desert nxiun-
tains. Only in China did diev find a broad corridor where diev could refiigc untiJ die
climate ameliorated; and even many favored northern areas o f China stayed relatively
«'ami. Hills much vegetation diat was once widespread in die rest o f die worid now
survives only in China: such plants include die gingko and dawn-redwood. More­
over, China’s mountainous terrain leads to geographical diversity, encourages
speciarion. A complex historv o f climatic changc and consequent repeated migra­
tions and fragmentations o f vegetation cover have given China its rich 1Tentage o f
plants. Nowhere else in die temperate zone lias humanity had such a range o f poten­
tial foods on winch to draw. The Chinese have rarely been uninterested in new
foods, and their position between die fantastic vegetational rielies o f Southeast Asia
and the ancient agricultural cradle o f die Near East has been the worid’s best for bor­
rowing. (For general accounts o f China’s geography, see Buchanan 1970; Buchanan,
Fitzgerald, and Ronan 1981; Tregear 1980; Tuan 1969.)
Other than true arctic and equatorial, China lacks one dimare-iype o f gnat agri­
cultural significance; the Mediterranean. Agriculture occurred first in Mediterranean
lands, but many o f the world’s early major food crops were never important in
Cliina. Occupying the east coast and interior o f die continent o f Asia, China receives
most o f its rain from die summer winds diat blow toward die northeast from the Pa­
cific: die summer monsoon. In the far western areas o f Central Asian China, die

1
 The Nntnrnl Environment 2

monsoon barely penetrates, and there die vanishingly small amounts ofrain arc apt
to conic in die winter, bin the rest o f China is entirely .1 sunimcr-r.iin country. Rains
in other seasons are appreciable in die illoister regions, but only a small (1.101011 of
tlic tor.il rain tall occurs in the cooler half o f the year.
China lias five great realms:
North C'Jmiit includes die zone of dry farming that w a s die heartland of
China's civilization: the Yellow River plains and the hills around them.
Nmthcnst China (Manehitria) is an area o f subarctic forests anti coM win­
ters but also o f fertile river valleys.
C oilinl Astnn Chinn, the deserts and scmtdcserts of’ Inner Mongolia,
Sinkiang .ind the immediate bonier regions, are areas too dry for much
nnirrigated tanning, thus given over to nomadic herding or to intensive
irrigation in oases.
Smith China, from die Tsinling Range and its continuations {on the north
side o f the Yangtze Valley) southward, includes the Yangtze and the
hilly and mountainous cotmny where rice is die staple kxxi,
Tibet, in die broad geographic sense (including 11x1st o f the province of
Tsinghai and bits o f Szechuan and Yunnan, as well as Tibet Province), is
die vast high desolate plateaus and mountain ranges o f China’s south­
west. Much o f this area is so cold and drv as to l>e utterly uninhabitable.
North China is die best known part o f China aicheologic.illy and historically, and
it contains die cradle o f Chinese culture, including die earliest agriciilair.il sites. It is
an area oflitde rain, almost all tailing in the warm half o f the vear. Winters .ire cold,
bitter, dnf, and dusty. The center o f North China is the vast alluvial plain o f the Yel­
low River, across which “China's Sorrow” wanders, bearing much mud and little
water for so long a stream, since it drains desert and semi arid regions. It has often
clianged its course, frequendy because o f human activity1: die dikes arc raised, the riv­
erbed aggrades until it is higher dian the land, and dien either a Hood or— frc-
quendy— deliberate military action breaches the dikes. The resulting Hoods nor only
have devastated die land; they have also created large salt wastes in die lower valley,
which arc only now being reclaimed. (Sonic arc in partly cut-off arms o f die sea, thus
especially salty.) Surrounding die great plain, and (apparendy) occupied earlier, are
high, rugged lulls. These usually have a diin soil cover, but in the northwest—
Kansu, Shensi, Shansi, and immediately neighboring areas— diey are covered with
loess, vast deposits o f windblown soil. Most o f die soil was blown in from die
.steppes o f Mongolia during the cold, dry periods o f the Pleistocene, when die hills
were even more barren dian they are now. Much moving o f dust by die wind still
goes on. The loess is deep (hundreds o f feet in some arcus) and very fertile; it holds
water well. It tends to erode by shearing off vertically, so die loess lands feature steep
difts and flat hills and valleys— die basis o f the terracing diat now' occupies much o f
the landscape. The yellowish color o f die loess and die alluvium derived from it gave
 The Nnturnl Eiwinnimcut !

tin: river its name and colored much o f Chinese literature-. “ Heaven is dark, earth is
yellow,” begins the standard school primer o f dynastic China; brown was and us re­
Rai ded ;is a shade o f yellow rather than as a separate color
'Hie vast majority o f tile people o f North China live on the alluvial plain and the
surrounding hills, especially tine loess hills o f die northwest and die nocky hills of
Shantung, There are higher mountains and dry rolling country in the high west. The
mountains and hills were onee forested, but no one knows lx>w extensive forests
were in the loess lands; esn males range from almost entirely forested to almost en­
tirely steppe. Ilie former is difficult to believe, for die aiva is dnFand fire-prone, in
fact a very close climatiL' and geogi'jphic analogue to the prairies and plains o f die
central United States, where trees were confined to gallery forests on streams and
scattered stands on die higher, rtxrkier hills. Such must have been die case in China as
well. Early historical records tell its diat die alluv ial plain was once covered widi a
vast riparian forest o f water-loving trees, marshes, and swamps. Once again, we do
not know how extensive it was. Hie re is not one square inch o f natural cover in
North China; most o f die land is under intensive cultivation, nidi no ‘Svild” vegeta­
tion except a few weeds. Natural forests were cut centuries ago, and trees survive
only around temples and shrines or as windbreaks and plantations, hetxe the diffi­
cult' of reconstructing past cover. Analysis o f ancient pollen is providing a start in
this direction.
North China was die native liome o f many o f die key Chinese food plants, includ­
ing millets, soybeans, the Chinese cabbages (including oilseeds), and peaches. Tliese
still survive in wild or weedy forms. Sheep are native and may haw been domesti­
cated here independently of dieir earlv Near Eastern domestication. The agriculture
o f Noith China tcxfav, however, is dominates! by borrowed plants, including wheat,
maize, sorghum, rice, cotton, and sesame.
Northeast China was occupied until recently primarily by Tungus-speaking and
otlier non-Han peoples. Much o f it is mountain country, forested with spruce, fir,
birch, larch, pine, and otlier coki-wcadier trees. Its ccnter consists o f wide river
pi.uns, grass, and marshland. These are now cultivated, maize and sorghum being
among the main crops, diey are comparable to die plains o f Manitoba and die Da­
kotas. Hie northeast was a marginal area dirough much o f China’s history.
Central Asian China includes die areas too dry for significant rainfed agriculture.
(There is a little rainfall agriculture in northwestern Sinkiang and Inner Mongolia.)
'llie latxfs are primarily desert or dry steppe suitable for extensive grazing, and bar­
ren, rugged nxumrains. Montane forests occur only in climatically favored areas such
as the middle elevations o f northern Sinkiang. Sonic o f the driest and most barren
country in die world is found in the Takla Makati Desert, where virtually no rain
falls. Sizable rivers drain from the mountains surrounding the desert basins o f
Sinkiang, and the Yellow River flows dirough some o f this region: irrigated farming
is intensively practiced. During much o f China's history, however, unsettled condi­
tions led to disintensification o f this agriculture. Central Asian China (and neighbor­
<)£ The Netturni Environment +

ing areas now in Mongolia and the USSR) Iini been the homo base o f Mongol, Tur­
kic, and otlier groups wlvo rode out in great waves o f nomad conquest, occupying all
or part o f China, but eventually losing hold and retreating or being absorbed bv the
Chinese. Large populations o f these peoples still exist, forming the majorin' in most
areas outside o f cities and the main southeastern agricultural parts o f the region.
The great Silk Road ran across Central Asia, from Lanchow and Yunicn via tlie
Tarim Basin (skirting th e Takla Makan to north or soutli) and then crossing the
mountains to Farghana, Samarkand, and points west {Boulnois 1965; Schafer I'X'i)
This road, with otlier parallel or confluent routes, «'as China's main arrery of com­
munication with the outside world throughout most o f its history. Trade to the
south was never very significant. Traffic with India came mostly via Afghanistan and
joined the Silk Road near Balkli. Tlie sea routes were less important than the land
until recent centuries. For many millennia— since early prehistoric times— China's
outside influences came primarily th ro u g h this vast dry land o f scattered oases or
through the more northern steppes and forest-steppes o f Siberia. Cenu al Asia served
as a vast filter: only what could easily cross the desert routes and steppes sttxxi a
good chance o f penetrating the Middle Country,
South China is currently the home o f a large majorin' o f the country's population
and an even greater percentage o f its food production. 'I"he landscape is one o f rug­
ged high liills broken by alluvial valleys, o f which by tar the largest is the Yangt/e-
Huai Plain. (The valley o f the West River and its tributaries in the tar south is a veiv
long second.) High plateaus such as those o f Yunnan anti Kweichow, and hilly ba­
sins, o f which the most important is tlie wami, tbggv Red Basin o f S/echuan, aiv
also important food production areas. Only die Red Basin challenges the river and
coastal plains as a food production center. ’Hie region is vvann with heavy rain in
summer, always ample, and in die western mounraijis superabundant— the south­
west region o f South China is not far from some of'the wettest places on earth, the
hills o f east India and west Burma. The natural cover o f the region is mostly ever­
green or monsoon subtropical forest. Fully tropical forests occur in the tar south, and
incredibly rich forests in the west. In contrast to North China, Soutli China still lias
much forestland. Though most o f it is degraded and abused, reforestation and resto­
ration arc taking place today. So Us arc those o f warm, wet, forested country: highly
leached, addic, red and yellow soils from which water has taken most o f the nutri­
ents, and rich alluvial valley soils where nutrients arc redeposited. In a few areas of
rich parent rock, notably the Red Basin, the liill soils arc less wretched, but by and
large the valleys arc richer than the hills, and they have become increasingly so in re­
cent centurics because o f slope erosion caused by farming and defi>rcsration. Thus
people have conccntrated in die alluvial lands.
Soudi Ciiina is die great domain o f rice. On steep slopes and in odier areas unsuit­
able for ricc, maize and root crops are grown. The highest areas produce wheat and
barley, which are also grown in rotation with ricc in die coolcr parts o f this area—
especially on die Yangtze-Huai Plain. The wheat and barley grow in die win-
 The Natural Environment (

tc-i mid ripen in spring; then the rice is put in. The rainfall regime is convenient for
this— dn' in winter, wet in summer, as the respective crops demand. Farther south,
rice is grown year-round by double-cropping, or even triple-cropping in tile tar
southeast. .South China also boasts a great diversity of minor crops and an exceed­
ingly efficient crapping and tanning system based on wet-growing not only paddy
nee, but also other water crops from watercress to pond fish.
Tibet is a vast plateau ringed and interrupted by the highest and wildest moun­
tains on earth. Much o f the plateau is ewer sixteen thousand feet above sea level. AH
o f it is lugli and cold, most too high tor agriculture and much utterly uninhabitable.
’Hie lower and warmer areas in the soutli and cast produce barley, buckwheat, rad­
ishes, onions, and a lew other crops— even some rice in the extreme southeast. Most
o f the population in these areas lives bv farming. Much o f the im(amiable land is
ranged by nomadic herders o f sheep, yaks, and other animals. The yak, Tibet’s native
species o f cow', is a special blessing; most o f inhabited Tibet would be uninhabitable,
or nearly so, without it. It supplies milk, meat, and labor power. F.ven so, the whole
o f the Tibetan plateau region in China has only a few million inhabitants— fewer
than some o f the individual cities o f the lowlands (Ekvall 1968; Snellgrove and
Richardson I<X>8; Tucci 1967).
On die whole, then, China consists o f die densely inhabited and agriculturally rich
kinds o f North and South China, surrounded by wild and sparsely populated coun-
tiy which until recendy was occupied by predominantly non-Han populations.
Speakers o f Chinese languages refer to diemselves as “ Han,” after die Han Dvnast)'.
Over tifty odier languages are also found in China; their speakers arc die non-Han
people, (In addition, diere are Chinese-speaking Muslims, who an: usually called
Hui, not Han.) Hie non-Han peoples, Hui included, live primarily in die northeast­
ern, Control Asian, and Tibetan regions and in the tropical and semitropical moun­
tains o f die south. The densely populated areas are included in the Eighteen Prov­
inces o f Cluncse tradition; the rimlands make up nine more provinces (counting
Taiwan). Through most o f Chinese liistor)', only the Eighteen Provinces and parts
o f Centra] Asian China figured prominendy, and even within diese there were many
marginal areas. Indeed, die dircc soudiwcstcmmost provinces, Yunnan, Kweichow,
and Kwangsi, were dirough much o f Chinese liistorv more remote and less well
known dian Tibet and Central Asia. Thus, dicre has always been a striking contrast
between the dense, long-settled parts o f die Eighteen Provinces and the rxst of
China.
Last and not least, China is a land o f disasters (die classic account is Mallory 1926).
Soudi Cliina is favored in this regard, with nothing worse than floods and coastal ty­
phoons to concern it, and widi die plienonienally stable and productive wct-rice sys­
tem to support it. Few general famines have occurred in South China except as ad­
juncts to war and political trouble (all too frequent in themselves, to be sure). The
rest o f Cliina is plagued by droughts, floods, earthquakes, and other disasters that
wreak havoc widi food production and disrupt die economy. The world’s most
 The Nntiirn! Enrirmmiriit 6

dreadful natural catastrophes have occurred in Chula: die Shensi earthquake (if the
Ming l))rnasty killed 850,000 people; die Tangshan earthquake of 1976 killed or in­
jured perhaps 600,000; an endless cycle o f droughts and fUxxls meant a lamine
somewhere in North China virtually even' single year o f record; the hard m i k i ; of
die northeast and Ontral Asia often exterminated nomads’ herds. China's instability
is due primarily to nvo factors. 'Ilie first is die monstxin: if die rains extend farther
north than usual and are heavy, floods occur; if diev do not reach tar enough or
come at cxld times, droughts devastate the land. Tile second is the continuing pres­
sure o f die Indian subcontinent, which is being dragged inexorably ncnil 1ward by
movements in tile earth's crust ajid is being crammed under the huge r<>ckv mass of
Asia. The result is the fantastic Himalayan front, where the land is folded and wad­
ded like a mg pushed against a wall; the high plateau and mountain country behind
it; and the great breaks, tears, and rents in Central Asia as far east as North China,
where the earthquakes occur as the land is squeezed up .uul our Ivtween India and
the ancient, rigid, mountainous plate to die north in Siberia. In addition, mountains
arc actively being built in much o f China: a stop-action camera with a period o f a
million years between frames would record something like the breakup o f the ice on
a northern river in spate. Hie lowlands o f northern and central China are geosyncli-
nai crouglis, probably sinking— certainly sinking where die rivers are weighing them
down widi mill ions o f tons of alluvium. These tectonic forces are not always slow.
'Hie Himalayas o f Tibet have risen mostly within the past few million years. Dis­
placements o f many feet occur in major earthquakes. Silting up o f river mouths hap­
pens so fast that Tientsin changed fioni a port to an inland city in recent history—
and Shanghai continues as a port thanks only to artificial dredging. Whole fanning
districts have been added steadily, as marshes fill or open coastal seas till widi allu­
vium until dicy can be reclaimed as islands or new extensions o f die coast. Areas built
up by riverine silt are extremely fertile, except where sea water has been trapped and
has evaporated to leave salt. Even die salt)' lands are now being reclaimed.
Few peoples have trails formed their countries’ landscapes more thoroughly than
the Chinese. Rather dian geographic determination o f human fate, China illustrates
human determination o f geographic fate. For millennia before Mao urged the
people to “struggle against nature,” die Chinese were diking, draining, irrigating,
terracing, deforesting, reforesting, reclaiming, and otherwise making their world.
Much o f China is now as purely a human creation as die Dutch polders (of which
die proverb say's, “God made die world, but die Dutch made Holland” ). Even be­
fore the Chinese reworked dieir landscapes on this massive scale, the natural environ­
ment proved a facilitating radier dian a limiting factor. 'Hie rich vegetation permitted
(but did not force) people to domesticate a great variety o f foods. The fertile
bottomlands and plains, isolated and guarded by mountains and deserts, pennitted
(but did not force) a rich civilization to rise. The barriers allowed this civilization to
maintain its integrity and separateness, but they were not so rigid as to shut out for­
eign influence or so numerous as to fracture die Chinese realm into many small
 The Nntitrnl Eiii’irtiuiiwiit 7

states, China had its centuries o f disunion, but, unlike Europe, it never broke up per­
manently inn) many small, distinct nations. This tact again was not determined solely
by geography, surely China’s internal barriers are as mgged as Europe’s.
Tile Chinese were, and are, adept at making die land serve dieir ends radier dian
allowing it ro constrain diem. Tlie land provided opportunities that were generally
seized. It provided obstacles that in the long run have been overcome. No one farms
high Tiber or grows bananas in Manchuria, and everywhere the accommodation o f
humans to climate, soil, and relief is marked, but within tiiese limits China show's
diat cultural ecology is a matter o f human response to human needs and desires, us­
ing the landscape as a means— not a matter o f geographic detenninarion o f culture.
Ilie landscape prov ides opportunities and shaping forces, but the actual fate o f hu­
manity in that landscape is determined by human choiccs diat are constrained more
by social and historic factors than bv natural ones.
 Prehistory and the
2 Dawn ofHistory’

CJmii-k’mt-tien and Pn-qffnadturrd Humans in China

Peking Man {Homo atcrm pcltincnsis, formerly Smautinvpits pchnaisis) was tii'sr
found at Cliou-k’ou-tien near Peking, in caves filled widi limestone. tidier sjx'umcns
o f early Chinese liominids have been discovered since then (Binford and Cliuon 1985;
Chang 1977a, 1986; Chia 1975; Jia 1980). At Chou-k’ou-tien, where hiuls are dated to
about 500,000 B .C ., haekbeny fruits may indicate that earlv liominids ttxik ,ui inter­
est in edible plant products, or tliey may be there by chance, There are many bones
in the eaves, especially those of" deer. Although sonic of die bones seem to represent
human food, most were brought in by hyenas and wolves, which spent more time 111
the cave than did liominids. In addition, a vast mass o f bones of'small animals, espe­
cially rodents such as mole rats, was apparently left by wolves. The bones are broken
and often burned— representing early evidence for human use o f tire, though surely
humans had been using fire for long ages before. Much of'the tire at CIWHi-k’on-tien
appears rtonhuman in origin, but at least sonic human use o f fire is probable.
Tile story enslirined in popular literature that Peking Man practiced cannibalism is
incorrect; there is no evidence for cannibalism at Chou-k’ou-rien. Binford and his c o
workcrs (Binford and Chuan 1985; Binford and Stone i986a,b) point out that the
skull damage previously thought to suggest cannibalistic practices was actual!)' in­
flicted by predators, probably hyenas.
At Chou-k’ou-rien and elsewhere in China and Southeast Asia there is a great
wealth o f stone tools: large flakes o f hard rock chipped to create a sharp edge, small
cores, and hacked and broken pebbles. The tools o f Pleistocene East Asia have usu­
ally been described as crude, simple, and primitive, but they are about as sophisti­
cated as other tools o f that age. Tlieir makers were obviously skilled in handling
hard, difficult rock, and the toots seem well adapted to tlieir uses. Beside their obvi­
ous importance in hunting game, the tools must have been useful for chopping and
shaping plant materials such as bamboo, vines, and wood.
A few finds, widely scattered in both spacc and rime, bridge the gap from Peking
Man to the present. Individuals resembling Neanderthal Man, dating from jo,ooo to
more than 100,000 years ago, have been found at Ma Pa near Canton, among other
sites. By jo,ooo B.C., in nearby parts o f Central Asia, Neanderthals had developed a

8
ijt Pnbiitoty and the Dan’ll of History g

rather sophisticated culture: diey built houses, bad complex stone tool teclmologies,
and practiced fairly elaborate burials. At Teshik-Tash in die USSR not far west of
Chini, a Neanderthal boy «'is found surrounded by bear skulls and covered with red
odire; at Shanidar C-ave in Iran, Ralph Solecki found burials in which die dead iiad
been covered or decorated widi medicinal plants, presnniibly part o f a rimal to re­
store life or preserve die survivors. Thus, by fifty thousand .ycaxsago, in areas near
China and no doubt in China too, people were beginning to treat plants and animat
as more dian mere ftxxf.
It is often assumed diat man (note die sex) was basically a hunter until the rise of
agriculture. This is incorrect. Hunians are omnivores, as is show'll by our nutritional
needs, behavior patterns, and universal edinographicallv recorded lifcways. Com­
pared to most of die animal kingdom, hunians have rather strange dietary require­
ments, which bv and large we share with other primates. We cannot manufacture vi­
tamin C, unlike most animals, but must consume it. We need unusually large
amounts o f protein and cannot synthesize as many o f the amino acids as some mam­
mals can. We are big animals and have huge brains to support; dius we need to eat a
great number o f calories. Before vitamin pills, die only way humans could ensure
good health was to eat a varied diet. Groups o f humans have survived on diets con­
sisting almost exclusively o f flesh (Eskimos), grain (Chinese), fruit, and so forth—
almost every possible specialization is found somewhere— but always at die
cost o f sparse populations or constant threat o f famine or ill Iiealdi. Primary meat
eaters have been rare and marginal since rile huge Pleistocene species that supported
diem died out, and diev were probably rare and marginal in die Pleistocene too,
since die Pleistocene flora was as rich as the animal life and would surely not have
been ignored by groups diat could take advantage o f it. The meat of land animals
supplies little vitamin C, as well as too much saturated fat and other chemicals, for
humans to survive exclusively on it. Yet humans cannot digest long-chain carbohy­
drates (cellulose, lignin, etc.) or handle tannins and odier chemicals common in ma­
ture plant tissues. We are limited to soft, tender foods, to fats, sugars, starches, and
proteins: seeds, fruits, young render leaves and shoots, roots, and animals. Such
foods are maximally present in recently cleared areas growing back up to mature
plant communities. Areas recendy burned or flooded are particularly rich; a bum
that has been growing up for a year or two is ideal. AH human groups know fire, and
most use it to clear the land for food pioduction or similar purposes. It thus seems
highly probable diat our combination o f high intelligence, exceedingly flexible be­
havior and social systems, and wide nutritional requirements was formed as we
adapted to die drying o f Africa and other lands in the Miocene and Pliocene, becom­
ing fire-followers and pioneers.

The First A jp ia d titre

Perhaps the most momentous step in human history was the decision to plant and
cultivate food. Yet for millions o f years, humanity had found enough food for its
 tf* Prehistory and the Dawn of History 10

needs and wants. The tact diat plants grow from sards, cuttings, or offsets is kmnvii
to most Inin tors and gatherers; no one living in rile wild can remain ignorant of it for
long. Thus agriculture must not have been invented or discovered so much as derided
o>i. Man)' people have assumed diat population pressures forced the Chinese to de­
velop elaborate agriculture. The tnrth Is more complex. (The following account
draws principally on An 1982; Andersson 19H, >9 +i; Bray 19X4; ( hang 1977a, 1986;
Clictig 1959; Ho 1975; Kao 1978; Meacham 197.1, 1977; Pearson 1981; Shangravv [978;
Watson 1969, 1971.)
Agriculmre began first nor in East Asia hut in the Near East and neighboring
soudieastem Europe, where dogs w e r e tamed bv 1 4 ,0 0 0 R .C .; wheat, barley, sheep,
and goats well before 1 0 ,0 0 0 B .C .; and cattle, pigs, chickpeas, lentils, and proha b lv
several odier tcxxis by 5 0 0 0 —6 0 0 0 B .C . Hie date palm, too— the tint n ee crop —
may have been domesticated by this rime. (1 domestication means generic change
from wild-occurring populations; the domesticated population is a deliberate or acci­
dental product o f human selection. For general accounts o f early agriculture, see
Bender 19 75; Harlan 19 75; Reed 19 7 7 ; Zoharv (9 7 3.) Soon after, cultivation arose in
North America, where the first known domesticates were chiles and squash in Mex­
ico, and in South America, where Peruvian lima beans had been developed bv about
8 0 0 0 B.C. llie coincidence in time is interesting, as is the early domestication o f legu­
minous seeds in all areas {beans in Mexico were earlier than soybeans 111 China). Ag­
riculture was independently invented in the New and Old World.
Meanwhile, pottery was invented in East Asia. For decades, andiropologists be­
lieved that pottery and agriculture arose together, along with polished ,11 id ground-
stone tools, as part o f a Ncolithic complex. Hie first pottery did indeed appear at the
same time as die first agriculture— but halfway around the world, in Japan, «'here
rile earliest Jomon pottery dates to before 1 0 , 0 0 0 B .C . In China and northern South­
east Asia, pottery very similar to die Jomon appeared before 7 0 0 0 —8 0 0 0 B .C .
(Chang 19 8 7 ).
The earliest known agriculture in China was in the north, especially, in the
Joesslands and neighboring areas. Consistently, tiom the beginnings o f agriculture
througfTthe early civilizations, the tenter o f action seems to be the Wei River Valiev
in Shensi and the Yellow River area downstream from the Wei through the Central
Plain. However, the rest o f China «'as never far behind, and at least one other im­
portant center is known in the Yangtze delta country. Others are siispectcd to lie
somewhere in the south.
From 6 5 0 0 to 5 0 0 0 B.C., die PVi-li-kang and related cultures (X’cupicd rite
loesslands, with don>esticarcd fqxt;til millet (Setaria ittdicn), panic millet (Paiiiatm
miiiaceum), pigs, dogs, and chickcns (Chang 1986). All are clearly local domesticates,
cxcept die dogs (human companions since long before) and possibly the chickens,
which very likely came lip from the south. By 5 0 0 0 B .C ., other Neolithic cultures
flourished from Manchuria to Vietnam, and die Yang-shao Culture had brought
spectacularly beautiful painted pottery and large settlements into the picture in the
& Prehistory and the Damt of History n

locsslands. Contemporary culture, throughout North China were not far behind, if
they were behind at all. The general picture is one o f steady development in each re­
gion, with a great deal o f mutual influence but without evidence o f migration or re­
placement by alien peoples,
I will discuss Pan-p’o Village as a typical Neolithic community, because it is the
best described in die available literature and because I have visited it. Pan-p’o had
farming by perhaps 6000 B .C ., though its agriculture is better known from its Yang-
shao pIiasL’7j-X‘gitining by "5000 h.C. Pan-p'6 liesliear Sian, tfie provinaafcapital of
Shensi. Significantly, many o f the important cities o f China’s earliest dynasties were
also near Sian, the site of the great city of Ch'ang-an, China’s capital in die Tang Dy­
nasty. This spot is almost cn.1i.t1v 111 the center o f the country (akhough it is often re­
ferred to ;is tx-ing in the west, since it is west of die ancicnt core o f China). Sian lies
some twelve hundred leet above sea level in tlie valley o f tlie large Wei River, which
drains die north side of the Tsinling Mountains and the rough, dry loess country
north o f them. Thus it is just 011 die cold, dry side o f China’s great ecological divide,
but in a warm area— very hot in summer. Rainfall is low, slightly under 20 inchcs
per annum, but the hills get more, and tlie high Tsitiling is wet. Sian is in a nun-
shadowed dry pocket, but near it How the great Wei and several smaller tributaries
draining north from the moist Tsinling massif Thus tlie area is on balance well
watered.
At Pan-po today, workers excavate new areas using tools tliat differ from riiose o f
the original tanners there only in die material o f which they are made. The modem
tools are in 110 sense primitive: rather, tlie Pan-p’o people were advanced, expert
toolmakers. Not far oft lie many other early fanning villages, although none has been
shown to he quite so old as Pan-p’o. lust down the Wei, nearer to its junction widi
die Yellow River, lie the sites o f tlie Miao-ti-kou culture, only slightly later in date
and very similar in all respects to die Pan-p’o sites, except diat flower designs re­
placed the fish designs on Pan-p’o pottery. Tlie first crop at Pan-p’o was millet; pigs
ami dogs were raised apparently from the beginning, 'llie pigs (like sheep, which
came later) were apparently domesticated locally, independent o f Near Eastern do­
mestications (Ho 1975). Chickens, probably domesticated in South China and im­
posed, soon followed. Wild jungle fowl (ancestors o f cliiekens) may have naturally
occurred north o f Pan-p’o. 'Hie millets used were Si'taria italien, Italian or foxtail mil­
let, probably a domesticated form o f tlie wild grass Setatia midis ( = S. UitcscoK), ;vnd
Paniatm milinceum, Tlieir ancestors occur in dry, temperate areas all over tlie North­
ern Hemisphere and are often found as wild-gathered grain in archeological sites.
Tlie domestications o f S. ttnltcn and probably P- tntfmccwn were achieved in China.
'Hie genetic changes that make a wild crop into a domesticated one almost certainly
occur over a wide area in which incipient cultivation is going on. Dozens or hun­
dreds o f sites are probably involved, covering in diis case perhaps all o f central China,
or all tile loesslands, or all o f some odier large region.
The folk o f early China did not, o f course, confine themselves to such a narrow
 Prehistory and the Dawn o f History rz

roster o f foods. ^Thcy ate bamboo shoots, persimmons, grass seeds, walnuts, pine
nuts, chestnut^ mulberries,.and such wildlife as fish, clams, mussels, and various spc-
cics.ofdeer. Storage jars full o f seeds arc a common find; tlicv include small covered
jars and roimd jars slotted like piggybanks, (Could this be the origin of die piggy-
bank?) Mortars and pesdes, manos and metatcs were vised to grind .seeds. At Pan-p’o
as at other sites, die percentage o f obviously cultivated iixxl increases relative to wild
and wild-type foods as rime goes by.
Later came catde and horses. Bnvncn (Clmie.se cabbage) seeds arc found in jxits
at Pan-p’o by 4000 B .C ., but sheep, horses, and panic millet .ire not so easy to
date. The first two are found at Pan-p’o but the)' were probably wild game: dieir
bones arc few and show no evidence of domestication. The only other early evidence
of these three foods together was at one site, Ching Village in Shansi, excavated
a long time ago under less chan ideal archeological conditions (Bishop 193}; Ho
1975). Sheep were soon domesticated, but die goat did not arrive from its native
Near East until die Miao-d-kou II culture, about 2500 B .C . (Ho 1975). Panic
millet appeared in Europe by 4000 B .C . (Hubbard 19S0); it may have spread
dirough Central Asia from China. To mund out die picture, hemp or C'.mumlw
sattm, better know'll to die modem world as marijuana, was evidently grown, The
Chinese used it primarily as an edible seed and clothing fiber plant. (They were, of
course, aware o f its other qualities. It has been used in China as an anesthetic or
a pain-reliever, and the Pai-tfao Katig-mit, Li Shih-cli’en’s great herbal of 1W1, com­
ments that it “ makes one see devils.” ) Chinese hemp is by tar the earliest known
cultivated hemp in die world.
Mulberries and silkworms were known at Pan-p’o; a ait silkworm cocoon has
been found. There is 110 conclusive evidence that silkwonns were domesticated, but
most audiorities assume diey were. If so, diis was another first— die earliest known
domestication o f an insect. (The honeybee was brought under human control only
thousands o f years later.) It seems quite possible diat odier crops were grown too;
minor vegetable and medicinal crops would leave very littie archeologic.il record.
Mallow (Mail’d)^ for instance, would be a likely bet; it was the major vegetable in
early liistonc Cliina.
There is difference o f opinion among ardieologists concerning die question of
how these NeolitJiic peoples farmed and w'hat kind o f country they had. Ho (i97i)
suggested diat diey practiced settled upland fanning in sagebrush-grassland steppe.
Others hold that the land was forested and die farmers practiced slash-and-bum agri­
culture. Ho (1984) responded by pointing out that die sites are on river and stream
banks, often pedestaled now by subsequent erosion. We know that die mountains
must liave been wooded, die alluvial plains also, but die pediments and plateaus
were very likely open country. Moreover, die fire-setting and lire-following propen­
sities o f humankind— especially hunters and simple farmers— must have guaranteed
a great deal o f burning, leading to much open country. Grasslands formed by con­
stant firing have been widespread in China dirougliout recorded rime. Finally, die
f t Prclmrmy and the Dntvn of History

area in question ts climatically similar to the prairies and high plains o f the United
States, where the Pawnee and tlieir neighbors practiced farming in flood-opened al­
luvial Iantis.
l^arge fanning villages were widespread in China by +000 B.C. Tlie diet was rich
and varied: wild foods supplemented millet and animaJs, and a few vegetables fla­
vored the pot. Foods were boiled, masted, and probably steamed. The lovely
painted pottery Itxiks very much like the contemporary wares o f the Near East and
Central Asia, and scholars from Andersson (193+) on have postulated a relationship
between them. Others disagree (Ho 1975). To my eye, tlie resemblance is unmistak­
able; indirect contact across tlie steppes and deserts seems impossible to deny. Influ­
ences no doubt flowed in both directions.
'llie southerly realms also contributed to China’s historic culture. A particularly fa­
mous site is Spirit Caw, in north Thailand, where plant remains dating as far back as
7000 to 9000 B .C . were excavated by Chester Gorman (1970; cf Solheim 1970).
Claims that these remains included agricultural or cultivated materials have not stood
die test of time. Ikir the Ma-chia-pang and Ho-mu-tu people o f tiie Yangtze Delta
appear to have been the first known rice fanners. Both long grain (drim or huiiat)
and short grain (kmrf or jnpmitca) rices occur, indicating tliat this basic division of"
rices into two categories was incipient before 5000 B .C .
The rich environment o f China’s early Neolithic was apparently improving;
around 6000 h.c ., a wetter, wanner period replaced an earlier climate as harsh as tliat
of today. 'Hie Pan-p’o villagers shared a world with much game, wild fruits, nuts,
fish, and greens, and for a millennium or two, agriculture supplied only a tiny per­
centage o f tlieir livelihood, They did not turn to domestication out o f necessity.
Why, then? C^arl Sauer (1952), in a purely speculative chapter whose purpose was
simply to challenge current thinking, put forth an outrageous but notably insightful
hypothesis o f agricultural invention. We know from modem experience diat people
living on die margin o f real want do not experiment: they cannot afford to. Much
more innovation takes place among the rich than among die poor; to see this, one
need only compare the agricultural research establishments o f die United States or
France with those o f Bangladesh or Haiti, or die research devoted to beef and lamb
for the rich widi diat devoted to barley, millet, manioc, and other crops used mostly
by die poor— even after tile considerable self'-conscious effort to rectify' this situation
in die Ixst few years.
Moreover, claimed Sauer, many people without the blessings o f state and ci\ili2a-
tion haw rarelv been in want or in dire straits. Famine, desperate poverty, and dieir
accompanying problems may be creations o f the state, with its taxes, wars, and le­
gally maintained social inequalities (cf. Sahlins 1962).
Tills theory renders unviable the many theories o f agricultural invention and de­
velopment based 011 necessity— which, as Sauer says, is no mother of invention, hi
recent years, archeologists haw favored die dieorv o f Ester Boserup (196;), who sug­
gested tliat population pressure leads to pressure on die food base, forcing people a»
 f t Prehistory and the Dnnnt o f History f+

innovate or starve. This population pressure model lias often been combined with a
theory which claims that die extinction of many animal species in die late Pleistocene
(perhaps with human hunting as a factor) created a frxxl shortage, which caused
people to shift to vegetable sources of food. Mark Cohen (1975) provides a particu­
larly good and detailed analysis from this point of view.
But diis model cannot be correct for China. In tact, the hi 111tiny and gathering
peoples who invented agriculture must have controlled their numbers by internal
regulation, war, or migration, as all such groups seem to do (Cowgill 197s); if diey
had faced real pressure on die resource base thev would have iallen Kick 011 these so­
lutions or suffered famine rather dian innovating. In North China, in contrast to
Boserup’s dieory, agriculture began when the climate and environment were im­
proving and developed as climate continued to improve. But on the odier hand,
farming is so universally considered less fiin than hunting and gathering that many
or most farming peoples, notably including die Chinese ami the Near Easterners
who spun tales o f the Garden o f Eden, have tales o f tlie fall o f humanity fr<>m a state
o f formless grace to a world of “ earning - ■ bread by the sweat o f [the] brow."
What is needed is an explanation o f why people came to want m< ire plant and ani­
mal foods dose to home. Tlie earliest agriculture would not have led to anv spectacular
increase in die actual Welds o f foods; only selective breeding over years or centuries
would do diat. Rather, people must have begun fanning out of a desire to control
die location o f foods. Mark Cohen’s case, that die extinction o f much of the world's
large fauna at die end o f die Pleistocene forced people to emphasize plants more, is
complicated by die (act diat agriculture appears early in areas where tcxxi plants were
increasing in abundance. The late Pleistocene die-off was not verv marked in the
Near East, tlie highlands o f Mexico, or upland Southeast Asia; it was very' pro­
nounced tn the American West, northern Europe, and odier areas w hich bad no
early agriculture. Thus die die-off is clearly not an adequate explanation o f agricul­
ture by itself.
Richard MacNeish (1977) stressed die importance o f trade in agricultural origins:
all over die world, agriculaire occurred first at foci o f trade and communication,
crossroads and heartland sites. There are two reasons why people at a trade node
would have been apt to cultivate early: they would have been abreast o f new devel­
opments, including any new information about plants and dieir uses, and they
w'ould always have wanted something at hand to trade. Tlie trade induction nxxlel
explains why agriculture arose at trade nixies and rareiv elsewhere, whv it spread
along trade routes, and why it never arose or appeared early in populous and climat­
ically favorable cul-dc-sacs, such as soudiem Australia, soudiem South America,
most islands, and many coastal areas, {In East Asia, Japan was such a cul-de-sac. It
had a dense, settled population, pottery, and other Neolithic characteristics very early
indeed, but no obvious agriculture developed die re until a few' hundred years h .c .)
Currently existing cultures on die soudiem edge o f China show a partem o f trade
and raid, banning groups widi good soil intensify tlieir agriculture to produce trade
ofi' Pnhntuiy and the Dmrn o f Vititmy j f

goods ,nid also to keep dieir fields dose to home for maximum protection from
raiding (Furer-Haimendorf 19 6 2 ).
1 believe, [hen. tliat die ancient inhabitants o f China took up agriculture during a
period o f increasing richness in the environment. The end o f die Pleistocene may
have forced diem to turn to plants more than before, but they began deliberate farm­
ing after diey had already adjusted to diis and built up die stability that seems neces­
sary lor ex (xri men ration. Those living in areas rich in plant foods traded such foods
with other people w ho had, perhaps, better animal or mineral resources. T o have
these plants ready at hand and to protect them from raids, die plant-food traders en­
couraged tfxxl plants to grow close to tlieir villages. Perhaps at first they merely
cared for plants that grew from dropped seeds, but soon die advantages o f deliberate
planting were reali/wi.
As far as we know, die earlv Neolidiic cultures in China arose and flourished in
areas where trade nodes have always been: Sian, the nearby junction of die Wei and
Yellow rivers, and the Yangtze delta area. Perhaps odier foci remain to be discov­
ered, but die re is increasing evidence diat areas historically marginal and isolated
from major routes o f trade were marginal prehistoric.illy as well.
China's progress from about die fourth millennium B .C . to die second is evident
in its increasing population, the increasing complexity o f its material culture, die dif­
ferentiation o f bun,vis as social disequaliries grew, and, not least, in tlie increasing de­
pendence on agnailmre and the rapid expansion and improvement diereof (Brav
1984; Chang 1977a), Advanced and diverse tools o f polished stone were used in farm­
ing: mattocks, reaping knives (often small and semilunar like the metal rice-R'apcrs o f
modem Soudieast Asia), and t<xiLs ancestral to die nxxiem Chinese cleavers, picks,
and so Ibrth. Grains abound in archeological sites. Preeminent among diese are Se-
tirnn millet in die nordi and rice in die south, but trade, and die southward spread o f
millet, ensured the wide distribution o f both grains. Rice was fanned from Taiwan
to central India before 2 5 0 0 B .C . Rice grown on dry, iinimgatcd ground, as it is to­
day in die mountains o f Southeast Asia, requires about 8 0 inches o f rainfall well dis­
tributed over its growing season. Since by 2>oo and even as early as ?ooo B .C . rice
was cultivated well outside regions with such liigh levels o f precipitation, it must
have Ixvn wet-grown, eidier by irrigation or in managed wet areas. Rice flourishes
best in areas that arc inundated and then dry off as die grain matures (the grain rots
if it falls into standing water), so die earliest irrigation o f rice was surely accom­
plished by digging ditches to enlarge seasonally inundate».! small water meadows and
slouglis where rice grows naturally. 'Die old dieoiy diat rice was once a “weed in taro
fields” is unlikely to be true. It grows poorly in pennanendy wet fields, where it is
choked tmt by taller and nx>re aggressive plants, including taro, a tenacious weed in
modem rice fields.
Water buffaloes, apparently domesticated, appeared by 2500 n.c. One Famous site
has produced such bizarre seeds as melon, sesame, broad bean, and peanut, leading
k >some highly irresponsible claims about their presence in ancient China. However,
 Prehistory and the Dnnm ofHistmy 16

the first three arc known to have been historic introductions from die Near East
(Laiiter 1919) and die fourth is a South American plant introduced into China in the
late sixteenth or early seventeenth century.
Life in Neolithic China must have been very much like tliat in the non-state cul­
tures o f modem Southeast Asia. Warlike headhunters and intensive cultivators, bril­
liant artists and chorrographers o f ritual, but without tomi.il 1zed government or
writing, these people persist from India and Burma tar out into Indonesia .md in iso­
lated pans o f Taiwan. Smaller and weaker groups, who cannot increase tlieir wealth
by means of warfare, are forced to farm more intensively and trade actively. Univer­
sal in tlie region is a pattern o f leadership in which die most able settler of disputes
and arranger o f social affairs acquires much prestige and often wealth, validates his
status by giving merit feasts, and eventually becomes die node o f a redistributive sys­
tem. He organizes feasts and festivals tor which others otter goods to lx eaten or
handed out. (These merit leasts can be much like American Indian pot latches.) ‘llie
local leader in Chinese society today arises and increases his pow er by the use o f tlie
same skills— he is an arbiter and die organizer o f festivities. 'llie men lound widi so
many grave gocxls in the richer late Neolithic burials surely did likewise; they were
probably senior men in patrilineal groups. Of course a partem o f warfare, trade, .n>d
redistribution provides a powerful stimulus for agricultural intensification.
It is possible that the Neolithic Nordi Chinese were matrilinea! anti “ matriarchal,”
however diat oft-misused term is undcrstcxxi. Many archeologists in contemporary
China support tliis position, because it fits die evolutionary .scheme supported by
Marx and Engels. Scholars outside China usually disagree. In tact dieie is absolutely
no evidence cidicr way. Early Neolidiic groves suggest an egalitarian society. Individ­
uals were buried separately (or in small same-sex groups) widi a few grave gcxxls.
Tlie Pawnee Indians o f Nordi America, a matrilineal group (Welttish 196s), lived a
life radier like that suggested by the archeological remains at Pan-p'o, but many of
their neighbors, such as die Omaha, w'ere patrilineal.
There is little doubt diat at least some o f die Neolidiic peoples, most likely those in
the Wei and Yellow river vallevs and die Nordi China Plain, spoke languages ances­
tral to the Sino-Tibetan phylum. Soudi China was presumably inhabited by speakers
o f ancestral Thai-Kadai languages (Benedict 19+2), as well as die ancestors o f die
Yao, die Hmong (Miao) and perhaps some o f the Ausnonesian peoples. Along
what is now the nordi border o f China, Altaic speakers must have differentiated into
ancestors o f today’s Mongols, Turkish, Tungus, Koreans, anti Japanese. In ancient
times, the Chinese were only one among many peoples, nor die dominant majority
diat diey are in die region today. Anyone looking at die area in 3000 B .C . might have
picked the Thai, Miao, Yao, or some other group as die people “ most likely to suc­
ceed.” (There were, o f course, no selfconscious nationalities at tliat time; die defen­
sive arrangements and odier archeological findings show diat every' ullage or group
o f villages was an independent polity,} Progress in prehistoric China seems to have
been a matter o f many small inventions by peoples o f many linguistic backgrounds
0^ Prehistory and the / )a ii'i; ofHistmy 17

in many areas tit'East Asia. Archeology is revealing to an inovasing degree that im­
portant innovations and developments were made wide]v in China and that local tra­
ditions progressed in roughly parallel step, everyone borrowing from everyone else
to produce die .similarities that deline what Chang has called die “ Lungshanoid hori­
zon” (Chang 19 7 7 a ).
Agriculture spread to Manchuria b y perhaps 550 0 B .C . and a millennium later gray
cord-marked pottery extended all across Siberia from Manchuria to Europe. By the
late Neolithic, agriculture and stock-breeding flourished in west China, notably in
die Ch’i-chia culture, with its .sophisticated gray pottery and focus on animal rearing.
By then, agriculture must have extended from China to the Near East in a solid line.
’I he abundance of cattle and horses in China attests to this, as does tlie occurrence ot"
cultivated millets in tlie western world. Wheat and barley', unknown in tlie Qiinese
Neolithic sites but well established at die dawn o f history, must have come in about
dus time. Ihev had b e e n established in Afghanistan and neighboring areas on or
near China's Iron tier alxmt > 0 0 0 B .C . and must have been at least occasionally intro­
duced into China far back in the Neolidiic. (‘lliere is wheat in a Lungshan site, but it
is in a jar dating from the historic period, buried intrusively die re; H o 1975-73-)
Wheat and barlev are adapted to win ter-rainfall climates, anti the nearly rainless belt
across tar western China evidently slowed dieir spread; to tlie Chinese diey must
have seemed interior to the millets, adapted to the hot, rainy summers o f die area.
Wheat and barley thus became popul.tr only when diey reached areas with gocxt
tiKiisture even in winter. loiter, water-conserving techniques were used to grow
diem, and the Chinese decided to grow both winter anel summer crops, rotating
winter wheat and barlev with summer millets and buckwheat, and much more re­
coil dy with sorghum and maize, ' l l i e elcvclopment o f the skills and techniques neces­
sary' to implement diis cycle, and o f crop strains adapted to it, must have taken a long
time; only a liigh population density would have made so much effort worthwhile.
Indeed, wheat and barley may have been unimportant until taxes and levies forced
people to increase their agricultural yields. 'ITius we cannot reason from tlie absence
of wheat and barlev in Neolithic sites diat they were unknown; they may have been
known as rare imports or curiosities blit rejected as crops.
In die soudi, die Lungshanoid cultures grade into the vast unelifferentiated mass
of archeological material known as Hoabinhian, Hoa Binh is a site in Vietnam diat
gave its name to die entire Mesolidiie and early Neolithic tradition ill Southeast Asia,
encompassing ten diousanci years o f progress in an area o f several hundred diousatxl
square miles.
Population increase was obviously important in dus period, yet why did it ejccur?
If it was a natural response to agriculture, why did it not center in die south, where
rice and root cro p provided a far more productive and secure base than did millets
in the dr^' nordi? Population increase must have been more die result than the cause
o f growing cultural complexity in die cone region. It seems to ha\,e led to increasing
dependence on agriculture via die depletion o f game and game habitats and the
 Pirhtstoiy miii the Dnn'ii of Histpty t&

availability o f more labor tor farm work, but population increase itself must he ex­
plained, given die well-known tendency o f simple agricultural mxrtics to limit dieir
populations. Lungshan populations were much smaller tli.ui tlieir agriculture could
support; China in die twentieth century still depends on nine 11 die same crops in .ui
agricultural «'Stem often called (if not von’ accurately) Neolithic, and there is little
question diat die Lungsiianians could have sustained more people than they tiki.
Population increase explains lirde in this case.
A possible scenario tor population increase assumes an existing partem o f conflict,
whicll intensified widi rising production anil— in a word— greed. People wanted
more and «'ere willing to raid as well as trade: as Sahlins (19-2) reminds us, rob­
bery' is nod ling but a limiting case o f trade, in which the payment is particularly
low— diat is, nonexistent. Increasingly complex production and increasingly serious
warfare led to a greater need tor social control, "line gap between powerful and weak
members of society widened. Tlie powerful figures of die village might have been
the military leaders, die most successfi.il social arbiters, or die rich, Those who gained
power by one means bolstered it with odiers: rich people strove for political success,
politicians strove lor wealth, and so on. I suspect that in an expanding economy,
widi many opportunities to increase wealdi, it is die rich who take power and then
move to consolidate dicir political hold. In a static economy, good talkers and
managers— politicians and statesmen— take power and then strengthen it by ac­
quiring wealth, I11 a situation o f war, military leaders take over and acquire bodi po­
litical and economical power. Probably all o f these routes to succcss we a 1 taken in the
Lungshan villages; in each community', power seekers likely followed complex pat­
terns, simultaneously employing various strategies. 'Hie net result was increasing
stratification o f society as a by-product o f increasing economic activity.
With the growing concentration o f power, die egalitarian village community, 111
which everyone had equal acccss to communally owned means o f production, lx-
canie a thing o f the past. With it went many o f die factors diat hold down popula­
tion. No longer did people feel so thoroughly in control o f their situation. No longer
could diey get by widi small households poor in labor power. More labor and pnv
duction was needed, and tlie only way to get it was to increase die family’s labor
force. Thus began the vicious circlc o f China’s economic history: advances in fiiod
production led to population growth; growing population created demand for more
food and thus for agricultural intensification. Alter die state appeared, raxes and im­
posts made it still more difficult lor the peasants to survive. They could not save
wealdi; diey could only invest in children, to work with them and to support diem
in old age.

The Slmnjj Cuiltzatvm

Civilization began in die Near East by } o o o B .C ., in China before 2 0 0 0 h .c . The
earliest well-known Chinese civilization was diat o f die Shang l}ynasty, traditionally
dated 1766-11Z2 B.C., now believed by most scholars to have been somewhat later;
& Pnhistmy nuri the Dmi’ll o f Hulmy iq

presendv proposed dates vary between die traditional ones and about isoo—rooo
B .C . Before tlie Shang was die shadowy Hsia Dynasty, traditionally dated from tlie
2200s B .C . Until recently this dynasty was considered mythical, but several cities or
large t<>wns from that period, in tlie area tliat later became Shang, have been found,
.Jong widi .1 g<xxlly number o f beautiful bronze vessel. So a Rronzc Age civilization
did flourish in central North China, and it is duly designated Hsia. (Oil tlie dawn of
Chinese civilisation, see Barnard [972, Chang 1986, 1977b, 1979, 1983; Cheng i960;
Kcightlcy 1978, 1983; Li 1977, Wheat lev 1971, Willets 1965.)
A tar more si.iqsn.sing find has recently been made in southern Manchnria. Here,
large settlements, sizable temples, div erse and excellent art, and advanced jade carv­
ings indicate that the Hungshan culmrc was a nascent civilization even earlier than
Hsia (Fang and Wei 1986; Gito 1986; Sim and Gun [986). Materials there take ns
back to 5500 H.c. and earlier, the beginnings o f die large settlements mav have been
before i o o o B .C ., as early as the Mesopotamian city-states (which were, however,
more advanced at that time). 'Ilns culture flourished in ail area historically occupied
by Altaic speakers (Tungus, Korean, and others), and it appears non-Chinese to my
eves— certainly different from— but in contact widi-— die Yang-shao and Lungsiian
cultures o f central Nortli China diat led to Hsia, Finds o f large towns in the Lung­
shan area, however, indicate that Hungshan was not unique, and diat we still have
much to leani about the dawn o f civilization in China.
We have no recorded history or long written works dating from tlie Shang, but
we do have vast masses o f documents, most o f diem die famous oracle inscriptions
on scapulas and tortoise or turtle shells. Predicting the turnre in Shang, as in some
places almost to diis day, was done by heating these objects until diev cracked and
reading prophecies tiiom die cracks. Since the questions and answers were inscribed
011 the bones and sbelLs in sophisticated writing diat is now decipherable, we have
excellent records o f some aspects o f life in Shang, especially the chief concerns o f die
royal court. Among these concerns hunting and astronomy figured notably.
Hie Shang civilization created splendid artworks, especially cast bronzes, and built
large cities. It occupied die heartland o f China, from die middle Yellow River north
almost to Peking, east into Shantung, and south into Kiangsi. *ITie ana actually ruled
by the Shang Dynasty was probably diat o f die richest finds and largest dries: die
pivotally important triangle o f lowland diat extends up tlie Yellow River from die
North China Plain to the area just northwest o f Loyang. This region centers on the
great historic dtics o f Loyang and Chengdiou. An early Shang capital has been
found near tlie former, and die latter in tact rests 011 a SSiang capital (possibly Ao,
occupied in the middle period o f die dynasty), which underlies a srardingly large area
o f modem Chengchou, including Jen-min Park and the central market areas. In the
market, one can still find many brittle, gritty, ash-glazed porter,' kettles virtually iden­
tical in every respect to those o f Shang. 'Iliey are still common and ordinary pieces o f
kirchcnwarc, so ideally suited to local cooking diat diey' need no improvement. The
Shang capita) migrated nordi to Hsiao-r’un near Anyang— here the dynasty built its
 Pixbistoty <111rt the Du mi o f History 20

final and nx>st splendid city, Yin. The outlying areas o f civilization, from Hopei to
Shantung to Kiangsi, an; culturally distinct enough to imply other dynasties’ local
reigns (Chang 1979).
Shang civilization depended on many varieties of tn\rail and panic millets and on
rice, wheat, and barley. There is slight evidence tor double-cropping, pivsuma-
b!v o f die millets, as tlie long growing season o f primitive \'arieties ol rice would not
have pemiitted it. During Shang, China was wanner and moister than it is now; ele­
phants, tapirs, rhinoccri, and otlier tropical and subtropical Iaura flourished in the
central plains. The climatic difference, however, was not great enough to allow rice
to grow outside swamps or irrigated areas. The region receives 2 0 —. t o inches of ram
per year today, the core an Hind the Yellow River 2 0 —10 inches; dry rice requires
about 80 inches or more per growing season. Obviously even double die ramlall
would not pennit it to flourish, and the area did nor receive that much rain dunng
Shang. There is some evidence for irrigation in die Shang period; there was also no
shortage o f riverine lagoons that would have been ideal for broadcast rice. Very likely
a range o f teclmiques was used, from simple broadcast seeding o f natural sumps
through cultivation of water meadows to acmal irrigation o f prepared paddies. The
one tiling certain is that tlie frequent textbook .illusions to dry rice growing in Shang
are wong,
Aside from die grains, we also know of meat in the Shang diet. In addition to die
pigs, dogs, diickens, sheep, goats, cattle, and horses already available, water buffaloes
(believed to be a local species, now extinct) came into domestication. Elapbunts {Pen;
David’s Deer) bones are so common as to suggest taming o f this animal as well (Li
1977). Hunting was practiced on a vast scale, netting every son o f game from ele­
phants and rhinoccri to rabbits and deer. Fish and mrtles o f every sort were eaten.
Presumably the sacrificial animals tliat gave up tlieir shoulderblades and shells wound
up in the stew pot. Trade brought sonx- exotic artifacts to die area; central China
was scoured tor turtles, and some species found originated from South China. Ma­
rine shells and whale bones indicate trade widi people on die coast.
One must assume diat vegetable foods were equally diverse and eclectic, but vege­
table remains from Shang sites have been very incompletely analyzed and published.
The vegetable materials from Yin were destroyed in World War II before they had
been analyzed (Li 1977). Early Chou literary remains demonstrate tlie broad familiar­
ity with vegetal foods that wc would expect from die Shang people, and probably re­
flect conditions unchanged from that period. There is need tor both archeological
studies and up-to-date analyses o f the oracle bone inscriptions. The inscriptions men­
tion wheat (mat\ probably tlie character also referred to barky) and millets (shit and
jw), ricc, fodder, and a few important foot! trees: chestnut, muibcny (primarily used
for silk production), apricot, and jujube. 11k characters for fruit {kno) and for
plucking (irtw) were established (Gibson 1937). All these characters were recogniz­
ably picrographic in Shang script. Tlie mentions o f the apricot tree are puzzling; die
domesticated apricot is generally diought to be a native o f West and Central Asia,
 Prehistory and the Dmrn o f History 21

while China lins its own apricot species, the »1« (1’nmiis >iu<»u\ usually mistranslated
"plum” ). lint die mei does not appear in die Shang script, while the apricot does.
Sorghum was nut mentioned in the inscriptions, despite a few publications to tlx:
contrary (Anderson and Buell M S, Hagerty (940).
We have a quantity o f food and drink vessels daring from die Shang Dynasty, die
magisterial review o f which by Barnard and Tamotsu (1975) has yet to be superseded
(see also Chang 1979)- They concluded that bronze was invented in the Shang Dy­
nasty heartland independendy from die earlier invention o f die alloy in die Near
Last,
Hie chief concIl l s iotis about tixxJ that emerge from studying die types and quanti­
ties of’ pottcrv and bronze vessels are: (I) Food preparation and service was rini-
alizcd, regulated, and complex. (2) 'Hie rituals were a matter o f entnnious impor-
tancc; the welfare o f die entire civilisation was evidently diought to depend on thc-
sacrifices and other rituals being performed correctly, which meant above all the
right arrangement o f vessels and food. Modem Cluncse worship rites (pnipni) con­
tinue this tradition but arc evidendy less elaborate dian die Shang riaials. (3 ) Ale was
central to die Shang. (( 'Inn— “alcoholic liquid” in modem Chinese— meant ale or
beer in early historic times, nor wine as usually trails latlxlT They had a reputationas
llcvivv drinkers, and according to the Book o f History their Chou successors made a
number o f iaws against heavy drinking specifically to protect their own dynasty from
going die way o f Shang, whose overthrow diey attributes) to its alcoholic excesses,
Iliis story is supported bv the quantity o f huge drinking vessels that survive. Legend
claimed diat die last pre-Shang ruler had “ a lake o f beer and a forest o f meat” — the
latter interpreted as a forest hung widi drying meat strips.
Food seems to have been divided into “grain foods,” and iriii, “ dishes” ; pre­
sumably diere was an additional category' o f snacks (Chang 1977b, esp. pp. 25-51).
'Hie Jhn^ tvpicallv a diick porridge, was boiled or steamed; the ts’n i were usually rich
stews. Roasted and grilled meat was probably also common. In addition to food
crops, hemp and silk were important as fiber; probably odier fiber plants were
grown as well, sincc we know o f several in die following dynasty.
Shang farming technology was not significantly different from diat o f die late
Neolithic. In spite o f die onset o f die Bronze Age, which brought a dramatic in­
crease in the size and sophistication o f the metal inventory, farm t<x)ls were still made
o f stone, botie, and wood and were confined to simple digging sticks, reaping
knives, hoes, spades, sickles, mortars and pcsdes, and the like. Large digging sticks
may have been dragged, serving as primitive plows. h'isiiliooks, nets, and stone
arrowheads— die rich had bronze ones— were also part o f the food acquisition sys­
tem. Irrigation seems indicated by extensive ditches— e\'cn if" die ones at Hsiao-t’un
were moats, diev imply diorough knowledge o f die todmique o f leading water by
trenching, Tlie presence o f rice as a major crop implies water control, and small-scale
local irrigation is probable, given die splendor and urban focus o f Shang civilization,
but we have no good evidence o f it. Large-scale irrigation works were apparently
gi* Prehistory and the Dm\’)i o f Histmy 22

absent. The Bronze Age civilization o f China was tluis based 011 a quite mi 11 pic tech­
nology, and one not significantly changed from that o f previous centuries.
According to Karl Witttogcl (1957) the centralized bureaucratic stare system char­
acteristic of'China and much o f Asia— in which the state, headed by a single impe­
rial person, owned and disposed o f land— was maintained by, and to a great degree
was a product of, central control of irrigarion, brought alymt by the need to con­
struct hugc-scale irrigarion works. But this hypothesis has fared fxxn ly (Chan« 1979;
Eberhard 1977; Whcatlev 1971). The consensus among contemporary scholars is that
in die Old World control over irrigation was usually decentralized, that die state was
well established before die rise o f large-scale irrigation systems, and that irrigation ag­
riculture had litde or nothing to do widi die development ofhigh Iv centralized gov­
ernment, Witdogel’s hypodiesis is dearly untenable tor Cl 1ina. Hie Shang civiliza­
tion docs not seem to have had large irrigation works, which are not found in China
until die third or fourth century B .C .; previous works were not much bigger than the
irrigation systems o f several native Nonh American cultures, such as that ot the
Owens Valley Paiute, who lacked not only states but even domesticated plants
(Lawton er al. 1976).
On the other hand, die high productivity o f tradition a! agriculture certainly played
an enabling role in die rise of die state. We are tar beyond the naive belief'that pcople
first generate a “surplus” and then invent cities and elites to use it up, Rarelv do
people produce a lor o f food (or odier material) diat they have 110 plans for using,
and if diey did, they would certainly dunk o f more immediately gratifying uses than
support o f die tax collectors, armies, and predatory' lords diat represented die state to
Chinese peasants diroughour history. Yet, obviously, no such features o f society
could arise unless die agricultural sv'stem had the potential to support them. This po­
tential was dearly translated uito reality when political conditions demanded
The importance o f trade in die Shang civilization is discussed bv Chang (197s).
who argues diat trade was much more important dian most audiors have implied.
The flow’ o f tortoise shells to die Shang capitols, die presence there o f whale bones
and odier exotica, and die widefkmg cultural similarities throughout China during
Shang times all indicate broad, important economic contact. Most trade was with
other relatively advanced societies. A glance at any map shows how natural a icxits
for trade is the middle Yellow River. Rice and salt were extensive!)' traded. In­
creasing agriculnirai activity no doubt led to a greater demand tor salt, which by
Shang times was already vital for preserving foods. The well-known significance of
“salt and iron” as trade items in later times must have been foreshadowed to some
extent by die importance during Shang o f salt and ores.
It is perhaps worrh mentioning diat Shang influence did not extend directly to the
New World. Similarities between Shang and American Indian culm res are due to in­
direct contacts via the Bering Strait, or simply to independent development. The im­
portance o f jade in Shang anti die contemporary Olmec civilization, tor instance, is
due not to mutual influence but to die fact that jade is a hard, rough, beautiful stone.
 Prehistory and (be Dawn of'Hisrmy 2?

valued in all cultures diat blow it. Alleged similarities in art styles arc too vague to be
credible. No food plants crossed the Pacific, as they would surely have done if con­
tact sufficient to spread ait stvles had been maintained. Direct Chinese contact widi
the New World had to await European voyagers in die fifteenth century.
Meanwhile, with die rise o f civilization, the whole structure o f leadership changed.
In an egalitarian society o f small conun uni ties, die leader is usually eitlier die head o f
a kinship group or tlie best arbiter— preeminently a political figure. But as material
wealth increases, specialization arises, and trade intensifies, possession o f wealth be­
comes more important. In a static economy, especially in a small society, leadership
goes to the person who can best dispose o f wealth— typically in great redistributive
feasts or other deeds o f magnanimity and generosity.
Kings seem to hav e arisen from die late Neolithic lineage structure. They were die
senior men o f the most powerfi.il lineage— or pair o f lineages, since a dualistic orga­
nization widi two intemiarrying lineages or lineage segments appears to have domi­
nated the Shang dvnastv ((Jiang 1979). 'Hie kings ofShang and its neighbor states
were not mere political figures. They had to organize and keep functioning a com­
plex and very active cconomv and tor diis diev needed a constant flow o f wealth into
tiieir cotters— not just fix ids brought in by free tribesmen as rime and opportunity
offered, but a reliable influx to support die court, die military, and the religious es­
tablishment with its fantastic scale o f sacrifices. Hills from simple redistributors, tak­
ing in tiiod and giving ir out again in roughly c\]ual portions and to roughly tJie
same people who had provided it, kings became administrators, raking wealth from
die whole body [xilitx and distributing it to the favored few and their militant pro­
tection, Taxes and imposts had conic to East Asia, along with archives and laws
(Posner 1972).
More controversial is die importance o f slavery in Shang society. The Communist
historians have felt diat thev must postulate Shang as a slave society, simply because
in die Marx-Engels scheme o f dungs slavery is die first stage o f labor management
in die state (Hsu 1979). In fact there is very little evidence one way or another. What
there is seems to suggest diat the Shang masses were not as free as birds (or as free as
primitive cultivators) but neither were they the chattel slaves o f classical Rome or the
early American South. 'Iliev had rights, possessions, and some sort o f status as hu­
mans. They were clnnuf, common people (Li 1977). State and commoners together
created a liiglily distinctive and ridier isolated civilization.
 The Crucial Millennium:
^ Chou through Han

The C Jm t Dw/ttfv
No difference between late Shang and early Chon agricultural technology or pro­
duction lias been convincingly demonstrated. A Neolithic technology persisted;
peasants’ tools were almost all made o f stone, bone, and w <x x i and crop» consisted
o f the milicts and coarse vegetables o f earlier ages. Social organization was apparently
still a rather inchoate feudalism. Chang {1977a) has pointed out tliat increasing social
complexity and wealth during this period were not accompanied by much techno­
logical prepress: wealth was accumulated at the expense o f die pcxir.
Soybeans seem to have been introduced to China by about 1000 B.C., but thuv
were not popularized unril the early Eastern Cliou period {Ho ry7i); tliey seem to
have come from the Jung people, northern and northeastern neighbors o f the Chi­
nese, who may haw been Timgusic or Altaic and were (xrhaps related to or de­
scended from the Hungshan. Domestic soybeans. Glycine max, are descended from
the wild G. max iw . ttsmnnws, native to northeast China from Peking and tlie hills
west anti southwest o f it up through Manchuria.
Cast iron appeared shortly after Eastern Chou came into being; wrought iron
came later (Barnard and Tamotsu 1975). Iron revolutionized forming, although like
all true revolutions, this was a slow and gradual process. Well before tine end o f the
G>ou Dynasty, iron was widely if sparsely used for farming tools, 'litis new technol­
ogy had fateful conscqucjKcs. On the one hand, China’s population could expand,
given die new productivity incident on superior agricultural tools. On the other
hand, the government could control the people for morv thornuglily, by controlling
the iron trade and equipping ntass armies witli really deadly weapons. (Bronze was
too expensive for widespread use and brittle for tools and weapons, so earlier armies
had fought with rather primitive material.)
The creative ferment o f the latter half o f the CI1011 Dynasty has left a strong mark
on tlic fields o f ethical and political philosophy. Foremost in importance, at least for
China’s future, was the Confucian school. K’ung Fu Tzu (Latinized as Confucius—
Tzu means “ master”), who lived from 551 to 479 B.C., remains a somewhat shadowy
figure. We know him priniarily from the Analects, a short collection o f anecdotes
about liim and tag lutes attributed to liim, not from any coherent work o f his. Ac­

24
fji' C'mnnl Millennium: Chon through Han 21

cording to micon firmed tradinon, lie compiled die Book o f History (all wc have of" a
vast .uid flourishing mvtiiological tradition), die Rook o f Changes (/ Cfrinjj), die
Kook o f Songs, various books o f rites, and die Spring and Autumn Annals o f die
State o f Lu, Ills liome state. The Book o f Songs includes over three hundred tradi­
tional songs o f die Chou Dynasty that make hundreds o f references to tood items
and [Mint a fairlv full picture of the agriculture o f die age. The songs seem to have
been creations of die peasants but in nianv eases diey were sophisticated by court
poets; some were probablv court creations modeled after tolk forms. Tliev reflect, by
and large, die world of die sixth century R.c. and earlier.
ham ling seems to have been concentrated in die fertile bottomlands, as earlier, but
it was expanding into all habitats. The songs talk o f clearing anemisia (mugwort,
wormwtxxl, sagebrush), tliistles, and odier weedv plants more than they talk of
woe xt land, so most of the gixxl farmland must have been cultivated; die peasants
usually reclaimed okl fallow land radier dian clearing virgin soil. Expansion onto die
dry uplands probablv also occurred, but diese Linds are nxwt often associated in die
Jiongs widi falkiw-land weals. The songs often contrast towns and croplands and
shim .md tsc. Usually translated “ mountains and marshes,” these terms evidendv
mean somcdiing more like “wild uplands and wild bottonjlands” — l^crk Bodde
(1981) has pointed out diat many (if die be were dry rather than marshy. The fact that
much o f this most fertile o f all soil types was still wild in the middle Cliou indicates
relatively littie population pressure on the land. A great variety o f wildlife still existed
there, especially deer (which thrive in tallow land), but bunting was already a spon
of the rich rather than a mcdxxi o f subsistence for the ptxir. Wild animals were still
major crop pests, as several o f die songs remark. Evidently the land was well peopled,
and wild areas were few, but diere was nothing like the dense population o f Han
and later times.
Fiber crops were silk, hemp, and kudzu (Keng 1974; Li 197+). 'Hie staple food was
unquestionably millet, Bv now nianv varieties o f both Sarnia and Paniami were cut-
tivated. Some were “glutinoiLs” (sticky). Several, particularly some o f die sticky varie­
ties, were used especially for brewing. Other species o f millets may also have been
growi. Barley and wheat were much less important; but rice was very impor­
tant— surprising in view o f die dry climate o f die Chou homeland. Various beans
were also considered staples. A wide range o f vegetables, fruits, and other plant
ttxxis were utilized; many were probably gathered wild.
The Book o f Songs mentions at least forty-four definite or probable food plants;
the Bible, by contrast, names only twenty-nine. The songs also mention all the com­
mon domestic and wild game animals, as well as several species o f fish. A connois-
seurship o f fish, as today, led to preference for fish from certain sources; Chou
Hung-Hsiang (pcrs. comm.) singles out Song 138, in wlikh^nwr-fish (usually trans­
lated “ bream” ) and carp from particular rivers are favored.
The following list o f definite or probable foot! plants in die songs is adapted from
Hsiian Keng ([97+):
(p* C ntanl Millennium; Chou tbmujjh Han 26

Ctitins
Broomcom or panic millet (Pamaou müiaanmiu situ and ch’i
Barley (Hordetmi vttlgare) and wheat (Tritiamt notmmi), mm. Keng
doubts the presence of’ «'heat but it is now well established for Chon.
Rice (Chyza satim), too,
Foxtail millet, (Sctnrui italien), sii and luntjj.

Vegetables
Kudzu (Puaifria lobata), ke. Translated “dolichos" in older literature, True
dolichos may have been present in South China at this time, but it has a
different Chinese name. Keng lists kudzu as a fiber plant, but he points
out that tlie slioots, leaves, and tuberous roots arc edible, .11id it was un­
questionably a food as well. Comnxm people made and wore kudzu-
fibcr clothing. Kudzu-fibcr shoes are implied by tine songs to be o f high
quality.
Hemp (Catmains sativa), trn. Also primarily a fiber plant, but the seeds
were eaten. Its use as a drug is not mentioned in the songs but was
known by Han times and probably by Chou as well. It has never been a
significant indulgent in Cliina.
Chinese cabbagcs (Bmssiat &pp), fa iq. Keng claims that the turnip 11 rnpa
was the species known; this is surely incorrect. B. clnnmsts in its various
forms, and perhaps otlier species, were used. The radish {Raphanus
sativtts) is almost surely implied by sortie references, although Keng
does not mention it.
Chinese diivcs (Allium tuberosum), cinu. Miscalled leek A . odantm by
Keng.
Davlily (Hettierocalltsflam), huaii and fauni-tsiw. Tlie modem daylily, a ge­
netically complex culrigen o f obscure origin, may already have been de­
veloped by Chou.
Chinese cclcry (Oenantbcjamnica), cb’w , possibly also Cryptotacma
auuufaisis.
Bottle gourd (Leqaimia siccrmia), hu. This was primarily an industria!
plant, as its name implies, but the young fruits were widely eaten.
Melon (Cucumii rmlo, probably var. anumuni), kua. Other melons were un­
known at the time.
Soybean (Glycine »tax), slm.
Lotus (Nelumbo nttàfnn), ho.

Vegetables not ccrtainly mentioned as food plants in die Book o f Songs but com­
monly eaten in later rimes and almost certainly eaten in CI1011:

Yarrow (Achillea stbirica and/or A . millefolium), sh&. Originally medicinal;

this may well have led to its use as an oracle plant. It sank back in later
 Crucial Millennium: Chau through Hun Z?

times to a mcdicine. The shoots art occasionally list'd as food, altlxiugh

thcv were rx>t considered vcr\' good.
Mugwort (Ananism mlciansj.fan. Young shoots arc eaten. It is used as a
flavoring herb today in Korea.
Motherwort (Lcmmnts sibiticus), mi. A wry common roadside weed, used
as a medicine and regarded as a cure-all to this day.
Mallow (Malm mtidllata), kitci. Clearly a major food in the Chou; Li
(1969) regards this .vs die most important vegetable in ancient China.
Chinese cabbage would have been a strong competitor; contrary to Li’s
claim, oil is not needed to cook cabbage; it is usually eaten boiled or
steamed today.
Hitmilan (Mrtaplcvis statturoni).
Plantain (Pla?itajjo ntajur v.ir. asiattca), pt'tyi. Another primarily medicinal
plant with minor tixxi use in reccnt times, probably in Chou as well.
Poke (P/jvtolnixa aanasa var. csntlcnta), fit.
Utw (lUjyiiciima 1vlnlrHis).
Sow diisdc (So?iJj»s olamats), dri. A weed o f fallow land and otlier culti­
vated places; very commonly mentioned in tliis contcxt in die Songs. It
was also evidently eaten widely.
Cocklcbur (Xnntlnum stntwariutu). Tlie voting shoots are widely eaten to­
day and no doubt were also eaten in Chou.
Grass-leaved sweedlag (Acams (pwitinem), jfu. Possibly includes cattail Ty-
pim hmfbiw.
Water plantain (Alisina ptaiireujo), Ixti.
Water-sbield (Brasaim sdnvben), trno. Frequently mentioned in Chou texts
as a food, especially in die context o f a famous dclicacy, watcr-shield
stew.
Water fem (Mmsika qimdnfblia), p ’nu}.
Floating heart (Nytnphoidcs pcitatum), Imujj-ts’ni.
Elm (UhniiS spp.), yii. Young leaves, bark, and seeds wctc eaten in later
tunes and presumably also in Chou.
Bamboo (liambtisa spp. and pcrliaps odier genera), elm. The slioots arc
mentioned in the songs as a common and relished food.
Fruits and Nittx
Peach (Pnmits fiarica), fao. Native to Cliina; odier native specics presuma­
bly used.
Plum (Pmnns saitdna), li. Tliis nath'e Chinese species, different from the
European species, is often mentioned in the songs.
Japanese or Oriental apricot, flowering apricot, mume, nK'i, “ plum” (l^rti-
uia mime), met. This favorite plant o f Chinese artists anti poets was an
important fruit plant in die songs. Almost invariablv mistranslated
ijt Crucial Millennium: C'bou thvtush Han 28

“ plum” or “ prune” in Western literal ire, it is a species o f apricot, closely

related to die western P. (tnnetiuw. Keng thinks tin: latter (limuj) might
also have been found in China, but it is not mentioned by name in the
songs.
Qiinese jujube, “Chinese date” (Zizipbusjttjuba and Z . spinem), tsao and
dn%respectively. The commonest anti most widespread fruit in North
China; the commonest woody plant in abandoned fields and other
rough, cleared, dry, difficult habitats. An exceedingly popular ttxxl from
die Ncolithic to this day, mentioned in die songs along with other
fruits.
Raisintree (Hmvjiui dutas), chii. Cultivated for its fruit clusters, The stems,
not die fruit, arc eaten; they taste like very g<xxi raisins.
Hazelnut (Corylus lictnvphyUa), dim.
Qiinese chestnut (Castnnea »wtttatnui), li. Mentioned in four songs along
with other forest or nut trees, in contexts implying it was an important
food.
White Mulberry (Monts alba), smij]. Primarily used for raising silkworms.
but the fruits were also evidently eaten.
Pine (Pima spp.,1, sung. Mentioned as a forest tree; the nuts were presuma­
bly eaten.
Oak (Qltaxus spp.J, li. Also a forest tree whose seeds were eaten.
Brown pepper, Chinese prickly-ash (Zantboxylum pijwmmu and also Z.
sirmtlnm and others), djiao. The chief spice mentioned in the songs, evi­
dently very widely used for spicing food, perfuming households, and so
on. The fruits look like brown peppercorns but the plant is unrelated to
either black or red peppers. It appears in songs primarily in metaphoric
context: the small fruits grow twinned on a short stalk, die whole kx>k-
ing like miniature male genitalia; thus it is die standard trope for the
niale organs in the songs and odier early Cliincse poetry. (The double
meaning o f “spicy” may be known worldwide.)
Quince, Chinese (Chaetumteks japonica) , mitkna.

The anonymous authors o f the Songs were good ecologists, noting such diings as
the wasps catdiing caterpillars to feed dieir larvae and the connection o f heavy dew-
fall and luxuriant artemista growdi (song 173; I assume diis is one o f die species that
can absorb dew, as those in southern California). They were also supreme p<xts. Tlie
spectacular and rich ccological tapestry in die songs is rhetorical. In die songs we
have the first known example o f quatrains widi four-stress lines, the first two lines
describing some biological phenomenon (usually botanical), die second two parallel­
ing it with some powerful emotional concern o f the poet, usually romantic and fre-
quendy erotic. Granct (1930, 19J1) lias convincingly argued diat diis form originated
in the festivals o f marriageable young people: die girls teased the boj's widi qua­
rf" Cmctal MMennium: Chou through Hnn 29

trains, the boys responded widi dieir own. Tins custom— quatrains ami all—
persists in contemporary South China and Southeast Asia. It survives among
die remote and conservative Hakka people, whose “ mountain songs" (slxui ko) arc all
of tins style. It also exists anxmg die Vietnamese, and among the Malays now in a
form modified by puritanical Islam, tlie pnntun.
Among die longer songs are odes that embody origin mulls. One o f these tells
the stoiy o f Prince Millet, founder of" the Chon lineage. Not only did he send “the
tine cereals . , . black millet, doublekemclled black millet, millet with red sprouts,
with white sprouts” (Korlgmi 1950:201), lie also brought soybeans, This indicates
diat soybeans were so ancient by middle Chou as to be embodied in origin myths;
very early Chou seems tlie latest possible time for their introduction. A number of"
these longer songs speak o f drought as die worst o f catastrophes. In song J6i, a “ la­
ment for our rimes” o f die sort found in die literature o f all ages, die rapacity o f the
elite is compared to drought.
A number o f plants are paired in the songs, coupled in parallel lines or listed to-
gedier in one line: bamboo and pine, kudzu and lien crecper, wheat and barley (diis
Ls significant, as they were the mil ter-grown, alien graias), millet and rice (die
summer-grown natives), jujube and mei (bodi thorny upland trait trees— cach o f
diese is also paired with mulberry), hare and pheasant, and so on. Odier materials
and non—tixxi plants are also paired, for example, metals and jade, poplar and wil­
low. Trees such as oak, pine, and chestnut are often mentioned in connection with
mountain areas. 'Hie plant most often mentioned in the songs is artcmisia. Many dif­
ferent varieties .ire named; evidently this genus was eminent ecological!v as well as
poetically, an impression confirmed by pollen studies o f Neolithic and early dynastic
China (Ho 1975, Tuan 1969).

In the two and a half centuries after Confucius, many odier scliools o f philosophy
arose, presenting a varietv o f ethical and logical systems, all contending for the ap­
proval o f rulers and use in government and politics. All early Chinese philosophy
w a s, ultimately, political pliilosophy: its goal was to produce and maintain a well-run
state with what die Mohist sages, like modem economists, described as maximum
benefit and minimal harm to die people. The disciples o f die Confucian school faced
challenges diat had not occurred to their teacher: diev had to build a coherent system
aixl defend it against sharp attacks. Tlie most formidable contender from among the
so-called “hundred schools" was Legalism, which argued for strong r\ile by law and
an active policy o f agricultural development, 1
Other challengers included mysticism, which in die early Chinese context assimi­
lated to philosophical Taoism, rather ascetic in its approach to food. Fine eating and
tana' technology arc condemned in tlie Too TV CJmuj (of unknown authorship) and
the CJ}itan(f Tzti (written by Chuang Chou in die third or fourth century B .c; tlienc-
have been many later additions). (Giles 1926; Graham 1981; Waky 1959,1958). A con­
siderable body o f Chou literature has been lost; some survives as Later increments to
 tfi'C n tc ia l M illen n iu m : C.hou th m tn h H u n iO

die CJmaiiit Tsw, some in die Han Dynasty compilation Lidi Tzu (Graham iy6 o).
Meanwhile, Mo Ti taught universal love and Yang Clm taught egotism; Mo tended
toward extreme austerity regarding food, Vang toward hedonism. Chou science in­
cluded a medical and nutritional component; dii.s and its folk manifestations were m
have a profound effect on tbod in China— as profound, I Ivlieve, as a belief system
lias o ’t r had on a culture’s tbodwavs. But these |x ised no direct tinrear to the Con hi
dan system; rather, they were complementary.
Significantly, all the schools discussed agriculture, f;xxl, and tixxi policy. Agricul­
ture was considered die most important work o f the stare and its citizens, l-amine
and war meant that food was a ccntral concern o f all. More than that, however,
goumietship was a part o f life, even tor the peasants: the songs contrast the ale, gotxl
grain, and meat o f feast days with the coarse ftxxfs ordinarily eaten, The elite, o f
course, had long loved fine food. In tiie West, puritanical tradition has greatly inter­
fered with enjoyment o f food as well as other pleasures o f the bodv. It is nor clear
why such an ideology did not take hold in China, given Taoisr and Mohist calls for
simplicity.
Among Confucians. Mencius is most famous for reaching tine essential goodness
o f human nature; he argued that people naturally have good instincts (Lau 1970).
His chiefOpponents in liis own rime were the Taoists, who taught that g»x>d and
evil are human-imposed categories and tlius do not refer to anything basic, and that
humans arc too malleable to have a specific nan ire. Later, Hsiin T/.u argued that hu­
man nanire is evil, with greed and .selfishness at its core. Good and n il in the context
of late Qiou morality corresponded roughly to altruism and seljisJjiias: die gtxxl per­
son worked to help others, whether from spontaneous huni,in decency (as Mencius
argued) or from enlightened self-interest or good education, while tlie evil person
followed something like the modem creed o f “do unto others Ix'fbre thev do unto
you,” Pursuit o f one’s own benefit or profit (!i) was evil; pursuit o f benefit tor others
«'as good. Tills implies a widely shared view tliat die world was a zero-sum game, an
“ image o f limited good” found often in modem China and in many other peasant
societies (Foster 1965). Indeed, life tor people in feudal societies dtx\s 1ion nailv follow
such a pattern. Mencius describes die good niler as one who is g<xxi to his .subjects,
whidi at first involves self-sacrifice (e.g., remittance o f raxes that could be spent on
luxuries) but later pays o ff in die prosperin' and strengdi o f die state and the conse­
quent increase in its and its ruler’s wealdi and security. But Mencius stresses that one
should not be gtxxl just for reward or expect a reward for being gtxxl. 'Hie true
Gonfucian heroes are tftose who gave tiieir lives for the sake o f a principle.
Like other Confucians, and indeed like most Chinese philosophers o f his time
(notably die Legalists), Mencius took agriculture to be die basic industry, ranking
crafts, manufacturing, and trade lower. In diis he was followed by China’s mlei’s and
elites in all ages. This did not mean diat peasants had high prestige; diev suffered die
mixture o f scorn and grudging respect diat has been die farmers’ lot in many cul­
tures. But die state accorded high priority to agriculture* because o f Contiician
teachings.
0^ (- ''nan! Millennium: Chou tbroujjh Hun ?/

'Hit1first passage in Mcnciiis' txxik make's liis basic point: consider how to be
gtxxi, not how to get profit— even your state’s profit. Cioodness is summed up by
jn i and //: benevolence and righteousness. Steadfastness and responsibility, altruism
and mutual aid arc implied m diese words. Mencius immediately goes on to note
tliat only a person with dean conscience can really enjoy the deer, fish, anrl nirrlfs in
lits parks, or have them in abiinitinixiThcn follows one o f die most astonishing pas­
sages in all philosophical literature, in which Mencius launches a direct frontal attack
on the policies o f die sovereign he is serving. His explicit language must have risked
his life. 'Hie passage is cmcial Kir an understanding of China’s food policy then and
sinee:
It you do not interfere with die busy season in the fields, then there will be
more grain than the people can eat; if you do not allow nets widi too fine a
mesh to be used in laigc ponds, then there will be more tish and mrtles
tiian they can eat; if hatchets and axes are pennirred in the forests on die
hills only in the proper seasons, then there will lie more timber dian diey
can use. When die people have more grain, niore tish and tuities than they
can cat, and more timber than they can use, tlieti in die support o f tlieir
parents when alive and in the mourning o f diem when dead, the)' will be
able to have no regrets over anything lefi undone. Ill is is die first step
along the Kingly way.
If the mulbenv is planted in even' homestead o f five mu o f land, then
those who are fifty can wear silk; if chickens, pigs and dogs do not miss
their breeding season, then those who are seventy can eat meat; if eadi lot
o f a hundred mu is not deprived o f labour during die busy seasons, then
families widi several mouths to feed will not go hungry. Exercise due care
over the education provided bv the village schools, and discipline the
people by teaching them the duties proper to sons and younger brodiers,
and those whose heads have turned grey will not be carrying loads on the
roads. When those who are seventy wear silk and eat meat and die masses
are neither cold nor hungry, it is impossible for their prince not to be a mie
King.
No«' when tixxJ meant for human beings is so plentiful as to be tiircmn
to dogs and pigs, you fail to realize diat it is time for garnering, and when
men drop dead from starvation bv the wav-side, you tail to realize diat it is
time tor distribution. When people die, you simply say, “ It is none o f my
doing. It is die fault o f die harvest.” In what way is diat different from kill­
ing a man by running him through, while saying .ill die time. “ It is none of
my doing. It is the fault of' die weapon.” Stop putting tlie blame on die
harvest and tlie people o f die whole Empire will come to you. (Lau
ig7 0 :i i - « )
One theme that emerges from these paragraphs is resource conservation: Mencius
was a conservationist like Confttdus, bur a tar more systematic one. His famous
 Crucial M illennium C hon thmnjjh Han ;z

simile for human nature is Ox Mountain, once verdant and lush with forest, but die»
stripped by firewood cutters and overgrazed, and now an erixicd waste. Similarly, a
bad person is only a good one managed unwisely. In Mencius' view, conservation is
desirable but should not be pushed tcx> tar, nor should agricultural iiKxlemizanou
He scatliingly criticizes kings who punish poaching as seriously as murder (Lau
1970:61 —62) and those who develop agriculture purely to enrich die state rather than
to help tlie people (Lau 1970:124)— the slap is at die Legalists as well as at Coiitu-
cians gone wrong. It is all right for the king to have 1Hinting parks, but die people
should be able to get some wood and game there. As tor fiixxi, Mencius points out,
“ in governing the Empire, the sage tries to make tixxl as plentiful as water and tire.
When that happens, flow can there be any amongst his people who arc not benevo­
lent?” (Lau 1970:187). Mencius is nor just saying that well-ted people arc better
behaved— his main point is that they have die sage/ruler’s gtxxi example. Nothing
was more important in ConJiician statecraft dian the concept that tlie mler sets the
standard for his people to follow.
Mencius’ interest in food continually comes dirongh in his work. Probably his
most famous line reads, “ fish is what I want; bear's palm Ls also what I want. It 1 can­
not have both, I would radier take bear’s palm than fish. Lite is what 1 want; dutiful­
ness is also what I want. If I cannot have bodi, I would rather take dutifulness dian
life” (Lau 1970:166). In the same passage, he says, “ here is a basketful ot rice and a
bowlful o f soup. Getting diem will mean life; not getting them will mean death.
When these arc given widi abuse, even a wayfarer will not accept diem; when these
are given after being trampled upon, even a beggar would not accept them.” He
goes on to say liow much more surelv he would refuse an unworthy offer o f high
position.
Tlie Confucian answer to incipient puritanism is found in die L i Chi. 'Dus enor­
mous and heterogeneous work was almost lost in the Burning o f die Rooks diat
occurred during die Chin Dynasty. Texts found in fragmentary state in Han times
were reconstructed as well as possible. My nonseholarly impression is that die Han
editors did a fine job— an honest one, with minimal “fixing up,” and diat retained
some o f die arrangement, though many commentaries arc now taken as part o f die
text. The Chou L i and die L i Cbi, as well as die Book o f Songs, tell us much about
Chou Dynasty feasts and sacrifices. Sacrifices were chickens, pigs, dogs, sheep, and
oxen, in descending order o f abundance; fish, especially tine fat carp; vegetables,
bodi fresh and pickled; grain, specifically die finer kinds o f millet; and ale, again the
finer grades. Dogs were a common and highly favored food at diis rime. (At present,
dogs are no longer eaten in North China and only rarely in die soudi.)
Sacrificial rites are described in die Li Chi, including the foods used and offered
(Lcgge 1967:4-59-46+ almost all die foods used in Chou, although “maize” in
that list is a mistranslation for a variety o f millet). Agricultural and conservation activ­
ities arc prescribed for the ruler to order and oversee. Warring States and Han phi­
losophers editing the sections o f the I J Cbi dealing with rituals were under pressure
/$- ('rrtcitil Mtlh-misiuu: ('lion tbronnb H un ;j

from Taoists, Mohists, Legalists, and others to justify their pracriccs in practical, real­
istic terms. Tlieir first and most important justification was conscn'arion, which we
haw met already in the writings o f Confucius and Mencius. Rituals and other usages
of frxxi were intended to preserve the food supply and regulate its distribution, par­
ticularly wild animals and fish, tlie stocks of which were being rapidly depleted in
Chou while the population was growing. The ruler and the court gentlemen were
admonished to be careful with tlie supplies.

Hie ruler o f a state, in tlie spring hunting, will not surround a marshy
thicket, nor will Great officers trv to surprise a wliolc herd, nor will (otlier)
officers take young animals or eggs. In bad years, when the grain o f the
season is nor coming to maturity, tlie ruler at his meals will not make the
(usual) offering of the lungs, nor will his horses be fed on grain. His special
road will not lx- kept clean and swept, nor even at sacrifices will his musical
instruments be suspended on their stands. Great officers will not eat the
large grained millet. (Ix-gge 1967:1:106)
'lb hunt without observing tlie rules (for hunting) was deemed cruelty
to the creatures of Heaven.
llie son o f H eaven did not entirely surround (the hunting g ro u n d ); and
a feudal prince did n o t take a (w hole) herd b y surprise. (220—21)

'Hie prescribed activities for the months include taboos on destructive activities. In
tlie first month, “ nests should not be dirown down; unformed insects should not be
killed, nor creatures in tlie womb, nor very young creatures, nor birds just taking to
tlie wing, nor fawns, nor should eggs be destroyed” (256). Failing to observe these
and the other seasonal recommendations not only wasted game but also disrupted
cosmic harmony and order:

If in die first month o f spring tlie governmental proceedings proper to

summer were carried out, die rain would fall unseasonably, plants and trees
would decay prematurely, and the states would be kept in continual fear. If
tlie proceedings proper to autumn were carried out, there would be great
pestilence among the people; boisterous winds would work their violence;
rain would descend in torrents; orach, fescuc, darnel, and southernwood
would grow up together. If die proceedings proper to winter were carried
out, pools o f water would produce tlieir destructive effects, snow and frost
would prove wry injurious, and the first sown seeds would not enter tlie
ground. (257)

A materialist dieory o f social evolution lies behind much o f tlie L i Cin\

I11 all their settlements, tlie bodily capacities o f tlie people are sure to be ac­
cording to die sky and eartlily influences, as cold or hot, dry or moist.
Where the valleys are wide and die rivers large, tlie ground was difterendy
tp* Cntanl M illturn ton; Chau thivuqb Hnn i4

laid out; and die people bom in them had different aistoms. Their temper­
aments, as hard or soft, tight or grave, slow or rapid, were made uniform
by different measures; tiieir preferences as to flavours were differently
harmonised., . .
Tiie people ot tliose five regions— the Middle states, and tlie Zung, Mi,
(and other wild tribes round them)— had all tiieir several nanires, which
they could not be made to alter. The tribes on die cast were called I. They
had their hair unbound, and tattooed tiieir btxlics. Some o f them ate their
food without its being cooked. {228-29)
Other barbarians too ate uncooked food or did not have gram staples. We need not
believe die ethnography liere. What is important is that environmental influence on
culture is postulated and differences in food ways recognized, 'llic evolution of rituals
U also cowred in the Li Chi:
At the first use o f ceremonies, they began with meat and drink. They
roasted millet and pork; they excavated the ground in the form of a jar, anti
scooped tlie water fmm it with tiieir two hands; diev fashioned a handle o f
clay, and struck with it an earthen drum. (Simple as these arrangements
were), they yet seemed to be able to express by them tiieir reverence for
Spiritual Beings.
(By and by), when one died, they went upon tlie housetop, and tailed
out his name in a prolonged note, saying “Come back. So and So.” After
diis dicy filled the mouth (of die dead) widi uncooked rice, and (set fordi
as offerings to him) packets o f raw flesh. (368—69).
The above quote describing die origins o f rituals is attributed to Confucius. Tlie Li
Chi continues discussing the origin o f society:
“ Formerly the ancient kings had no houses. In winter they lived in caves
which they had excavated, and in summer in nests which diev had framed.
They knew not vet the transforming power o f tire, but ate the fruits o f
plants and trees, and die flesh o f binds and beasts, drinking dieir blood and
swallowing . . . die hair and fcadiers. They knew not yet the use o f flax and
silk, but elothed dicmsclvcs widi fcadiers and skins.
“The later sages dicn arose, and men (learned) to take advantage o f the
benefits o f fire., . . They toasted, grilled, boiled, ami roosted. The)' pro­
duced must and sauces.. . , They were thus able to nourish the living, and
to make offerings to die dead; to serve the spirits o f die departed and
G od”
In all diese things we follow the example o f that early time.
lTlius it is diat the dark-colored liquor is in die apartment (where die
representative o f the dead is entertained); that die vessel o f must is near its
 Crucial Millennium: Chan ihiviiijh Hnn .y

{entrance) door; that die reddish liquor is in the hall; and die dear, in the
(couit) below.” (369—70)

Tlie Li Chi goes on to describe the origins o f otlier sacrificial ntuals. (Sometimes the
relation between die origin and die airrent ritual is unclear; tills is probably due to
text corruption and poor translation radier dian to lack of clarity' in die original.)
Note, however, that die description o f social evolution is dearly pure speculation,
not a tme report o f ancient times, as some naive scholars have considered it.
Hie other giv.it class of functional explanations tor ritual includes die theory diat
die purpose of ritual is to express, inculcate, and {in general) communicate die social
order or imjXHT.int componenLs diereof, and to tel) people how and when to do
tilings. DurkJic 1m's (i9f>i) concept of ritual as an expression of’ die group’s solidarity,
and die idea of ritual as a communication system conveying information about die
economy and society, are parts o f this view, Tlie authors o f die Li Cbt were aware o f
tliis function o f ritual, and in this passage diev explain some o f die symbolism o f die
rituals, lbose who originated the ceremonies did so to make “a distinction for nearer
and more distant kinship, and for ancestors die remote and die ivcent, and teaching
the people to go back to dieir oldest fathers, and retrace dieir beginnings, not
forgetting those to whom diev owed dieir being” (2:121). At appropriate seasons, in
rituals continued tight up to die end o f die Chinese Empire in 1911, tile emperor per­
formed token plowing and the empress silkworm care. 'Die Li Chi explains, “ die son
o f Heaven himself guided die plough., .. Tlie prince o f die states guided die plough
.. . not because die son o f Heaven and die princes had not men to plough for them,
or because die queen and the princes’ wives had not women to tend silkworms for
diem; it was to give die exhibition o f dieir personal sincerity. Such sincerip,' was
what is called doing dieir urnwist” (2:238). The rites were thus intended to convey to
die populace die fact diat die rulers took diese activities as basic. They also conveyed,
expressed, or communicated the social hierardiy.
'Die mysterious Book o f Changes (/ Cbiiifj) and otlier early works all refer to the
contrast o f ymu} and yin. Yang is die bright, dry aspect o f the cosmos; the character
originallv meant die sunnv south-facing slope o f a hill. Yin is die coo!, dark, wet as­
pect; the character originally meant die shady north face. Maleness was associated
verv early widi yang, femalcness with yin; men were thought to have more yang en­
ergy and were encouraged to coaserve it; females had more energy, which they
could give forth safely, f ire is vang, w ater yin. Tlie famous Great Unity Diagram de­
scribes die relation o f yang and yin. In the Taoist cosmology (gteady simplified), the
Tao, an abstract first principle, begat unity; unity begat yang and yin; and the inter­
penetration of diese produced die universe and all in it. At some uncertain time in
the early history o f China, Taoists added to the concepts o f yang and yin die theory
known variously as the Five Goings, Five Evolutive Phases, or Five Elements. (“ Five
Goings” is die literal translation; “ going” can mean either a process or a way fol­
lowed. The second is Manfred Porkerr’s [197+] neologistie rendering. ' 11k diird is
ffi' Crucial Millennium: C’lmn tbmuijb Han i6

die traditional English translation.) The Five are Earth, VV<xxi Hire, Metal, and
Water. They create eaeli odier in die order given—-earth grows trees, which produce
fire, wliich smelts metal, which causes dew to congeal— and destroy each odier in
reverse order.
Tlie five phases were dien associated with everydiing else imaginable: five colors,
five tastes, five smells, five larger bodily organs, five smaller bodily organs, five limbs
o f die body, and everything else that could be forced into a set o f about this si/r. The
Hive Tastes, for example, are sour, bitter, sweet, piquant (or hot, as pepper), and salt;
the Five Smells arc rancid, scorched, fragrant, rotten, and putrid. Porkerr has ex­
plained in detail how this system was used in understanding disease, which was asso­
ciated with phases and seasons (discussed further below).

The Ch’tti mid Han Dynasties

hi the Ch’in and Han dynasties, Qiina's agricnlrure tcx>k shape. Most important
in this period was the formulation, primarily during the early reigns of I fan, ot a
comprehensive agriculmral development policy by die imperial government. Ilus
policy was maintained throughout the history o f China— often it was only a pious
hope, but sometimes it was seriously followed.
'l"his policy led to a real Green Revolution in China— die world’s first, From late
Chou to mid-Flan, yields and technology substantially increased. 11le main features
o f the polio,' were (i) relatively moderate land taxes; (2) maintenance o f a class o f in­
dependent small farmers (either freeholders or relatively secure tenants); (1) agricul­
tural extension and government compilation o f agriculmral rcxttxx>ks and encyclo­
pedias; (4) public works, including irrigation systems and ever-normal granaries; (5)
famine relief; and (6) concern with medicines and herbs as well as with tcxxl. Gov­
ernment action toward these goals was often blocked or limited by large landlords
and by the tendency o f pressing issues, such as military campaigns, to suck away rime
and money. Flowcver, agriculture flourished in Han, population expanded, and Chi­
na's agricultural and medical lore was codified. Tliis took place in a context o f urban­
ization and market development; peasants and farmers near cities became highly
market oriented and well integrated into an emerging cash economy. All diese
things were crucial in shaping die unique course o f China’s agricultural development
from Han until the present.
In 2 2 i B .C ., the Ch’in state conquered all o f China. From die point o f view o f agri­
culture and food, Ch’in’s important action alter its unification o f China was imposi­
tion o f Legalist rule, which placed liigli priority on agriculture and ftxxi production,
\ievving them as die key to strengthening die state. Thus in die great suppression of
books that took place in 2 13 B .C ., die only categories explicitly spared were agricul­
ture and medicine. (Anyone familiar with censorship can guess the outcome: diose
books arc among die worst preserved o f pre-Han literature.)
Only a few years after die First Emperor was laid in his tomb, die Ch’in Dynasty
collapscd. In 2 0 6 B .C ., Liu conquered die capital, die strategic city o f Ch’ang-an
(now Sian), and dcdarcd the Han Dynasty. Profiting by Ch’in Shili Fluang Ti’s mis-
 Cntcinl MiUchuihiii: ( ’bon rhtvtitfh Han

takes and his own native caution, Lin set up a framework that allowed the Han to
last tor four hundred years— the longest lasting o f any Chinese djnasty, though the
role was interrupted by one successful coup and several periods o f d i s o r g a n i z a t i o n
and loss ot real dynastic control. Just as Ch'in gave tiie West the nanic China, Han
gave to all CChinese the identity “ people o f Han,” still used in China to distinguish
ethnic Chinese from minority peoples. Hie story of Han Dynasty agriculture has
been told by Hsu Cho-^iin (19-8.1980), William Crowell (1979), and others
(Anderson [987, iir.iy 1980,1984; Clien 1984; Ltx’we 1968; I’ irazzoli-T’Scrstewiis
1982); its lixxl has been discussed by Ying-sbih Vu (1967,1977) and Wang Zhongshu
(1982). Hitt the best stones are found in die writings o f die Han historians them­
selves: Ssu-ma Ch’ien {Watson 1967; Sima 197+) and die Pan family (Dubs 55;
Swann t9so; Watson 1974b). Tliev were great wnters and strikingly objective observ­
ers, considering that diev were virtually inventing systematic interpretive history for
China anti were involved in die politics o f their times.
'llie world’s first census (2 a d .) counteti sixty million Chinese. The population
had shrunk, to about sixteen million by1 280 (Bielenstein 1974). Tlie capital cities at the
height o f tiieir power mav have had populations o f a million each, counting suburbs
and suburban villages, ilieir planning, in this age o f urbanization and urban in­
crease, was careful and detailed. In die periods o f unrest, diougii, the cities were par­
ticular targets, and strife and siege virtually depopulated them on various occasions.
Agriculture Ixcame more intensive to support die growing urban populations.
Taxes anti rents were kept low to encourage agriculture, but even relatively low pay­
ments were a hardship for tlie peasants on dieir small landholdings. Moreover, the
landholdings were shrinking: partible inheritance has always been preferred in
China, and as population grew landholdings inevitably declined. Great families and
even die smaller landlords were dins often able to increase dieir holdings at the ex­
pense of die small peasants. Modem audiors stress die relatively low' taxes, relatively
low incidence o f landlordism and liigh rents, and relative stability o f the peasant
economy, but die word n-lattw covers up many tilings. Tlie peasants o f Han Dy­
nasty Qiina were faced with die problem o f wringing more producti\ity out o f die
land. Taxes and rents were often collected in kind, and far from cities the subsistence
sector presumably dominated farming; rural fanners felt primarily die pressure to in­
crease fcxxl crop production. But peasants near cities also needed cash. Buying and
selling o f food were important in die economy o f the period.
Tlie core areas fed very dense populations; Hsu calculates densities (for various
marquisates) o f up to 207 persons per square kilonxter, though by contrast much of
tiie empire was virtually without population. In diese areas, there was considerable
pressure on cultivated land {1980:17—20). The average liousehold o f about five
people farmed approximately 70 Han mu (one Han mu was approximately one-
nindi o f an acre). Families served as units o f production and consumption and often
tried to be self-sufficient: one relatively affluent family had a rule that family nx-mbers
should eat or wear nothing diev did not produce (Chu 1972:286—87).
Emperor Wen— perhaps die nx»t conscientious ruler China ever had, given to
?$* C'ninnl Millennium: Chon thrmtpb Hmt iS

public self-reprimand that would do credit to .111 official under M.10 Tse-Tung— in
167 B e. tried to do away widi land taxes and tx\es on produce. Tliis measure was
short-lived, but Wen’s successor, Calling, in 155 B.C. reduced taxes from one-fifteenth
to one-tliirtictli o f die crop, “ possibly die lowest rate a farmer ever bail to pay in Chi­
nese history” (Hsu 1980:16). llie taxes crept back up again after this, and the official
memos do not telJ the whole story, for local officials inevitably took more than they
were supposed to. But diroughout Han taxes staved exceedingly low by die stan­
dards o f feudal societies. Even during Eastern Han diey hovered around 10 percent.
Land was often taken and redistributed during 1 Ian. Tins did not always involve
die government's robbing die gentry: emperors even redistributed land from their
beloved bunting parks on occasion, Hsu points out tliat in Eastern Man there «'as
only partial opening up o f land to setders, and no new concessions o f land were
made after 109 a . n., but by dien the biggest and best chunks had already been aimed
into private farms (ii).
Perhaps die most important aspect o f Han policy was its public works. For agri­
culture, diis meant water control, in which the state was already involved. Before
Han, die great Min River irrigation scheme had been constructed under the direc­
tion o f die Li family of engineers; diis monumental project is still in use today.
Diking and diversion, liowever, when practiced bv lesser men than the Lis, led to
progressive silting and aggrading o f die riverbeds followed by inev itable dike-
breaching and flooding. Natural fluctuations in rainfall turned into disasters on a far
greater scale dian before: Hsu counts, during Han (including Hsin), tom'-three ma­
jor droughts and sixty-eight major flcxxis (80). But they were hardly, as Hsu calls
diem, “■natural” disasters. They were man-made as surely as die wars and intrigues of
die period, the inevitable costs accompanying die benefits o f public works in an age
’«'hen such projects could not be easily controlled, llie lessons have not been fully
learned even today: modem China, like most odier modem countries including die
United States, has had its share of such disasters following from overambitious and
poorly planned public water control projects.
'Die state also helped to disseminate agricultural knowledge, supporting manuals
for farmers and instructing officials to propagate useful knowledge. In Former Han
(206 B.C.—8 A.D.), Cliao Kuo, a government procurement officer, disseminated in­
tensive cultivation techniques as part o f his duties (Swann 1950:184-85); Ean Sheng-
diih and odier wnters had state support in producing agriculmral manuals (Shih
1974). Some people were resetded in new lands, blit Hsu shows that this was usually
more strategic dicn economic; people were setded in die agriculturally unpromising
but defensively important northwest, radier dian die rich, productive, thinly setded
south.
A very significant Han Dynasty act was die restoration o f die plowing and silk cer­
emonies, The conscientious Emperor Wen revived these in 178 B.C., almost as stxjn
as Ik* succeeded to die dirone. (After the fall o f Empress Lu and her family, he was
suddenly elevated from nominal kingship over a happily obscure backwater, and he
9^ Critaal MrfUistnum C’Imii thivuffb Han .f9

never forgot his relatively 11uni He background.) Tlie edict restoring tlie ceremonies
said: “Agriculture is die basis o f die empire. Ij_t tlie Field o f Tribute be laid out and I
in person shall lead the plowing in order to provide offerings of millet for die ances­
tral temples” (Watson 1^67:352). A*, in the Li Cbi, Wen’s explicit reason for leading
tlie ceremony was to show how seriously the goveninieiit took agriculture (Dubs
5i:i:i8i—83). Silk culture was similarly led by tlie empress.
In his long reign o f fift y - three vears ( 1 4 0 - 8 7 B .C .) , Emperor Wu expanded th e
empire and extended its contacts. His famous envoy Chang O i’ien brought back
various useful plants from (Central Asia. Accounts diflcr on just which ones— grapes
and alfalfa are tiie most jiopular candidates, Chang did not introduce most o f the
plants later credited to him, a few of which came earlier (e.g., wheat), many later
(from carrots to spinach; Lau ter 1919). But no doubt tlie era was a crucial one for the
transmission o f ideas in science, medicine, and agriculture: the Silk Road flourished
as never before.
Hie farms o f Han were most often small and worked by a large but not widely ex­
tended family, .is was tlie rule throughout Chinese history. Small landlords with one,
two, or several tenants renting land from them «'ere common. But tlie tew large
landlords held much o f the land and boasted vast numbers o f tenants, serfs, and
slaves. Hie Han government had about a hundred thousand slaves, and a very rich
private individual might have several thousand. Slaves were primarily war captives or
criminals and their descendents, ,11id they were o f little significance in society or agri­
culture (Chao iyMCi), The poet Wang Pao (or Wang Tzu-yuan, first century B.C.)
wrote a bit o f doggerel in die form of a slave contract to "upbraid” a slave who pro­
tested to his owner, Wang’s host, (Wang was actually tactfully criticizing his host for
working the slave too hard.) The poem lists every manual task Wang could imagine
for a man to do, and die list is a gold mine o f information about running a Han farm
(Hsu [980:231- h contains a translation o f the poem).
Productivity in good vears seems to have been high, but figures are impossible to
interpret because o f uncertainty about dieir reliability and the exact size o f Han mea­
sures (Hsu 1980; Swann 1950). A typical farm o f 70 mu supported a typical family of
five. But the Han mu was smaller than tlie modem one (which is about one-sixth of
an acre). The 11111 changed size from 100 to 240 paces in 87 B.C., and die 70-mu figure
refers to die larger 240-pace mu. Tlie pace in question was two strides, standardized
as 6 dith (feet) o f about 9 indies each. This mu, 240 paccs long by 1 pace wide, was
about one ninth of an acre (Swann 1950).
Tiie typical farm, dien, was about 7.7 acres. This is a conservative estimate, but at
best 70 mu o f land was a tinv holding, incapable o f supporting a family o f five with­
out intensive land use. Some farms were a good deal smaller than diis. Han Chinese
were physically small people, which would have kept their calorie requirements low,
but they worked hard, so that active household heads would haw needed a good
diet. Many households had to produce a ton o f grain on 7-7 acres (and this after seed
was reserved for die next year). Han agriculture was productive by feudal standards
 Crucial Millennium: C.lmii tlnvitgh Han 4 0

— more productive than medieval Eitropean farming, in which yields o f soo pounds
per acre were considered high, and as much as a third of die crop had to he saved for
seed because o f the low-yield grain varieties grown (Slicher von Hath Hie Chi­
nese saved much less seed and got better returns. Tables from just .liter Han show
yields o f i :io for wheat, 6 6 :1,0 0 0 tor millet, and 266:1,00 0 tor rice (1 am anony­
mously informed; sec Bray 19&4, Chao 1986). As to vield, 2 —4 Han piculs per mu was
typical. The Han bit (piatl) was 20 liters, or about 37.4 pounds o f grain. Yields were
thus roughly 75—ijo pounds per mu or 675—1,^40 pounds per acre. Ssu-ma Ch’ien
sav's tliat during Ch’in and Han, die best land, newly irrigated, produced a cb’unjj
(614 hu) per mu— almost 2joo pounds per acre, the yield o f better fields in early
twentieth-century Nordi China. Tlie Han Shu (a history o f the peritxl; Bray 1984)
tells o f an experiment in trenching fields that raised vields by r hu per mu; and
Fan Shcng-chili noted yields o f too hu per mu in pit cultivation, which seems
unbelievably high but may not be (Anderson 1987; Bray 1984; Shih 1974). O f course
the farmer not only had to support a family but also had to pav a small bur tar from
insignificant tax. Military draft, forced labor, and so on took people from dieir
1Tomes; because o f die labor-intensive nature o f agriculture and industry, these
people had to be replaced. 'Ilius, dien as in more recent times, die Chinese had as
man}' children, especially sons, as possible, at least until they had enough that after
the draft and the corvee one son would be left at home to raise tixxl.
Fan Sheng-chih’s agricultural manual o f die fir s t century B .C . (Hsu r<jSo: 280-94;
Shih 1959) survives in extensive fragments quoted in later agricultural works. Some of
die most elaborate procedures described in Fan’s manual indicate how intensive Han
agriculture was:

1. Multiple cropping (winter wheat or barley followed by millet or an-

odier summer crop) was common, though not by any means universal.
2. Pretreatmcnr o f seed is discussed at lengdi in die manual. Seed was
steeped in fertilizer made from cooked bones, manure, or silkworm
debris, to which aconite or odier plant poisons were added. Tlie seeds
were repeatedly covered widi coats of tliis paste; care had to tx1 taken
to dry them between diin coatings so they did not rot. (in die West,
pretreated seed is considered a modem laboratory miracle, innovated
only in the last couple o f decades.)
j. Not only was rice irrigated and its paddies leveled, but die circulation
o f water was changed by rerouting the channels during the year, so die
water would be warm in spring but not hot in summer.
4. An elaborate and effective water-trapping system was used on die dry
fields o f the North: Soil was repeatedly pulverized in summer, creating
a dust mulch diat held water, hi winter, snow was rolled down to keep
it from blowing away. Fan notes diat this practice also freezes and kills
insect eggs that would otherwise survive the winter.
 ('m an! Milkmtutm: dhoti through Han 4-1

j. Cultivation in pits (which traps moisture) was practiced. Gourds in

pits were ait back to keep die fruit large, and straw was put under
cadi gourd so it would not rot from contact widi wet soil. !.arger,
shallower pits were dug tor grain; thcv produced vields of too hu
per iiiii.
6. In areas where drainage rodier than moisture conservation was a prob­
lem, ridge cultivation— the ancestor o f the intensive methods used in
Cluna today— was practiced.
7. Pot irrigation was practiced on crops diat were not canal irrigated.
8. Hen’s manual otters exceedingly detailed and precise timing o f fertiliza­
tion, watering, planting, and so on.
9 . Everything with any nitrogen content seems to have been caretiillv
saved and used tor fertilizer. A whole science o f what fertilizer was best
for what crop at what stage is embodied in die manual.
io . Knowledge o f the soils best suited to each crap was almost as exten­

sive as it is today,
n. Iron tools became common, diverse, and sophisticated, raising
productivity.

Ihc crops tliat Fan Sheng-chih mentions include most importandy the Nine Sta­
ples; wheat, barley, millet, glutinous millet, spiked millet, soybeans, rice, hemp, and
small beans (Vtjitia spp., their cultiv ation technique differs from diat ttir soybeans).
The classic Five Staples o f Chinese cosmology are not a concern in Fan’s manual. In
Han die Five Staples wea' millets (two species, or else glutinous vs. nonglurinous),
wheat (undersKxxi to include barlev), beans, and rice {or hemp in the dry North).
Hemp was an important seed crop tor tbod and oil. Another manual, Ts’ui Stull's
Ssii-tmti Ytich-liiifl, discusses similar issues (Hsu 1980:215—28).
Besides die staple seed crops. Fan mentions gourds {apparent1)' die bottle gourd,
Lnpai(trin)\ taro; “water-damel Panianii' (Shih [959:27; die identification is some­
what tentative but clearly refers to a grain); mulberries (mostly for silkworms);
Anttntsia, primarily a wild-gathered plant to keep insects from grain saved for seed,
but also a flavoring herb; melons; scallions perilla (an oilseed whose leaves
are a gtxxi podierb); sesame (a newcomer); and elm trees. Tlie elms (Uhwis spp.)
are not mentioned as a food in Fan’s book, but wc know' from die Sstt-»UH Tiwij-
litig that diev wen;. ’Hie seeds and almost certainly die leaves were eaten, the leaves
being made into a sauce, probably fermented much like bean paste (miso). No
doubt die trees were often planted, as in more recent centuries. The seeds were gath­
ered in the second month and made into sauce dien and/or in die fifth month. Ttiis
seems strange, since die Common Chinese elm (UhmtspnrvifoUa) fruits in die fail.
Young elm leaves arc excellent tbod; die seeds are edible but tough and dry.
Tlie Ssu-tnin Yttch-lbtg adds other crops to Fan’s list: mustard greens (or Chinese
cabbages), mallow (Malm sp.), leeks, large and small green onions, water peppers
 Crucial Millennium: Chau tljiviipb H an +z

(aquatic greens similar to watercress), .in unidentifiable licrh that f Isu (1980:217) mis­
translates “ thyme,” and others, 'llie crops are n m 1 or less diose o f modem Nordi
China, except diat sorghum anti maize have recendy entered .uni have tended to re­
place millet. RJcc was important, as now, in tlie south and center.
From archeology and otlier documents we can complete die list o f major Han
fixxls (Yu 1977; Wang 1982): horses, sheep, deer and other wild game, ducks, geese,
pheasants, pigeons (all possibly kept in captivity), wild birds, turtles and tortoises,
various carp including common carp (raised in ponds), many wild fish, lotus (rhi­
zome and seeds), bngans and litchis (new, exotic southern discoveries), cinnamon,
fagara (Zaiithaxylion spp., also known as Chinese pepper, Szechuan pepper, ,md
brown pepper), magnolia buds, peonies (in sauce), rush shtxits, galangal, daylilics.
waxmyrtle fruit (miscalled “strawberries'" in some references, die Chinese words be­
ing similar), true oranges, grapes, chestnuts, water caltrop (Tmpa biamns), bamboo
shoots, sugarcane, honey, and assorted wild herbs including g(x>sct<x)t, sowthistle
{Smtdni1), and a wild ginger. The “small beans” o f the texts appear in the archeolog­
ical record as die adzuki bean or red bean, Vztjiin mujularis, in the Ma-wang-tui
tombs. Very possibly odier Vijjun species were also used.
Millet was ccrtainly die preferred grain tor bodi eating and brewing; this is amply
attested in die sources and in archeological tintIs. Rice was next. 111rough most o f
Han, wheat was definitely considered interior, beans and barley even more so. Meals
o f wheat and beans arc die Han equivalent o f die Chou’s meals o f plain vegetables,
that is, literary tropes for plain tare.
In early Han, food was like diat o f Chou. Beans were boiled. Boiled soybeans arc
at best uninspiring; diey produce much flatulence and are disliked bv almost all w'lio
eat diem (although a few dedicated health tixxf eaters might disagree). Roiled “small
beans” {adzuki beans in Han) are excellent but were a minor crop. Grain was boiled
into porridge or steamed over stew. For these purposes, millet is superior to wheat:
it cooks into a soft, dclicate porridge or a fluffy, tender mass o f steamed grain, while
wheat remains tough and dicwy. Miller’s nudike, almost sweet flavor contrasts with
tlie slightly bitter flavor o f boiled wholc-grain wheat.
By late Han, the situation had dramatically changed. Pickling and salting were key
techniques in Chou foodcraft. Sometime in late Chou, or even as late as very early
Han, die art o f fermenting soybeans was perfected. Han texts thereafter devote
much space to ton shih (or shih), die taust o f modem Cantonese cooking, salt-
preserved soybeans. Chianjj, fermented saucc, was being made o f beans as well as
elm products and meat. Tlie “ minced meat sauce” discussed in die Ssu-»nn Tnch-
liitg was made o f sausage meat, fermented like modem lachianif or salami. For diese
products, die food is first salted, then allowed to ferment.
Fan says, “for soybeans, the rule is: per person, five mu— diis is the field’s basis!”
{Shih 1974)- In our ideal farmstead o f five people on one hundred mu diis would
mean a fourth o f die land under beans. He notes diat soybeans are unfailing, even in
years that are bad for grain (true only in areas with good rainfall or some irrigarion).
 O t/« « / Millennium: CJwit rhiviiqb I lan 4.i

Bean leaves were a popular vegetable and Fan does not fail to warn his readers to
leave enough foliage to ensure a gixxj bean crop.
For wheat, tile kevjnnovation was ncxjdle technology (Yu 1 9 7 7 ) . Improved tk)ur-
milling technology entered, apparently from Central Asia, and die Chinese took ad­
vantage, soon beginning their own innovating. Iliey also used grain, roasted or oth­
erwise a x iked and then dnctl, tor instant radons: tliis, along with |trky (dried meat),
" as die standard military ration. Ice, perhaps 111 mobile freezers, was .ilso used to
preserve hxxl tor campaigns, but drying was paramount.
The odier great use o f grain was in making ale. In addition to cliiu, diere was li, a
white substance, apparendv untreated, imaged temienrmg niasli or liquor strained
Horn it, like die tajm or tnpcb ot'contemporary Southeast Asia. It could be brewed
while the guest waited, if'he didn’t mind waiting a while. G iiu was more complex to
make and more socially important stuff Herbs were often added, presumably to
keep it faim going sour and to give it medicinal value as well as to flavor it, (Hops
were used in Western lieer to keep it from getting cloudy and sour; only later did
people leam to like their flavor. Presumably the order o f events was the same in
China.) In Han, following CI1011 custom, herbed dark millet ale was die drink ot
choice. With the grain frxxl ,uid the ale, die commonest dish was still keng (stew), as
tomb finds confirm Roast meat is also well attested: all sorts of'game were de­
voured, with exotica being desired. One powerful official raised rabbits and executed
poachers (Cli'u 1972). Overly ostentatious people were criticized by being accused ot
giving even their slaves .lie and meat (the Han trope tor fine food), instead ot diin
soup and bean leaves (the ttxxis o f die poor; Call’ll 1972). Conversely, for special cele­
brations die government granted die leading households oxen and ale.
T\ In general, methods o f ctx>king were similar to tliose used during the Chon Dy­
nasty, except for the important addition o f stir-frying, whicli is likely to have been
anodicr Haji innovation. Altlioiigli it is not dirccdy mentioned in die texts orodier-
vvise, it can be inferred from die great stress on slicing ttxxis thinly and evenly, and
tile presence o f model woks in the archeological record. Tlie Han Chinese had the
archeologically invaluable custom o f making pottery models o f everydiing die dead
might need in die odier world: boats, servants, dogs, pigpens, houses, and, ot’
course, stoves. H uge stoves like diose o f old Chinese farmsteads today, with great
stokeholes and apertures for the curved bottoms o f pots, are commonly found in
modeled miniature; die terra-cotta servants and cooks indicate tlieir scale. Great ket-
dcs and stewpots dominate the burial goods, die stewpots strongly shouldered like
modem airrv pots, but woks are also prominent. These are die world’s oldest pans
ot diis shape, to my knowledge. 'Hie wok (die name is die Cantonese pronunciation
ot kuo) is a specialized piece o f equipment, perfect tor srir-tn'ing and not at all the
tool ot choice tor anything else. The presence o f wok nxxlels on model Han stoves is
thus good evidence for die development o f die most distinctively Chinese method ot
cooking.
Tlic cxistcnce o f woks and stir-frying implies large-scale oil rendering. l>oubt!ess
 0^ C n tcin l M illc u m m n : ilh o u t b n n jjh H n ti ±4

[lie new milling technology was applied to die new sesame and perilla seeds, thus in­
troducing vegetable oil to China.
Religion continued to afreet fbcxi consumption enomiously v ia sacrifices and rit­
ual feasts. People even stole tixxi co fulfill ritual obligations. Bv the +os n.c., sacrifices
to die Imperial ancestors cost 24,+Ji cash per year and required a staff o f 57,546 peo­
ple, many o f them food preparers. After tinis the court, in desperation, drastically
simplified die sacrifices (Ch’u 1973).
Han is also tanxxis tor its writings on medicine. The I luai Nan Izu combines
medicine widi mysticism (Loewc 1979,1982)- Shun™ Yi wrote a medical lxx>k 111
eariy Western Han. Chang Chung-Ching is famous tor his Sbiviji-hmi Ltui (Dis­
course on fevers; Chang 1981), Hua T o tor his surgerv. Shat Nmtjj Pm 7Yao (She 11
Nung’s basic herbal) and die Yellow Emperor’s Classic o f Internal Medicine ap­
peared (Veitli 1966). Both seem to have been in recognizable or even final tonn in
the first or second ten am ' A.D., and both evidently embody earlier know ledge sifted
and combined with newer data. Both are aimed at a sophisticated med1c.1I audience
and are named after mythical emperors.
Medicine was structured in terms o f die Han cosmology, based on Ts’ou's Five
Elements dieory from Warring States. Tung Chung-shu and others systematized it
further during Western Han. All things were classified as yang or vm and as one of
the Five Elements. Foods and Havorswere also systematized and ass<x~iated with the
major bodily organs, Han thinkers brought systematic rational syndiesis to medical
chinking as they did to political and nxjral pliilosophv (Unsclnild 1985). Earlier, sick­
ness had more often been ascribed to punishment by the ancestors for sins or to at­
tacks by demons; naturalistic, rational medicine had been dicre too, but it did not
rise to preeminence until Han. Tlie Han thinkers did not stress die balance, har­
mony, and holism commonly featured in modem Chinese medicine; perhaps diis
was because the period was an optimistic, open one in which no controlling para­
digm was dominant. Widi the rise o f naturalistic medicine came increased stress on
food and nutrition, already the most important o f medical considerations (as the
Chm Li sliows us). The major drugs listed in die Shen Nung Herbal became parr o f
the diet, if the,' were not already. From then on, medicine had much to do widi
making Chinese diets more varied and nutritious.
Regional differences in diet were discussed (Vcidi 1966:1+7-48). The Yellow Em­
peror’s book describes how to make soups and offers much other nutritional lore. It
correlates salt eating widi circulatory diseases— a standard point in Chinese medical
thought and o f course quite corrcct: salt can cxacerbate high blood pressure, which
in turn makes stroke and other circulatory accidents more likely. Tlie other dietary
warning? found in die Yellow Emperor’s Classic probably also have some value,
diough excessive systematization intruded and empirical accuracy was sacrificed to
simplicity and order wherever die two conflicted.
During Han and throughout Cliincse history, die boundary between mcdicine
and food was so vague as to be nonexistent in practice. Many dungs were purely
0^ C tittin J M d lin n iim i: C.hatt thrniufh Hm> ■+'

medicines, but medicines often became kxxis if people learned to like diem; many
foods beeame merely medicines when people stopped relishing them; and all foods
were considered to have medicinal value, positive or negative, with important effects
on health. The Shen Nung Herbal classified medicines into three categories. {These,
corresponding with Heaven, Man, and Earth in tlie Confucian system, Ruler, Minis­
ter, and Aide on earth, were gcxxl categories in their own right, not just another ex­
ample of systematization gone wild.) In die upper class were tonics and strengthen­
ing dmgs, such as ginseng, fossil bones, and plantain seed. Now tile)' are considered
to have a tonic, mild stimulant, or nutritional value. 'Hie middle class consisted o f
medicines that had both specific value and general nutritional and/or remedial effects.
In the lower class were medicines considered valuable to treat specific conditions and
notiling more. (With some important exceptions, Han medicine treated particular
suites ot symptoms rather than riving to infer “diseases” behind them.) Modem peo­
ple miglir put wheat gemi in the upper class, calcium in the middle, penicillin in the
lowest category, What we haw o f tlie Shen Niuig Herbal (it survives only in sections
quoted in later w'orks such as Fan Sheng-chih’s book) treats some j6s drugs. A bias
in favor o f plants is revealed: arc plant drugs, 67 animal (including one human
product), 42 mineral. Manv o f the dings do not, bv modem standards, have the
value alleged for them. A few do. At worst thcv could not do much damage, because
the authors o f die Herbal had the gtxxi sense to put only die mildest and safest med­
icines in the upper class.
By the end o f Han, Chinese fcxxf, agriculture, and nutritional sciencc were ad­
vanced tar beyond dieir basically Neolithic situation at die dawn o f Chou. Most ot
the progress was made between 500 and ioo B.C., helped by specific government ac-
non as well as by increasing population, urbanization, and commercialization. Peas­
ants w-anted to grow more fcxxf to feed their increasing families and to sell to die
growing cities. Governments saw in diis cfesire for increase a way to power and dius
aided the peasants by economic and technical means. IXiring Han were developed
die world’s first systematic farm price supports, the first ever-normal granaries, the
first standardized weights and measures tor peasant agriculture, the first agricultural
extension services and manuals, the first official, government-sponsored, controlled
experiments in agronomy, die first comprehensive and modem agricultural policy at
a national level, and die rationalization o f die bureaucracy that alknved all this to
function. The observations that independent smallholders were die most productive
farmers and that big estates were a direat to both production and die state had be­
come entrenched (though thcv were sometimes challenged) in the official mind.
China’s bureaucratic machine— aided bv such innovations as tlie civil service exam
and the concept o f promotion strictly for merit— continued from diis time on, al­
lowing Chinese governments to function even when emperors were incompetent or
when disunion created serious problems. Agriculture continued to be one of the first
priorities o f whatever government was in pow'er.
China’s agricultural success in later millennia was due, most ot all, to the high level
i j t Crtieiat Millennium: CJxm tlnvnjjb lin n 4f>

ot'skill and knowledge among the peasants. Tlii.s owvd a great deal to die public dif­
fusion o f knowledge, by governmental extension (as with Fan Shcng-chih’s hook)
and family effort (as with tiie Sstt-miu Yudi-ihuf). No other ancient empire met the
challenge o f population pressure and commercial agriculture in urban zones so
creatively. Hsu (1980) stresses China’s need to respond to rising population pressure;
Chao (19S6), by contrast, secs Han as a period o f low population; thus innovations
came in labor-saving methods to make better use o f tlie rather limited labor. The
tnitli is, 1 believe, that the carlv Ch’in—Han pcritxl was one o f low population, but
population growth (especially in the periurban zones) came to have a significant ef­
fect by the middle o f Han. T o Boserup’s dynamic was added the need to teed a huge
army and court. Landlords also wanted more than mere subsistence grain. IXmand
for Rxxi grew greatly, and die population grew with it. Seed drills, horsecollars,
square-pallet chain pumps and iron tools propagated and made labor more efficient,
but the government seems tn have been more interested in the labor-intensive, land­
sparing methods popularized by Fan Sheng-chih, Tlie fate till transition from labor-
saving “mechanical” innovation to land-saving “biological” innovation was well un­
tier wav.
Also, die rise o f an cntrenched elite led to increased gourmets! lip, originally justi­
fied by appeal to ritual— specifically, rituals that underlined Mx’ial differences. Public
validation o f die social order w'on exit over austerity, and never again would the Chi­
nese entertain seriously the notion that diose in pow'er should not enjoy the fruits o f
success.
Finally, Chinese medicine took a modem shape. From magic and conjuring it de­
veloped into a rational, scientific, logical system in which nutrition had explicit pride
o f place.
China’s success in food production, and dius much o f her success as an empire,
has been due to these factors: government aid— especially information dispersal—
in an environment o f population growth and commercialization; importance o f the
smallholding peasant; gourmetship; and preeminence o f elaborate nutritional lore in
die medical field.
 Foodsfrom the West:
Mediated CMna

7 'he Period cf Disunion

After Hail, China was divided lor almost four centuries. During this time, agricul­
ture an in lined to change and progress. Rule bv Central Asian people; in die north
led to introduction o f crops and ideas from West and Soudi Asia, including new
land tenure systems. Ijtxral dynastic autonomy in the southeast led to rapid and dra­
matic growth in the importance of that area; its wealdi became proverbial, its agri­
culture highly developed, especially near the great lower Yangtze cities. Crops and
technology from South China— previous!v an alien realm— became well known
and were incorporated into die Chinese system. In sptte o f disunion and govemmen-
tal preoccupation widi matters other than agricultural policy, die periixi was one of
exciting innovation in agriculture and tbod. Tea, tor instance, seems to have entered
Chinese consciousness at this time.
By a process o f attrition, certain succes.sii.il families came to dominate much o f
Chinese life. Tliev prov ided stabilitv bodi by filling mid-level positions in govern­
ment and local economic and political lite and by preserving Chinese culture, phi­
losophy, and world order (Ebrcy iy7S). Tl*cv translated die great Han Conftician
synthesis into practice, providing administration diat was often arbitrary and seli-
centered but equally often responsible and competent. The two need not be op­
posed: enlightened self-interest motivated diese individuals as well as Confucian re­
sponsibility to family and to the governed, or the new Buddhist ideal o f compassion,
"flic Han ideals o f low land taxes and small, privately held farms roughly equal in size
were generally honored in principle, but high taxes and die contrast ot wealthy es­
tates widi tiny plots were die actual practice most o f die time. In die north, die Wei
(a Turkic dynasty) introduced Central Asian ideas o f common land ownership,
blending them widi the ancicnt Chinese practice o f dividing fields equally; die result
was an attempt at total state control o f land and fair distribution to individuals: able­
bodied men received more than women and old people. Tliis concept, however,
seems to have been caught between die rise o f Buddhist and elite estates {usually free
ot taxes and controls) on die one hand and Regional anarchy on the odier, and it did
little to ensure a fair land share to everyone. Under die Southern courts, great estates
were scattered among sniall estates and many tiny holdings. As usual in Chinese liis-

+7
<$• hoods fivm the West: Medieval China 4 A'

tory, most peasants seem to have been do facto owners o f their nnv famis, though
diey were heavily taxed and alwavs subject to legal or illegal dispossession by power­
ful figures.
The age was marked by an obsessive concern with ale, Rarely in die history o f die
world has akoliolism been so idealized. N o doubt much o f diis was poetic license;
we need not believe diat the bartis were drunk all the rime (as chev would have il s bc-
lieve). Alcohol was, however, definitely considered the great social facilitator and a
proper part o f all social gadierings. On the odier hand, in diis age of rebellion and es­
cape, use o f alcohol for franldv escapist purposes was also common. Manv people
used hallucinogenic drugs as well: the properties o f datura, hemp, and many odier
plants were well recognized (Hiu-lin Li 1977). Dmgs were ostensibly taken tor quasi
Taoist consciousness expansion, but a deeper escapist motive seems to have under­
lain their popularity.
Many drinkers were stxiallv prominent men who were at considerable risk o f their
lives due to court intrigues; some o f diem cultivated die image o f "hannless tin inks”
for self-protection. Donald Holzmann’s (1976) brilliant and diorough biography o f
Juan Chi exemplifies this. Juan was an ardent and scathing critic o f the government
and a prominent man o f high family. He cultivated the image o f a drunken Taoist re­
cluse in part to save him from die deadly consequences o f his criticisms- and, in­
deed, lie was eventually executed. He w'as, however, clearly attracted to such a life, as
was his circle o f friends, many o f whom had no such excuse tor their behavior. Some
other drunken poets o f the era had such high status diat they did not need to
worry— several emperors, for example, «'ere more adept at drinking and poetizing
dian at ruling.
Literary documents tell us about die ftxxl o f tlie times. T ’ao Yuan-mi ng (ifis-
427), unquestionably die greatest poet o f die peritxf and one o f die finest in .ill
Chinese history, spent his life as a small former in central China under the Wei
(Hightower 1970), Devoting much time and money to poetry and ale, he was a mar­
ginal farmer, living 0 1 1 t h e ragged edge o f p o v e r t y and sometimes forced to ask for
charity to survive. He was once prevailed upon to take office, but he resigned, appar­
ently under pressure because o f his lackadaisical attitude to ruling. Moral integrity
was perhaps less important to him dian genuine love o f a relaxed, retired life
unworried by political operating. His poems leave us a lull account o f his beloved
farm.
T ’ao lived in almost Neolithic simplicity. His (arm was divided into fields, or­
chard, and garden. His crops were millet, possibly wheat and soybeans, peach, flow­
ering apricot, mulberry, hemp, mallows, and a few odier vegetables. He also grew
his beloved pii>es and chrysanthemums, and perhaps pears, willows and a few other
plants. Bamboos completed his husbandry'. He singles out mallows— coarse, bitter,
fibrous, and glutinous— as his favorite vegetable. Much o f his millet was brewed
into ale (mistranslated “wine” by most Englisli-writing sdiolars). H e kept chickens
and probably a few other animals: a farmer in 3000 B.C. would probably have had
f t boods fivm the IVest: Medieval ('hum 4 9

morv. T ’ao lived 011 the edge o f s tan arion, in pan because of his primitive tech­
niques. Yet he was a brilliant .11id educated num. Tlie ordinary farmer probably did
not tare any better, even though T ’ao clearly devoted much rime to [*x.Trv and .lie
tliat could have been spent in agricultural swink.
Hie other major ptx't ot the age, Hsieh Ling-vi.ui, was .1 rich landlord in the
South. I le once appalled a distant neighbor bv suddenlv appearing on his land after
having lils nien cut .1 wide r<>ad through .solid forest; tlie neighbor was disconcert«!
at tlie trespass and damage (hnxisham 1967), Hsieh’s poetry breathes a spirit o f
Hioreau-likc detachment that lias .is little to d<>with bis life ;ls Thoreau’s image bad
to do with his stonily career. Hut Mich ruthless developers helped nini the South into
a huge garden.
In k h , Cli’i 1l,\ii pixxluced a prose account o f tlie economic botany o f South
China, rough Iv the area ot modem kw.ingning (Li 1979). Even his mistakes arc the
result ot shrewd observation. Ilius he notes that rape-run ups become mustard-
greens when planted 111 the South, having observed that in a land without winter
they do not prxxiuce a swollen r(x>t, and he compares this with his observation that
the orange turns into tile interior trifoliate-orange when planted in North China,
lliis bit ot lore is evidently based on the fact tliat tender cim Ls species arc routinely
grafted onto tlie tougher trifoliate understock, and in a cold, dry climate die scion
W(xxl is often weakened or killed, leaving the mtbliate underwood to proliterate
infuriatingly. Ch'i describes no fewer than eighty' plants and refers to sophisticated
raft agriculture in water and other interesting techniques.
In die late 400s and earlv 500s, T ’ao Hung-ching compiled all the herbal, chem­
ical, alchemical, medical, Taoist, and general occult lore o f South China. A mountain
recluse who hobnobbed widi empeiwrs and a retired meditator whose writings
run into the dozens o f volumes, he is one o f die tniiv great iikh o f all time. He
assembled die herbal, dietary, ,11id botanical lore o f previous ages, including the Shai
Ntttuj Pm Tsao o f latter Han, and added much o f his own, creating many huge
herbal encyclopedias that were die direct ancestors o f the later, more famous Pai-
frVw K ’niuj-fint o f Li Shih-ch’en (ca. isyi). His classifications and exhaustive tre-at-
ment — including extensive quotes from earlier authorities, tabulated data, and
many S(Xcial categorizations o f the medical qualities o f plants— set a standard diat is
still widi 11s, lying behind die great compendium Zljotuj Tao Da Zt Dian (Great Dic­
tionary o f Chinese Medicine), published in 1979. I11 T ’ao’s work we first see foods
classified as "heating” or “cooling,” a Western belief diat may have entered China
widi Buddhism. T his humoral theory intluenced Chinese eating enormously, as
people tried to maintain a harmonious balance between liot and cold principles in
their Ixxtics, and to some extent between wet and dry energies as well,
"Iliesc herbals were embedded in a wider tradition that involved die development
o f all aspects o f medicine, especially die se.irch for longevity or immortality (Schafer
1980; Unschnfc) 1985; Wong and Wu 1936). Tlie long-temi effects ot die expansion ot
ittod uses diat accompanied this search were considerable. Adepts seeking longevity
 iji« Foods fivw (h i West: Medieval CJrina io

■ibst.uncd from staple tixxis and meats, often eating very bizaire diets. Alchemy, min­
eral nutrition, and longevity drugs were subjects o f intense smdv and caused much
heavy-metal poisoning (Needham 19 76-Bo), H ie enormous influence o f lluddlusm
led to die adoption o f Buddhist tixxis and kxxiways, including medical dier.uy
codes. Buddhist missionaries, like manv missionaries since, found that they made
niorc converts by helping the sick than by arguing tine points o f theology.
’Hie otlier gieat work o f the period is the Ch’i Min TaoSbn or “ordinary people's
needed skilLs” (die title somewhat ambiguous and subject to otlier translations) by
Cilia Ssn-hsieh. Chia was a lexal governor under the Wei who evidently took his po­
sition seriouslv. He compiled .ill the agricultural knowledge tinat he regarded as vahi-
able, using all the older Ixxiks avail able to him, peasant experience, his own observa­
tions, and considerable experimentation .ind held work. ,Shih Sheng-han (i'X>2)
lecendy edited the enevelopedic lxx>k and pixxluccd a valuable summary and partial
translation in English; more accurate translations o f portions o f die work are pro­
vided by Hui-lin I.i (nXn;).
Chia was a su|X'i b agronomist. His book is verv much a product o f the diy north.
In til is it resembles Fan Shcng-chih’s Ixxik, which was one o f Chia’s major sources.
I11 addition to .ignailrur.il advice, Chia’s Ixxik includes a long section on leimenra-
rion products. Starters were made from cereal .uid water. Artemisia (sagebrush,
mugworr) (eaves were often added, almost certainly tor rile same reason rhat hops
were added to beer: tlie strong antiseptic etiect keeps bacteria and other problems at
bav. Qxiklebur leav es were sometimes used, possibly tor the same purpose, or per­
haps just to add wild yeasts or extra nutrients. Top-fcmicntarion is described: Chia
refers to "‘floating ants" appearing on die surface o f the liquid during brewing, (The
significance o f tilts tern) has been missed by odier commentators.) Top-fermentation
is expected anyway; modem bottom-tormenting beer yeasts are die pitxinct o f long
and careful selection o f special strains o f SiucImi tnmm arn’isuic, whereas the ni.ikcrs
o f Chinese ale used wild or semi wild strains ofdiis yeast and many odier distantly re­
lated fimgi. Chia also describes die making o f yogurt, cheese, and butter— com­
modities o f some importance in his day. Central Asian rulers and Buddhist travelers
had (XJpularized dairy products, especially in die North, where they were a major
part o f die diet. China’s famous avoidance o f dairy tixxis was not to be seen—
die opposite was die case in die Northern dynasties. Cilia also describes how to dry
meat widi or without salting. This was, o f course, more essential tor the armies dian
for die household; troops carried dieir meat in tlie fomi o f jerky. If we leave out a
long section on exotic plants diat derives from earlier natural histories such as Po Wu
Cliih and Ch’i Han’s lxx>k, we find tliat Chia described roughly sixty economic
plants.
From the poems and ftxxl manuals o f die age, it is evident that die Chinese diet
had become sharply differentiated. The Nordi was a land o f miller, meat, and dairy
prtxlucts; in die Soudi, where economic activity centered on die lower Yangtze, peo-
pfe ace rice, fish, and water ftxxis. Nordiemers teased Southerners about earing frogs
 Foods from the Wist: Mcriievnt Chinn f/

ami snails; Southerners rcciprtxrated with snorts about yogurt and cheese, which
must liavc seemed to them to be nothing but spoiled milk. 'Hie South had a greater
variety o f vegetables and fruits and probably a more elaborate cuisine; it was also die
home o f the most advanced herbal lore. "Ilie Yangtze Valley and even die lands
south o f it were coming into their own, tiieir economic growth continued in suc­
ceeding dynasties. Eventually nee came to dominate wheat and millet economically,
dcmographically, and {to .sonic extent) culinarily. Ill is process was begun, or at least
helped, by the long period o f disunion.

lit:unitcd and Triumphant: Stti and 'Pang

Hie reunification o f China came more suddenly than most would have predicted.
It began with a palace coup o f tlie sort typical o f die previous hundred years. In 580
A n ., Yang Ch'ien made himself full ruler o f a new dynasty (Wright 1978,1979). Yang
was tar ditlerenr from the pcttv tyrants who ruled the many previous kingdoms. A
stem, ruthless, and paranoid man, he rolled over opposition like a whirlwind.
Yang Ch’ien established the equal field {dian t'ieii) system in its Turkicized tomi
as devised during the Northern Wei Dynasty. What was new, indeed revolutionary,
about the revival was its uniform extension to everyone in all o f China. The system
Wits a tomi o f socialism. Ol d man1 male liousehoiders received So mu o f land to work
during their active lifetime— it reverted to die state when dicy reached the age o f
sixty— anti io'A mu o f kind that could Ik kept tor life and passed on to descendants.
O f the allotment, 20 11111 was tor fiber growing (mulberry and hemp land), the re­
maining one-third mu was for a house and garden. Women received only 40 mu o f
active-life allonnent; almost .ill women were pan o f a household headed by a man.
Men o f servile statics got the basic So mu, but nothing else except one-tilth o f a mu
tor a house and garden. Men o f high status got more: nobles received anywhere
from 40 to [0,000 11111 o f inheritable kind, and additional land accompanied govern­
ment offices, the amount depending on the level ot die office. Buddhist temples had
dieir own allotments. In densely populated parts o f die Empire, diere was probably
too little land to go around even at die beginning o f Sui, and by S92 there was only
one-tourth the reallocation land available as was needed to make tlie system function.
Cine assumes diat as soon as Sui became stable, people flocked to die citv outskirts,
and diere appeared the situation we already encountered in Han, in which die ridi
periurban districts had exceedingly dense populations even though more remote
areas were seeking people to rill gtxxi land.
Most important, diis system fimilv established die state as die ultimate owner o f
the land and made it clear to everyone that land was given only at die pleasure or dis­
cretion o f die Empire. It also defined a stable social system in which die vast majority
o f people were equal and part o f a collectivity, although many were o f strictly defined
higher or lower status— again at tlie pleasure o f die court. H ie Sui government was
particularly interested in stimulating grain production, needing to rebuild die na­
tional stocks ravaged by decades o f war and neglect. They were spectacularly success-
 Foods from the West: Mcdtcml ('hum \Z

fill, amassing up to ten million (Chinese) bushels o f grain in the public granaries
(Wright 1979:93—9+). These gr.ui.uics, like those o f Han and other dvnasties, were
used as security reserves and functioned to keep prices level; die government kept
prices up in gtxxi vcars by buying large stocks and kept prices down in bad years by
selling offsom e o f their surplus. During the Si 11 Dynasty grain was emphasized over
otlier crops. The hereditary land allotments were supposed to tx_- primarily tor fiber
crops. Taxes were paid in grain, cloth, and lalxii— this threefold tax system was an-
otlier major Sui contribution. Flint, vegetables, and meat were luxuries, important
to tlie court, rare in the lives o f die commoners.
Yang Ch’ien’s .successor possessed his father's paranoia but not his intensity o f con­
centration and ertbrt. He li.is become famous in Iuston as the archetype of the Had
Last Fjnpenor, living out everyone’s fantasies in under-the-counter nov els. Hie Tang
victory was essentially a replav o f Siti’s (Bingham 1941; Twitchctt 1979). A |X>vvcrtiil
military arisrtvrat, Li Yuan, the Duke o f T ang, marched from a northern garrison
and took Ch’ang-an 111 618.
T a n g rase to brilliance in the 700s but was dogged bv cold, tin,' weather that con­
tributed (along with social factors) to famines and revolts such as An [ai-sh.ui’s 111
(Pullcyblank I9i 0 - Alter Soo, tlie climate seems to have recov ered somewhat, but the
regime had already been weakened, and apparently at no time- did it enjov as good a
climate as that o f Han rimes.
Many o f tlie late T an g emperors— five in succession, bv one story— diet) by tak­
ing “ immortality" drugs. As Michel S trie kmaim has pointed out (1979), the death of'
die material body was not taken as evidence o f the word ilessi less o f the dmgs, ibr the
immortality was supposed to reside on a higher plane; still, it is perhaps the otilv case
in world liistorv o f a suicidal cult influencing a national gov eminent tor decades.
Why the T a n g Chinese took so seriously the idea o f immortality, when few other
elites have ever been so persuaded, is a question we are only beginning to solve.
Some o f die emperors may actually have Ix'cn poisoned bv enemies.
The T a n g Dynasty officially ended in 907. The peruxl from 907 to reunifica­
tion in 960 is known as die Five Dynasties, but dicre were manv more than five if all
die essentially independent local strongholds are reckoned. Tins period w as one o f
constant strife bodi between and widiin die kingdoms (Schafer i9H)-
As in Sui, during T a n g land was disnibuted to people as dicir capacities allowed
(Twitdiett 1962, 1961,1979; Twitchett and Wright 1973). Tlie male head o f a house­
hold got 100 mu, o f which 80 was “personal share land" to work while he was active
and 20 was tree crop land diat could be passed on to his descendants. Odier classes
o f persons got lesser holdings. T i e too-mn holding amounted to about six acres.
Previous figures put it at thirteen acrcs, but the T a n g code states dearly diat the
measurement used was tlie smaller Han Dviiasry mu (Twitchett 196.1:124). The code
specified diat a mu should have fifty mulberry or ten elm trees, which suggests die
smaller mu, since the Chinese plant mulberries very close togedier and prune diem
into an almost buslilike appearance. Six acres was not exactly a lilier.il holding, but it
was no worse than most Asian peasants have come to expect dirough history. In 737
ft h'ooiir from the IV is i Mfrftcin/ Chttm ii

there was mi attempt to make the whole lo o mu revert to die state at die death o f tile
user. l'Jocuments found at Tun-huang Oasis show that the land distribution system
was earned out conscientiously, and tlie system actually functioned, though Tun-
huang (small, coil fined, and on the frontier) may have been a special ease (Tvvitchett
KXn).
However, as time went on, the system was bound to tail. It required almost im­
possibly honest cn tureen lent and registration bv the verv people who could most
easily take adv ant age o f the system and subvert it to their own ends. In tile South,
land was easily available blit it was often worked by si ash-and-bum method? involv­
ing long tallow- periods; die allocation system there can have been litde more dian an
ideal to hope tor. Compromises w ere also made in other special areas: tor example,
extra Lind was given when some o f the land in an allomlent was unculrivablc nr o f
very poor quality.
We have followed China dirough direc radical transformations in landliolding.
The tiisr came when pnniitivc common ownership o f land by the community was
replaced bv classic feudalism: ennoblement and enteotfrncnt o f die supporters and
kin o f die ruler. This came probably in Sliang and certainly by Chou. The second
was the rise o f priv ate landownership .ind vcoman tanning, a trend that developed in
late Chou and w as given official standing bv Han. (Along widi this came die fiction
o f total state control and experiments in state socialism.) Tlie third was die rise o f
full-scale redistributive agrarian socialism untkr Wei and more generally under Sui
and Tang. 'Hie tin nth transformation was the destruction o f diis system by An’s re­
bellion, which led to the rise o f giant estates owned by politically powerful figures.
This situation connnued through the Sung. Hie fifth and tinal premodem cranstor-
mation came gradually during later dynasties (Ming and Cli’ing): and die great es­
tates declined in importance and small fanners rose once again.
In monastic landliolding, ra n g land tenure and its effect on dev elopment was
comparable to diarofnietiiev.il Europe. Buddhist and Taoist establishments ac­
quired huge agriailtur.il holdings, wliicb die state expropriated on occasions w hen it
telt short o f cash.
The staple tood during T a n g continued to be millet; rice was popular in die rap­
idly expanding South. From tax figures, I calculate grain yields to have been about
1300 —1,600 pounds per acre (the figures are IX'iiis Twite hcrr’s, recalculated using
the correct mu; Twitehetr 1963). These figures are similar to good Han yields and to
ptxirlsli vie Ids for the early twentieth century, lliere was a tax o f 2 slull (then about
140 pounds [XT shih) per household, so a household with more land w.is in better
shape dian one with less. Other raxes affected cloth and so on, and there was die
usual tendency to rake more dian die legal and ordinary rax. 'I"he government salt
monopoly also reappeared (as in Han and odier early reigns), stressing tlie people by
rendering diis essential conwxxlity harder to get. Pickling w'as still a primary mode
o f preserving vegetables and the like, requiring large quantities o f salt. Many o f die
rebels o f late T a n g cut dieir teeth as salt smugglers.
Near Eastern crops— among diem spinach, sugar beet, lettuce, almond, and
 Funds fivru the West: Mcdtt'vnt C.binn >"+

fig— became known during T a n g (Laufcr 19m; Schafer i<x>i). S< Hithcm be­
came more widespread, lint most o f diem wore ones known to Ch’i Han centuries
before. Palm sugar (jaggerv) and tixldv, dares, greater vam (DuKcmva afotn), ear
daniom, galang.il, and many new varieties o f nee, taro. myrobalans, citrus, cassia, ba­
nana, C'jiumitan, litdii, and similar fruits we re among the imp nt.int crops li< >111 the
South; titdiis .met other subtropical hints were iced and brought to t h e con i t by eon
ricrs; thcv were considered gic.it delicacies (Schafer 196"). Bv tar the most important
change in Clunese fix*. I and agriculture during T a n g w a s adoption of’ the Southern
strategy’ of’double-cropping o f rice. Evidently practiced foe centuries, it not millen­
nia, bv the native peoples o ft lie deep South, it spread widely during ,md after Tang,
set into practice by Chinese tanners who now serried in great numbers in the newly
secured lands. Hie southeast had been Chinese territory oft and on since C.h'in, but
onlv during'I'ang did it receive much settlement, thus the ( .uitone.se call themselves
"people o f T an g” rather than “ people of H.Ui,” as the speakers of oilier Chinese lan­
guages call themselves. In tlie deep Soutli the aborigines’ regional diet based 011 rice
and ruber crops was adopted bv the Chinese as w ell. “ Yams and tain” became a stan­
dard trope for aborigines’ coarse, uncouth tare (Schafer 19(19). Rice, bv contrast, was
well on its wav to becoming the universal favorite that it is now.
In tlie North, wheat continued to gain. Crop rotation, allowing both wheat and
millet to be grown, continued to spread; new milling methods made wheat’s most
usable fbim, flour, generally accessible (Schafer 1977). Wheat was eaten in the 10111 is
well known in nxxlem times: dumplings, fried dough strips, and n<x>dlcs. Ancestors
ot die modem sluw-phiQ (“ roast cakes,” small breads covered with sesame seeds and
baked on the sides o f large ovens) were popular and apparently regarded as new.
Shao-ping are actually diminutive versions o f the standard Persian and Central Asian
bread widely known as nan, mid they were den vetI from that pan of the world; in
T a n g China they were exotic items baked bv Central Asians in the big cities (Schafer
1963, 1977)- Wheat-flour cakes o f various kinds have been found in Central Asian
T ’ang sites (China Pictorial 1976:16-^9).
From die many writings we haw from Tang, and especially from the extremely
complete dian' o f die Japanese monk, Ennin, who visited China in the S+os, we
leam diat millet was die daily staff o f life in die north; wheat was considered sorue-
dring o f a luxury (Reischauer igy). Ennin records diat wheat cakes and dumplings
o f various kinds «'ere special tare brought our to greet him and his entourage or
eaten as die fancy fixxi at great feasts— taking die place o f the meat diat 11011-
Buddiiists would have eaten at such occasions. Bean curd and wheat-gluren meat im­
itations were not yet known. Buddhism led to large-scale vegetarianism and the de­
velopment o f a variety o f wheat products diat substituted tor iiKat and reminded the
‘Western barbarians” o f dieir home foods; cow’s flesh was progressively abandoned
as a food. Chinese continued to eat beef, but with a sense o f shame, and many older
Chinese still regard die cow as unfair game; non-Buddhists and Buddhists alike say it
works too hard tor humankind to be treated in such an uncaring fashion. Japanese,
*0 * b'luiii} Jivm the W at: M idicm ! Chum ((

more influenced by Buddhism. later ceased cnrirclv to cat beef, and only with mas­
sive Westernization li.ts it again become a kxxi there. However, cream, yogurt,
kumys (fermented mares’ milk), cheese, curds, .uni butter wen: popular. Since die
dynastic family itself was o f part-'Turkic background, these kxxis necessarily took oil
some status. Tins seems to have been the climax o f dairy prixluct consumption in
China. Other Central A m.ui t(xxis, such as grape wine and otlier wheat products,
were also very popular.
Tea may have reached China well before T an g, but it owes its popularity to a
craze tliat developed in that dvnastv. Lu Yu’s Hook of'Tea {197+, original eighth cen­
tury) set the seal 011 a developing conoisseurship; it is still widely read today. Tea,
which originated somewhere in the Burma—India border country, was most likely
introduced to C-linia bv Buddhist monks, aid lough we have no p n x ifo f this. In
com p.in son to rice or Chinese cabbages, it is a very recent ad di tichi to die Chinese
tootl roster. We now diink of tea as ciuintessentially Chinese, but in l'an g it was a
new, exotic drink— a major example o f the importance o f westward inikieiKe at die
rime.
Leaving aside such oddments as die babv macac|ues mentioned in a poem by Li
Ho (f’rodsham 1967; 201), wc find that the ordinarv people ate about the same things
they had alwavs eaten. I;ish abounded, .11id great fishing expeditions arc described.
Raw lisli w.is very popular; indeed, it was one o f the major luxuries, arid several
poets describe the thin slices tlving like snow from the cleaver o f a skilled cutter. The
thinnest slices o f the freshest fish were considered ideal, freshwater fish were nor­
mally available, since the capital anti most major cities were fir inland on rivers.
Some varieties were preferred over odiers; sea creatures in general were somewhat
unusual to literati. Meat, sliced thin and ct xiked probably as it is in die northwest to­
day {usually stir-fried with onions, chives or odier alliums), was a sign o f affluence or
luxury. Chickens (and r.irclv odier poultry) were eaten only on special occasions and
were a trope for such in poetrv. Bv contrast, then: were tropes for simple rusticity, as
in a poem bv Kao Shili:

Ploughing die land between the mulberry trees,

Tlie land is rich, the vegetables ripen fast.
May I ask how diese mallows and beans
Compare widi the viands at court? (Chan, 197«:91)

Like odier eras, T a n g was a period o f recurrent families. The aftereffects ot war
and civil strife were augmented by the erratic tax systems. Pestilences, apparendy
more common because o f elose links with India and die Near East, whence conta­
gion often spread (Twitchett 1979), were exacerbated by famines and led to worse
famine in turn, as die able-Lxxiied died off. Hiere is 110 evidence that die\’ had the
effect, as in Europe, o f forcing up the price o f labor; more likely they liad the ef­
fect diev had in die Middle East, where they killed the well-to-do urbanites, dius
 Foods frma the Wat: Medtcml Chitin ,rrt

reducing demand for labor even tixxc than thev reduced die supply, leading to
lower wages and economic decline (Dols 1977).
K China’s first known cookbook and die first nutrition textbook (both now lost) ap­
peared during 'Pang. Herbals and agricultural manuals grew' on tile model set by
T ’ao Hiuig-ching and Cilia Ssu-hsieh, appearing tinder court auspices to tlie im­
provement ot'medicine and agriculture (Unschuld iq8(). Distillation appeared to­
ward the end o f T a n g ; it may have been invented in China (Needham 1916.
1976-80).
''4 ^ ' "Tang was the Golden Age o f China, remembered tor its incomparable poetry anti
arts o f life. In die evolution o f die Chinese fotxi .system, however, it dtx/s not stand
out as cspcciaBy important. Earlier inventions and creations rtMchcd fruition at this
tinK'TBomowings from die west and south were integrated into tlie system. The ex­
periment with socialist land management tailed, never to be revived in China, Tea
became imporr.mt tor tlie first time. "Pang was a period o f consolidation, o f splendid
success built 011 earlier work.
 4A Definitive Shaping
of the Food System:
D Sung and the
Conquest Dynasties

The Sung Dynasty

During die Sung l'h n.isty, CInna’s agriculture and food r<x)k definitive shape.
Oj£l-'<x>d production bccamc mon; rational and scientific. By die end o f Sung, North
1 CIhin.i— no longer ruled hv the Chinese— was agriculturally mature. Lirde change
took plate dicreattcr until die mid-twentieth century. South China expanded its
tanning and added new crops in succeeding dynasties, but diere too the partem was
set in Sung, .uid little basic change in technology followed.
China’s grc.it cuisine also appears to be a product o f Sung. T a n g t < x x f was simple,
but by l,itc Sung, an elaborate cuisine widi regional spedaJties is well attest«!. lTle
rise o f regional bourgeoisies led to til is elaboration; imperial ftxxl remained expen­
sive but less innovative than die tare o f die merchants and local elites.
Chao K ’ua-viti, die founder o f Sung, consolidated governmental control under
the civilian bureaucracy anti did everything possible to weaken die military aixl to
prevent the reappearance o f local landlords. Virtual satrapies, like die nordleast un­
der late T an g, did not reappear. Chao centralized tax collection, made governors an­
swerable directly to die state, and rotated officials frequently. Monxwer, lie showed a
truly Chinese grasp o f die value o f deliberately managed ideology' by explicitly and
continuously stressing— more than in previous ccnrurics— die moral and cultural
superiority o f civilian scholar-bureaucrats over military men. 'I 1k- Sung military ma­
chine later grew' enormous, eventual!)' eating up two-thirds or more o f die state rcve-
nue and garnering over a million men, but its entire command and funding structure
was subordinated to die civilian elite. It was not brilliantly successful even at its pri­
mary purpose o f suppressing imenial dissent, and it was stunningly incompetent at
dealing with external challenges.
The serious military problem during Sung was die northern barbarians. During
die Five Dynasties, the Khitan, an Altaic people, had conquered China’s northeast
frontier and established control over much o f what is now Manchuria. By the begin­
ning o f Sung, die Kliitan empire stretched from south o f Peking to Korea, and

57
ffi' Dtfinitivt Sbapbi/j o f the Food Svstetu iS

many more Chinese than Khitan were under their control- '11k Khitan developed
Peking as a sou diem capital o f their new Liao Dynasty, the beginning ot Peking's ca­
reer as an imperial capital. Powerful !ninters and raiders, able to withdraw into the
wintry fastnesses o f Manchuria or to n m s huge Chinese armies 011 the plains of
Hopes, the Khitan were virtually unbearable. 'Ihe Sung Dynasty p.ud them oft in­
stead, using a great deal o f money for the purpose, hut less (they hoped) 111.in they
would have had to spend 011 military buildup to ensure a conquest.
Tlie idea o f Chinese nationalism great Iv developed during Sung. Tlie eclectic spinr
o f half-barbarian T'ang was replaced bv a violently nationalistic attitude reflected in,
for instance, tlie patriotic jxxTry o f Lu Vu (112s—1210). However, the Khitan grew in
power, eventually giving tlie West another word for China: the name Khirai (land ot
tlie KJiitan), anglicized Cadiav. Liao succumbed to the easy life, but .mother and far
more menacing group arose on dieir flank: the Juichcn. a "fungus tnbe. I he Jure he11
conquered Liao in 1125 and moved 011 against Sung. I11 1127 the Sung capital, I’ ien
Ching (now Kaifeng, in the Yellow River vallev east ot’ I jovang), tell to them, (For
full historical details, see Gcmet 1962; Colas 1980; Haeger 1975; Liu and Colas nX*;;
Rossabi ivSi; Shiba 1970; Wittfbgel and Feng 1949.) 11le Sung emperor was cap­
tured, However, die Jufchcn were unable to follow up 011 their triumph, and the
Sung reconstituted itself under a new emperor in the city o f Hangchow. ’Hi us began
die Soli diem Sung (the period before 1117 is called Nonhen 1 Sung). 1luge tribute
payments were made to the new rulers o f the north, and alter 1214 to the Mongols.
Si >11then 1 Sung kept up a continual but half-hearted harassment o f their southern
flanks. Under a group o f military leaders that included Yiieh l-'ci, one o f the 111nsr
brilliant generals in Chinese history, thcv drove hard against the Chin. Yiieh l-'ei was
an idealistic, ambitious, intense man— at best a threat to Sung’s traditionally' peaeeliil
and antimilitaristic policies, ar worst a very real threat to the dvrusrv itself (Wilhelm
1962). He presented himself as a hero. Tlie Prime Minister Ch’in Kuei. with die ob­
vious it less dian public support o f die Emperor, eliminated Yiieh Fei by douhle-
deaiing and negotiated peace widi Chin. Later Chinese show their tee lings 011 this
subject by referring to common deep-tried crullers, properly called dough strips, as
“oil-tried devils” in honor o f Clfin Kuei and his wife; the crullers as diev tn' are seen
as representing die fate o f the pair in hell.
Eventually, after decades o f tension. Sung supported the Mongols against the
Chin (as they had probably supported tlie Jurchen against the Liao) 011 the time-
honored principle o f using barbarians to control barbarians, The strategy backfired,
and by 1278 Sung was in hill flight. In 1279 the last bov emperor was run down in .1
far southern refuge, and the Sung Dynasty was over.
Deterioration o f die climate ended and even reversed itself about 900, but a sharp
and dramatic downturn may have occurred about the end o f Northern Sung (I„imh
1982; Zhang 1982), and another bad period came just before the dvnasrv tell. Presum -
ablv diese bad rimes were not unassoeiared with the sufferings o f the l-lmpirc. lie-
rween diem, die climate rebounded to essentially modem conditions, but at best the
 Dcfimtti'c Shnpnifj of the hood Swcm fV

period seen is ro have suffered considerable fluctuation. Ilie conquest dynasties suf­
fered more, tor they were in the north where tile etxiling and drying trends were
more serious, lint this did not prevent tlie population o f China from rising to new
heights. Population during Northern Sung passed the 100 million mark; Chin
reached +o million or rmrv, and Soutlieni Sung at its height was even more popu­
lous, m>tlie combined tot.tl was at least no million (Ho 1970; d ’ Colas 1980), Obvi­
ously tixM.1 and agriculture must haw developed greatly to teed so many people in
tlie face o f ecological deterioration and the loss o f China’s Central Asian lands. H ie
figures represent a doubling o f Chinas population since early Tang.
Economic decentralization wentso fir that some liave described Sung as capitalist
or proto-capitalist. However, it has also been described as feudal, modem, tradi­
tional, and even thing else imaginable. I11 fact Sung was in a class bv itself in Chinese
history, but it w.is rather like many medieval Western states m allowing the economy
to run without much government interference, but enough to guarantee that noth­
ing like modem capitalism arose. llic monopolies on salt, wine, tea, and otlier com­
modities were in force for varying times; even the salt trade was relatively free for a
while, but the government often relied on die revenues from moixipolies. ‘Ilie
northern Altaic dynasties never dreamed o f doing widiout substantial government
control of'trade in basic gotxls. Liao introduced a style o f government influenced by
West Asian autocracy, more centralized and authoritarian than Sung or even Tang.
(Wintogel and 1’eng | iv4v| described the svstem; Witttbgcl [1957] drew on it for bis
mt Kiel o f Oriental despotism, not realising that it was new' in eleven di-ccntury
China.) I’robahlv the most imp>tlant wav goveniment influenced economy wus
dirough its enormous procurement. Supporting a standing armv o f a million men
obviously required large amounts o f grain, weaponry, horses, and so forth. Sup­
porting a capital a tv o f another million— most working directly or indirectly tor the
government— meant another huge procurement effort. When the capital moved,
the people mov ed with it; former capitals were almost deserted. Obviously the gov­
eniment was in a position to make or ruin any industry or entrepreneur who could
supply it. Hie spectacular growth o f sea trade and o f porcelain, metal, and printing
industries serve .is examples o f the government's influence. Iron farm ttxils also pnv
Iiterated- Robert [ lam veil (1961-62) has shown that prtxlucrion (mining and manu­
facturing) exp.mded twelvefold and iTKxlemized accordingly, so diat the Sung pro­
duced as much iron as did Kurope scvcr.il hundred years later. (On Sung economy,
see also Chou 197+; M cknight 1971.)
'Die leading intellectuals o f Northern Sung— men like Ou-yang Hsiu, Wang An-
sliih and Su Shih— were to .some extent the architects o f the tamed Sung Chinese
fusion o f Confucian public morality' with Buddhist and Taoist metaphysics (Chu
and Lai 1967; Graham 1958; Nivison and Wright 19*9). Their ideals are stated over
and over in their poems, with explicit references to Buddhism and philosophic T ao ­
ism. They were not often active practitioners o f these religions, though Wang
(among others) became a devout Buddhist and Su Shth dabbled in alchemy (Lin
 Definitive Sbtipmit of the Fmd System 60

1947; Clark 1931). In Southern Sung, those questions were tunher studied and the
ethical system o f neo-Con fiici an ism elaborated. By tar the most famous .11id impor­
tant philosopher o f the period was Chu Hsi (1150—1200). Translating beliefs about
human nature into polity, in die historical context o f Sung, involved much more
than worrying about the Rites and tile meaning o f Printiple. There was, tor- instance,
die problem o f who was going to do what. With the aristocracy gone, the military
downplayed and die bureaucracy still relatively small and underpowered, delegation
o f authority had to be planned. Several new institutions arose, .111King die 111 the poo-
cirin, a government system in which a group o f households are responsible tor each
other. Local minor officials outside die scholar-bureaucracy took nn new' impor­
tance. O f great long-tenn import was the rise in importance of the lineage. Aristo­
crats had always had much power and wealth vested in the lineage, but only txgili­
ning in Northern Sung could anv lineage be a corporate body with its own rules,
lands, rents, educational institutions, and leadership. H ie tiiM known mic lineage es­
tate was established bv Fan Chung-ycn in 1048 (Ebrcy 1981). Estate lands were to Ix
used for mutual aid widiin die lineage and were initially tax-free. One o f their impor­
tant purposes was generating funds for educating lineage children, thus giving them
a chance at die civil service examinations. The corporate lineage also came to serve as
a way o f delegating authority. Lineages became tiny empires within an empire, regu­
lating dieir own affairs according to Confitcian guidelines, anti freeing the state ti >r
overucliing concerns.
The other group diat stepped into the void was die new' rich. Trade rose dramati­
cally in Sung, as in previous major dynasties, but diei e was an important difference:
Sung’s loss o f die north and west. Even at die beginning, die dynasty did not hold
the nortliem marches or Central Asia. This, coupled with the final fruition o f die
long-obvious trend toward developing the soudi and east, led to a dramatic and al­
most total redirection o f trade between High T a n g and Sung. Tang's most flour­
ishing external trade had been with Central Asia and the west, while internally the
important How o f goods had been from Szechuan and die Yellow—Yangtze in­
terfluve to die capital. Sung's major external trade, by contrast, was maritime; con­
stant voyages were made to Korea and dicre was considerable contact with Japan,
Southeast Asia, and some enterprises even farther afield. Internally, the trade along
die Yangtze and into die deep south became far more important— especially, o f
course, after die fall o f die north. Its capitnJ in die Yangtze delta at Hangchou, die
Sung world became an aquatic one; its main street was die Yangtze, its dtxjr on die
world die China Sea.
This had its effects on the sociology o f enterprise. During T an g, die Central Asia
trade (and what little maritime trade T a n g had) had been largely controlled by for­
eigners and by government entcTprise. Trade across die deserts required organization
o f huge, expensive, slow caravans. In Sung, by contrast, anyone who could afford a
sampan could become a trader ofeonscqucncc. Cuisine was benefited as regional
middle classes arose, a bourgeoisie loving its solid comforts.
f ji ' Definitive Shapmtt of the Food System 61

This bnngs us to agriculture, via the question o f land use and land tenure.1 The
average family— independent peasants or tenants— controlled about too mu, a large
amount o f land, tor the mu had reached its modem area o f about one-seventh o f an
acre. However, an average tells us link- in this case. Many, perhaps even most, inde­
pendent peasants had only around 20 mu. The chiuviq-yttan (large estates) controlled
much o f the empire, especially in the most de\'e!opcd areas. Still, perhaps 60 percent
o f tlie peasants were small-scale freeholders. CXI lei’s worked government land o f vari­
ous designations. Iliosc 011 tile chuang-yuan enjoyed varying degrees o f security, au­
tonomy, and control over tlieir land, depending on local circumstances. The great es­
tates were most highly developed in the lower Yangtze region and later in Fukien
(Fbcrhard 1977:2 tf>), areas where trade was most active and where tiie land was most
valuable Ixvause o f its richness and its proximity to markets. ’Iliese areas were die
centers o f power and learning as well, ,md the scholar-bureaucrats and landlords
mingled. Inevitably, the landlords tbund ways to avoid taxation, laying a heavy' k>ad
011 the backs o f tlie smallholder and often driving them to seek tenant status. Per­
haps 70 percent o f tlie land was rax exempt (Chou 197+; Colas 1980; McKnight 1971,
197s).
Meanwhile, Liao and CI1111 were working out a different accommodation. They
did not hav e the option o f maintaining a small and relatively unmilitary' government.
Tribal conquerors, forced to hold down tlieir Chinese subjects while figiiting otlier
Altaic peoples, they never questioned die need to maintain a strong and militarized
government with a broad financial base. Insofar as diey moved away from this, they
tell rapidly; softer Chinese ways were adopted by Liao and then by Chin before the
conquest o f each. llie tribes still owned land collectively, tor extensive herding, but
private property and government landownership were dominant in the agricultural
areas. Chin in particular depended heavily on state monopolies, adding iron and a
half a dozen otlier commodities to tlie salt, wine, and tea already mentioned. Few
people were spared: even die tribesmen, die ruling house’s people, were taxed, al-
diough under Chin, taxes on Chinese were as much as forty-four times greater than
taxes on Jurchen (liuell 1982; Jing 1976).
In 1068, a new Sung emperor took office under die tide Slien-tsung, An aggressive
fighter for public welfare, economic improvement, and centralization o f power in his
own hands, Shen-tsung called Wang An-shih to become his Prime Minister. Wang,
already well known as a militant advocate o f reform, embarked on a series o f far-
reaching changes that alienated his previous backers and eventually most o f tlie rest
o f the country. Tlie storv is too complex to be summarized here (see Liu 1959;
Mcskill 1965; Williamson 1935—37), but Wang's broad and sweeping letbmis had two
goals: to strengthen die state and to increase production. His measures included a
ne«r and n>ore far-reaching militia act and several other military measures; rax reform
and equalization; reorganization o f die fiscal system; and reform o f die examination
system to make specialized training and knowledge o f statecraft nx>re important
while reducing the stress on purely literary skills. Fie increased coinage considerably.
tp* Definitive Shaping of the Food System 62

dius furthering the monetization o f die (xnnoniy More directly relevant to agricul­
ture was die agricultural loan program and die rebirth o f the ever-norma I granary
system, The latter had been tried manv times before in Chinese history, with varying
success. Tlie tbnner measure involved loaning money to jv.Ls.uits in die spin g
(hence it was called die Green Shoots Plan) anti receiving repayment in the tall at a
rate o f interest that, while usurious (up to 40 percent) by modem standards, was tar
below dien current rates in die countryside. Wang also favored land reclamation ,uid
water conservancy measures. One o f his most important ideas was a survey in which
all the lands o f China were to be elassitied according to vie Id and taxed accordingly.
(Land was supposed to be raxed according to its potential, but g(xxt data 011 potcn-
rial were notablv lacking in W angs rime.) He retbnned raves broadly with an eye to
easing the burden 011 ordinary people while increasing state revenues. Thus some
previously exempt groups were taxed, and well-to-do people began to pay some-
diing like dieir share. (Large Lind lords, however, still ap|x-.n to have gotten off
lightly, if tliev paid anything at all.) Corvee tabor was likewise rctbmied— .1 cash
payment in lieu o f service was introduced as a preferred wav o f discharging this re­
sponsibility. In every measure, Wang showed himself the triend ot the smaller land­
lords and merchants o f the central areas o f China— die class from which he himselt
came. (He was die scion o f a small landowning family in Kiangsi.) More important
dian class aid, liowevcr, was his contribution to die dev elopment o f die powerful,
centralized, tcchnocraticallv managed bureaucratic state.
Naturally, however, Wang’s program attracted criticism from all sides, and it was
repealed at his retirement. With it died any hope ot major retbmi in Sung China.
According to Mark Elvin, a revolution rtx)k place in fanning during the Sung, In­
deed, it may be described as China's second Green Revolution, die first b an g that ot
die late Warring States, Ch’in, and Han. I le describes its elements as follows:

(i) Farmers learned to prepare their soil more effectively as the result o f
new knowledge, improved or new tools, and die more extensive use o f ma­
nure, river mud and lime fertilizers. (2) Strains o f seed were introduced
which cidier gave heavier yields, or resisted drought better, or else by rip­
ening more rapidly made it possible to grow' two crops a year on the same
land. (3) A new level o f proficiency was readied in hydraulic techniques,
and irrigation networks o f unprecedented intricacv constructed. (+) Com ­
merce made possible more specialization in crops other dian the basic
foodgrains, and so a more efficient exploitation otVarying resource endow­
ments. (Elvin, 1973:118).

Yet, as we learn from Cliou Chin Sheng (1974), “ fanning techniques did not differ
from diose o f earlier times, but credit and land measures did” (96). H ow does one
reconcile diese apparendy disparate views? The first point o f reconciliation lies in die
fact diat Elvin’s revolution was quantitative, not qualitative. Fertilizing, land prepara­
tion, erosion control, double-cropping, water wheels and other inigation devices in-
tfi- Dcjiwtn'c Sljnpittr] o f the Fimri Systoii 6f

cl Lid11it; die noria .11id treadle pump, irrigation management, and commerce were all
o f king standing in China. What «'as distinctive about Snng was die increase in all o f
these. ’Hiere js not much question as to «'hat led to die increase: the expansion ot
commerce and markets created a need for high prcxtuction, and die kxss o f Central
Asia, the cross-Asian trade, and eventually die whole o f North China necessitated ex­
treme intensification o f agriculture. Facilitating tins were the enlightened policies ot
die government and the rise o f printing, llie government kept taxes relatively low'
(especially « hen one averages in all die exemptions), encouraged trade, engaged in
large-scale procurement, opened up new lands and encouraged their colonization
(often settling them with landless w anderers), and promulgated new information,
technology, and technological-aid policies. Btxik printing (which was invented in
T a n g and became common in Sung) facilitated rapid dissemination o f agricultural
knowledge. ( 'Ilia Ssa-hsieh’s Ordinary People’s Needed Skills, written during die pe­
ril xi o f disunion, was printed .11id six >11 tolio wed bv a host o f agricultural manuals
long and short, updated and adapted to the various conditions o f Sung, national and
regional. "Iliis spate o f publication climaxed just after Sung’s tall, with the Mongol-
sponsored Essentials o f Fanning and Agriculture .md Wang Clien’s litxik o f Agri­
culture (firav iyS+; Flvm 197?). These embodied most o f the agronomic knowledge
that the Chinese amassed in traditional times.
Most important o f all, and the only reallv revolutionary innovanon in Sung, was
die introduction o f new crop varieties. llie most famous and significant o f these was
sho it-growing-season rice from Champa, described by the Sung Buddhist audior
Shili Wcn-ving:

Emperor Chang-tsung (998—1012), being deeply coneerncd widi agricul­

ture, c.une to know that die Champa rice was drought-resistant and that
die green lentils o f India were famous for their heavy yield .md large seeds.
Special envoys, bringing precious dlings, were dispatched . . . with a view
to securing these varieties. From Champa twenty shili.. .o f . . . seeds were
procured, which have since been grown almost everywhere. From central
India two shili o f green lentil seeds were brought back, , , . When the first
harvests were reaped in die autumn, [Cheng-tsung| called his intimate
ministers to taste diem .md composed poems tor Champa rice and Indian
green lentils. (H o 10 56 -57 :20 0 -tS).

lli e rice w.is distributed in 1011 and widespread by 1012. Surely only die Chinese
would not only have introduced such crops bur g( >ne 011 to write poems in praise of
diem. Tlie green lentils mentioned in the quotation seem to lie a variety o f lining
bean, die green bean o f modem China, and diis may also describe the introduction
o f that very valuable crop into tlie country. Tlie Champa rice, tast-ripening and
tough, permitted an expansion o f rice-growing and a vast mcn.-u.se in double­
cropping, which slowlv became die rule throughout southeastern China. We have
less information about the intnxluction o f other crops. Fenugreek came via Arab
fft- Definitive Slmpitifl o f the Fottd System

merchants— the name still used in China is derived from Arabic— from the south-
cm ports (Laufer 1919:446). Watermelons and sorghum readied th e1101them dynas­
ties and became established there, soon finding dieir way to die rest ot'China—
although sorghum perhaps did not arrive until Yuan; ccrtainlv it was not an impor­
tant crop until then (Anderson and Buell M S; Hagerty 19+0; I-niter 1919). None o f
these had revolutionary impact, though watermelons and sorghum were to become
mainstays o f North China’s dry landscape and important t<xx.ls throughout the
whole country. O f for greater importance, however, was the spread ot cotton, which
truly revolutionized Chinese clothing. Cotton was noticed as a new .uni valuable
item by Ch’ang C h’un in 1221 on his journey through Central Asia to the cotin ot
Chinggis Qan {Waley 1951:86). It was probably in China by 'Fang, but it must have
been rare. By tlie end o f Sung it was uncommon but well know n, spreading from
tlie south as well as tlie northwest {Gemet 1962:130). Hie chief Chinese method of
keeping warm— wadded cotton clotiies and coverlets (the cotton traps warm air)
— probably did nor exist prior to the Sung Dynasty. Ilie.se were patterned after the
time-honored teelmique o f making wadded silk clothes, but cotton democratized
wanndi and must have allowed incomparable expansion in winter work, not to
speak o f sheer survival.
There were probably other new crops. Vast amounts o f material we a - brought
from South and Soudieast Asia by die expanded trade and tributary missions (1 liitli
and Rockhill 1911; Netolitzky 1977; VVheatlev 19\9). Sung ships were commonly ioo
(eet long and 150 tons displacement (Lee 1975-76). Many minor crops must have
come along widi die Champa rice and Indian green pulses. This is especially nuc o f
sugarcane, which became enomiously important in Sung China, displacing staple
food crops as it does in so many countries today (EM11 1975:129, Sucheta Ma/nmdar,
pers. comm.).
Innovation was concentrated in die estates o f die pen urban and other highly com­
mercialized zones, especially in die soudi and east (F.lvin 1975, Gemet 1962). But the
spread o f watermelons, sorghum, and cotton in the north shows that not only the
Sung Dynasty' was aware o f tlie benefits o f agriculture. As previously', the govern­
ment activclv supported agricultural development bv all possible means— anti this
ato aide was facilitated by die connections between big landowners and bureaucrats,
A government made up o f large and would-be large landlords, who relied heavily on
monetized markets to sell dieir products, would not lean hard on the firming sector.
However, owners o f large estates in remote regions had 110 reason to modernize
{they were doing quite well already) and one gocxl reason not to: it give t<x> much
power to die tenants who were actually learning and implementing die new' tech­
niques. I f tenants became highly sophisticated, outward-kxiking, and indispensable,
they w oiJd be hard to control. Small landlords and relatively rich yeoman tanners,
especially' if producing for specialized markets and compering with odier such com­
mercialized producers, had every incentive to stay abreast o f current technology.
Intensification o f agriculture, however, led to ecological problems. Soil erosion.
<$• liffiuttiiv Shaping o f the Foiiii S w a n 6i

tor example, worsened tkxxiing and odier disasters (Lee 1921), even diough the Chin
government noted and tried to prevent it {P, Buell, pets. comm.). ‘Hiis fateful de­
cline was greatly .Keele rated by deforestation. Enclosure o f commons by die great es­
tates alienated much forestland from presumably conservation-conscious villagers,
llie growth o f the iron industry, the ceramics industry, die printing industry {pine
stxjt was used tor ink), and other economic activities led to a wholly unprecedented
demand lor wotxi. Eventually there was a major shift from wood to coal as an en­
ergy source, but \i-xxxi consumption continued high, and much o f die damage was
already done. It is preeminently to Sung and Chin that we owe die barren, ravaged
landscapes o f north and central China and o f parts o f the southeast as well, Contem­
porary observers were aware o f the problem, but seem to have had no idea how to
stop it, except tor expanding the use o f coal. Ecological deterioration had long been
part ol the Chinese scene, but the Sung period saw' a serious increase in the rate o f
detent iration.
During Sung China the importance o f grains underwent a substantial (if unquan-
ti liable) shift. Rice became far more important, at last gaining its modem status as
CChina’s chief grain. Wheat, rixi, continued to gain, thanks to die new techniques in­
troduced midway througli Tang. Sorghum was also spreading, at least in die tar
west and north outside Sung control. The north, under its Altaic leaders, still relied
011 the ancient millets to a great extent, though there was some rice, wheat, barley,
and other emps. But rice was the miracle crop o f Sung. Even betore die introduction
ot Champa rice, varieties were diverse and superior.
Even belbrc the fall o f Northern Sung and die restriction o f the dynasty to the
rice-growing regions o f China, nee had become perhaps the preeminent grain. By
the end o f Sung— widi die dynasty confined to die rice areas and intensive cultiva­
tion as the Rile— there was an incredible variety o f rices. Early- and late-ripening,
drought-resistant and tkxxl-resistant, hard and soft rices were known. YeHow, pink,
and other colors were represented among die grains (Gemet 1962:85). All degrees ot
stickiness were found; the stickiest were eannarked tor brewing (Elvin [1973:121—27]
mistakenly ascribes die stickiness to gluten content. Rice does ixit have gluten; die
stiekiness is due to a ioini o f die starch amylose). N o other grain came in such vari­
ety', yielded so much, or responded so well to labor input. Indeed, rice had much to
do with die rise o f labor-intensive farming in China.
While Sung w as becoming increasingly dependent on rice, die northern dynasties
continued die age-old dependence on millet (Witrtugel and Feng 19+9). The odier
northern grams were also present in some quantity. Ch’ang C h’un explicidv noted
tiiat buckwheat was absent among die Mongols in Central Asia (Woley 1931:105), so
it miLst have been important in China, no doubt in dw dry, cold, montane areas
where it flourishes best. The Khitan and Jurchen peoples traditionally lived die
northeni nibal life o f hunting, healing, tisliing, and small-scale nonintensivc f.inn-
ing. Hunting was considered important to keep fighting men in shape; fishing was a
less purposeful act, but even the Liao emperors enjoyed their tisliing trips. Game vvas
rfi' Definitive Sbnpiti/j o f the Food Svsmii 6f>

ot"trivial impoit as fotxl, but fish were important anywlieix: near extensive water. Ilie
most important animal tixxis eaten by tliese peoples and tlie Mongols were dairy
products, almost always .soured or fe mien ted. Yogurt, sour cream, cheese, kumys,
and otlier products were made from the milk o f .ill sorts o f animals. bur sheep were
the most important, llie.se daily tixxis «ere consumed in enormous quantities, CChi­
nese ambassadors from Sung were disconcerted by milk and pometge, and one
found it too much when his Liao hosts added cream or butler on top o f that (l;ree~
man 1977:170; Witttbgel and Feng ly+y: itfi). Starting from vcrv simple trih.il n xik­
ing, like that o f tlie historic Mongol and Tungus trilies, the dynasties dcveli >ped
quite elaborate citisines, based oil their own ingred tents but involving the com pi i-
cared processing that had recently come to characterize Chinese culinary an. "Hie
Chinese were interested enough in tlie result to record some recipes, which still sur­
vive.2 This comprises most o f our knowledge o f fotxl in tlie nonhem dynasties.
They had fruit trees— apples, mulberries, jujubes— and wild onions and leeks; they
had various melons, anti in Central Asia they grew' the incomparable Persian-style
melons ancestral to the Hami melons oftixlav. Such trawlers as Ch’ang (Walev 1931)
noted these witli surfiri.se and delight; the siye, sweetness, and il.nor were astonish­
ing. I lie tribal peoples ate as much meat as they could, bur then animals were k x >
valuable fur dairy products and transport to be slang itered for ftxxl except on special
occasions. Even so, culling o f the herds and natural deaths ensured a supply of 1neat
tor all but tlie |xx)resr, Small game such as mannots and birds supplemented the
meat diet.
In tlie Sung realms, which are much better known to 11s than the northern dynas­
ties, a very different: picture emerges {Freeman [977; Gemet 1962). kumys was still
common and popular in Northern Sung, but it was probably during Liter Sung that
the Chinese indifference to dairy products developed. Tlie Chinese were never
deeply tond o f milk products, but from Wei through T an g, powerful Centra! Asi.ui
influences meant that dairy foods were more extensively used. In Sung, during
which the dynastic focus was in the soudieast (where Central Asian influences had
been minimal) and die Altaic dynasties were considered enemies, dairy fixxls came
to be marks of die barbarian anil foe. This attitude was reafhmied under the succeed­
ing Mongol regime, and resurgent Chinese nationalism during die Ming Dynasty
reinforced die rejection o f dairy fcxxls. Despite this exception, the Sung was a period
of great breadth and tolerance in eating patterns. ‘Ilie sou die m ethnic groups’ vari­
ous tastes influenced Chinese there, and expanding trade, commerce, and specialized
agriculture broadened die clioices available. Connoisseurship and goumietship flour­
ished in die thriving ciries.
11 ic change in food ways during Sung is retlectetl in literary m>pes. N o longer
were wheat, beans, and mallows die inevitable jxxtic phrases characterizing jx>verry,
though diey still occurred in archaizing texts. Different grades o f rice were com­
mon! v mentioned in pix.*try. Some low-yield varieties diat also lost a lot o f weight in
milling were considered superior fixxL, while die new Champa rice seems to have
0^ Definitive SIjfijHJtij o f the Food System 07

had die s.inx- troubles widi consunicr acceptance diat modem high-yield grains often
have; thus it was a poor man’s tixxi. llie ration tor low-level bureaucrats was graph­
ically described bv S li Shili as “old mstv rice 110 better than mud” (Watson 197+3:
217). In addition, pickled vegetables replaced mallows as poetic poverty foods. In tlie
south, yams and tart) were starch staples, especially tor non-Chinese peoples, and
these two tulxrs tlms were used as a trope tor die it nigh tare o f the wild margin o f
civilization; however, they were also eaten all over south and central China (Schafer
1969). S li Shili knew taro 111 his clnkih<xxl and in soutlxTti stays during his later life
(Watson kx>>)- Conversely, fine white polished nee was a standard o f gixtd fixxt.
Hut the most common trope tor special tare, universal 111 the poetry o f the age, was
fish. Chicken began losing out to tish during T ang, especially from I lsuan Tsung's
rime, but dur ing Sung chicken virtually disappeared as a poetic commonplace—
proof'that the Chinese did nor always archaize, at least in some o f tliei r poetic sttx’k-
phrascs. Fish Ixv.ime much more important in the diet not only because o f tlie eco­
logical factors involved in the shift to the south, bur also because the center o f the
Chinese world had shitted to an area where fish and indeed all aquatic organisms had
always been ciilnirallv important and deeplv loved. Salt tish was a staple article. Kish
were raised as an industry, with s|X‘cial suppliers o f living fiy to fish farmers, as in
modem China. Some o f the old rivalry o f nortli and south— teasing over eating
frogs, tor instance— continued during Sung, but the south was winning increasing
acceptance tor its wavs.
In late Southern Sung, YVu T/.u-mu coined a phrase that became famous: “the
things that people cannot do without even' day are firewood, rice, oil, salt, soybean
sauce, vinegar, .md tea” (Freeman 1977:i.d). YVu Tzu-mu’s seven necessities arc pro­
verbial to this day; Chinese sch<xilchildren le.un them as 3 kind o f jingle. But in Sung
die list was a striking novelty. Onlv recently had rice taken such prominence (and die
ten 11 reallv does refer primarily to rice, not just grain). Onlv in Sung had djimitj
come to refer unequivocally to sov sauce; as late as 'Pang it would probably have
been understtxxl, at least in literary contexts, to cover various ferments. Vinegar is
notably absent from earlier dynasties’ ideas o f necessities. Tea was a rare luxury in
Fang and uncommon even in Northern Sung. Oil from sesame, pcrilla, and hemp
also became more available during Southern Sung as industry and commerce devel­
oped its prtx'essing and trade.
Those who were better oft'had plenty u\'hstn-fhu (which literally means “downing
die rice,” that is, “something to make die rice go down” — (compare the equivalent
French remark, “ it h elp tiie bread go down” ), evidently the Sung equivalent ot the
modem word ts’ni (‘Vegetables” or “ dishes to go on rice” ) and o f the Cantonese
word swiji (“ tcxxl to cat on rice"). ‘Hiis and soup were made as thcv are today: die
hsia-fan stir-fried or steamed and consisting largely of’ vegetables, preferably with a
bit o f meat or fish; die soup w as a thin, vegetable-based dish, l l i e better oft, how­
ever, continued to eat much meat and fish. They also inherited die Tang fondness
for raw fcxxLs. SiiKxIa (1977) describes Sung as “the golden age o f Chinese sud/i mak­
(jft1 Definitive Shaping o f the Food System 6S

ing” (490). 'Hiis sushi was made o f rice, vinegar, oil, and any meat av ailable-—raw
tish was evidently among the choices. Other meat was normally axiked. As always,
pork was die main meat eaten, but sheep, go.it, and even donkey were common, and
all sorts o f game and minor domestic animals were also used. Poultry— chickens,
ducks, geese, quail, pheasants, and game-—was abundant. Beef was also well known
but seems to have been losing popularity because o f Indian religious inthicnce. Gar­
ish stories about earing human flesh, even about shops specializing in it, were com­
mon (Gemet 1962:1—55). The most tant o i l s is that immortalized in the novel Shut Htt
Cl man, written in Yuan but set during Sung. Gemet accepts this purely fictional ac­
count as an accurate description o f die mix's, but it is certainly not. Apparently, hu­
man tlesh was eaten only during desperate famines.
Vegetables included cabbages, onions and such relatives as garlic, spinach, turnips
and radishes, cucumbers and gourds, e g g p l a n t s (considered beautiful as well as excel­
lent food), cresses, carrots, and many others, especially domestic and wild greens.
Fruit was widespread and as popular as ever— particularly noteworthy were the
enormous pears. Marco Polo’s claim that die biggest pears “weigh ten (tounds a
piece” (Freeman 1977:1+9) may be compared with Lu Yu’s observation o f giant pears
(1981:171). Huge pears were noted as earlv as die Wei IX'iiastv. Other common fruits
included apples, mulberries, jujubes, litchis, persimmons, Chinese quinces, tanger-
mes and mandarin oranges, apricots and niei, haws, arbutus, peaches, plums, pome­
granates, bananas, coconuts anti jakfruit (often imported from Southeast Asia). Pine
nuts, alnx>nds, chestnuts, walnuts, foxnuts (from Etityakfaux, an aquatic plant), and
odiers were also important. Whole books were written on the qualities and cultiva­
tion o f sonic o f these plants, including jujubes, litchis, and oranges; other lxx>ks, in­
tended for estate owtx-rs, dealt with bambix> shoots and the like. CJoumiets de­
limited also in books on wild mushrooms, crabs, and odier wild items (Siiroda
1977:490). Fruit was dried and also candied— using the white sugar that bail just Iv-
come commonly available.
T w o other o f Wu’s necessities need special consideration: salt and tea. Salt was un­
der government contra! throughout Sung, but die control was rather light and indi­
rect at first; later, die monopoly tightened. Merchants were licensed, under increas­
ingly stringent restrictions, to handle die salt; die government collected much
revenue. Salt was produced from sea water allowed to flood fields: die crystals were
scrapcd o ff the soil when die water evaporated and dien purified and boiled down.
In one method, ashes from die boiling fires were spread on the fields before Hood­
ing, dius capturing die natural salts concentrated in die plants (Worthy 1975). These
nxthods are o f great nutritional significance: diev would have guaranteed die pres­
ence in salt o f such trace minerals as potassium, iodine, magnesium, manganese, cop­
per and odier ions present in seawater and plant ash. Plant ash in particular is rich in
potassium. Iliese methods introduced trace elements into die Chinese diet, and die
plant ash method also helped maintain individuals’ sodium—potassium balance. The
Chinese heavy consumption o f salt is less unhealdiy dian in die West because die
ijft D cfittttnr ShafiiHt] a f the Food .Swrnu f>9

Oiinese plant-based diet is so hi gin in potassium; use o f plant ash would haw im-
pmved the situation still further. In west China, however, salt was produced from
wells and thus was inn rich in trace minerals. Nutritional problems must iiavc been
more common there, as they were in recent times.
Tea—-also the subject o f increasingly monopolistic government control— was still
a ratlier exotic luxury at the start o f Sung, and surely no one predicted that it would
become a poor household’s necessity by tlie end o f the dynasty. The ailt o f tea, how­
ever, developed greatly, .Jong with other refined arts o f life. Such poets as Ou-yang
Hsiu (heeinan i97?:i>f>] and Lit Yu displayed great concern with the water used to
make tea; Lii, dining his travels, diligently sought out spiings tan10us for this (Lu
19S1). Tea production became intensely commercialized, true agribusiness utterly dif­
ferent from peasant subsistence tanning.
Food was still spiced with nativ e condiments, especially ginger, cassia anil brown
pepper, nutmegs, and various Indian and Near Eastern aromatic fruits and seeds.
Sugar wax now used tor preserving fixxls and made into all sorts o f sweetmeats and
candies, including little models o f humans, animals, birds, flowers, fruits, and so on
(Ciemet 1962:95)- Bean curd— ton /ii, Japanese tofit— is tirst mentioned early in
Sung, wIkxsc texts ascribe its invention to Liu Ail o f the Han Dynasty, but this is
preposterous. In fact the commtxlity was invented in late T an g or early Sung—
possibly by Taoists anil/or people from tlie Huainan region, who then ascribed it,
out o f a son o f respect, to Liu An, the Taoist prince o f Huainan (li. VV.-C. Young,
pers. comm.), liuddhists quicklv tix>k over die kxxt as a good substitute tor rtx\it
and tor the dairy tixxis so important in Buddhist literature. N o doubt it was in­
vented when someone put ordinary sea salt into bean milk, possibly with an eye to
preserving it, and found die resulting coagulate a delightful food (Shurtlert'and
Aoyagi 1983:92). Strong sea brine still makes tlie best coagulating agent, though gyp­
sum is more generally used; calcium and magnesium ions act as the main agents,
'Ilie variety o f dishes eaten during Sung completely defies description. At a single
banquet there might be over two hundred, ranging from manv different ways o f
serving ordinary rice to “dishes based on fruits and sweetmeats” {Cjemet 1962:158).
Every sort o f soup, pie, dumpling, ixxxlle, and snack diat now characterize China
seems to have been av ailable in some tomi or otlier, often apparently rather close to
modem forms. 'Ilie small pastries now called tiai-hstn seem to have been particularly
diverse, often larger and more substantial than thev are now. Many varieties o f cakes
existed, some called bit-piiuf (Iranian cakes). In tlie cities, restaurants became famous
k>r particular dishes. (Gemet cites several accounts; 1961:127.) Breakfast in the capital
consisted o f fried tripe, soups, steamed Ikk cakes, and fried puff-pastn1 shreds. Light
lunch from food vendors might include sweet congee, slmo-pnuj, »utn-t'mi and many
otiier cakes. Blood soup, tripe soup, and other ‘Variety” items abounded. Kaiteng
had also had its special restaurants, serving food hoc or cold, regional or general.
Regional cuisine was well developed, as was tlie Chinese tendency to patronize re­
gional restaurants in tlie capital cities. Sung writers made a primary distinction be­
 Dcfim ttn' Shaping o f rlx Food Svstan 70

tween northern cuisine, based on meat ,11id using dairy pnxlucts and dry-grown
grams, and southern cuisine, with its rice and aquatic ftxxts. Sstechuancsc cooking,
set apact .already bv its spiciness and use o f mm 11it.1111 products andlH'.rbs, was also
distinctive. "Tliis is ancestral to die mtxlem pattern; only C antonese ax>king was
recognized later. Tlie ciLstom ot region.il restaurants began to .serv e homesick emi­
grants and was always maintained mostly by this trade, but even before T an g there
were some who patronized such restaurants out o f a spirit o f curiosity and adven­
ture, and by Sung variety had become a major appeal ot such restaurants. Urbanites
in tlie capitals delighted in trying the minced meat and noixilcs with fish and shrimps
typical o f Cl l’u-chou, or tlie spicy t<xxl o f Szechuan (Ciemet kXi ’ m h )-
Tliey were less prone to eat, but fascinated to read about, the ethnic tixxis de­
scribed in a Sung text summarized bv Gcmet:

Little frogs m Hukien and Chekiang, large frogs in central Clim.i, snake
soup in Canton. The islanders ot Hainan ear various insects (flies, gnats,
earthwomis) ax>ked in pieces o f bamboo. llie foreigners in Canton, Mus­
lims tor the must part, flavour tlieir tbod with sugar, honey anti musk. In
Manchuria they eat dairy products flavoured with sour butter, in general,
remarks die author o f this work, food is salty in the South and A id (sea­
soned with vinegar) in die North. Non-Chinese people in China and villag­
ers like sweetened food, while those in die plains o f die Yellow River .md
town-dw'eUers prefer unseasoned tixxl. Anodier source .savs “that jieopic
in die extreme south eat snakes, but change die name to ‘bmshw<xxl eels,’
Similarly, they eat grasshoppers under the name of'Im isliw ood shrimps,’
and rats under the name o f ‘household deer.’ (Gcmet 1961:142)

I assume Gcmet knows that snakes are also eaten in his nativ e 1;ranee, under the
name hedge eels, l-’or Hainan, Schafer’s superb study SIme ofPemis {1969) allows us
to add sago (palm starch), jaggery (palm sugar), giant b an ib w shixits, civet cats,
bats, and tropical fruit, 'llie Hainan aborigines practised the custom, almost universol
among Southeast Asian hill peoples, o f sacrificing bovines at special ceremonial occa­
sions, partly to build merit for die elite. Soudiemers also are femiei itcd tish, evidently
in sauces like modem shrimp paste and nuoc 11mm
There inevitably arose cooklxxiks— die-mosLianxii.is is perhaps the C/ww/i-
ir’nei-lu, lost as a coherent text (Sinoda 1977:490). Recipes were also included in en­
cyclopedias. ’1lie connection between health and diet w as ajways.stressed by Chinese
medicine, not least in Sung, and many a i eeipe txx>k. is.of medical iaspiration. In-

Tlie Chinese word fang means both a medical formula and a culinary one, as did die
word txcipe originally (ltx is short tor ncipc).
Tlie concept o f life .stages, for example, influenced diet. Children were often
nursed by wet-nurses in elite families: die jxx;t Yang Wan-li’s wife attracted attention
bv refusing to use a wet-nurse, preferring to feed her children herself {Chaves 1975:6).
>$• Definitive Sbnpinji o f the Food System 71

A new jm theij^ccivcd fruits and sw eets and a Ape o f man-foil called “share die
pain." At the inlands firet hath (especially if it was a l» y , I assume), jujubes were
thmwn into the w ater, and women competed to seize them, on die still universal
Oiinesc notion that die pun on aaa-tzu (meaning bodi ‘‘‘jujube thiit” and “early
sons” ) will magically produce male children at an early date (Hreeman 1977:165;
Gemet 11)62: rrol. As people matured, they could consult the spectacular new Basic
Herbals issued with government support. Hie Illustrated Basic Herbal ot io6i set
new standards tor botanical illustrarion, perhaps never suqiassed in China. Hundreds
ot tcxxls were illustrated and described therein. Printing mack medical works and
recipe bt x >ks available to the public. NctvQmftiaan scholarship and die high level o f
biological and other sciences in Sung led to reformulation o f mcdicai ideas, which
became associated with the metaphysics anti cosmology o f die school— intellectually
challenging but scientific ally an unfortunate trend. Meanwhile, Taoists continued
to emphasize diet and to abstain from die live grams, meat, and odier supposed
contaminants, Buddhist avoidance o f meat and 011 ions,or garlic tastes continued to..
influence Chinese fbodwavs. Special restaurants and temple cafeterias purveying
fixxls acceptable to these congregations Ix'came popular with variety-seeking ur­
banites. Ordiiuiv lore added its own minor traces o f medical belief, religion, or eti­
quette: “ Mint rakes away die smell offish. . . . After eating garlic, chewing a mixture
o f raw ginger and jujubes will restore the freshness o f die bread 1” (Gemet 1962:210,
citing Sung texts). festivals also involved special ftxxls. And die ordinary people
contented themselves as best diev could. ITie jxx't Lu Chih wrote:

! .ike Shao P’ing 1 plant melons 011 the hillside.

And dowel's bv the hedge like Yuan-ming
1 have just dug a |>x>l tor lotus
And set up high the vine trellis.
And when my spirits are low, I boil tea in an earthen pot;
Above mean things, I am greatly content,
1 have tethered the heart's monkey and the mind’s horse.
(Schlepp 1970:52—53; I have retranslated die last line.)

What are we to make o f Sung’s place in Chinese fcxxl history? Lu Chili’s poem,
written about the end o f Sung, captures som ediingofche spirit: an active curiosity
and interest in the world, an intense consciousness o f fcxxl and agriculture, an inno­
vative pose in am and observation, but in die end a retreat into otherworldly quiet­
ism. China seemed to be hovering on the threshold o f capitalism, industry, modem
science, modem educational and infbmiation systems-—all things diat Europe devel­
oped hundreds o f years later. However, iiKxlem science was never developed in
China. The Sung literati made superb scientific observations, but they invested nxist
o f their energies in bureaucratic work and literary affairs (Sivin 1975}- Education
flourished and expanded greatly, herbal and dierary books were written, but die
weakness o f the Sung Dynasty ,uid die conservative authoritarianism of the conquest
 Definitive Shaping o f the Food System 7z

dynasties seem to have discouraged initiative and development o f a modem, expand­

ing economy, science, and technology. The stagnant bureaucracy and landlordism
seem to have weakened die cities and their active, innovative, entrepreneurial classes.
At die same time, neo-Con fucian philosophy— essentially static, backward-kxiting,
otherworldly, and anti-process— became the authentic and highly reactionary ex­
pression o f diis stagnancy (Ralasz iy<H; Ix> 1974). Sung seemed poised 011 die brink
o f a modernization similar to die European Renaissance; instead, it su tiered loss o f
initiative and ultimate decline. China after Sung never regained the thrust

The Timn Dynasty: Mongols mid West Asian Foods

From 1279 to 1568, China experienced a unique epis< xte in its history. Other 11011-
Han dynasties ruled Cliina for centuries, but in all these cases die conquerors had
been small groups on die Chinese impcri.il orbit. I lie Mongols, however, were al­
ready riders o f a world empire when they invaded and conquered China. They intro­
duced now skills and new ftxxis, but diey remained to souk.' extent die ov erlords o f a
conquered and rather autononxHLs province. The stcreurvpc that ( 'Inna ahvavs as­
similated its conquerors does not hold true for die Mongols. When rebellion finally
dislodged diem from rule, they did not die fighting 011 die city walls; they mounted
dieir horses and rode back to dicir inner Asian steppes, with (1 Ix’lieve) a sense ot
relief!
The rise ofChinggis Qan, popularlv kjiown as Genghis Khan, set the stage tot die
conquest o f China. Chinggis united Mongolia and consolidated control ov er all
Central Asia, building up not only a world empire but a whole new bureaucracy to
run it. Aidiough he did not directly attack the Chinese realm, he planned China's
conquest and set die stage for die actual event, 'lints his effect on China’s history w a s
profound, bodi through liis militaty activities .md through his creation o f a political
order capable o f managing a far-flung domain.
It was after Chinggis’ death diat China was attacked. According to die classic leg­
end, Ik was saving China tor last (as a child saves his or her favorite chocolate), but
he died before he could dim crown his life “work,” if work it can be called, Tlie Sc­
art History of tlx Mongols tells us diat Chinggis' character was dius summed up by his
mother:

You are like die pandier diat dashes itself against the cliffs ide, like the lion
diat cannot quell its wrath, like the boa-coastrictor diat swallows its prey
alive, like die falcon diat flings itself at its own shadow, like the pike that
gulps silently, like die randv he-camel tiiar bites die heels o f its ovw young,
like die wolf that works havoc under cover o f die snowstorm, like die
madaqrin-duck diat cats die ducklings diat cannot keep pace widi her, like
the jackal guarding its lair, like the tiger that widi no second diouglit
pounccs on its prey, like die wild barns [unidentified] diat dashes into
things at random! (Walcv 1963:228)
9^ Definitive Shaping o f the b ixuf System 7 j

(Never mind diat there arc no boas in Mongolia; the storv is apocn'phal, but a good
one.) Attacks on the hirchen concluded with their conquest in 123+. The Mongols
w»n turned the 11 attention south, and Qubilai Qan, Chinggis' grandson, rolled up
China like a tltx uniat.
M om ot the work o f ruling China tell on the traditional Chinese bureaucratic class
and on the se-utti. The Mongol tenn is applied to Central Asians, especially Turkic
peoples similar in language and culture to the Mongols, who supplied expertise in
technology and adminisrrarion. The se-niu occupied a middle position in die strict
ethnic hierarchy o f Yuan below the MongoLs and Siiglier than tilt Chinese. This was
a great age tor Turkic inner Asians such .is the Uigliur people. One ot die greatest
Yuan p<x.'ts, Kuan Yun-shih, was a Uigliur (I Aim 1980). Tw oO ngut Turks from tlie
northwest ( Chinese desert, tlie Nestorian Christians Markos and Bar Sauma, rra\'eled
w est 011 a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and found themselves— thitmgh a series ot inter­
esting events— promoted respectively to Patriarch o f tlie entire Nestorian Church
and ambassador from the Nestorians to the Roman Catholic world (Budge 1928;
Montgomery 1927. See also Dardess 1973; L.mglois 1981). Other Turks, as well as Ira­
nian sjvakers ot'various backgrounds, found themselves occupying high positions in
China. Cine Persian, Savvid Ajall, ended his days as governor o f Yunnan Province in
Chinas far southwest (P. Buell, pci's, comm.)- At sxi other time in history have such
astonishing changes ot place and position brought men Kick and forth across Cen­
tral Asia. Yet even this was not as strange as tlie saga o f Marco Polo, Italian mer­
chant's son turned Mongol administrator in China, and tlie less well-known tales ot
William o f Rubnick, J0I111 o f Plano Carpini .11id other Europeans sent as delegates to
tlie Great Q.uis (Bovle 1977; Yule and Cxirdier 1903).J
Under these circumstances, agriculture did not greatly progress. The slow break-
downi o f tlie Sung l)vnastv and the wars at its tall left China’s population at perhaps
some sixty million in earlv Yuan. Population grew at a healthy rate it this figure is
correct, tor dim ' were about seventy million Y'tian citizens by tlie 1290s. The wars of
the decline and fall o f Ytian knocked the figure backdown to sixty million, reported
in die Ming l>viiasty's first dioixjugh and reliable census. Tlie main decline vis-a-vis
earlier periods was in die north, decimated by unceasing war and die heavy-handed,
steppe-onented early Mongol policies. Hie lands o f Soudieni Sung tell without
much fighting and seem to have k>st tew people, at any rate, diev were back up to
their Sung figure o f about fifty million people by die 1290s census, while North
China had a mere ten to twenty million. Yiian domains in Central Asia added a few
million more (I-anglois 1981:1-21).
Trade still flourished: Marco Polo’s astonisliment at its extent and w ealth is pro­
verbial. Much o f die trade was in icxxlstutfs. For instance, Marco claimed diat
Hangchow' had “ ten principal markets” and “ a vast number ot odiers.” Each of die
ten was held diree dal's per week and attracted “40,000 or 50,000 jXTstMis” ; die meat
available included “ roebuck, rcd-deer, M o w , hares, rabbits, partridges, pheasants,
francolins, quails, fowls, capons, and o f ducks and geese an infinite quantity,’' as well
 Definitive Shaping o f the h'ooii Svstan -4

as “ every kind o f vegetables .md fruits” (YLite and ( indie r i<x>5: 2:202—0;). llie sup­
plies o f game indicate vast imports o f f<x>d bv the cicv from great distances. Marco
claimed that “ tor one shipload ot'pepper that goes to Alexandria or elsewhere, des­
tined tor Christendom, there come a hundred” to Chiianchou, a principal port in
Sling and Yuan rimes in vvhat is now t-'ukien (2:25s). The enormous maritime trade
ot Sung continued. Tribute relations and other governmental trade flourished, la v ­
ish and bulkv presents were exchanged with the court ot Muhammad bin Tughluq
in India. Agricultural production benefited from the great advances made under
Chin and Sung (Raych.iudluiri and Habib 1982), .md inventions such as the toor-
operated cndless-chain waterpump wrought great changes in agriculture. The poten­
tials o f water wheels and otlier local water-lilting dev ices were exploited along w ith
tlie foot-powered pump (still a feature ot the Chinese scene), llie Mongols’ crown­
ing achievement was taming die Yellow River, a goal not achieved ofren in Chinese
history and perhaps die most spectacular accomplishment o f any prcindusrri.il state.
llie lords o f Yuan quickly learned die Chinese policy mix lor agricultural dev elop­
ment. "llie late'Fang twicc-yearly ta\ continued, but it was kept tairlv low. Toll taxes
were collected, and later property taxes when appropriate (i.e., when there was more
property dian heads to tax). Trade w as taxed at a low rate, llie usual monopolies 011
salt and metals continued, and transiently or locally there w ere imports on w ine, vin­
egar, bamboos, ami all sorts o f local products. (Franz Sellurmai 111 [1956] ably trans­
lated and commented on relevant chapters o f the standard Yuan history.) A half-
serious suggestion by one crusty old Mongol lord, to the effect that China should lv
depopulated and turned into grazing land, provided a pretext tor Yeli-lii Clui-tsai to
present a cogent and sweeping account o f die vital importance o f agriculture to the
Mongol court early in die regime. Yeh-lii, a leading and brilliant statesman, com­
manded more audioritv in this position dian a Chinese would have done; lie w as
scion o f tiie old I.iao ruling family.
But die queer mix o f autocracy and anarchy that characterized Yuan China vitiated
most efforts at reform. Sung’s worst legacy— landlordism and agrarian inequality
— was passed on. A powerti.il rural gentry flourished, regionally based, independent
o f die government, and threatening to everyone. At first, peasant rebellions were di­
rected against it; but in tiie end, rebels from the destitute class learned to collaborate
with die gentry. Once this collaboration became a fact, die Yuan Dynasty was
doomed,
Food during Yuan took chi a more Central Asian flavor. The .Mongols followed
the usual nomadic pattern o f dairy' food ilsc; kumvs, cream, butter, and all manner <>t
milk products were conspicuous among their focxts. Mares’ milk was o f enormous
daily and ceremonial importance. The popularity o f yogurt in Yunnan, an King Chi­
nese as well as odier cdmic groups, may well stem from Yuan times, when this prov­
ince became an important area widi many Central Asian colonists (P. Buell, |x-]-s.
comm.). However, local g ro u p such as the Tibetan peoples have always used milk
products, and they surely also had some impact on tlie present pattern. Game wav
 Definitive Shaping of tht Fwiti System 75

also ,1 Mongol staple. 'lhe Tin-shall C'ljcn/f-mo (Essentials ot Dietetics), presented to

the Emperor bv the court pliysici.ui in Hio A,l),, iin.lui.1cs entnes on antelope, bear,
various deer, tiger, leopard, marmot, both whtxipcr and tundra swam, pheasants,
cranes, and many otlier wild animals and birds. Sonieoftho.se (tiger anil leopard, tor
instance) were o f purely medicinal value, Ixir most were considered food. Swans are
virtually absent from China and represent die dearest cam-over from the steppes.
1-ew fish .uid shellfish are mentioned, and the Mints and vegetables are typical o f the
dry interior north. Boiled mutton was probablv the nxist important tixxt after grains
(d. Sinoda [977:+Si-97, L’llsclliild [y,Hs:jl\)-
llie book's recipes involve hc.iw use ot the rail Kit o f the tat-tailed sheep— a mass
of Kit and connective tissue that overwhelms the butrcxks and rail o f this animal. Hat-
railed sheep varieties <xciir in Central Asia, where small carts are sometimes attached
to the sheep to support the rail. When cooked, the material is a chewy solid o f
meat!ike texture. Ilie tin in it has a unique flavor, stronger but pleasanter than mut­
ton tat, and it is probablv the most beloved tixx.1 item throughout Central Asia.
Nothing could Lx Kin her from Chinese taste, liowevcr, .md the emphasis on it in tlie
Tin-shall Chnui-xat) (Kith the mass itself and tlie rendered fit figure largely in the
recipes) indicates the Mongol origin and audience o f die btxik. Other recipes in the
volume arc stroii glv Araho-Persian or Turkic in origin. Chinese influence on diis
book appears largely in its treatment o f vegetables. Ilie medical tradition from which
it springs (it is a nutrition text, not a cooklxx>k) is found widely in Asia, though die
five-element theories it espouses arc Chinese. 'Hie view o f tixxl as medicinally eflec-
rive, and the concepts o f die humoral and “ strengthening” projx-rties o f foods, must
have been accepted bv the Mongols before thev conquered China. But die elabora­
tion ot such theories in die Tm-slinn C'bcnjj-vao is bevoiid anything one would expect
ot iHim,ids and represents strong intluence from a widely shared pattern of court cui­
sines known across West and Centra! Asia and further (Buell 19S7; S.ibban 1983a).
A native Chinese counterpart to die text exists in the Titi-shih Hsn-yao Clni>ot
Chia Ming. Ilns Lxxik was published at die beginning o f Ming, but Chia had com­
piled it earlier, and since Cilia’s life more than spanned the Yuan I'hmasty his work,
can lx- taken to reflect Chinese tcxxhvavs in Yilan (Mote 1977:208). Cilia’s knowledge
is essentially drawn from the herbals o f his dav, and its extent would put modem
Californian health-tixxt addicts to shame. A modem reader must assume that Q ua
did as modem Chinese do, avoiding possibly dangerous tcxxis when he was at ex-
ceprional risk duo to sickness or stress. Nourishing aspects o f foods— even more spe-
dfkallv net! to Immoral and strengthening pro[Xrties than in die Mongol work—
are emphasized, ttx), so tliat tew fi.xxis are widiout their benefits^
Ilie differences ixtween Cilia’s work and die Mongol txxik .lie prediaable. C'Jiia
nx’iirions some game animals— tiger, wild horse, and so 011— but none ot tlie Cen­
tral Asian specialties, and tliese big game animals are buried among detailed accounts
ot domestic creatures and small birds. Fish receive ,1 great deal ot attention in Chia's
book, which includes sixtv-cight entries on aquatic foods tor tlie Ttn-slmti Cbeiitj-
0^* Definitive Shaping o f the Food S w a n ?<>

wio's twenty-two. Vegetables and fruits arc similarly ridilv treated bv Chia. Litchis.
longans .md a possible hybrid— “dragon litthis” (the word made up o f tlie first sylla­
bles o f the otlier two words)— are there, along with cxxonuts, (jiiinninit fruit, and
otlier items that tlie Mongols must have barely known o f 'Hie list o f vegetables in­
cludes such oddments as sweer chrysanthemum sl*x>ts.
Wang Chen’s great N im jj Sint (Book o f Agriculture), a definitive survey of farm­
ing since the Sung Green Revolution, appeared in l ir . "Hie Chi<-dm Pi-yiiti/j (Ne­
cessities o f Dailv Life) and Shih-leiKumt cht (Wide Descriptions o f Everyday Mat­
ters), great and long-lasting Yuan encyclopedias, provide much information about
food and cooking. Mongol, Muslim, and Manchurian ttxxls are heav ily teanired in
both volumes; dairv products and game appear. Use o f vegetables is limit«! and
Near Eastern condiments are important. Sharb.it apjxars under the name she-li-par.
boiled water «'as poured over die flowers, leaves, or straw and used as a drink; in ad­
dition, fermented saucc (probably sov sauce) was flavored with the flowers in what
seems a rather odd mating o f Near and Far Eastern tastes. Tea was imbibed with fla­
vorings or blitter as in modem Tibet. Sirexia (1977) quotes an odd Mongol recipe
from the Clm-cbia Pi-ytniq: “ Suck blood and slime out from fresh lung o f deer (it
there is 110 deer, hare's or goat’s lung may do), pour in water, repeat sucking and
pouring until tile lung is dear. Crush leek, garlic, and ginger, season with salt, and fil­
ter. Fill this garlic sauce in tlie lung, chill the lung with ice, and serve” (491-92).
Tlie Sunp—Ylian period was pivotal tor China. China's agriculture and tixxl de­
veloped greatly, not to change and improve so dramatically again until the twentieth
ccntury. LJFEanizanoTi7? a 3 C'loreigii influences, .11id a relatively open economy all
had their share in tins. But the cnilcw as closing? Population densitv increased; re­
sources diminished sharply. Any lingering pressure to save labor rather than land was
removed. The Sung—Yuan innovations aiv primarily o f tlie son that spare land by
lavishing labor on it (Chao 1986; Elvin 1973); tliis exacerbated tlie tendency toward
extremes o f wealth and poverty. TJiexUtc and tlie middle class developed the greatest
cuisine the world had ever known: even tlie poor benefited .from many of. the
d ianges, but troubles were mounting.
 \£L Involution:
^ Late Impaial China

The Ming Dynasty: Autoancy and Slmvdmm

The Ming rulers have been hi.lined tor tailing to lead Cliin.i to capitalism and in­
dustry, because die West developed these dubious blessing during die same period.
A leading Western audiority on Ming agriculture, Evelyn Sakakida Rawski, wrote:

Tile economic landscape o f Ming China is most conimonly studied txx lor
itself but as a reference point in larger intcrpretanoas o f Chinese liistorv.
Modem preoccupations, in particular widi die “ failure” o f China to re­
spond is did |,ipan to Western "impact," have shaped the nature and con­
tent o f research, so di.it much o f the scholarship on Chinese economic his­
tory in die Ming and Ch’mg penods . . . reveals a Europo-ccntric bias in its
focus on why China did not independently sustain an Industrial Revolu­
tion. (1972:1)

The Ming sovereigns might have replied that they were having enough trouble try­
ing to be imperial dragons tor everyone to blame diem for not being savage tigers
too, (On Ming history', see Chan 1982, which follows die official liistories too faith­
fully; Farmer 1976; Hartwell 1982; Huang 1974, 1981; Huckcr 1961,1978; Spence and
W'ilLs 1979. Historical material in this chapter is synthesised primarily from these
sources.)
Incompetence, conniption, and abject failure characterized much o f die M ing pe-
rkxl and helped prevent China from making major breakthroughs in science and
teclmologv. Still, the Ming Dynasty lasted for almost dirce hundred years, most o f
which were more peaccti.il and prosperous by Chinese standards. Population grew
more than at any previous time in Cliina’s history, there were no significant wars,
and external direats were effectively met until the very end.
H ie strengdis and weaknesses o f Ming stem from the policy o f its ft Hinder. Chu
Yiian-chang was a phenomenon never seen before in China ami rarely in any coun­
try: a man from die very lowest orders who took over die country. China had bad
plebeian rulers before— most notably die founder o f Han— but they never had
been from die dregs. Chu was a military deserter, a quasi religious figure, petty crim­
inal, and drifter, a member o f China’s vast lumpcnproletariar. Taking advantage o f

77
 Involution: I.ate Imperial C'bum ~S

the rebellions at die end ot Yuan and o f tlieir millennarian religious cast, lie par laved
his training and charisma into w orld power.
Afterward, ceil tradition gave way to imperial sloth, 'llie denouement came in the
late sixteenth century, when die Wan-li Emperor went on a son ot' imperial strike,
refusing tor several vears to meet or appoint officials or otherwise discharge even
minimal Kinetic ins. Rav Huang (lySl) ascribed this, roman ticallv, to frustrated famil­
ial love. In it others liave .1mi bn ted it to glandular or mental imbalance. Wan-li was
followed b\' voting and incompetent successors in the earlv seventeenth century. Ihe
Ming Dynasty could not survive such neglect, and it tell bv i(>+4
Yet in late Ming, population was perhaps triple what it had been at die start,
growing troni about 50 million to an estimated iso million (I lo i<w, Huang iy?+;
IVrkins 1969). T o demonstrate the Ming lXnastv's accomplishment, we need only
compare Europe, which had perhaps 60 million people by lioo .md 100 million in
1600 (Braudel 19X1:59—42, 466}, and India, which had about 100 to no million in
both 1300 and 1800 (Rayehaudhuri and Habib 1982).
But before 1500, die inevitable troubles o f Chinese dynasties had surtaccd. Al­
though the founder o f Ming laid down explicit and draconian rules to prevent eu­
nuchs and palace women from getting power, such rules were mere sandbars 111 a
fltx>d. Tlie tew thousand powerless eunuchs in 1400 had someh< iw increased to sev­
enty thousand in die early [600s (Chan 1982; Huang 197+). Ihe empire was strapped
tor cash. Its primary source o f revenue was tlie land tax, which with various sur­
charges and additional imposts amounted to under s percent o f ordinary [x\isants’
gross. (Ot coui'sc, corrupt officials took more.) larger landowners were taxed less
dian id percent o f tlieir crops. Other fiscal matters w ere in-egulai. One nostalgic
M ing writer commented on Sung: “ Fiscal admin istrarion in those davs must have
been superior to ours by myriads and millions o f times” {Huang 1969:126). Ihe im­
perial household needed 214,000 piculs o f grain a year, and court expenses on t<xxt
and entertainment reached 260,000 to 400,000 taels annually in late Ming. Enor­
mous quantities o f timber were required, which led to deforestation and a shortage
o f wood for machines and implements. 'Die army was supposed to teed itself by
farming but did not (Huang 1974: 58, 256, 282).
Climate compounded the problem. Tlie Ming Dynasty corresponds in time to die
worst o f die Litde lee Age, a perkxl ofextremelv cold winters and o f summers when
die rains were apt to fail or to come in sudden torrents (Harding 1982; Zhang 1982).
Disasters and famines struck, agricultural development was inhibited, and die north­
ern base o f die empire was sorely stressed. It w'as not tile right time to have few'
funds for relief. M ing also roughly coincided with the age o f die greatest plagues in
the West and had its own problems widi disease (Chan 1982:2116).
For better or tor worse, Ming was a dynast}' o f die upwardly mobile, l l i e roval
family was o f plebeian origin and never forgot it (Hucker 1978). 'Ih e eunuchs were
all o f very low' bird], since no one o f any standing would subject himself to an opera­
tion diat was not only demeaning but was fatal half the time. (At least that was the
 hiitilution: Late hii/mmt China 79

rate reported by medical observers in late Ch’ing; during Ming ir is not likely to have
Ix'cn better.) Many scholar-bureaucrats came tip through tlie cxaminatKMis, not
through Innil ( Ho 1962). Tlii; Ming ruling elite was chits a dispersed, heterogeneous,
unstable group drawn from the vast and scattered pool o f relatively large landowning
families. rich merchant households, and low'-bom eunuchs, which helps explain both
its attempts at aurtxracy ,md its problems in earning that out. Insecure and unstable
Control created a lelt need tor authority.
Dwight Perkins maintained in an mtlucnti.il book, Airniitlriirrtl Dmlopmait m
CJmia, (1969), tliat agn culture changed little during tliis period beyond
the extension o f cultivated area from 60 million to perhaps 8s million acres. 'Hiis fig­
ure docs not match the rate o f expansion h i population, b u t the system ot registra­
tion broke dow n Ixfbre Ming's end, and I suspect die nue figure is higher. Even die
low final figure, however, would mean vields of" about nine hundred pounds o f grain
per person per year, w hich would have been ample (Perkins 1969:17). More use was
made o f the high-yield seeds popularized 111 Sung; further varieties and local strains
were developed and made available; relatively new technologies o f water control and
fertilizing spread; and New World tixxi crops began to enter China (H o 1955). Raw-
ski (1972) showed that these d irig e s were more important than Perkins diouglit:
spread o f high-vield crops and o f highSv intensive cropping cycles and methods were
particularly important,
liy the end o f Ming, New World fixxls became well known, at least as famine re­
lief crops in limited areas. Introduced bv die Spanish and Portuguese, they spread
primarily from Manila with returning Chinese traders. Macau was the other impor­
tant 1ion o f entrv. Some plants seem to have come across die mountains from India
(and ultimately troin die Portuguese at Goa and elsewhere), but this route may ix>t
have been active until the Ch’ing (Mo 1955). Sweet potatoes were die most important
borrowing almost from the start, lliev seem to have come to China in die latter half
o f die sixteenth century and were well known by 159+, when a governor in Fukien
propagated diem for famine relief. 'Iliev certainly came from Manila, w'here diey
were brought bv die Spanish from Mexico; dieir Nahuad (Aztec) name, crwiotl, sur-
\ives in almost all Philippine languages. In China, they were christened cbm-sim
(golden ruber), pai-yit (white ruber), orfaushu (soudiem barbarian ruber), a name
by which tiiev are now widelv known in tlie soudi (although in more polite speech
tliey are called kmishu, “sweet tuber” ). 'Diey may also have been brought overland
from India to Yiinnan, ft»- works from diat province mention bittuj-slm (reel tubers)
or binuj-yit (red taro). But Imtuf-shu normally refers to die red yam (Diasama vari­
eties containing anthocvanin pigments, difièrent from China’s native vam, called
slimt-yno), not to die sweet potato.
Tlie peanut is first mentioned around i^S by two sources from die Sudiou area.
Maize is (ii-st certainly mentioned in 1555, but die source is from Honan; it must origi­
nally have been introduced in some other part o f China (H o 1955)■ Earlier possible
mentions, under general names that can apply to various grains, have been cited oft
 hii'oliition: l.ntc bnpcnnl CJnnn So

and 011. Maize definitely came via so;) routes, and probably overland as well, from
Yunnan. It was liot known in China in pre-Columbian times, but it must luve been
introduced almost as st xm as Europeans reached the l-'ar Hast; the Portuguese found
it so much better in tropical conditions than any other crop that they planted it ev-
crvwliere, often on tlieir first voyage to an area. f hgh-yielding and easy to grow ev en
in hilly .met p<x>r soils, it spread rapidly.
Tobacco and probably several minor tixxt crops also entered with the Iberians
about diis dmc. Several crops .ire know'll in South China by names diat combine the
adjectivefmt (southern barbarian) with the name o f a l<>ns>-established (llune.se crop.
(Westerners are sometimes still insulted with the phrase fnn kua bit, “ barbarian
ghost fellow',” l<xwelv translated “ forcipi devil.” ) 'lluis the tomato w'as called /n)/
eggplant; g u a v a ,p o m e g ra n a te ; papava,_/(?;; quince (although tt xiav the fhn is
confusingly left off); jicama 01 yam-bean,//jw ki idyll llicsc crops were all intro­
duced from tlie New World; all are typical o f the Latin American plants that the Ibe­
rians picked up and spread widely; some arc not used by English-speaking peoples.
In contrast, standard European crops and late-borrowed New World crops are
known by tlie more complimentary terms Ixt (western), w ha (ocean), or ijsi-wiuj
(western ocean). All the/«« plants were most likely introduced before the end ot
Ming. With them must have come tlie chile pepper, whose enormous popularity
throughout most o f South and East Asia bespeaks earl\r borrowing and rapid spread.
In China it became really popular only in the areas iutliieiiced by Hunanc.se cooking,
but it is known .md used all over die country.
By the end o f die dynasty, New’ World tixxt crops were alivadv important even 111
extremely reniotc parts o f China. Hsii Hsia-ko, an inveterate traveler o f die late
Ming, found die Yao people, o f die rcnx>te inland mountains in southern China, de­
pending heavily on potato's and sweet potatoes (Hsii 197+).
Odier new crops w ere few, because Ciiina already had most o f what die rest o f
Asia could otfer. Cotton growing expanded greatly and the native tallow tree (StiUm-
gin scbifira) may have been new in cultivation, since it is not mentioned in sources
earlier than M ing (Yuan 1978), but neither o f diese was a ttxxt crop. More important
were proportionate changes: rice became even more important, reaching its modem
level o f significance as Cliina’s great staple. At die same time, wheat was spreading in
die south, and flour was becoming an important food, Thus Raw ski (1972) found
the poor in Fukien, unable to afford rice, turning to flour products as a staple, The
flour w-as probably consumed as noodles, still a staple tbod o f rich and poor alike 111
Fukien.
Sugar underwent a revolution, which had begun in Sung but was consolidated
during Ming, when new' processing technok >gy led to great growth in sown area. By
die end o f M ing, China’s food was about as it is now'. Rice made up approximately
70 percent o f die grain, wlieat most o f die rest (Sung 1966). Sugar, oil, and tea had
all reached an importance comparable to— though nor equal to — that today. Div er­
sified and specialized fanning o f fruits, vegetables, and so tbrth was widespread, but
ff* I um!iirmu: I,ate Imperial China Si

most prevalent in areas with goexi soil anti good commi mi cations, especially tile
Yangr/e Valley but increasingly the sontliward river valla's kxj. Yields were about 2
piculs |xt mu id the south, 3—4 on the richest land, about 1,600 to 1,100 pounds per
acre.
Hiese crops were cultivated on the tiny, fractionated farms also familiar to observ­
ers ot the subsequent scene. I luge state farms in reclaimed or early-conquered areas
and large estates in tlie richest anti best-placed para o f the country controlled a sub­
stantial share ot the Lind; but the vast majorin’ o f China’s acreage was in small­
holdings. Big landlords were tew; landless laborers less rare, but by no means preva­
lent. Holdings o f three to tour or even ten thousand acres were rarely known; a large
landlord normally held three hundred acres or even less (Huang 197+), Ixxal land­
lords such as die elite o f Tung-ch’eng County, snidicd by Hilary Beattie (1978),
owned acreage that modem American farmers would consider vanishingly small, but
in Ming China these holdings guaranteed a stable base from which families could
branch out into politics and business. They made money from these pursuits and
banked it in land, less easily lost to officials or bandits {Q iao 1981).
In tlie late noos the “ single whip” rax reform was intnxluccd, in which all die pre­
vious ta\es and mi|x>srs « ere united into a single payment, theoretically in rice or
grain but actually reckoned in silver in manv areas. This reform spread slowly and
against some resistance, but it mav have led to a real reduction in tlie tax burden,
since it provided less oppommin’ tor officials to squeeze and cheat. Like earlier taxes
in China, it was collected semiannually, roughly at late spring and autumn harvest
times (Huang 1974), Most o f the revenue came from the autumn collection.
Toward the end o f Ming, a reaction set 111 against the arid, otherworldly specula­
tion that had conx- to dominate Chinese philosophy; a utilitarian, practical tradition
resurfaced. Among those influenced thereby was one Sung Ying-hsing, « ’ho wrote a
study o f everyday crafts, die 'Pini-kinuj K ’ai-mt, freely translated as “"Hie Creations
o f Nature and Man” (Sung iy66). Naturally, agriculture comes first. There is little in
this or other Ming agiicultur.il works diat would have been new or strange to writ­
ers o f either prev ious or subsequent periods; blit Sung stow s us what die typical
fanner actually did. 'Pie incredible industriousness o f the Ming tanner is matched
only by the amount he had to know. Rapeseed makes the liest presscake for fer­
tilizing rice, with t’ung next and camphor, tallow, and cotton last; an ox pays only it
one has a good de^l o f land tor teed, and a buflalo needs even more care, though it
works harder, Beans sliould be sown in die hollow' stems o f a previous rice crop,
since diese fibrous stems trap and hold moisture; plowing for bean crops should be
light but thorough; silkwonns that hide under leaves arc probably sick, but tliose
diat spin sloppy cocoons are “ merely stupid” (Sung i96fi:6, 8, 29, +1)- (Actually, the
sloppy silkworms were probably parasitized.) Rice was broken free o f its stems by
rolling in stone rollers, broken free o f hulls or husks by hulling mills, then win­
nowed. 'Ilie ingenious winnowing machine no«' found in every traditional Chinese
village is well illustrated (8.0 - Hand sieving and winnowing were also found 'P ie rice
 Irii’olutioir l.ntc hnpcnnl C.biun 82

was pounded in a nxxtar bv a large wixxten pestle. I land-operated pestles were no

doubt used 111 renyjte areas, as they arc still, but usually a fixn-trcadle pestle or even a
water-p ow ered mill widi several pestles driven by a shaft was used. So u k: ot tliese
mills ground wheat tiour and drew water ibr irrigation too; “ such a machine can
only be invented by unusually clever minds,” claimed Sung (<>+), Such equipment
could not polish tlie rice in tlie way we understand rhe ten 11 today, it produced a
grain that was fairly white but diat retained at least die inner seed coats; thus it had
almost die nutritional value o f bmwn rice.
Wheat Hour was milled by horizontal millstones. Nonli o f die Yangtze, a liixxl
quality fine-grained stone from Anhui was used, worked almost like the i hmgarian-
type steel rollers o f modern commerce; die grain was crushed but not heated, the
bran formed large flakes diat could Iv sieved oft', and flour o f 80 percent or less ex­
traction resulted. It was not as white as today's, as it retained some seed coat and
germ, but it was a fine flour. South o f die Yangtze, coarse stones heated and pulver­
ized die bran, which mixed in widi the flour; a coarse brown flour resulted, anti
tiie stones had to be ivplaced more ficqucndy. In both areas the flour was bolted
through silk, and in die north diis produced a very tine white flour o f low extraction
rate. However, there was no way to remove the ground gemi, so the flour spoiled
quickly (95), It also had more nutritional value dian iiKxlem white flour.
Odier grains were ground or pearled. Sung also described in detail the prixluoion
o f salt and was aware o f die physical need for this mineral. He details sugar prtxtuc-
tion and processing, yeast and brewing. By contrast— surprising to a modem
reader— he dtx\s not Ixjther to discuss pickling or the processing ofsoybeans into
sauce or lx-an curd, diough he briefly mentions diem (ly). Evidently diese were o f
lirtle commercial importance, however important diev ma\r haw been to the house­
hold; Sung does not deal with activities pcrtbnned in the liome. 1 infer that— m
spite o f die detailed discussion o f bean curd in odier Ming books (which describe a
process essentially like diat used hxtav in highly traditional areas), bean curd was not
produced commercially on any scale at diat time.
l l i e Chinese diet must have been overwhelmingly grain-based, using even fewer
meat and bean products dian are used todav. Sung mentions no other hxxis except
beans— soy, mung, broad, dolidios, sword beans, peas, and eowpeas— sesame, and
vegetable oils {30—31). These arc discussed in a chapter on oil extraction devoted pri­
marily to industrial uses o f oils, for example, in candle making. Sung lists the best oils
tor tixxt as soybean, sesame, turnip, and Chinese cabbage; Pmlia and rapesecd; then
tea-seed (dangerous, as die presscake is poisonous), amaranth, and last hemp
(215—16). 'Die official agricultural cncydopcdias have more information, but they are
less lively and have fewer evidently eyewitness accounts.
Another lively witness was an ordinary Korean, Ch’oe Pu, who came to China by
accident. Koreans tended to adulate Ming China, regarding it asfotis ct oiyjii o f cvery-
diing gfxxt, bur O i’oe regarded it widi an objective eye. He had been caught in a
storm in 1488 and driven on die China coast, where he was taken into custixiy by the
f t Imvititwn: I.ate hnpain! Chtua ,'f;

government and stx>n returned to Korea. Meanwhile, he had a good opportunity to

see China— a land poor Iv known and rarely visited by Koreans at that time, in spite
ot its importance in their ailturc. His ilotos on food are usually sparse, but interest­
ing. When lie rnet a regional commander (.liter long dealings witli lesser officials),
he was honored with tea and fruit and given good provisions, which Ik listed as
follows:

One piate o f pork

Two ducks
l:our chickens
Two fish
One beaker o f wine
One plate o f rice
One plate o f walnuts
One plate o f vegetables
One plate o f bamlxxi shoots
One plate o f «-heat nocxilcs
One plate o f jujubes
One pla te o f beaj l-cim i (C h ’fX' IiX>5:7 i)

This must have been typical of’official gift-giving o f the time and must represent
what die government believed to be appropriate staples for a not paitienlarly distin­
guished traveler. In summing up his experiences, Ch'oe contrasts Nordl and Soudi
China, using the V’.uigt/e as the division. He thought die ftxxl was coarse in both
areas, describing eating from common bowls with chopsticks. He found tlie south
more refined and notes— in addition to nee— sorghum, bamboo, longans, titchis,
oranges, pomelos, and all tlie Chinese domestic animals as characteristic fixxis diere.
Hie noith he found much less tliri\,ing. Jujubes were its fruit.
Anodier Asian visitor left its ail account o f a more splendid reception. In 1+20, .111
embassy arrived from Herat in what is now Afghanistan. Tlie painter Ghiyadi al-Din
Naqqash described it; an English summary is provided by Morris Rossabi (t97i). As
Mxin as the embassy’ reached China, diey were given all necessities. Even’ day diey
were in Peking thcv received “ flour, a bowl o f rice, two large loaves of sweets, a pot
ot honey, garlic, onion, vinegar, salt, a selection o f vegetables, two jugs ot beer, and a
plate o f desserts, and each group often secured a sheep, a gtxwe and two fowl" (17).
But the mast voluble travelers were the Europeans, who found China much more
alien than Ch oe or Ghivath ciid. T o diem, everything was new except the common -
est crops. 'flic varien’ ami cheapness o f fixxl in China amazed die “Western occan
folk” {as they were called in China). One o f die first accounts is that o f Gakote
Pereira, a Portuguese who was jailed for smuggling in i>49 (lioxer 1953) ■ Hie next ac­
count, and the first to be published (in Portugal in 1569 or 1.(70), was diat o f Friar
Caspar de la Cniz. Like Pereira, he knew only coastal Soudi China, but Ik - heard a
good deal about die rest o f die country. Cruz noted many o f die same tilings Pereira
 tp* Im'olutHm: Late Imperial China S4

did: the popularity o f pork, die eating o f frogs (which were skinned with notable
skill), die cheapness o f everything, tin; extreme abundance o f aquatic ftxxK He men­
tions fruits and vegetables as well: mil lips, radishes, cabbage, garlic, onions; peaches,
plums, nuts, and chestnuts, oranges, 1itch is, and the characteristic apple-shaped Chi­
nese pear: “a kind o f apples that in die colour and rind are like gr ey [tears, but in
smell and taste better than tliev.” He also describes teases typical o f Ming bourgeois
eating (Boxer 195$; tit, ijj, 154). Knar Martin de Rada, who visited l-’ukien in 1575, rec­
ords several odier tood items, including tile a 1nous Mack-fleshed chickens ot SoutJi
China and northern Southeast Asia, and the large stocks ot'pigeons and dov es.
From such accounts as diese, Father Juan Gonzalez de Mendo/a produced a thor­
ough and systematic account o f China, published in Rome 111 is8s. At one bound.
Western knowledge o f China increased immeasurably. Mendoza’s excellent and
broadly accurate account remained die priniaiv source o f knowledge about China
tor decades, known and read by educated }K<>ple throughout Europe, and is ;\n im­
portant source still. Bv 1588 it had been translated into English, bv one Richard
Parker, under the snappv title. Tlx Historic of the Great and Miqhtie Kitufdane of'
China, and the Sitimtmi Thereof] Topiiher mth the Gnat Riches, Hnjje Ciltres, Pulttike
Gwcmancnt, mid linre himttioiis in the Saint. A u xin " the things Mendoza discusses
arc pine nuts, honey, artificial incubation, tree-crop intcrplanting with gram (be inci­
dentally notes til at one o f tlie grains was maize—-a very early reference to diis as a
Chinese crop), connorant fishing, and extensive fish fanning (M cndo/j ifisv 15). 1le
notes tliat duck fanners were paid to nm their ducks through infested rice Helds near
Canton— snails as well as weeds were destroyed thus. Even the ornamental garden­
ers had Hsh: “and there is none o f them but hath his fish poole furnished, although it
bee but small” (150).
But, o f course, most o f tlie writings on Chinese fi*x.l were bv the Chinese them­
selves, Ming writings on food are so extensive that they beggar description. (Fred­
erick Mote’s long and thorough essay in h'<x>d in Chinese Cnlttnv [19771 cov ers diis
ground well.) Plays, novels, poems and songs o f M ing record in loving details every­
thing from the chaff and beans o f die poor to die luxuries o f die rich.
’Hie court, o f course, was die most luxurious. It “ operated then as the world’s
largest grocery store and dining hall. It employed 6,too cooks in 142s, and tow ard
die end o f die dynasty die staff grew larger,, . . From die number o f wine jars deliv­
ered to diis agency and the amount o f salt consumed by it, it can be estimated that its
kitchen scrviee must have served from 10,000 to 15,000 persons daily. This does not
even cover die numerous sacrificial services diat were handled by die Court o f Impe­
rial Sacrifices” (Huang 1969:90). In 1578 26.6 million piculs o f grain or die equiva­
lent were collected in taxes, o f which well over + million piculs went to supply the
court and stock die imperial granaries. Tlie kitchen staff reached 9,462 in die mid­
fifteenth earnin'; it had been reduced to 7,87+ in die sixtecndi century (90). A Ming
source noted that in 1468 die Court o f Imperial Entertainments required “ more dian
1,268,000 catties o f fruits and nuts” (57). Mote also tells us about the Court oflm pe-
riaJ Sacrifices. Its axjk in g staff reached 1,750 in 1583. Over 200,000 animals vvere sacri­
f t himlittion; Lnrc hn p am l China S-i

ficed each year, including “ i60 sacrificial w in e ; 250 <h3crifici.il sheep; 40 young bul­
locks of one color; 18,900 fat swine; 17,900 tat sheep; 32,040 geese; 157,900 chickens”
(1977:214) that had to he particularly fine, for they were ottered whole.
Tile cooking o f the great merchant and landlord households was on a less appall­
ingly huge scale, bur probably better. Baking and the making o f sweets seem to have
been especially well developed; novels take note o f die exotic items made from sugar,
and Sung Ying-hsing was intrigned enough to immortalize tiill instructions for mak­
ing some o f them, including hollow sugar animals (Sung 1966). Tlie elaborations
were more and more to be found in die great regional trading cities such as Canton,
Hangchow, and ( 'hangsha and dieir restaurants and inns, rather dian in die vast
halls ot die court. Hie complex and sophisticated cuisine reflected in such novels as
die anonymously authored Golden iMits (Edgerton 1959) was still confined to die
well-to-do pleasure seekers of the most advanced trailing cities. In sliorr stories and
plays such refinement was vimiallv a mark o f villainv. Only die idle rich could enjoy
it— no hardworking, honest official could afford either the rime or the money, still
levs a common person.
At the other end of the social spectrum, the monotonous grain diet o f the ordi­
nary people was varied only by rare festivals and all too common famines, The prog­
ress ot agriculture tailed to offset population growth and die harsh, erratic climate
that characterized the period, famines were almost continually raging in one or an­
other part o f China. People ate bran, tree leaves, bark, and (at worst) each other.
Ming minds developed a morbid fascination widi cannibalism, which is a common
dieme in novels. A g<x>d measure o f the accuracy o f such popular tales can be
gleaned fi'om the early and instandv successtill stoiy, which persists even ttxiay, o f
Europeans catching and caring Chinese children. It was given official credence in die
Mituj History (compiled in early Ch'ing tiom Ming documents; Chang i9>?). Simi­
larly, OVing government documents Ju ly noted that early hospitals founded by
Westerners collected die eves o f dieir patients for making potions. William Arens
shows, in The Mmi-Eatinjj Myth (1982), liow wild and exaggerated are most tales o f
cannibalism. (Arens overstates his case, but tor China he is nearer die mith than arc
die histories.) Chan (1982:251-3+), likeGemet before him (1962), is simply too cred­
ulous o f die rales.
Tlie Ming government did not leave die peasants to starve. Not only did it run the
biggest grain storage and relief operation in die world, but it also rclie\,cd raxes in af­
flicted areas and constructed or reconstructed infrastructure to protect die lands
(Chan 1982:1+5, 278). l l i e climax to die famine relief efforts was die Yellow' River
scheme, a public works project tu dike, channel, and control the whole lower river
course on a scale that would be daunting even todav. Coming late in die Wan-li pe­
riod, it was expensive enough to drain die country's treasuries, yet it provided only
tempo ran’ relief. Ovcrcultivation, channel constriction and silting, and die drier,
colder climate widi more totrential rains conspired to make the Yellow' Ri\-er a worse
riireat dian c\'cr before (Chan 1982:252; Huang 1974).
Periiaps more worthwhile, in die long run, was the compilation o f die amazing
 rfl* Inwlutwn: Late bupo'tnl Chinn 86

CJriti-buauri Pm-is’ao (Famine Herbal), written by Chou T ingw ang and published
in 1406 in two volumes. His son Chou Hsien-wang enlarged it, ami in i\w it ap­
peared in tour volumes. 'Hie government cndiusiasticaily sponsored the eucyelope-
dia; M ing prince Chu Hsiao is given credit tor propagating it. Experimental gardens
and studies o f detoxification o f poisonous plants were pact o f the eflbrt. llie btx>k is
so good diat Bernard Read's thorough summary widi [ixxii.ni idcnnficarioas has
been issued and reissued in our own age not just as a historical curiosity, but as a val­
uable work diat has never been superseded (Head 1977; Unschuld iyH6). Surely
M ing’s successful famine control (by gram, dike, and book) helped China’s popula-
rion pass that o f Europe and o f India.
Agricultural advances increased the quantity and variety' o f tixx), court .md trade
developed great cuisine. One more component o f die Chinese kxxt system deserves
discussion: die role o f nutritional and herbal science. Ming's record must be unique
in die prcnxxlcm world: nowhere else did so much new and important material ap­
pear. llie Emperor Chu Yuan-chang himself urdered Cilia Ming to write down bis
knowledge (his work is discussed in diapter s)- (ixik in g and nutrition Ixxjks contin­
ued to issue from governmental presses. Finally, at the other cut! o f the dynasty, Chi­
nese traditional food and medical science climaxed in one of die greatest works iii the
history o f medicine: die Pai-tfao Kmy-nm (Mirror o f Basie Herbs) bv 1.1 Shili-
eli’en, who lived during the sixteendi century (Li 1960; Unschuld 1986). ih e work
has been almost contitiuallv available since its first publication, unusual tor a book
published so early. Li was something o f a loner: an indefatigable and highly critical
man, operating outside bodi die governmental structure and the fbnnal and infor­
mal bounds o f die orthodox medical establishment. He roamed the empire searching
for herbs, trying diem out on liimselK collecting case histories with the acumen .mil
pertinacity o f a modem epidemiologist, straightening out Ioc.il uses and misuses o f
names, and observing local conditions and dieir effects 011 health. A one-man instim-
tion o f medical science, he raised experimental and epidemiological methods and
dieories to new heights in Cliina, an accomplishment diat may have been even more
important than his herbal. Unfortunately, die dving days o f M ing were 110 time tor
such innovations to catch on; nor was the succeeding dvnastv propitious for inquir­
ing minds. A first version o f Li’s herbal was finished in 1578. Li worked on an ex­
panded version, but it was unfinished at his deadi in 1591. S o u k three vears later, his
sons brought it our. Tlie government remained almost indifferent at first, but
eventually— especially under Ch’ing— Li’s book was enthusiastically propagated,
C h’ing editions are often huge and illustrated widi some o f die world’s finest botani­
cal plates. Tlie book is still die basic work for Chinese herbal medicine; every East
Asian bookstore with a gtxxl stock o f Chinese materials, from Indonesia to Japan,
carries it in one or another o f die many cheap new editions. It is the skeleton o f the
monumental CJmng-yao Ta Tzu-tim (Great Dictionary o f Chinese Medicine) rc-
cendv issued by die Chinese government (1979). ’lliis encyclopedic work is fleshed
out w'idi modem biodiemical fomiulas, Latin names, and much else, but it remains
true to Li’s foundation. He would have loved it.
 iumUitioii: Law Imperial Chum 87

Among .Uiik 1st two diousand entries in I ,i’s hiiaJ version arc all die common foods
ot China (the title herbal is sli^hdv misleading, for animal, vegetable, and mineral
drugs arc .ill covered). llieit jxjsition on the scale o f warming and tooling is given,
and their taste and flavor in die fiv efold classification system. Then follow dieir spe-
eifie medical uses, extracts from earlier medical works, and Li’s evaluations. Mari­
juana “nukes one see dev ils,” ephedra relieves what we would now call allergy, da­
tura anesthetizes, sagebrush disinfects .11id kills parasitic worms; diese and thousands
ot odier accurate observ ations are recorded. A great deal o f nonsense or poorly
tested material is .list) included, sometimes without eotrunetit, sometimes widi sharp
doubt, Most of' Li’s statements have not yet been adequately cheeked; hundreds o f
new' drugs may await our discovery, in spite o f die thousands o f hours that contem­
porary Chinese, Japanese, and otlier scientists have spent checking Li’s claims.
Among the claims most in need o f testing are statements about the specific nutritive
values o f various tiints, animal parts, and so on that we regard as no more than
sources o f a few vitamins, but that mav well contain enzvnics or similar elicmieals
diat give them special virtues.
Trade flourished in earlv Ming but was cut back sharply after die early fifteenth
century. Ilie great voyages o f Cheng Mao, who explored the South China Sea and
Indian Ocean 111 huge vessels, were suddenly stopped. China mined inward. Tliis
movement attracted critiei.Mii at the nme. Chang Han wrote in die sixteenth century:
“As to the foreign trade on die northwestern frontier and die foreign sea trade in die
Southeast, if we compare their advantages and disadvantages vvidi respect to our na­
tion’s wealth anti the people's well-being, we will discover that they arc as different
as black anti white." {He meant that die northwestern trade— continued under
Ming— was trivial, die sea nadcA-ital.) “ But diose who are in charge o f state eco­
nomic matters know- onlv the benefits o f die Northwest trade, ignoring die benefits
o f the sea trade. H ow can thev be so blind?” (Chang I Ian 1981:116). But tins and
many similar essays failed to swav die court. 'Hie move from Nanking to Peking
rook the court th>m the lower Yangtze, with its dvnamic mercantile economy, to die
stagnant, naturally impoverished noitli and led to the final consolidation o f power in
the hands o f a conservative, landbased aristocracy who were the natural foes o f mer­
chants and innovators.
Western observers o f China, from late Ming until today, saw tlie connection be­
tween autocracy and stagnation. Tlie thesis was especially developed by Max Weber
and Etienne Balasz, and it has been established in more recent years by Victor Lippit
(1978) and Qian Wenvuan (1985). Lippit points out that China had been die world
leader in technology for centuries; diat a huge surplus still existed for investments, as
shown by the fantastic amounts o f illegal and quasi-legal wealth extracted from tlie
poor ov'er and above tlie revenues legally derived; and that this wealth was squan­
dered on luxuries for the rich, radier dian invested in dev elopment. This was related
to the fact that in Ming, landlords vv'ere often absentees. In earlier dynasties, families
had concentrated much effort on developing dieir turds. Ming landholding families
were more apt to concentrate effort on the more profitable pursuit ot official posi-
 Inwitttioii: Late hnpatal China SS

non o r monopoly trade, neglecting dieir lands. Iliis w.is true enough to lead to sup­
pression o f technological innovation. Landlords were satisfied widi tlie real lint
undramatic benefits o f introducing cotton, tallow trees, sweet potatoes, and tlie like
onto dieir lands. At the same time, die new lineage outer that evolved during Si mg,
iii which lineages were controlled by powerful organizations o f elders, propagated
thmughout die Chinese elite,
Anodier theon' ftjr China’s failure to maintain its technological lead has been pro­
vided bv Mark Elvin (1973), more or less followed by l-Yancesca Bray (19H4, 1986),
and closely paralleled bv Kang Chao (19S6). In China's “ high-level equilibrium trap,”
people worked so hard to make such a small living diat their labor w a s cheaper than
machinery or other eapit.ll-inten.vive innovations, Hi us China did not utilize new
technology and even abandoned what it had. Hrav adds that nee agriculture is not
amenable to mechanization. Lippit points our that the large surplus in the economy
argues against such a point, but Elvin maintains that it was cheaper to hire uxilie.s
dian to build a machine. Relative prices rather than absolute ability to pay are the real
issue. However, Yujiro Havanii and Vernon Ruttan (1971) show that the relatively
low price o f labor as opposed to resources and capital explains what innovations
C'liina did make in later centuries. With abundant cheap Ialx>r, a canny estate owner
would be encouraged to devise new and more elaborate strategies lor using fertilizer,
new labor-intensive crops, pest control, and the like, and to utilize surplus labor in
production o f crafts and maintenance o f die infrastructure. Indeed, studies show that
a lor o f this did go 011 (Beattie 1978; Rawski 1972). But there was no independent re­
search sector— no government grants, private funding, or- even five time tor men
who might haw spent dieir lives puttering in laboratories. Here, a version o f Elvm’s
theory may intbnn our position. The “high-level equilibrium trap” may have been a
factor at the local level, but it was much more important at die national. I lie govern­
ment and its avatars found diat wealdi could lx' maximized by forcing more w ork
tcir less pay, and they saw no great benefit in supporting pure research. So China's
modernization failed just as die Wesr's w a s taking o ff
M ing authors pointed to the decline o f trade and to fiscal mismanagement and
government corruption as die causes o f increasing stagnation. After a dynamic start,
Ming setded down to a dull, repressive reign. The government, like many othei-s,
was effective at stopping individual initiative but was ineffective at raking initiative
on its own. Trade, philosophy, science, and innovation slowed down together. ’the
dynamic, intense, fluid society o f early Sung and early Ming was giving way to the
static, bureaucratized world so familiar to nineteenth-century visitors. Yet missionar­
ies like Mendoza and Matteo Ricci in die fifteenth century were impressed by Chi­
na’s openness, dynamism, and competent rule, and even pcxir Galeote Pereira noted
diat Qiinese jails (while hell holes) were better dian die prisons o f his native
Portugal.
Lippif’s and Qian’s argument blaming die auKxracy is n>ost convincing, but die
dynamic o f population growdi, resource decline, and substitution o f labor for tech-
 I mill iilion: Late Im painl CAmsa S y

nologica] ad\ ancc cannot be denied m explaining China’s stagnation. The m o arc
probably related- llie burgeoning population was miming beyond the administra­
tive capacity ot a pro industrial regime. 'Hie labor-intensive economy meant dint peo­
ple needed more sons to work tlie land or otherwise get their living; therefore, popu­
lation growth proceeded, llie government became more centralized in trying to
control die rapidly expanding niass, .md tear o f change set in.

'ihe Cb’i/tej Dynasty: Manclnt

little and the End of Old China
llie early Cli'ing Dynasty was “the age o f enlightened despots” ; Jacques Gemet
(1982) is only the latest to use the phrase. During tlie e.irlv Cli'ing, China added
twice tlie territory o f the ancient Eighteen Provinces (F.urbank 1978; Fairbank and
Liu 1980; Rossabi 1975; Spence and Wills 1979). Cli'ing was lucky in climate. Sliordv
after ihe dynasty commenced, the 1.inle Ice Age began to wane and a wanner, wet­
ter regime followed (Wang and Zhao 1981; Wong, Zhao and Chen 1981; Zhang 1982)
that explains much o f tlie economic and demographic expansion o f tiie Ch’ien-lung
jx'nixk However, wetter weather exacerbated die chronic f k x x i problems, as did
deforestation— ever more serious— and the expansion of’ cultivation in die uplands,
over-dose diking and tlie resulting siltarion o f riverbeds, devegetation of riverbanks
{which allowed the banks to wash out), and reclaiming (ironic misnomer) o f lakes
and mai-shes that had once been natural reservoir*. Paul Greenougli (1982) points out
that China was Hie ahead o f India in fkxxi control organization— but India needed
less. It had not ravaged its forests, tloodplains, and marshes; die liritish initiated diat
sort o f "progress.” 'llie Chinese had 110 choice; tlieir population, greater dian India’s,
was jammed onto less cultivated and less climatically favored kind dian India had.
(Even Bangladesh has nxire tannkuid per capita tlian China.) 'Die Chinese could not
afford to let nature take its course widi drainage systems.
Ill is population, more« act, was still expanding fast (H o 1953). In Ming, China
was a bit ahead o f Europe and die Indian subcontinent in population. The fall o f
Ming reduced die population greatly, but by 1662 it had begun to recover, standing
at io o million. In tlie eighteenth cenrurv, population growth began in earnest. Eu­
rope had about 1+4 million [X’ople in 1750— almost exactly tlie same as counted in
China's census o f 17+1, and about die same as India bad at die time (Eberhard
1977:284-85). But in 1800, Europe had only about 193 million people; China had i6o
niillion in 1812 and almost 57s million bv 1814. Europe’s "denx>graphic transition'’ had
begun; China’s did not come until after tlie iSios. By 1850, China was already more
dian die “ 400 million customers” o f Carl Crow’s famous book title (19.17), but rebel­
lions and imperial decline kept die numbers from expanding dramatically after diat
time. India’s population remained steady at 150 million or so.
Tlie Chinese, bitterly familiar with infanticide, abortion, and many odier ware of
limiting population, knew' how to control dieir birth rate. Any lingering doubts on
 hnvltitton: Late Imperial ('.bum 90

the effect o f such metl lexis in a prcirxliwrn.il society can lie dispelled by examining
tlie record o f China’s near neigh lx>r, Japan. While during Oil’mg ( liinese popular» >11
was expanding rap id!v, Tokugaw.i Japan’s was holding steady, in spire o f Japan’s
even greater peace, pn ispenrv, and stability. Hie direct eanse w.is population limita­
tion that involved intan ticide rates o f up to (O percent 011 top o f .ill the usual methods
o f birth control. Hie ultimate e.iase was the frozen society o f feudal Japan, in which
a person could prosper by keeping his place but could not expect to gain much by
increasing family labor power beyond a ceitain point (.Smith 1977). By contrast,
China bad tewer rewards for those who kept population level, 15* ire tor those who
expanded it. lhere was always room for one more worker or migrant on the in>.ui
I'll at one might even make it gtxx.1. Japan’s primogeniture system (common if not
universal) guaranteed problems tor additional sons; China’s partible inheritance,
coupled with high infant mortality rates, encouraged families to bave as many sons as
they could. A Chinese proverb says: “One son is 110 son, nvo sons is pan ot a son;
only with three sons can you be sure o f a son.” (H ie poor, however, did not alwavs
repnxince. Manv could not afford to many; others starved or saw all their children
do so.) Ilie result was an inevitable, melancholy, liownward sift, as failures from
higher classes tilled the gap left lw tlie dving p<x>r (Moise 1977}- 11 ic psychological
state this induced can be imagined. Desperate means— crime, corruption, and so
o n — were felt to l x justified as the only way to keep afloat. Even those who re­
mained honest developed a conservative, even reactionary, set o f mind. George Fos­
ter (i960 described an “ image o f limited gtxxi,” characteristic o f many peasant so­
cieties, in which all grxxf tilin g are seen as fixed in quantity, so that one persons gain
is another 5 inevitable loss. Ch’ing China prov ides evidence o f such a view.
Europe suffered a comparable downward sift effect (Braudel iy82:+7i), but its
economy was expanding, and merchants accumulated not just their neighbors pit­
tances but also much ncwlv created wealth. Nor did Europe's population expand so
fast as CJi’ing China’s.
Pressure on die land in China was increased bv extreme fractionation; partition o f
estates led to field patterns that seem preposterous today. Population growth outran
land development, and average land per peasant shrank from two acres at the start o f
Cli’ing to one acre by 1729 (Perkins 1969; Kberhard 1977:285). It was about half that
by 1900. A family might own an acre o f land div ided into ten parcels, one or w o o f
diem not much bigger than a rcxim. Boundary /ones and liniinal dikes r<x>k up
much o f die land, and disputes over encroachment thereon tcxik up much o f die
peasants’ time and attention. Meanwhile, public roads suffered as desperate peasants
cultivated more and more o f the dirt roadbed, until officials could tind no carriage
space and repossessed die right-of-way with ijievitablc bmtality. ‘Hie government
supported die trend toward smallholdings (Chao 1981). Tlie Mane Ims were a tiny
band o f alien conquerors, and they knew it. They also never forgot that since the
Mongols, die Chinese had had no abiding love o f foreign lords. 'Ilie K ’ang-hsi Em­
peror seems quickly to have realized that the right strategy (one as old as Chinese
ifk limitiinon: Litre huprrini Chinn 91

statecraft) w as to gamer as much support as possible among the common people

while preventing concentration o f power in the hands o f local landholding elites that
could -serve as a tivus tor rebellion.
Moreover, tlie peasants had tlieir own [lower. K o b c T t Marks (198+) shows
tliat— contrary to almost everyone's previous assumptions— tlie pcxir could mass
together and demand then own. Particularly in the unsettled daw o f early Ch’ing,
when a rather w eak and well-meaning government was trying to get popular sup­
port, many [Xasant revolts w ere successful. hi a world where most families had an
acre or levs, tlie owner ol three or tour acres sttxxf out as a big landlord— and acted
it, too, as he desperately tried to keep his family from sinking back into tlie mass
wlien the estate was divided up. In addition, the ncliest 1 percent ot Chinese com­
prised (by late Ch’ing) tour million people— a large and highly visible pool. But
smallholdings w ere still the rule. Most "landlords” w ere very small fry indeed, own­
ing ,1 couple o f acres. Hie Cli'ing mxi.iI order was not sharply divided into elite and
mass; there was a complicated gradient. Wealth, government position, and local po­
litical power did not always eovaiv. China’s “gentry” was not a unitary all-powcrti.il
elite, but a dispersed anil lactionated set who might have wealth without position or
position without w ealth (fei (Qii), There was a great deal o f downward mobility and
a fair amount upward (Moise 1977; Ho [‘>62). 'Die best picture o f it is in Wu Ch’ing-
tzu’s great novel, TljcScMtm (1957), writien during early Ch’ing. It depicts tlie ‘ gen­
try” scholar often dependent on the chants' o f lowly but well-to-do butchers and
teas!lop-keepers (liasnd Hinguierc (19S0 j has a gtxxl discussion o f the social realities;
Braudel 119X2] makes comparable remarks ahout Europe o f about tlie same time).
Three-level tenancy Ixvame common. Often an absentee landlord rented out land
at a nominal, feed rate, and his local tenant (a well-to-do landholder with secure ten­
ure and small rent) let it out in turn to peasants. Another system involved renting out
“subsoil” rights separately from rights to tlie surface ot the land; in practice these two
systems worked tlie same way. All possible variations on these themes were found
somewhere in China. The status o f tenants varied about as much as it could; some
were secure holders o f long leases on huge tracts o f land— especially imi the frontier,
such as Taiwan, where the land could be “ rented” from aboriginal el nets who might
nor dare try to reclaim it (Meskill 1979). Other tenants were hardly able to rent
through harvest a patch o f land “barely big enough to stick an awl in” (Zclin 1986).
Serfdom and slavery, even, were still to be found. 'Hie Mancluis had had Chinese
slaves in their homeland, and the isolated Nusu Tibetti-Burmans ot Szechuan re­
tained enough independence to continue slaveholding; Tibet had a theocratic system
in which peasants were often serfs o f monasteries. Such conditions were ran: in the
Eighteen Provinces, blit not unknown. We know little about die variety ot adminis­
trative systems in tlie marginal parts o f tlie empire (Hastid-Bniguiere 19S0).
Agrarian taxes fell during Cli’ing to the lowest sustained level in all Chinese history
(Gemet 1982:466); in the eighteenth century they were a mere j - 6 percent ot the
crop— on paper. In practice local officials devised special imposts and outright rip-
 lin v llittu n : L itre h u p m a l C.hnta tj2

i)tts that multi plied die rate bv factors up to ten, bur even then taxes were levs dian
they were in many agrarian civilizations. Tax dodging w as widespread- llicre was 110
capitation tax, tlms landless laborers were (theoretically) tintaxed.
Wliat this meant in tcmis o f tix>d was that people were aWe to survive, but just
barely. Any catastrophe pushed them over the edge into starvation. Wars ant) re be I-
lions were tlie worst, but there were also many ecological problems o f the sort mis­
called "11.1rural disasters” though due to human overuse o f the environment.
Susan Naquin (1976) provides cost-of-living figuies in 1111 the verv end oi Ch’ing
( i S i - S z ) . Around 1810-20, land 111 Chihli cost from 300 cash per mu ior bad land to
10,000 tor g tx x f Chihli is die lie.ut o f North China, more or less the nnxiem Hclx-i
Province. It has less choice land than most o f China. I Ion.in land, better but farther
tram big cities, rented at +00 to 1,000 cash ((Ter year, I take it)_ At this time diere
were 1,700 cash to a silver tael, worth about 16 1980s U.S. dollars. Thus a decent piece
o f land could be had ior under too dollars or rented tor under 10 dollars. A laborer
earned 70—80 cash [xrr day, too in harvest time. A soldier was either paid i.X taels a
month in addition to his room and board or he drew iso cash tor subsistence. A mili­
tia man drew to, which was surclv less than subsistence; lie won id have been ex­
pected to supply some o f his own itxxf One could buv a boy ior 1,000 cash or ,1
woman for to,000, but only die desperate were selling, 'llie 70—Ko cash/day figure
evidently represents die minimum 011 which a person could survive; it is probably
die price o f a worker’s daily ration o f grain and coarse vegetables. Such a diet would
cost about 70 cents in tlie United States todav.
H ie low price o f land is interesting. Land cost several times m< >rc in the better
parts o f die rice regions, but still diere wen.1 always bits that could be picked up
cheaply. However, at a tiny wage diat went for subsistence, the ordinaiv working
person could nor aspire very high. Good quality land was thus expensive relative to
die price ot labor, and die prudent landowner worked his labor force hard rather
than applying labor-saving technology.
Agricultural and herbal books and encyclopedias readied new heights during late
C h’ing: die successors to die O ft Min Tao Shu were now huge w orks occupying
many teer o f shelf space. Government officials ttxjk scriouslv tlieir tasks o f agricul­
tural improvement, introducing new crops, popularizing good strains that appeared
in dieir districts, disseminating tedmology, organizing fkxxi control and conserving
resources. The national grain procurement and storage svstcm was rational and
modesdy successtui (Hinton 1956; Torbert 1977; Zhuan and Kraus 1975). Govern­
ment monopolies extended to ginseng, die procurement and marketing o f which
was rigorously controlled (SjTnons 1981). Famine relief was quick and well orga­
nized; o f course it could not solve die problem— such a task would have been be­
yond die capabilities o f any preindustrial government— but it had strikingly gtxxi
effects (Will 1980). Compared to north and west Europe at die time, Ch’ing China
appears sluggish and backward in agricultural modernization, but compared to odier
parts o f the world, o r Europe o f earlier eras, Ch’ing scans successful. Jacques Geniet
>§* Involution: Late Imperial Chinn 9i

(1982) concludes tli.it in clic eighteenth century, China’s rural masses were richer and
better educated dian l-‘rench peasants o f the same period, and ail even stronger con­
trast can be made w ith iiKKt o f die rest o f Europe, since [-ranee was bv then far
ahead ot nmcii of dint continent (+Si). I lie measure o f Ch’ing success is dius diat
rural economie expansion kept up with population. Changes contixmcd to the late
Ming pattern; New World crops, sorghum, and double-cropping spread, selected
seed w as used, superior crop varieties were disseminated; crops diversified, agricul­
ture was further commercialized. Ilierc was no significant mechanization until West­
ern technology began to enter China at the end of Ch’mg.
Agriculture during Ch’ing was highly commercialized. Markets flourished— all
the way ti om die tin\' “ green produce markets” (at which a few peasants met to ex­
change produce) to die regional markets in grain and specialty crops diat linked all o f
China and kept the cities supplied with incalculable quantities offtxxlsmtis and other
agricultural products from .ill parts o f the empire. L<xal markets at every level were
large and well organized. Merchants grew rich. Ch’ing literature vividly portrays die
enormous w ealth o f merchant families, and— perhaps even more significant—
merchants* nearlv universal tendency to buy land and office while landlords anil offi­
cials diversified into trade. China’s greatest now I, The Stoty of the Stone by Cao
Xucqin (also titled A Dir mu of Red Mansions or Dnain afthc Red Chetmbcr; the best
translation is that bv 1 law'kes and Minford [O10 1975-86]), portrays a great family in
early Ch’ing; tlieir 1e.1l power derives from official stanis, but they own extensive
farms which provide their subsistence as well as cash crops, and they own pawn­
shops, trade in cloth, and otherwise assiduously practice portfolio diversification.
'Hie state routinely sold titles bodi to a xip t and control nKrchants and to raise
money. Some people even grew timber .is a cash cn>p— surely some sort o f ultimate
marker o f rural commercialization (Rawski 1972). By the very end o f Ch’ing, average
cultivated land per capita was a mere half acre (1 mu}, surely not enough to feed
the population. Starvation and malnutrition were the most common causes o f
death— operating indirectly bv weakening bodies diat soon became prey to disease
or by creating such desperation that infanticide, banditry, and odier forms o f vio­
lence were invoked bv peasants desperate to keep their families eating. Dwight Per­
kins (1969) calculates diat an individual needed +00 cattics (533 pounds) o f grain per
year, wiiich provides about 2,400 calories a day— a reasonable figure, considering
China’s age structure and die fact chat many children did not eat an adult radon
(16-19). It Is even a comfortable amount; modem Americans, with an older popula­
tion, consume on die average only about 2,800 calories a day. However, die Chinese
were usually working hard (increasing their caloric requirement), and much food
was inevitably lost in transport and storage— somewhere between a quarter and a
half, if modem Third World countries are any guide. Vegetable and root crops,
which producc very heavily per acre, helped die situation somewhat.
In Ch’ing times, an acre o f land could be expected to yield two to diree thousand
pounds o f grain, if intensively cropped. Only by using die most intensive methods,
 lnvfAitttmt: Late Imperial C.bma 94

.md bv storing grain carefully, a >11Id the peasants eat well Rents we a 1 high (is -7 0
percent o f the crop, but usually less than 50 percent), and special impo<st,s tixik then
share. Victor Lippit (197+, 1978) shows th.it during Kite Ch’ing .uni die twentieth
century about a third o f Chinese wealdi «'.is surplus in rbc sense that CIhina pro­
duced about n third more than \v;ls needed to keep its peasant Kim1lies alive and
working. 'Iliis agrees well with die figures tor population and yield. I11 eighteendi-
cenrun1 China the surplus must have been c]uitc a bir higher, unless much ot die land
was very p(x>rlv cultivated. 'Iliis may have been the ease, tor the Macartney Faiibavsv
was struck by die desolate and uncultivated appearance o f much of the eoiinny
(Staunton 1797), and even in the mid-nineteenth century Robert Fortune (1S47) em­
phasized die apadieric and desultotv nature o f cultivation outside the major market
areas. Rawski (1972) confirms this distinction, aldiough in milder tenns than fo r
tune’s, tor early Ch’ing. Ilie inordinate wealth amassed hv the eunuch minister I lo-
shen in the cightccndi ccnmrv gives us an idea o f how vast die surplus actually
was— apparently, tew even noticed its loss. But bv iSoo people were starving while
the court ate well. “ Surplus” in the sense o f expropriated wealth had become greater
than “surplus” in die sense o f wealth beyond diat needed tor subsistence.
For die first time in Chinese history, rixit crops became important. Sweet potatoes
moved from an exotic local famine relief crop to die staple ftxxl o f tens o f millions in
the east and elsewhere. White potatoes, virtually unknown in Ming, became abun­
dant, owing much o f their spread to French missionary activity in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries. Maize took over vast stretches o f die west and south and began
to encroach everywhere. Never before had a crop yielded well in the warmer, wetter
mountains o f China. N ow , suddenly, these areas rivaled other parts o f the country
tor yield. Maize must have contributed to die problem o f rebellions in die south and
soudi west by allowing an increase and immiscrarion o f the populations there. Fortu­
nately, China was spared the fiill horrors o f maize dependence and die pellagra and
odier nutritional deficiencies diat it brings; not only did soybeans and vegetables
continue to provide vitamins, but other N ew World crops that spread along with
maize improved die rural nutrition picture. Chile peppers and peanuts were the most
valuable, but by die late ninereendi century tomatoes were also becoming known.
(Difficult as it is to imagine Chinese tixxi today widiout die tomato, its spread has
been essentially a matter o f die last hundred years, though it was kxallv known long
betbrc.)
Commercialization o f agriculture had two important effects. First, it allowed a
much greater variety in what people raised and ate. Even small towns could call on
the resources o f die entire empire, or at least o f die great marketing regions in which
diey lived (Rozman 19S2; Skinner 1964—1965; Spence 1977). Peasants had access to
more kinds o f seed and stock and were under more pressure to grow whatever diey
could. Microenvironments were recognized and sown accordingly: in die early
rvvcnocdi ccntury, peasants o f die North China Plain might grow nothing but cot­
ton, o r a mix o f cotton and grain, or a variety o f grains— die mix, and die grain van-
*$• ItmHutum; l.mr hupmal China 9i

cties chosen, depended on diltercnees in soil and water conditions that would seem
irucnxHcopic even to a modem soil scientist (Hiking 1985). China, land o f incredible
diversity in microenvironments, was rationalizing its agnailnire in the direction o f
ever greater diversity.
Second, there was tlie more obvious increase in specialty cropping. Nineteenth-
ccnniry seekers tor economic plants, h i mi Robert Nomine (18+7,1857) to Frank King
(1911) and Frank Mever (1911), found China an incredible hunting ground, l li e al­
most inexhaustible supply o f new species and varieties (in the latter regard, they
never got beyond scratching the surface) had been selected and propagated carefully
so that they were not onlv useful but also rough, reliable, liiglilv productive, adapt­
able, and extremely responsive to temli/.er and care. A disproportionate percentage
ot major new fix*!, fiber, and oniament.il plants entering the West in the last 150
vears conies from China or Japan; the Japanese plants are almost all sophistications
ot Chinese originals. Such mainstays o f Ciiitbmia agriculture as Oriental persim­
mon, kxjuat, kumquat, and almost all our plum varieties share diis history. So do
dozens o f oui' common doorvard 0n1.vn1ent.ils; the hkmi dramatically important o f
diese is die tea rose, known in the West tor about 200 years but important main Iv in
tlie last mo, during w hich time it has completely transformed rose growing dirough-
out the world. Were it not tor the deep-nxjted conservatism o f occidental tanners
and t<x kI buyers, we could have Ix«row ed hundreds o f varieties more. By contrast,
the Chinese (once stereotyped tor abject slavery to blind tradition) have borrowed al-
nx>st cveivtliing Western that will grow in tlieir realm.
Chinese techniques o f composting, organic fertilizing, and land and water man­
agement-— based as they are on conservation and recycling— became influential as
tlie organic farming movement arose in the West ,uid as conservation became estab-
lislied. 'Hie first great proponent o f Chinese agricultural techniques in die West was
Frank H. King, whose travels in China, Korea, and Taiwan were published by his
witc under the title F(in nay efb'am C.aitwia (1911). "Hie book remains a classic in
conseivation 1iteratui c .
Yet Robert Fortune, .is early as 18+7, wrote, “ in the knowledge and practice o f ag­
riculture, although die Chinese may be in advance o f odier Fastem nations, they ate
not tor a moment to be compared with the civilised nations o f the West” (7). 'Die
advance o f agriculture in the West beyond that o f China was quite recent when For­
tune was writing (up to the late eighteenth century, die West had been behind). The
most import,mt Western innovations before 1S+7 were in livestock management and
breeding and integration o f livestock and crop cycles; China’s agriculture, in which
livestock played no major part, precluded borrowing any o f this. Most odier West­
ern developments involved growing o f Mediterranean crops, which will not grow
in China. China already had most o f the Western crops and Chinese grains out­
produced Western ones, especially under Chinese conditions; thus it was hard tor
China to draw on Western technology in die eighteenth century, l l i e West, on the
other hand, was rapidly expanding and colonizing new lands like California and
 hwolntmn; Lntc Imperial ( ’bum yd

Australia, where Cliiiiese fixxl plants and ornamentals often did better than anything
tlie West had previously known. Robert Fortune’s low opinions o f Chinese cultiva-
rion, and o f much else he saw in China, make us believe him when he admits that
“ tor a tew cash . . . a Chinese can dine in sumptuous manner upon his rice, tisli, vege­
tables, and tea; and I ft illv believe, that in no country in die world is there less real
miseiv and want tinan in China” (ill). I-iter, he writes of tlie tea-picking laborers:
“■The ttxxi o f these people is o f tlie simplest kind— namely, rice, vegetables, and a
small portion o f animal tbod, such .is tisli or pork. Hilt the poorest clavse.s in China
seem to understand die art o f preparing their tmxl much better than the same classes
at home. With tlie simple substances I have named, die Chinese labourer contrives
to make a number o f very savoury dishes, upon which he breakfasts or dines most
sumptuously, In Scotland, in lomier davs— and I suppose it is much the same
now'— the harvest labourer’s breakfast consisted o f porridge and milk, his dinner ot
bread and beer, and porridge anti milk again tor supper. A Chinaman would starve
upon such tbod” (Fortune 1857:4.2—43). 1-omtnc was surprised to find tlvit in
Fuchou beef and milk were widely eaten (1X47:60).
In Peking University, a new foundation in the last years of Ch’ing, the students
had “ rice at least once a day, with salt turnips and cabbage or other vegetables. They
have com-nieaJ made into itw hv ton— a kind o f a cake winch is slapped 011 the side
o f a pot in which cabbage is cooking. Tlie heat o f die fire bakes the cake 011 the pot
side while die steam o f die cabbage steams it on the other side” (1 leadland 1914:194).
So speaks Isaac Headland, who taught there tor many veal’s. ’Hie students— fairly
well-off youdis— also had shao-ping and millet gruel. A common laborer working
on Headland’s house lived on “ rice which had fermented in the imperial granaries,
and which he preferred to fresh «'hire rice, a tew vegetables, and onions, with per­
haps a small dish o f beans and soy” (196). Com on die cob, sweet potatoes, and
mixed innards o f animals were av ailable tor a few cents fix >111 sn eer stands. Haute cui­
sine was recognizably closer to that o f today: birds’ nests, sharks' litis, pork cooked in
aromatized rice flour, stir-tried mutton threads, and so oil.
At die dawn o f Ch’ing, the K ’ang-hsi Emperor, a true Manehu hunter at heart,
preferred die simple life, singing die praises o f die wild pea™, peaches, apples, apri­
cots, and uhvia plums o f his cold and remote homeland. He praised the outdcxir life
in tones reminiscent o f Theodore Roosevelt: “ There is die perfect flavor o f bream
and carp from the mountain streams, caught by oneself in the early morning— von
can keep something o f diat flavor tor Peking eating if you enclose die tish m mutton
fat or pickle them in brine before trying diem up in sesame oil or lard. There is veni­
son, roasted over an open fire by a tent pitched on the sunny .slope o f a mountain; or
the liver o f a newly killed stag, cooked with cme’s own hands (even if die rain Is fall­
ing), and eaten with salt and vinegar. And in die northeast one can have bear's paw,
which die imperial cooks value so highly” (Spence 1974:9).
Elsewhere he cites Lao-tzu on die simple life and says diat "peasants make strong
old men because their food is plain; on all my travels I’ve eaten die local vegetables,
 hnvhitioti: I.ate Imjiennl CJitua yr

and telt die better tor ir” (y?). He warns o f tlie problems wicli fruit along the \vav:
people want to otier the first o f the crop, not yet ripe. Hut lie enjoyed die dried
m uskmc Ions o f Central Asia (indeed die world's finest melons), in which empty
spaces left by shrinkage might be tilled with raisins (ifti). His descendants retained
something ot the Manchu love o f simplicity. In iarer years it was recorded o f several
emperutx that tlie)' left tintasted the fantastic meals served to them— including up to
[jo dishes— and ate gnie! w ith simply grilled meat or boiled vegetables. Odiers in­
dulged more in luxun when they could. The Stwv of the Static, describing tlie life o f
one ot the richest families, refers often to delicate .inti finely prepared tixxl— though
it is us 11all)' maddeningly unclear on just what is being served. Ts’ao clearly felt diat
long descriptions o f meals merely broke up his close-packed and intense story o f
human emotions. Occasionally, though, he brought in tixxl and drink to make a
point. 'I lie most Kmions example is the recurrent .mention paid to die teenage nun
Adam.11inn.i and her connoisseurship o f tea; she could distinguish pure rainwater
from melted snow taken from the branches o f a flowering nici tree. (This isn't as hard
as it sounds: uio flowers have an intense carnation-like fragrance diat pronouncedly
flavors snow lying on them.) Msewherc, again pointing to extreme refinement or
snobbism. Ts'ao’s character rejects not only noodles bur also a lunch o f “slirimp-baUs
in chicken-skin soup, a howl o f duck steamed in wine, a plate o f red salted goose-
slices, .mother plate on which were tour crcam-chccsc rolls smiled with pine-kernels,
and a large howl o f delicious, steaming-hot, fragrant given nee” (G io 1975—86:
1:208). Tlie Uxik’s hem thinks these much better than his usual fare and is delighted
to relieve the girl o f the task o f finishing them. I11 general, Ts’ao and odier Ch’ing
writers show a special fondness tor tin it and sealixxf, especially local products. Then
as now, visitors brought packages o f the tixxl specialties from dieir home areas, and
travelers to distant shores were expected to bring back such items to dieir families.
Fine fruits have always been the most popular o f such regional delights.
Tlie otlier great novel o f earl v Ch’ing, The Scix/an^ reflects a more middle-class
world and offers a great deal more detail about what die inhabitants o f that world
devoured (Wu 1957). Spence’s magisterial review o f O i’ing tcxxf (1977) gives short
shrift to til is underappreciated novel. Much o f die book’s action takes place over
meals, and it is clear that then .is now a feast was an obligatory parr o f any important
deal, agreement, or bargain, as well as o f anv reunion or aflimiation o f friendship
and alliance. Wu Ch'ing-m i’s world is not one o f hypersensitive teenagers. His char­
acters range from rumbustious bravos to withdrawn and ascetic scholars. He gives
die fortiKr healthy appetites tor meat, and die latter— the people he really admires
— much nx:>re restrained ones. Frequently characters are introduced at feasts, and
from how much diey take, and how' politely thev take it, we .ire to see whether Wu
diinks o f diem as gross beasts or gentlemen.
Wu also has a Frenchman's eye lor foibles o f die cloth. A monk brings out “ tea
sugar wafers, dates, melon seeds, dried beaneiini, chesmuts and assorted sweets”
— very good Buddliist fire— but dieti brings in beef ntxxfles (Wu 1917:50—51). Beet,
>$• hn'otiitio»: I.ntc hupainl C.hmn 98

ot course, was considered even more si 11till dian other meats, tor the Indian cow cult
had influenced China; elsewhere in the lxx)k a C^hiiie.se Muslim complains that an
imperial ban on cow butchering has deprived him o f a main meat source. Liter, an
abbot is offered a ham: “Tlie abbot’s mouth watered at rlie.se words. . . . Mo told Ins
witc to ctx>k a chicken, slice die ham and hear the wine. Tlie abbot’s face glistened as
lie tel! to” (80).
Recipes, menus, and descriptions spice the Lxx>k. 'ITierc are walnut waters ot
“ melon seeds, walnuts, sugar and flour"; “dumplings stuticd widi gixtse fat and
sugar” ; and duck presen t'd in wine (112,169). A poor scholar visiting the West Like
Ls tortured by die sight and smell o f such a duck along witli pigs’ feet, sea cucumbers,
fish, birds’ nests, and die like, but lie cm aitbrd only dried bambt x >shoots anti such
minor snacks as preserved oranges and boiled chestnuts (217—19). A miser "stabbed
ducks' breasts «nth his ear-pick to see liow tat thcv were” and otherwise made him­
self unpopular bargaining over cheap tare (270}. A hawker sells pachym.i cakes—
small medicinal Ixir cakes made oi'die tree fungus Pailmun cocos, powdered and
mixed widi flour (J47)- After eating a few o f these, a character sits down in a restau­
rant; die waiter spiels oft'tlie day’s menu: “ Joint, duck, tish casserole, mandarin tlsli
in wine, mixed grill, chicken, tripe, tried pork, Peking-style fried pork, sliced pork,
meat balk, mackerel, boiled fish head, and cold |iork” (*47-48). Such descriptions
stand out from a continuous obbligato ot sausages, frogs’ legs, jellyfish. pigs' feet,
duck, goose, goose fat, dumplings, cakes o f all sorts, vegetables, ixxxlles, crabs,
tish, and what not, all protein. Tlie most commonly mentioned tixxl in the bixik,
diough, is surely wine. One character describes a jartt.il o f liquor as “ made o f two
peeks o f glutinous rice a id twenty carries o f fenixnted nee. Twenty catties o f alcohol
went into it too, but not a drop o f water. It was buried nine years and seven months
ago, so it must be strong enough now' to blow vour head oft.” Tlie jar is dug up and
proves to be “as diick as gruel” widi “ a neli bout]net” (426).
Last, we cannot fail to mention Yuan Mei, the great eighteenth-century poet. lit­
terateur, and hedonist, who delighted in beautiful voting people o f both sexes as w ell
as in food and drink. His book, Sui-yiinii Shib-tan (Recipes trom Sui Garden), is the
Chinese counterpart o f Brillar-Savarin. (Sui Garden, where Yuan lived, became his
pen name; lie thought, wrong!)', diat it was tlie garden immortalized in Tiie Sray i f
llie Stotte.) Yiian Mei prefers gixxf ingredients and gtxxi «x>king to conspicuous dis­
play and reports, “ 1 always say that chicken, pork, fish and duck arc the original gen­
iuses o f die board, cach widi a flavour o f its own, each with its distinctive style;
whereas sea-slug and swallow's-nest (despite their costliness) are commonplace fel­
lows, widi iK> character— in fact, mere hangers-on. I was once asked to a party given
by a certain Governor, wIk> gave 11s plain boiled swallows-nest, served in enormous
vases, like flower pots. It had no taste at all” (Walev 1957:196).
Food as mcdicine continued to flourish. Beautiful editions o f the Pai-ts'ao
Kang mu wen; printed. Dietary manuals appeared. Doctor; saw primarily elite pa­
tients (Tiu: Stmy of the Stmw has some excellent accounts), but phamiacists in dries
and small towns spread medical knowledge widely, serving as a bridge from the elite.
ifi' linvhitimi: Late Imperial Chum <)<)

literate tradition to die ordinary people. In China and the New Territories a gencra-
rion ago, tliis es.senn.illy' rradition.il system was still in place, a major conduit tor
transmission ot knowledge, preventing ,inv watertight separation o f “great” from
"little” traditions. Even the specialized realms o f gvnccology and pediatrics were not
forgotten. Charlotte F uitIi (1987), who explored this otherwise almost unknown
realm wirh the help ot nnxlem CI1i11e.se practitioners, writes of" tlie Ch’ing:

Like their counterparts in piciiidiism.il Europe. Chinese doctors Hissed

tliat dieir genteel patients were too delicate ,md mmanticized the hardy
peasant wife w ho, according to steieot\|X‘, deliv ered easily. T"heir advice
was also in keeping with the Cliinc.se emphasis on diet as a foundation o f
health and on harmonizing tixxt in accordance with the body’s need tor a
balance ot “ hot” anti “cold.” Each medical handbook had its own tixx.1 lists
tor the e\|x-ct,int mother, hiit all disliked an overlv “hearing” diet— strong
meats, heavy spices, oil, and fat. Tliev also frowned on alcohol and die cat­
egory of “axiling and raw” ttxxls, thought to be indigestible. A highly
anxious person could find among the available literature elaborate cata­
logues ot talxx) tixxis, based 011 sympathetic magic (“ Eat raw ginger and
tlie child will be Ixim with extra kx.-n and fingers . . .” “ Eat bird meat .uid
the child will lx- lustful” ), A more easygoing woman could be reassured bv
advice to continue eating 110mLilly, with prudence.” { i+),

We encountered this continuum from anxious talnxis to lcx>ser suggestions in die

Yiiaii—Ming pcnod, and it is still tine Kxiay.
Widi all it had going tor it, whv didn't Ch’ing China modernize? Why did it tail to
respond the way Japan did, flourishing 111 traditional rimes and rapidly catching up
to die West when finally opened to foreign trade? 'Hie West was surely part ot die
problem. Even in die seventeenth century its impact was tclr; its sea trade destroyed
the caravan trade and mined Central Asia; it preempted die sea lines and expanded
rapidly into Ch’ing lands. Bur it also brought trade, paying in good Mexican silver
for ev en die cheapest and ptxircst o f teas, medicines, and silks. Sonx' o f Ch'ing Chi­
na’s early wealth tan lx- attributed to diis. Not until tlie mid-nineteenth century
when opium, gunboats, and unequal treaties became die order o f die day, was die
West’s effect truly pernicious. Even dien, China could have risen to die challenge, as
Japan and Thailand did. And why did the early tirin g rulers, so well supplied widi
cooperative Jesuits in their courts, never seriously try' to leam new techniques?
Clearly Western input b\' itself explains little, (Moulder [ 1977) argues the case for a
devastating Western impact on China, but Lippit [1978] mHites this position con­
vincingly.) The classic European explanation was diat China was innately a stagnant,
tradition-bound civilization diat sat in immemorial indifference to innovation. Con-
fiician ideology is often blamed tor this. But diis stereotype is tontradieted by every­
thing else we know. Even in Ming and Ch’ing. let alone in earlier epoclis, there was
much adaptation.
10‘ Imvhttwn: Lntc Jmpaial Chinn too

Ch’ing's pattern was one for which Clilf<)rd Geerr/. (igfij) coined the term mpt-
ai!twnl iin'olntion. Involution— odierwise known as “growth without develop­
ment” — occurs when a traditional svstem is driven hauler and harder, becomes
more and more complicated, and feeds nx >rc and more people— hut without any
basic change, Inevitably, such a system fails to keep up with population growth, so
involution by definition implies immiseration of the majority. Cieertz describes tins
syndrome in colonial Java under the Dutch, showing it to lv the effect o f colonial
policy. The Dutch developed cash-cropping (tor the benefit o f the homeland) on the
best land, adopted politics that led to runaway population growth, restricted the
peasants to marginal land, and kept the country under rigid connol, seeing all inno­
vation as a threat. The peasants had to work harder and harder at their tradition.il ag­
riculture to feed themselves. They adopted new ideas, but only tliose that would fit
with dieir labor-intensive, impoverished, village world. Ev en if tractors had been
available, diey would not have itsed them. With labor so cheap— both because it
was so numerous and because tlie Dutch brutally suppressed .ill attempts by the
workers to raise tiieir wages—-there was no incentive to replace workers with ma­
chines. Rather (anti here Geertz anticipates Mark Elvin’s “ high-level equilibrium
trap” ), it «'as always easier to wring a bit more work out o f the peasants than to in­
vest die same effort in replacing labor widi land or capital, though only by doing so
could true development take place. In the cash-crop sector, modernization ran on
apace, for die Dutch wanted to maximize production o f sugar, quinine, and so forth;
but who eared about peasant agriculture?
East Asian fanning is particularly susceptible to involution, llie "biological tech­
nology” o f East Asia is land-saving and labor-intensive. Changes normally involve
pouring even more labor into intensive cultivation o f tiny plots. Rice and Asian veg­
etables respond well to such a system, always somehow managing to produce just
enough to feed one more hand. Such a system does not preclude true development
(defined as more product per capita), bur it docs allow “growth without develop­
ment” to establish itself: a vicious cycle in which peasants need more children to
work die land, so that labor supply keeps rising taster than tixxl supply, Agricidtiir.il
intensification takes placc, as Boserup (196s) predicts, but die peasants cud up even
worse o fi {Q iao [1986] gives tlie latest and best account o f the process.) Only a con­
tinuous flow o f biological iiuiovations— new crops, new high-yield strains, new
fertilizers, new methods— can prevent this. Throughout Chinese history before
Ch’ing, population had grown radicr slowly, and biological innovations had come
often. In Ch’ing the reverse was true. Imperial authoritarianism is a major part o f the
cause.
So ends the story o f the historical development o f Chinese food. 'Hie contempo­
rary scene o f the twentieth century occupies die rest o f die book. The modem his­
tory o f Chinese agriculture is an amazing, complex and instructive story, but it is be­
yond my scope. China’s foodways were established by late Ch’ing; what follows
belongs to modem worid Iiistory.
 % The Climax of
Traditional Agiicultnre

At die beginning ot die twentieth century, bv tar the most pnxhicrivc lands in the
world were those ot East Asia. Japan was probably die most intensively farmed, due
to spectacular development (.luring die whole Tokugawa period as well as die Meiji
era (Sniidi igw), but Japan w.is using an alnx.*st pure Iv Chinese technology. Java
may have been ahead o f China kk .). lint at least some paits of'China— especially the
^ angtze and Pearl ddtas anti the Red liasin o f Szechuan— were well into the com­
petition. And the truly intensive measures used in other realms w ere primarily origi­
nated in China.
Intensive taims were producing rwo to diree thousand pounds o f grain per acre;
other crops yielded in proportion. Root crops and vegetables yielded higher ton­
nages, but no more calories jx'r acre. Since the sou die.vst was routinely double­
cropping by diis time, as was much o f die center and even the nordi, die richer pans
of the nation were pitxiucing about live thousand pounds per acre. The soudieastem
Hinge ev en triple-cropped. Since a person requires about tour hundred pounds ot
grain a year— five hundred allowing tor .storage losses, seed, and ail extra reserve
tijf hard work-—an acre could easily feed ten or fifteen persons. In fact, population
densities in many rural areas readied twenty per acre, suggesting yields often thou­
sand pounds per acre per year.
These yields w ere tar ahead o f anything found in the West at diat rime, and indeed
very tew areas in die Western world piixhiee anvdiing like that now. Those diat do
tend to grow rice, borrowing Chinese technology, lietore 1900, tew Western filmis
could boast fields o f even two thousand pounds per year. Eastern Europe was still at
a virtually Neolidiie lew! o f agricultural development, and parts o f Russia were
barely into die Neolidiie (Warriner iyi9; Wallace l&Si). Wild wheat yielded better
than did die wheat on many European tarnis oftliat time. Returns to seed of tour or
five to one were still common in Europe; Chinese returns were far liigher. And
China was producing not only calorics, but sufficient supplies ot vitamin A, vitamin
G, and other nutrients. Tlie Chinese managed to produce vast quantities ot vegeta­
bles, beans, and fish, pigs and chickens— enough to provide a basic living for all but
tlie poorest— in spite o f die necessity o f committing most farmland to grain. Inten­
sive agriculture did not mean providing calorics alone; it meant providing a whole
101
 Climax o f Traditional Agriculture 102

balanced diet. Thus it was, o f necessity, diversified— in many areas, highly so. 'Hut
tine average peasant lived on the margin o f starvation had more to do with rapacious
officials, soldiers, and bandits than witli agricultural inadequacies- Victor Lippit
(1974) shows diat large surpluses— diat would have provided decent tix>d for .ill, at
least in a year widiout undue niisttjrtuncs— were heing diverted to the elite.
I f die re was one key to die system, it was recycling. No nutrient was lost that
could possibly be conserv ed. "Ilie most efficient possible iLse was matte o f each
“waste” product. Human manure, tor ex.unple, was tat to dogs .md pigs, w hich arc1
more efficient digesters dian humans and can use as tex>d up to half o f wliat we ex­
crete. Weeds and straw were not composted directly but ted to pigs and cattle. Ani­
mal dung, as well as human wastes in cxcess o f die needs o f die pigs, was the major
fertilizer, along widi all vegetable substances that were not choice animal food. Ashes,
wom-out sandals, pulverized bricks and adobe, algal blooms from ponds, and atx >vc
all die mud secxjped from canal and stream bottoms were all critically important nor
only for supplying nutrients but also teir maintaining die structure .md texture ot die
soil (King J911). Manv wastes also wound up as fish ftxxi and pond tcmli/'cr. Co.u-se
grass growing on dikes was eaten by grass carp, and die residue ot oil-pressing made
ideal pond fertilizer and feed. Odier wastes were typically composted. Manure and
night soil, for instance, were left in pits to cure tor a few weeks or months— this pro­
cess iiKidentally destroyed, through tlie heat o f decomposition, the eggs .md larvae
o f parasites. (O f course, desperate peasants often cut die time short, with disastrous
results.) Since water was boiled before use. and tixxt almost always cooked (al­
though not always enough), parasite transmission was tiir less than it might have
been; it may have occurred more often from direct skin contact and dim' washing
water dian from ftxxi or fertilizer.
It was almost impossible for a nutrient to escape diis cvclc. Meanwhile, nutrients
were constantly entering the cycle, at least in die irrigated lowlands. Chronic burning
and erosion o f hills and slopes were ecologicallv disastrous in die long 11 in, but diev
did steadily enrich die lowlands diat rcccivcd the runoff, as many fanners were well
aware. The burning kept the hill vegetation in an early stage o f succession, character­
ized by a high proportion o f nitrogen-fixing plants; and minerals weathered out
from die underlying rock as erosion progressed. Not only did China’s tamiland area
increase as deltas built seaward, but its fertility increased or was maintained by tlcxxts
and irrigation.
Consider tlie history o f a hypothetical atom o f nitrogen. From die air over a
southern Chinese mountainside, it finds itself fixed by root-nodule bacteria on a wild
legume. Tiie liill is burned. AH too much nitrogen gtxs up in smoke, but diis partic­
ular atom is trapped in the ash and washes downstream. 1 1 ic stream is diverted into a
high field, wliere it waters vegetables. "Ilie atom is eaten by a human. Eventually ex­
creted, it cycles dirougli a pig, is eaten by a human again, and— let us say— goes
oncc more dirough a pig, dien escaping in pig dung, which fertilizes die vegetable
patch. Tliis time, the atom happens to be consumed by an insect nibbling on a vege­
table leaf. But it is not lost as human tbod. The fanner turns liis chickens and ducks
 ('lininx of Tiadii tonal Ajjiiciiltmr to j

iii«> die field once die vegetables arc big enough not to be eaten by tlie poultry. 'Ilic
buds eat tlie insects and weeds, So tlie atom goes again through die human gut.
Perl laps die atom escapes downstream. Here it tails into a rice paddy, and tlie
whole cycle starts again. It'it becomes p;irt o f a seed, it is human tixxt; if straw', it is
buffalo kx>d, i 1r< x >ts, it mav tv- used as fiie! and returned to the field as asli; if it es­
capes into an insect or weed, tlie ducks cat it. Duck farmers in South China routinely
rented then docks to rice growers or, depending 011 die local price ratio, paid a slight
tee to 11111 their ducks through the fields. Hie atom escapes die rice field cycle eventu­
ally. But below them, on ground that fkxxls tcx> deeply or constantly tor rice, arc
duck pens, water buftalo pastures, and water tames diat raise watercress, lotus, k’ttiijf-
tmn tint (Iptntiocn nqttnticn, .1 le.if vegetable), and other aquatic fcxxts. Ilicn tliere are
the lisli ponds. and beyond them die marshes where wild tisli and shrimps are
trapped and thatching reeds cut. {’Hie dutch is composted when worn out.) Even
the nutrients that escape to the sea are not lost, tor die marine fishery sweeps up ev­
erything: oysters ,ue tanned, and everything that swims, burrows, or crawls in the
ocean is taken for fixxl.
Hie only iva! escape ttii a nimtgen atom is into the air. When plants are burned in
an open tire, most o f the nitrogen is lost. But 111 rural China, burning was done in
the tire hole o f tlie great kitchen stove, that holv shrine (die kitchen gods home) and
center of the household. Woks and stewpots ncatlv covered die holes in die stove
top. In the cold north, fines ran from die stove under die tkxir, heating it; dins die
kitchen Ixvame the winter home o f the whole family. A minimum o f Riel was used
to maximum ctiect; a handful o f straw' accomplished as much as a good-sized bonfire
111.111 open hearth. Not onlv the absolute shortage o f fuel but die cost o f using valu­
able feed and compost as Kiel deten 1lined diis extreme economy. (For fiiil accounts
o f Chinese f.imis, see Anderson and Anderson 197.1; Buck 1917; King 1911.)
Nitrogen was lost in smoke, and when plants decayed, but composting was done
in pits or closed places to avoid nutrient loss. What was lost could easily be made up.
Beans and peas were universal crops. In die rice paddies grew' blue-given algae diat
fix nitrogen. Many o f dicsc live svmbioticaliy on small floating water-terns ot die ge­
nus Azdln. In Vietnam, there were actually selected varieties of Visa//«, propagated by
peasants who knew dieir fertilizing gifts; I assume die Chinese were not less aware.
Tlie value o f algal and tern pond scum was discovered by Western scientists in die
Philippines, where die kx’al people told them diat rice grew better in die downwind
end o f the fields because die wind blew the pond scum dicrv. The scientists dis­
missed this as superstition until someone actually took a look (Copeland 1924; see
also Grist 1975; Hill 1976, 1977}.
Odier nutritents followed the same path. Minerals like calcium and potassium
were less limiting and common enough in the various fertilizing agencies. The Chi­
nese never had a gixl o f manure, as die Romans did, but they were certainly die
world’s most intensive fertilizers, until the rise o f artificial fertilizers in die Western
world in the last half century.
The Chinese were far ahead o f even the most intensive and self-conscious o f mod-
fp 'C tim n x o f Traditional Agriculture 104.

cm organic farmers. Nor even die most devoted organic fanner in die United States
pulverizes old bricks or composts old shoes (straw' sandals are better compost dian
leadier, let alone plastic). Even tlie must dedicated opponents o f pesticide* do not
specialize in developing jxst controb diey tan cat. The Chinese not only used chick­
ens and ducks, they hunted and ate die wild birds and frogs (“ paddy chickens” ) tli.it
controlled insects.
Exquisite care in choice o f cultivation site was practiced. Higii, well-drained sites
were used for vegetables; mid-level sites diat could be tkxxled or drained were used
for rice, which must be irrigated when young and dried off'when ripening; lower'
sites, usually Hooded, w ere used tor water crops, still lower ones tor fish- In areas
when? rice did not grow', die same careful siting was found.
Siting was governed bv die folk science otfhuj-i/jni. Usually (and badly) translated
“geoniancy” and regarded as magic or superstition, diis unique belief system was ac­
tually based on empirical fact. Feng-shui (wind and waiter) refers to the science ot
siting human constructions to maximize die benefits to the users. In its developed
form, diis science has indeed taken on a vast burden o f magic and religion. Graves
beam good luck to die descendants o f those buried diere; nxim arrangements can
bring blessings or curses upon die occupants. {Anderson and Anderson 1971;
Fetich twang 197+; Rossbach [983; Yoon 1976) Bizarre fcng-shui wars have erupted
when rival families desecrate each odier’s graves to harm each odier’s luck (Baker
1979:219—21). But in die folk form found in die villages, feng-shui is mostly gixxl
sense. Groves o f trees are left around villages and streams, where they create gtxxl
luck—-and also die very real blessings o f firewood, fruit, erosion control, anti shade.
Villages must be sited off farmland if possible, and above tl<xx.iland. I first realized
how sensible fcng-shui was in the great June tkxxis o f 1966 in Hong K ong— all the
traditionally sited villages in die w'estcm New Territories were unharmed and all the
modem ones were flooded. Houses face south, toward the winter sun, and arc
tighdy bundled to minimize die area they occupy and prevent sprawl into the fields.
Villages and houses are situated on die leeside o f hi Ik and have good views. Paths
and roads arc not made straight or easy to follow', since bad influences— not only
magical but real ones, such as soldiers and bandits— travel in straight lines, ( .utting
deeply into slopes is outlawed, for it “cuts die pulse o f die dragon” diat lives in every
hill. Peasants point to the terrible washing and landsliding diat followed from mod­
em construction cuts as proof o f diis. Although not even' reader may accept tlie exis­
tence o f tlie dragon, every reader should see from diis die wisdom and die hard­
headed empirical basis o f die custom.
Tlie next issue is die maximization o f efficiency reflected in die choice o f major
crops. Rice, maize, sorghum, and millet produce far more under most conditions
than do wheat and barley. Naturally, die most productive grains were grown. It is
the phenomenal productivity o f irrigated rice, which stands alone among grains, diat
explaijis more than any other factor die stead)' shift to die southeast o f China’s
wealth and population after tlie Han Dynast)- {Hartwell 1982). The Chinese diet was
 C lim ax o f Traditional A jti icnltiiiv /Q(

primarily grain based; not only calorics but protein and several minerals were ob­
tained therefrom. But otlier crops were essential nx>, and here again the Chinese
were lucky or wise, ’line chief protein source after grains was beans, especially the
soy Ivan, which yields more protein per acre than any odier bean. The vegetables
most grown were those that yielded most per acre and also hail high nutrient
density—-that is, a high ratio o f nutrients to calories. Among common Western
crops, the highest nutrient densities arc found in turnip greens, parslev and coriander
greens, bell and chili peppers, spinach, col lards, broccoli, and carrots— in that order
(Basic and Traditional R xxis Association 1979). Chinese cabbages are comparable to
collmls and broccoli. Ilie other crops were grown in Cliina, especially spinach (and
amaranth greens, similar if not higher in value) and carrots. A number o f otlier leaf
crops indigenous to East Asia were grown kxj and have similar values; some, such as
purslane and mallow, arc minor now but were once famine staples; tlicv are compa­
rable tn turnip greens and parsley. Ilie only other major vegetable crop, die radish, is
also exceedingly high 111 nutrient value—-not far behind carrots— especially bccause
o f its high vitamin C content. Other vegetables o f significance, such as eggplants and
tomatoes, arc also nutritionally superior tu most tbods.
So tlie traditional Chinese diet o f grain pieced out widi soybeans and leaf and fruit
.md vegetables was perfectly adapted to the intensive agricultural system. Meat was
barely significant in die diet, but even here die Chinese were efficient. Tlie major do­
mesticated animals were pigs and chickens— excellent converters o f cheap, inferior
iixxl into mcar. Unlike cattle and sheep, tlicv did not need grazing or special feed.
Moreover, tlicv put on about twice die weight o f diose ruminants for die same
weight o f teed, and o f coui'sc chickens give eggs, too. ’Ilie pond fish have even better
conversion ratios and wrere picked to maximize use o f food in die pond (see chapter
8). All these animals arc vegetarian, living low on die tbod chain.
Readers o f some modem btxiks advocating vegetarianism may wonder why die
Chinese ate animals at all. Whv not stay low' on die food chain themselves? Why
waste space or ftxxf on animals? The answer is diat people can't ear everything. In
die best-managed system, there are always things inedible to humans—-most ob\i-
ously human cxcrcment. Chinese stock was ted exclusively 011 such by-products:
dung, tough stalks, bones (for dogs), roots, straw', rotted or burned food, and die
like. Nodiing humanly edible was given to animals, nor was land diverted from
growing human food to growing animal fodder. What little grazing was available
was on steep slopes, flood-prone ground, dike banks, and odier untarmable spots. A
major reason tor die nonuse o f dairy pncxlucts was lack o f space to pasture cow's. Cat­
tle were raised for traction, but they needed what little milk the}' could give to teed
dieir calvcs.
Chinese agriculture represents die culmination o f the labor- and land-intensive,
hyper-efficient “ biological” option in fanning (Bray 19S6; Hayami and Ruttan 1971).
Modem American agriculture represents another pole: die “ mechanical" option,
characterized by enormous use o f energy {mostly from petroleum) and an extremely
 C'lunax of Traditional Aqnailirar 106

wasteful appraadi to land. Not only is land used at far less than its potential, it is al­
lowed to erode. China has suffered dreadfiil erosion over tlie millenia, hut it' it had
been eroded at American rates, ir would have ceased to produce foixt many centuries
ago (Brown 1981).
It is now obvious til at American fanners must eventually move toward a more ef­
ficient agriculture similar to diat o f East Asia. A particularly pertinent and persuasive
documentation is in tlie books o f William Shurdetf and Akiko Aoyagi (1976, ty~9,
1983). David Pimentel and his collaborators calculated how wasteful o f energy our
s\rstem is and liowr soon it must change (Pimentel and Pimentel 1979). Fossil ft ids,
topsoil, dean air and water are running out; above all, die planet's capacity to absorb
pollution from crop wastes, pesticides, artificial fertilizers, and wasted ftiel and pctro-
diemicals is being stretched bcvond its limit. Many lakes and rivers have died already,
and die oceans may not be far behind.
’Die Chinese option is waiting, but tlie barriers to adopting it are twofold: ca>
nomic and psychological. Petroleum ajid petrochemicals are still cheaper than the
cost o f die labor necessary to perform Chinese intensive farming. Chinese peasants
were distinguished bv dieir higli Wei o f effort and o f skill. Tliev learned elaborate
routines and did not take long siestas or s[X:nd much time idling, cither daily or sea­
sonally; they worked eftidendv, without wasted motions. Working alongside Chi­
nese fishermen and peasants, I found diat I got tired sooner dian they did, until 1
learned to move as smoodily and evenly, in routines as formalized as r'ai clit,
Gourmetship among die rich, and necessity among the peasants, led the Chinese
to try' a wide range o f foods and learn to make diem edible. N o puritanical scorn in-
teriercd. Most people outside East Asia waste or underutiiize a Dcmendous percent­
age o f die world's resources by refusing to cat insects, dogs, cats, many game ani­
mals, almost all vegetable tixxls except die very blandest, and even such superb food
as internal organs, fish, and shellfish (Schwabe 1979). Much o f the diversity in the
Chinese diet is maintained because o f traditional medical beliefs, and many o f die
ftxxis eaten for primarily medical reasons are exceptionally higli in nutritional value.
Tlie main m edial problems treated widi diese ftxxis are deficiencies o f vitamins,
proteins, and minerals (or syndromes in which such deficiencies are components).
The main conclusion that emerges from some four diousand years o f change is
diat agricultural development more or less tracked government policy'. When die
government was strong, open, and responsive, it both encouraged agriculture and al­
lowed private farmers to prosper and innovate. When die government was auto­
cratic and audioritarian or imcompcrcnt, agriculture stagnated or backslid. Private
ownership on die whole was Ixttcr dian state control o f land, but general small­
holding did not prove particularly innovative; periods in which great landlords had
power were sometimes cxdting for agriculture.
There were three important and innovative eras in China’s history' of’ ftxxl:

1. The Waning States mid the O f in and Man dynasties. Iron tools came
into use, Hour milling reached China, great irrigation systems were dcvel-
 (llmtax o f Trntitnonn! Agriculture 10 7

oped, Western crops began to tx: used, and above all a widespread compre­
hensive strategy tor managing agriculture was introduced. Gourmet food
became ritually ‘sanctioned, and medicine gave nutrition a central role.
2. The f’inoii of diswuimJvlloutntf Han, pantadariy the Wei Dyfiasty. Bud­
dhism and West Asian crops and food ways came to influence China
greatly, and the great agnailair.il and herbal encyclopedias took more or
less modem tonn and size. During this period, too, Soudi China became
an important region, w ith its own agriculture and fcxxi, and began the
climb to its modem position as the wealthiest and most dynamic parr of’
China. Many or iiK>st o f the West Asian innovations credited to T ’ang
were probably introduced in this earlier period.
1. The Sinirj lyyiinsty. Chinese agriculture, land use, and cooking devel­
oped very rapidly and ttxik essentially modem form, and China’s knowl­
edge systems— ideological as well as agricultural and scientific— were
more or less definitively established. After Sung die re was a great deal o f
elaboration 011 the basic partem, but die pattern itself did not change.

'11 ic most obvious partem that emerges is the correlation o f advance with periods
o f disunity, The dynamic o f a world o f rival states is very different from a period o f
union. In rival states, die wiser rulers bid for experts and give tliem a free hand to in­
crease their states’ competitive advantages. In times o f union, lulers are tempted (or
forced) to impose rigid, dictatorial control diat inevitably stifles inquiry and innova­
tion. 'Hie two exceptions— earlv homier Han and all o f Sung, especially Northern
Sung— are thus to me the most intriguing periods in Chinese history. They are also,
arguably, the most important from tile point o f view o f basic agricultural change.
'Dieir distinctive characteristic is tremendous social openness: relatively low taxes,
low comiption (at first), upward mobility, considerable freedom o f speech, and
above all a willingness to support eclecticism. New ideas were tried and old ones
combined in new ways.
During the lony; intervening periods, agricultural change of an involutional order
continued. People worked harder on smaller plots, faced larger exactions, produced
no more jv r capita, and had to manage bv using every trick in die book. But at least
diey had die tricks and could intensify. This is what differentiates China from pre­
modem India, Europe, the Near East, and elsewhere. Widely diffused knowledge o f
fanning and a government that never quite lost die vision o f agricultural develop­
ment that Han had set allowed China's population and output to expand while diat
o f other countries stagnated.
Eventual stagnation o f agriculture even in China was part o f a general stagnation
o f science. Development in a food system often must await development in odier
realms. China, by Ming, had gone about as far as possible without microscopes, mi­
crotomes, and laboratory science. Above all, die conceptual framework o f modem
science was lacking: die ideal o f free and general publication; the search tor basic
truth, as opposed to applied lore; die centrality o f die controlled observation and ex­
 Climax o f Traditional Agriculture toll

periment, Experiments were must certainly performed, but often without systematic
obscn'arion and record1!. Tliese bits o f "intellectual infrastructure” cannot survive in
an authoritarian regime.
Even so, China did astonishingly well. In tlie tradition of'devotion to useful
knowledge, lone scientists produced brilliant, innovative work even in tlie most
unpromising times. H ie niost spectacular example is probably Li Sluh-chVn’s Pm-
ts’no Ktwif-mit, not only tile most thorough herbal compiled anywhere in tlie work!
up to that time, but also die fruit o f a lifetime o f independent research 011 the names
and properties o f tlie plants. Yet the book was written during some o f the most dis­
mal days o f terminal Ming. To explain Li and others less illustrious but similarly
pragmatic and inquiring, we must have recourse to ideology. Tliese men « ere driven
bv tlie vision—-best articulated by Mencius— o f good people in a gotxl world, de­
veloping tlie potential o f Ixith. Their iiolv crusade was not killing infidels, but help­
ing humanity— by helping us live in harmony with namre.
Til is vision had its limits. It was not conducive, first o f all, to tlie development of
pure science. However, it was a far a y from tlie Western stereotypes o f Asians as
otherworldly and religious or changeless and tradition-bound. China's leaders were
niore worldly than, say, those o f Intiia. Tlie peasants o f both realms were necessarily
practical—-die)' would starve otherwise— but the peasants o f China «'ere served bv
more pragmatic literati.
Ideology does not develop in a vacuum, so it is important to see why tlie ruling
class propagated common sense 111 China. The apotheosis o f practical reason t<x)k
placc in the late Warring States, wlien contending scinxils and kingdoms had to suc-
cced in tlie real world. The early Han sovereigns completed die integration o f practi­
cality and national rule. Ilie rise o f central authority brought with it the mystification
and obscurantism diat seems neccssarv and inevitable in authoritarian governments,
especially when then,’ feel insecure, but even when the rulers flew o ff into lunacy, the
Chinese literati never lost tlie Conftician vision. Since many o f diem were or aspired
to be landlords, diey wanted good agricultural books— ones that would help them
farm not for subsistence alone, but also for market sale.
Ir is instructive to consider Li Shih-ch’en in contrast to his rough contemporary
Francis Bacon and die slightly earlier Indian «Titer Kabir. All three «'ere rebels in
their time but revered by fuatrc generations. Kabir was one o f die most brilliant,
original, agonizingly sclf-scarcliing, and deeply insightful o f mystics— a climax o f In­
dian religious experience. Li Shih-ch’en was die climax of’ China’s long and passion­
ate search for die useful; his lifework, based on a Conftician commitment to benefit
humanity, is as powerfully religious, in its way, as Kabir’s. Francis Bacon, widi his
insightfully mordant comments on human psychology, insisted on free inquiry and
experimental test. Michel Foucault and others show clearly that die Wests dedica­
tion to science is an ideology often as mystifying as any Brahman ical vision o f die
gods. The real-world consequences are somewhat different, Ixwever. Kabir gave In­
dia spiritual insight but had little effect on its poverty. Li vasdy advanced herbal and
 Climax o f Traditional Agriculture 109

1n1mr10n.il science; dianks largely to him, China ltd 111 diuse fields until perhaps as
late as 1000. But it was Bacon whose ideas opened die dtx>r of'the fiinire, for gcxxl
or ill. It is now rime to combine Baconian scicncc, which has given us nuclear energy
and chemical poisons but not the understanding to use diem correctly, with die eth­
ics o f Kaliir and the moral vision o f Li.
The role o f transportation in the development o f the Chinese food system is also
highly important. In early nines, and index'd throughout much o f Chinese history,
transportation was difficult and relatively expensive, 'Diis served as a powerful spur
to intensification— perhaps as powerful as high land prices relative to labor.
Skinner's theory o f regions and marketing ultimately depends entirely on relative
transportation costs, and its predictive value is demonstrated (1964—65). Critiques,
such as R o/j i i ail’s (1982), do not challenge the importance o f marketing regions and
o f minsporration costs in defining them.
As China's network o f canals and river traffic developed—-largely due to conscious
attempts to lower these costs, which threatened development and stability— agri­
cultural intensification spread out along canals and major rivers. Intensive cash-
cropping and specialty cropping could be practiced far from cities but not tar from
g<xid [xirts or cartage stations. Intensive agriculture developed in these areas, above
.ill in the [Vn urban fringes, and spread to the more remote areas. Tw o alternative
models o f Chinese agricultural dynamics have developed. In one, relative factor
prices o f iand, lal>>r. and capital arc all-important (Bray 1984.; Chao 1986; Hayanii
and Kuttan 1971). In die other, trailsportarion costs are crucial drivers (Skinner
i<X)+—6s). From the data we have lor the early dynasties, it seems that both are cor­
rect. Even «'hen land was cheap or free tor tlie taking, farmers clustered and farmed
intensively as near to markets as dicy could get. (Near iiKans, o f course, economic­
ally near— a mile over mountain roads, ten miles over flat ground, fifty miles by
good canal. It is no accident diat a It was traditionally nor a measure o f distance but
o f travel time.)
What about the dark side? Obviously China had famines (Mallory 1926). TIkti os
now, it was direatened by erosion, deforestation, destruction o f game and wildlife,
and shortages (Smil 198+). Most o f these resulted from misuse o f die landscape— in
Chinese tern is as well as Western. Tile peasants knew when dicy were overhunting
or cultivating tcxi intensively on a steep, unstable slope, but often diey were reduced
by desperation to acting against their well-known long-term interests. Tins led to, for
example, an indifference to trees. Peter Goullarr (19J9), wandering in southwest
China on die frontiers between Han Chinese and local minority groups, chronicled
in derail the almost instant destruction o f \irgin forests whenever the Chinese en­
tered an area. All die minority groups had preserved at least a reasonable proportion
o f die tree cover; the Chinese almost invariably destroyed it. As recently as die “grain
as the key link” campaign o f die early 1970s, Chinese eliminated forests wholesale,
even on steep slopes and odier areas unsuitable for grain. Apparently, they were
quite unable to sec any possible benefit o f trees.
tf* C.hntax o f Tradition ni Atjrkultnre no

Tills neglect extends to tree crops. Fruit has never been o f much significance in die
Chinese diet. First, it has alwaj's been expensive; fruit trees require an inordinate
amount o f care, and riius superior varieties and superior skills are lacking or narrowly
disseminated. Much attention was paid to tree crops as early as Han, Ch’i, and
T ’ang, but they never caught on. I believe tlie reason was tlie relative nutritional in­
feriority o f fruits to vegetables ami other foods. ’Hie exceptions— die citrus fruits, es­
pecially die orange, and to an extent die jujube— mnr cultiv ated industriously, it not
as industriously as vegetables. Another reason is die slow and uncertain return 011
fruit and nut trees. Some spccics are called “grandfather—grandson trees” because a
man plants diem not for himself but for Ins grandson) A long history ot scorched-
earth warfare is also relevant; trees take much longer to recover than annuals. "Hie in­
difference to most tree crops is strikingly highlighted by tlie extreme success Chinese
had in cultivating, developing, and breeding mulberries and tea. Both are better
called bush tlian tree crops as diey are usually grown in China, although they are
trees in dieir natural state. They are cultivated as intensively, and with as much skill,
as any vegetable. But die one is valued for its role in producing silk, tlie odier tor its
ability to keep people awake and functioning in spite o f fatigue and difficult hours.
It is highly significant that the many utopian schemes tor agricultural improve­
ment in die modem w orld, such as Bill Mollison’s (1978) polyculture concept, have
drawn on Chinese agriculture in die main but have added Southeast Asian—style in­
tensive rrec-cropping to die system. Today, forest protection, massive reforestation,
shade and windbreak plantings, and expansion o f tree-cropping are transtonning the
Qiinese rural landscape. Diet changes to avoid salts and pickles, which may cause
cancer, are also at hand (Anderson, Anderson, and Ho 1978; dc-’llie and I to 1978;
Kaplan and Tsuchitani 1978).
Imitation o f tlie West, often in unsuitable situations, is leading to a worldwide loss
o f oops and crop varieties that is nodiing short o f catastrophic (see e.g. Hawkes
1983). The loss o f traditional knowledge— o f skills, facts, and systematic views fitting
diem together—-is probably even worse dian die loss o f crops. 'I"he knowledge o f
Philippine cultivators and Micronesian fishermen, for example, has been o f value to
biologists; think o f die value to agricultural science o f die traditional Chinese peasant
lore (Conklin 1957; Johannes 1981).
In die early dynasties, China still had a reasonable amount o f land per person, ex­
cept around die cities. Thus innovation was often labor-sparing. By die later middle
ages, Cliina had filled widi people, and innovations were largely in die line o f more
productive crops and more intensive fanning {Chao 1986).
The food o f China has always been based on grain, except in a few areas in the lat­
est centuries, where white or sweet potatoes proved more successfi.il. (Potatoes are
considered grain in modem Chinese statistics.) These starch staples comprised 90
percent or more o f die average diet. The rest consisted o f vitamin-rich vegetables—
odierwise, no one could have survived on such a diet (Anderson M S). Tlie greatest
changes to die sj'stem have been die steady additions o f new' crops and animals, new
 Climax o f Traditional Agncultttrc III

processing techniques, and new foods. The rise o f great cuisine was less steady; it can
be traced largely to two periods, the Chou Dynasty— especially die Warring States
period— and the Sung Dynasty. Tliese were times when China’s social order was
differentiating, becoming more complex, and regional and imperial elites were aris­
ing. 'Ihcy were also times o f p rivate enteqirise, open economy with much trade, and
a relatively open society. A flexible social order, with much upward mobility and few
controls on experimentation in thought, technology, or caring, clearly helped the
process. Periods o f markedly autocratic control were less innovative by every
measure.
China’s toodways developed, then, in a country o f tremendous ecological diver­
sity, inhabited bv a dense population that found it necessary to use every resource,
and blessed or cursed with a stxi.ll order characterized by great differentiation and in
key penods by considerable openness and social mobility. M y impression is that tlie
same is true o f odier great culinary regions o f die world, but further investigation is
needed to establish diis. Certainly no country did more with its resources dian did
China.
 The Chinese are united by an interest in and commitment to good axiking and
good food. People discuss fcxxl for hours, and almost everyone from the richest to
die poorest, from scholar to laborer, from northerner to southerner, is concerned
with die best and can tell the observer how to find it.
Tlie basis o f Hie diet is boiled grain, whidi.usuallY provides most o f die calories. A
few o f die poor in marginal or soil-poor areas subsist on root crops and die like, but
people in such situations regard diemselves as exceptional and unfortunate and es­
cape as fast as die)' can. Baked grain products such as bread are minor' or absent ex­
cept in some western montane areas. Whole grain, boiled .soft and dry {as rice usually
is) or made into diick porridge, is die usual fire, but boiled flour products— soup
and noodles, for instance— are also often important. In the north, steamed flour
products (man-t’ou, like loaves o f bread, and various smaller dumplings) art
important.
The basic diet includes several grains and tubers. There is rarely the litter depen­
dence on rice found in Soudieast Asia. Rice, wheat, millet, and odicr grains .ill
cooccur— at least two in each region. Tlie rest o f the diet consists primarily o f soy­
bean products and vegetables, especially diose o f die mustar d and cabbage family
(Brassicaceac). Even ctx>king oil is derived primarily from dicsc plants, or it was be­
fore die peanut entered from Soudi America in late Ming times. Meat is rare (except
among die ridi) and eaten only in small quantities. Fish (locally) and eggs provide
some animal protein, but tlie great protein sources everywhere are grain and
soybeans.
Many o f the beans arid vegetables— and even meats and fish— are pickled or fer­
mented, and diese products are recognizably different from their many imitations
and fellows in die rest o f die world. Greens, for instance, are often half-dried before
pickling; the product is less crisp but more fresh-tasting dian most picklcd greens
(e.g., sauerkraut, kimchi), because bacteria can work less on die sun-cured product.
The connoisseur o f pickles can easily distinguish Chinese from odici"s.
Foods are usually boiled, steamed, or stir-fried. Boiling is most important, not
only beta use it is die usual mediod o f preparing grain, but also because soup (from
thin clear soup to diin stew) is universal, a key part o f virtually ever)' meal and even

in
ijff* Chinese Foodstuff Today i j,

o f snacks. Soup ntxxiles arc tlie most popular snack throughout China, but by no
means tlie only soupy snack— even sweets are often soupy. Cooking in covcrcd
slatted steamers over a water-filled vessel is perhaps die next most common mctlxxl,
Tlie most famous Chinese mcditxf, however, is ch’iw (stir-frying), Ingredients are
made or cut small and thin and stirred rapidly in very hot oil, searing them quickly.
Often the ingredients are briefly blanched first. Sometimes they arc stir-fried first,
then water is added to the pan and the cooking is finished by boiling.
Chinese cooking strategies differ from others in interesting ways. Chinese fried
ricc, for instance, is boiled, cooled, then stir-fried. Pilaf (and its many descendants,
such as Mexican sopa seai) is made the other way round; the ricc is first stir-fried, then
boiled. lit)iled rice is a staple; fried'-then-boiled ricc is a luxury or special commodity.
Monstxju Asia boils its rice; in tlie Near East and Mediterranean ricc is usually fried
first— a more special., elaborate way o f cooking. Stir-trying demantis care and good
oil (not always cheap), thus tends to be the method used for fancier food. At a typi­
cal Chinese meal, the simplest and most basic items will be boiled, tlie next simplest
steamed, and the richest, most special items more often stir-fried. Other prtxresses—
deep-fat hying and sauteing, earing ftxxis raw, and stewing in thick gra\y— are all
quite rare
Seasoning is light but almost always present and emphatic. Ir is usually a matter o f
a few strong Havors, among which the most universal are fermented soy products,
ginger, and garlic and onions. There is little o f tlie subtle compounding o f many
spice flavors that characterizes South and Southeast Asian ftxxi, but Chinese foods
arc more spiced than are fcxxis farther north in Japan or farther west in Central Asia
(Rtw.in 197V).
These points serve to identity Chinese food, but they arc not those a Chinese
would list, Inteivie wees— mostly Hong Kong Chinese and dius not a representative
sample, but probably not atypical— usually started by saying with pardonable pride
that Chinese fix >d was better dian anyone etsc's. Asked to be specific, die)' would al-
nxwt invariably begin by saying diat die ftxxi was fresher ("you Westerners eat only
canned or frozen food” ). They would also say diat Indian food was too spicy, while
odier cuisines were not spicy enough: “O ur food has more taste to it—-Western and
Japanese ftxxis are tasteless.” A concept o f balance runs through dicse comments;
Chinese ftxxi is said to steer the middle coursc between die food to tlie south,
“ where flavors arc drowned in spice,” and die overly bland ftxxi o f die west and
noith, where flavors are cooked out o f die food. Tliis emphasis on balance at die cen­
ter is typical o f China, die “ Middle Country."
Tlie comments on freshness and on natural ftxxi flavors arc die keys to the most
central ideas about food in Chinese sodety, diose that unite ftxxi, health, and ethics.
Tlie underlying principle Is diat clarity and purity should be evident in ail things—
men and women should be honorable and trustwordiv, food should be pure and
fresh. Tlie fonner is ncccssary for a healthy anti harmonious society, die latter for in­
dividual healdi. Hut food is not singled our; die same set o f ideals governs many
 CJ/incsc Foodstuffi Today (J4

odier asports o f relationship with bodi human beings and die natural world. Fixxl is
pan o f a system o f belief in which quality, freshness, purity, and high standards .ire
matters o f necessity, if one is to remain in any way truly human.

Plant Foods
The ftxxf most associated in everyone's mind with China is, ot course, nee. In
Soudi China as in mucli o f East Asia, die phrase chib fan (to eat rice) also means sini-
ply Ltto eat,” and the word^iw {cooked rice, cooked grain) also means simply “ tixxl.”
A soutlicmer who lias not eaten rice all day will deny having eaten .it all, altln >ugli lie
or she may have consumed a large quantity o f snacks, A meal without rice just isn’t a
meal, “ Even a clever wife can’t cook without rice,” claims a comm< in proverb, and al­
though the people who quote it arc quia- aware that many people in the world do
cook without rice, thev find tliis feet quite irrelevant to their own state o f satisfaction
and their o \ \ t i definition o f fixxf. An ordinary meal is made up o f ccxikcd rice and
swiff {fitw), a Cantonese word tliat may best be trails laced as '"topping for rice” or
“dLslies to put on the rice.” Sung includes everything else, all combined into dishes
that are, indeed, put on die rice (and in a poor-ro-ordinary liome are little more chan
flavorings for it). When the sung is broken down into its component dishes, they are
referred to separately as tfai (greens), even though they sometimes include meat. In
part this is a matter o f modesty— the host calls the dish plain vegetables just as he de­
scribes his house as a humble cottage. But greens are indeed the .standard sung. In
Mandarin, there is no equivalent word for sung: a meal is based on the comple­
mentarity o f grain and ts’ai. Local ideology actually overstates the importance o f rice;
even in the far south, much o f the diet consists o f wheat products, maize, or r<x it
crops.
Rice is rile most useftil plane known to the human race. Staple ftxxl o f almost half
die world's people, it is also a source o f fodder for animals and o f a straw' that is su|X‘-
rior for thatch, sandal making, ftiel, and ocher industrial uses. (In some areas different
varieties o f rice are grown partly because o f die different qualities o f dieir straws.) As
a food, it is normally eaten boiled— despicc die itotJi. propagated by many a menu
in Oiinese restaurants, diac it is steamed. The standard way to ctx)k nee is simply to
boil it in abouc nvice its weight in water (depending on the dryness and variety o f
die rice) until the water is absorbed and die rice is fluffy. This produces die usual
substracc for odier foods throughout monsoon Asia, llv cooking the rice longer in
somewhat more wacer, “soft rice” or, more graphically, “spoiled rice” (Inn fan) is
produced; diis is “spoiled” as adult food by being too soft, but it is the standard baby
food o f China’s rice-earing areas. Srill more w'ater and often still longer cooking pro­
duces die porridge (dm) known in English by a Soudi Indian name, congee (knuji).
Most dilute o f all is die water drained o ff boiled rice. Since nomiallv the water is all
absorbed by die rice, special provision must be made co use excess water and drain it
off. It is used as a cooling drink, bodi for diirst quenching and in folk medicine. Rice
flour is used in noodles, cakes, and confections, as well as for makeup, paper sizing
 Chinese Foodstuffs Today fit

and the like, but it is not a significant end product o f rite milling; almost all rice is left
whole grain.
11 le rite kernel lias a center o f almost pure starch and several seed coats, die inner
ones white, die outer ones brownish; .ill these thin coats are between the true bran
and the inner kernel. Milling takes oft’ the coats. Traditional milling removed only
the outemiost, brownest, and loosest, widiout too mutli damage to die nutrient
value o f the grain. In the nineteenth century, machinery was developed to mill off'
the inner coats as well; thus was bom the infamous polished rice. Sonic o f die pro­
tein .md vitamins in rite, and about half die diiamine (vitamin Bi), are in the seed
coats: untnnched polished rice duus lacks much natural nutrient value. Its rise led to
.111 enormous increase in the incidence o f beriberi (thiamine deficiency). Beriberi lias
been [vrh.ips less o f a problem in China tli.m in areas tardier south, but it lias still
been a temble curse, recognized and described in die Han Dynasty. H ie problem is
that Chinese (like most peoples) prefer their rice very starchy and very highlv milled.
Rite comes in several varieties, kxsely classed into ituiica, jnpmuca, and glutinous
rites. (Crop scientists are not verv happy with diis ad hoc classification.) Indica rites
are the Iami liar Iong-grain rites and their relatives. Japonita rices have short, round­
ish grains, more protein, and usually relatively less starch, and they cook to a more
sticky and chewy preparation because o f die chemistry o f die startli. Much o f tlie car­
bohydrate in glutinous rices is in die tbmi o f amylose; diese rices cook to a sticky,
sweet, pasty consistency. Intemicdiares between Lidic.i and japonica rices have long
been domin.mt in Taiwan. When tlie Japanese occupied Taiwan, they bred tliese al-
itady excellent strains (nutritious, lairlv pest resistant, and high yielding) into higher-
yielding, tougher ones, and die International Rice Research Institute in die Philip­
pines founded upon diem its senes o f “ miracle rices,” developed by crossing die
Taiwanese intermediates out to various indicas and japonicas. Chinese usually prefer
indicas to japonicas. Glutinous rice is used tor confections and special festive dump­
lings but is a staple in China only among the Tai people o f south Yunnan and nearby
areas; they, and their southern cousins in I jo s and northeast Thailand, are die only
people in the world wlio use glutinous rice as dicir staple. Worldwide, indicas arc
preferred except in Japan and areas near it, where die sliorter growing season o f the
japonicas has made diem the only practicable rices and thus diose to which everyone
has become aceustomcd.
Starchy, ovcrmilled grains are preferred because when one eats rice diree times a
day, even' day, and gets most o f one's calorics from it, o ik wants it to have as litde
flavor and texture as possible. Variety in the diet is provided by die sung. Tlie
marked flavor of, say, Indian baswati rice or die iin irrigated and protein-rich hill
rices (grown in mountains where monsoon rainfall is adequate tor watering) are not
[»pular in most areas diat depend wholly oil rice. There- are a few "fragrant’' rices in
China, however (IjOU 1985}, and H oug Kong grew an excellent t\rpe o f tlavurti.il rite
widiin in;' memory.
Milling costs money, so white rice is more expensive dian brown, or it was in car-
 rfl* China? Foodstuffs Today 116

licr days. Being dearer, it became presDgious. A nx>re practical an is idem non is tli.it
polished ricc is so unmitnoous that even insects, except for a weevils, cannot
thrive in it; thus it stores better than brown. Today, since storage has become more
expensive tlian milling, it is often cheapcr than brown.
In China luitil recently, tlie ordinary ricc radon— die extremely cheap ricc made
available in the rice-eating areas— was lightly milled, o f pale grayish-tan color and
pronounced grain flavor— almost a brown rice. It was more nutritious than white
rice and to the Western taste very good indeed, blit its consumers regarded it with
sadness and anger. Outside China and in Taiwan, Chinese everywhere eat polished
rice almost exclusively. Parboiling o f the raw grain before milling— an old practice in
south India— has never caught on in Cliina because it gives the rice a pronounced
flavor as well as a brownish color; yet it saves much o f tlie rice’s nutritional value.
Parboiling is widely recommended, but nutritionally it seems similar to undcniiillcd
rice, and it costs more— why not simply advocate using China’s ration-gr.idc rice?
It is not true that people’s tastes in rice are so conservative and irrational that they
arc beyond tlie realm o f serious discourse. Polished rice was accepted immediately
everywhere; so much for conservatism. Westerners will recognize a parallel with die
evolution o f bread, except diat Chinese have yet to return Hi preferring the under­
milled product when the starch staple lias so lirde value that one eats it for taste, .is a
treat, rather than for “daily bread,”
Tile importance o f rice in the tliinking and social life o f Soudi Chinn is well
known. It is usually the most higlily regarded grain, often believed to tie a perfect
food or even the only important food (other foods being only to flavor it). Thus I
? ^ w a s told by a Wcstem-stylc but very Chinese doctor in Hong Kong: "Chinese ba­
bies don’t need vitamins! Hie)' cat rice.” (His small patient was eating rice and vcn'
little else and quickly died o f malnutrition; tlie doctor’s comment was an answer to
my diffident suggestion diat vitamins might be uscli.il.) Varieties o f ricc are assigned
different social roles; indica is the staple, while glutinous rice is used only tor confec­
tions but is obligatory' for certain ceremonies.
Yet only in a few very fertile alluvial plains o f southeast China is rice die only sta­
ple, and only in the alluvial valley’s o f south and central China is it a staple at all. Most
o f China’s people live here, but much o f die land is too high, rough, cold, and/or dry
to grow rice. Millions o f Chinese in olden days never tasted it. It provides only 40
percent o f Qiina’s starch staple ftxxi today (Wen and Pimentel 1986a), the effect o f a
recent shift toward wheat, potatoes, and maize. But even now rice is tlie primary
grain for lialf to nvo-thirds o f China’s population.
hi addition to its use as whole grain, ricc is made into flour, noodles, cakes, and
many ferments. M ost vinegar has a rice base, though any grain will do. (Chinese vin­
egars range from red to yellow to white to black, strong to mild. Tlie famous
Qiincliiang vinegar resembles Italian bahmmco.) Rice is also used for sweets, cosmet­
ics, absorbent powder, and so on. Boiled rice is left to foment into tim dm niaiifi
(sweet ferment), a slightly alcoholic food. Lees from brewing rice aie are used to tla-
tfc Chinese Foodstuffs Today 117

vor tocxf In Fukien, riee is inoculated w'idi hmgus that develops a brilliant wine-red
color .uid a slight sweetly pungent flavor. It is a distinctive marker o f Fukiencse cui­
sine. {For a discussion o f rice, see Bray 1986.)

VVhe.it is grown primarily in north, central, and west China. Very lirtle has been
w ritten on wheat varieties in China, and we are at a loss to chronicle the distribution
o f hard red, sort white, and other wheats. Durum is not often grown and die niorc
primitiv e wheats (spelt, Polish wheat, and so on) arc virtually absent except in Cen­
tral Asian Sinkiang, but a highly complex, lirtle understood pattern of' varieties and
forms txciirs in China. The obvious fact that spring wheat is grown in the north and
winter wheat in the south (as everywhere else in the world) tells us little about food
value, though the spring wheats tend to be hard red wheats, which are more nutri­
tious than the soft white ones. Nutritional analyses o f varieties o f Chinese wheat
from all parts o f the country should be undertaken before die old peasant varieties
are completely replaced by modem high-yield hybrids.
Technologies tor using wheat as a whole or cracked grain (e.g., bulgur) have never
spread, in die ten or twelve diousand years that wheat has been cultivated, much be­
yond the home o f wild wheat in the Near East. In most o f die world, wheat is used
as flour. In China, only die Iranian and Turkic peoples o f Sinkiang use wheat pri­
marily in die fomi of'bread. These groups, die Uighur and dieir neighbors, are part
o f die Persian food world. Thuv make true bread, sticking die dough in latge folded
sheets to the inside walls o f a sunken oven. (The bread is usually leavened by local
yeast or sourdough starter in neighboring puts o f Afghanistan and probably in
Sinkiang as well.) This process produces huge sheets— up to two feet square and an
inch thick— o f beautifully fluff)' bread, known almost everywhere by die Persian
word nan. leaves are sometimes scattered widi sesame seeds. 11 ic word turn has
been borrowed, via Turkic pan, as a Chinese word, p'tttt, for a flat cake {Buell 1987).
The Chinese adopted this practice, but diey or their Central Asian teachers
miniaturized it; the small, diin roll is called sl)m-pinjj (roast cake). It is about six
inches square, pufted up in die center but widi very diin walls, and almost always
scattered with sesame. 'Iliis is a purely ancillary foodstuff, often used to hold meat,
which is fitted into die hollow center; die whole is eaten like die pocket breads (e.g.,
pita) o f die Near East, to which shao-ping is related. Some other baked brcadstufis
occur in China, but they are even less significant. Wheat flour is more commonly
made into steamed dumplings or noodles.
Steamed wheat flour dumplings are die standard ftxxl o f much o f North China
and abound almost everywhere else in die country. At dieir simplest diev are much
like bread loaves, but soft anti white, since they arc steamed radier dian baked. The
man-fou o f North China vary in size from a bun to a Kill loaf A vast number o f
filled or unfilled pno-tzit arc bun size or smaller. These, if filled, have a soft Huffy skin
about one-fourth to one-half inch diick around a filling that may be meat, a sweet, or
virtually anything else. Best known in Soudi China are cl/11 ditto pao, the Cantonese
 C,binac Foodstiijfi Today llS

ch'a silt pnnu, (fork-roasted -pork dumplings), wliich include chopped-up bits o f
pork, roasted hanging tram a fork in a special oven, in a sweetish spicy sauce. Wheat
tiour is also tlie commonest Hour (rice is second) used for making die miii.li thinner
skim o f smaller dumplings such as dmo-tzu, o f a npe found all over Central Asia
diat more recently spread west; the cuhnk o f Afghanistan, uio-vw o f Tibet, pi'hirtut o f
Russia, Jewish bvplnds, mmitfn o f Arabia and Soudi Asia, and Italian mindi arc .ill
versions. They arc a West Asian invention. (Legend has it that Marco Polo intro­
duced diem from China to Italy where they became ravioli; this is absurd.)
The odier great use o f wheat flour in China is in noodles, mini. Noodles are usu­
ally hand-cut, but often diey are made by forcing a flat sheet o f dough dirough the
holes in a colander-like device into boiling water (Eranck 1925; Homme I 1937; Hosie
1910, 1922). Special noodles are made by holding the dough in bodi hands and
swinging it around so diat it stretches in die air. Anodier common noodle n!pclj/i,w-
1wi, is made by similar “colander” methods from com, buckwheat, and bean nr pea
flours. As with ravioli, noodles are usually said to be o f Chinese origin, carried back
to tlie Western world by Marco Polo. 1 1 us is not one (see Root 1971:78), though rhe
Chinese may have invented egg noodles.
Wheat gluten has long been separated from die starch and made into imitation
meats for vegetarian cookery (Buddhist-inspired). Some o f the imitations are close to
die original; odiers stretch one's imagination. New uses o f wheat Hour have entered
China in die last century. As in Japan, diougli not as extensively, oven-baked bread
and similar goods have been increasing rapidly in consumption, especially in 1 long
Kong and odier relatively highly Westernized Chinese communities. In I long Kong
bread was die first Western food to be widely accepted and has proved the most
[»pillar item o f Western diet. Then came an ever-increasing range o f baked goods,
borrowed from British, Portuguese (via Macau), Russian (via tlie White Russian ref­
ugees from die U SSR ), and odier European s o u r 'c s . These have been integrated
into Cantonese life and cooking.
Wlieat in old China was usually milled to a white flour, but before the advent o f
European bleaching, steel rollers, and related machinery (developed in the Western
world Li die ninetecndi century), die flours could not have been the low-extraction,
highly refined, nutritionally poor flours we know today. (Extraction refer, to the
percentage o f die wheat berry used. Stoneground wholemeal uses almost ioo per­
cent; modem white Hour around 70 percent.) Whole wheat flour was also fairly
common. Bv die time higlily refined (lours became significant in Chinese diet, many
were eoniing from Australia and North America already enriched. Even so, modem
food tetlinoiqgy has not been good for die diet o f diose Chinese who must still de­
pend mostly on starch.

The tiiird nxist important grain in Cliina is now maize, but until recent!)' it was
sorghum. Usually die sorghum in question was kaoliang. 'l"he word is Chinese tor
‘tall millet” (km Imng) and has been borrowed into English, This sorghum grows to
 Chinese FouAsmfJi Totinx 119

tun feet or nx>re and is valuable for its stalks, sources o f sugar, firewood, and even
building materials, as well as tor its grain. Sorghum can van' from a lew indies to
twelve feet in height; since tlie stalks are minimally useful in die United States, ex­
tremely slioit-stalked varieties are grown, so diat lirde fertilizer or water is “wasted”
in grow ing stalk. 'Hie Chinese, 011 the otlier hand, want a great deal o f stalk, espe­
cially in the treeless plains and loess hills o f north west China, where nothing else ean
supply fuel and w attlelikc construction materials.
Contrary to some el aims, sorghum is not a native o f China or o f Asia. It was do­
mesticated 111 Africa and spread from there (probably via south Arabia) to India by
1500 h.c . and ro China before {perhaps long before) 1000 A.O. Resistant to drought
.uid heat hut able to tolerate a vcn’ short growing season (some varieties), sorghum
is grown in primarily the driest agricultural areas o f China and in those with the
shortest summer. In these it is often tlie staple food, but always a poverty fixxf, dis­
liked and if possible avoided. I11 wheat and mixed-grain areas— most o f its range—
it is used pnmanlv in porridge. Manv, however, jxmtI it and cook it like rice, which is
said to tie a tastier wav of Using it, though more difficult to make and less nutritious.
(As \v irli other grains, the pear led-off outer coat has a disproportionate share o f tlie
nutritional value.) Iliis process is tin 11id primarily in Manchuria (Hosie 1910), where
settlers came from the central China coast and Shantung. Kaoliang is also a major
source o f distilled liquor.
Sorghum is rapidlv being replaced in much o f China by maize. ’Iliis replacement
has long been developing in warmer, wetter areas— maize needs summer rain— and
new, hybrid maizes have recently been spreading rapidly to drier areas with shorter
growing seasons. Maize w'as innodticed to China by die Portuguese via Macau and
otlier points o f contact in die earlv noos. It has continued to spread, especially since
the unification and li Iteration o f China in 19+9 allowed rapid dissemination o f hybrid
strains and development o f necessary agricultural improvements. Com is used pri­
marily in com meal cakes, large and thick, steamed or baked; it is also used in com
meal mush. Ears o f sweet com or immature flour com are commonly steamed, even
in areas where com is not used lor anything else, such as the rice-growing southeast.
Like sorghum, it also has a role in tlie production o f alcohol.
Corn is used for noodles, although com flour does not stick together w'ell because
o f its low gluten content. It is also sometimes cracked and mixed with rice. Com is
the staple ftxxi o f many o f the wanner mountainous areas o f China, such as the
lower mountains o f the west and south, and is becoming something close to a staple
in much o f the central north, l l i e Chinese have not, however, adopted tlie diverse
com teclmology o f tlie New' World, including lime treatments and otlier devices diat
make the com more nutritious. Tlie lime combines with phytic acid diat would oth­
erwise combine widi calcium and other minerals to make them less available (Katz,
Hediger, and Vallerov 1974), In China die phvtic acid and otlier problems associated
w'idi com remain, and die com products tend to be heavy, SKxigy, and interior to
American Indian com products in both nutritional and gustatory quality. The infe­
rior nutritional value o f China's com prcxluets poses serious danger.
<$* Chinese Foodstnjfi Today 120

In areas too cold for any other crops, bark')' and buckwheat arc die staples; they
arc frequently grown in rotation, bariey as a winter or spring crop, buckwheat in
summer. Barley, a Near Eastern crop, entered China in die early Neolithic and has
been important in die crop roster since die dawn o f Chinese agriculture. Various
barlej's o f die class known as “ Himalayan" or “six-rowed” were developed in Tilx’t
or near it (perhaps in North India or Central Asia) and arc important in main’ high
mountain areas. Buckwlicat seems to be a Centra) Asian native crop developed from
a weed in barley or a plant growing near it and used as a second staple. Tile species
Fagopynun csatlamnn was first domesticated, dien F. mtaricum for die higher aln-
tvidcs in die mountains ofTibet and nearby areas; it niay have been a weed in Helds
o f cscn!mtii»ix later made into a crop to extend die cultivated area (Harlan ty7S), al­
though it is possible diat bodi were domesticated togedier.
Buckwheat is now a staple (but riot die only staple) in all the cold and/or moun­
tainous parts o f China. It is most important to non-Chinese peoples, although the
Chinese do not neglect it, eaten as coarse cakes, thicker than American buckwheat
pancakes. Buckwheat tkxxIIcs are locally common, although less important than in
Korea and Japan. Barley is more versatile. Roasted and ground to Hour, it makes the
famous tsamba diat is die staple food o f most ofTibet, mixed with tea and yak butter
into a paste. Pearled barley is apparendv o f recent introduction; in South China it is
called by a name formerly used for Job’s tears (yi mi) and has replaced that grain as a
mcdirinal broth. It is not used for any odier purpose— nor are Job’s tears now eaten
at all, cxccpt occasionally by diose knowledgeable in medicine.
Millet is a catchall term for any small-seeded grain, often even including sorghum.
In the literature on Ciiina, the word millet without qualification most often means
Sctmia itnlita, foxtail millet, an excellent grain widespread in the north and occasional
elsewhere. It is usually eaten as a delicious n 11dike porridge, enjoyed as a snack even
where millet is a rare food {e.g., in Taiwan, where mainlanders from die north are es­
pecially good customers o f millet-congee stands). Panic millet (Patiiami miliactunv,
some recognize other Pmiiami spp.), possibly also native to China, has bodi grain
and glutinous varieties, important sources o f alcoholic drinks. Brewing is die main
reason for maintaining the otherwise low!)’ panic millets.
The alcoholic drinks o f Ciiina, chin, are usually lumped under die temi rice wine,
but thq' are neidier wine (i.e., undistilled, fermented fruit drinks) nor always made
from rice. Grape wine is made in China in very small quantities, and rccendy some o f
fair quality has been exported. Bur true Chinese alcoholic drinks arc made from
grain. The undistilled drinks (i.e., ales or beers) are strong and not carbonated or
hop-flavored; they taste something like slicrry. The distilled liquors are technically
vodkas, diat is, liquors distilled from fermented starch. (Many in die Western world
believe that vodka is made from potatoes, but in fact it is usually made from grain
and is nodiing more nor less than unaged whiskey.) The Chinese make cliiu, distilled
and undistilled, from a great many diings, including sweet potatoes, rice, and so on.
Occasionally tiicy make fruit brandies. But the standard sources o f chiu are kaoliang.
 C'.hmcsc Foodstuffs Today 121

glutinous millets, and more rccendv com. They arc malted and then made into
niasli, which can be distilled to yield a product identical to tlie white lightning o f Ap­
palachian btxideggcrs, often strong enough to sterilize surgical instruments (Crtxak
and Crook [‘Xx'i). Sometimes it is distilled eight to twelve times to achicvc this po­
tency, "llie most favored kind is known as Maotai, after tlie city by that name in
Kw eichow in the mountainous south. Made from sorghum and wheat, it is eight
times fermented and seven times distilled (Zheng 1987) and over too prtx>f.
Many things arc steeped in chin, occasionally just to flavor die liquor (sometimes
it is made with plum1, or odier common fruits) but usually for medicinal reasons.
Anything of'medicinal value is apt to be used in this tincture-making; snake chin,
ginseng cliiu, mutton dim , and thousands o f herbal preparations are common. Tinc­
tures are held to hav e dirterent values from water infusions. 'Hie technology o f cliiu
making spread fr om China to neighboring areas; Korean millet vodkas and the
sweet-potato vodka (mmiiim'i) o f Okinawa and odier areas sometimes outdo Chi­
nese products in potency, ond Japanese sake (usually a rice ale) has bccomc a gour­
met drink o f great variety and subtlety.
In spite o f all diis cliiu, die Chinese have perhaps die lowest alcoholism rate o f any
alcohol-using culture. Drinking is done with meals, and slowly; young persons must
lx‘ very moderate; dninkeiiness at any age means loss o f face. The classic poets loved
to sjvak o f themselves as ir'iti, translated as “drunk,” but tlie word usually means, at
most, rather tipsy (T. C. I„li, pers. comm.). However, many poets did have real
drinking problems, and they are sometimes invoked today as sad examples to die
young. China's tolerant culture, allowing much but counseling balance, is important
in maintaining diese attitudes (Maghbouleh 1979)- As die old social inles break
down in America, Chinese Americans drink more. Most Chinese, and most odier
East Asians and Native Americans, have an isoz\ine o f alcohol dehydrogenase diat
makes them react strongly to alcohol; among other diings, die)' Hush bright red, so
that a common idiom for “ tipsy” is “ red-faced” (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism 1978). But this cnzvme has nothing to do widi low alcoholism rates;
several odier cultural groups widi die same enzyme have exceedingly high rates.
A tew odier millets and minor groins are grown in China. Millets o f die genera
Eclnnocidm, Dujirnrin, and so on, important ill various nearby are.«, are apparendy
locally found but insignificant as human food.

'llie Chinese today class white and sweet potatoes as grains tor statistical purposes.
(They are counted not by full weight, but by weight divided by tour, called
equivalent, because grains have about tour times as many calories per pound as sweet
pot.ittx's and five times as many as white.) Potatoes aiv nowhere die sole staple in
China, but diey arc impoitant locally. White potatoes— Iso lan shit or Ixiao shit
(Dutch tuber or litde tuber) or nui lint] jhit (horse hoof tuber)— were introduced
primarily by French Catholic missionaries in the eighteendi and nineteenth centuries
and are important in arvas where die missionaries were nxwt active and where die cli-
tfi' Chinese Foodstuffi Today tZ2

mate is best for white potatoes— specifically in tlie China—Tibet borderland and
otlier moderate to high elevations o f Szechuan ;\nd neighboring provinces. They .ire
grown almost everywhere else as well and arc increasing in importance, but tliev are
not much more than o ik among manv vegetables except in west China. They are
eaten boiled, often with die skills, or stirred into mixed dishes. Sweet potatoes are
known as hnn slm (sweet tuber), chin dm (goWen tuber); white ones -ire pai shn
(white tuber) or fan sfm (barbarian tuber). 'Hie sweet potato proved a tremendous
boon to southern and eastern China’s sandy coastlands, since it can grow in very ster­
ile, poor-qualitv, sand\’ soiJ. Sweet potato stems and leaves are go< xt pig teed and can
even be eaten by humans as a famine fix*!. The sweet potato provides vitamin A,
rare in many Chinese diets, .uid may have saved many million pairs o f eyes in the
tour hundred or so years since its introduction. Unfortunately, Chinese prefer whiter
varieties with little o f the vitamin. Sweet potatoes have never become popular in
China; diev an.' regarded as tlie worst o f all foods almost even ■where they grow'.
They are eaten onlv in desperation; prosperous families feed tlieir sweet potatoes to
pigs. Tlius a family's income in sweet-potato areas could he judged b\' the [icnjcnrage
o f sweet potatoes in tlie diet. In spite o f tills, the sweet potato has been spreading
and increasing, recently invading inland areas where it never grew a generation ago.
It is usually eaten plain, boiled or steamed, or sliced and dried; the dried slices are
steamed and mixed with grain if possible. A conscious eftoit to improve this dull re­
gime was made in one commune after tlie peasants made it clear to tlieir canteen that
one o f die major practical applications o f Marxism -1 ATiinisni-Maoism was that the
ftxxi should be gtxxi, not wretched (Crix)k and Crcxjk 1966). This very Chinese alti­
tude produced immediate results.
Other rtx>t crops have been displaced by these New World inmxluctions, and to a
much lesser extent in die extreme south (especially Hainan Island) by manioc (Mnm-
Ixit ittilissinia), still insignificant in die Chinese diet. Hie native nx >r crops o f China
were yams (Dioscorcn spp.), called sbuyii or sbmiyii. Beet-red ones e\ist as well as
wiiite. A number (if species occur, used both tor tlieir starchv roots and tlieir medici­
nal value, but diey have declined in importance to virtual insignific.mce. Tliey arc still
common in South China’s wanner areas as minor, vegetable crops. Taro (( '.ottxiisia
twiiqiwntw; yii), a marsh plant o f die tropics and subtropics, has probably never
been more dian one among die many vegetable crops o f China, .is it is today in all
wann, wet areas. South o f China, vams and taro (with its relatives) are snll staple
crops o f many areas, but diey may never have been staples in China. Minor roots in­
clude Chinese arrowroot (Sq/jittnna satjittifblia;fit) and “Chinese artichokes” (Stndns
steboldi, die ruber o f a mint). Sago (palm pidi) is used as a starch in die south. Its
name there, as in English, is borrowed from die Malay snpH. In Chinese it is fjsi kit
(Cantonese sai bon).

China’s famous pulse crop is die soybean (Glycine wax). 'Die soybean is protected
from pests by a number o f chemicals diat range from unpleasant to fairly poisonous
 Chinese E</i>dititJJs Today 121

and is thus more or less inedible raw. Nor is it gcxxf f’t xxi if roasted or otherwise
ctxiked in high, dry hc.it, tor the proteins and other compounds hind into indigest­
ible complexes. Hie Chinese process tine seeds in many ways, llie simplest and least
often used is simplv to lx>il the seeds .1 very long time until soft or reduced to por­
ridge. Hie next simplest is to grind tilt dry bean w idi water in a small mill widi a
centcr-hole teed; the resulting slurry o f water and bc.ui flour is boiled. This develops
a skin, as when milk is lx>iled. Hie soybean skin is removed and dried; it is easy to
store, high in protein, and used in vegetarian dishes and snacks. The remaining mix
is usually coagulated with gypsum or similar chemicals so diat die protein {widi
sonic starch and a lor o f water) separates as a soft, solid curd— the famous bean
curd, Ionfit (Shurtleff and Aovagi 1981). Die bean curd is drained or pressed in a
wtxxf Inime between ehccscclodi (or similar) sheets, llie impressed fresh curd is
custardlike ,md often eaten sweetened. It can be further pressed and dried or even
heat-dried to produce various harder, drier products, generally known as kan toil fit
((.In1 bean curd). Uean curd is sliced, chunked, or crumbled and cooked widi other
tixxls in soup or stir-fried and used over rice; it is rarely eaten any odier way, al-
diougli kan ton is slicesI and eaten widi a sauce as a snack. Bean curd is preserved by
living and diving (even freeze-drying). Cubes o f fresh or dried bean curd are srurted,
often with minced fish paste. When soybeans are spoken o f in contrast to odier
beans, the general temi is usually tn ton (large bean). However, a range o f varietal
names, the best known hosed on color, .ire often used in dlls contrast. Tile com­
monest color for soybeans in China is probably yellow, dius the;' are sometimes
called bunny ton (yellow bean), but black, white, and odier colors also occur. (How­
ever, “green beans” ami “ red beans" an: o f odier species.)
11 le soybean's chief use is in temienred prcxfucts. Supreme is soy sauce (ton cbiaiui
or (on y/i), made by fomenting a mixture o f boiled soybeans, wheat flour, salt brine
and a complex iiKxnlum involving Asparitllas, Ilbizoptts, and odier fungi. Luca] soy
sauces are distinctive, using tlieir own strains o f fungi. Soy sauce varies from a very
thin, highly saltv fbmi through rich medium grades to a solid black paste with less
water and salt. Lower-sodium soy sauces are now being made for those who suttcr
from high bkxxf pressure when-they eat tcx> much salt— a generic misfortune very
common in East Asia, in traditional Chinese c<x)king, tree salt was almost never
used; saltiness came from the soy sauce and odier fcmiciited products. A number o f
other fennents .ire diick pastes that usually go under die name ton dmiiff (thus the
more liquid soy sauce is normally referred to as tintyn, bean oil). Many are highly
spiced.
One <xHd soybean item is made even odder by its Chinese name; sba clj’n driautf,
literally “ sand tea sauce." 'llie name is more comprehensible if we read sIjh cb’er in
Hokkien Chinese: sn tc. It is, in tact, die sate sauce o f Indonesia and Malaysia, bor­
rowed by the Hokkien, who have been trading and exchanging recipes in those
lands tor over a thousand years. It has been thoroughly Sinicized, however. In
Indonesia it is a mix o f peanut butter, chile, slirimp paste, and spices (including lesser
ijfc Chinese Foodstuffs Today

gal angal). In Q iina, it is usually a Hour—soybean paste widi chile, Chinese spices,
and fermented rice. Tlie original fermented bean prcxluct was ton shih, boiled soy­
beans salted and fermented to a black color with Ilbizvpits and other fungi. This
preparation, made into pastes and sauces, abounds in the Cantonese ftxxi region,
giving a distinctive flavor to tliat cuisine. Soybean curd is also fermented; die w hite
or yellow squares are packed in brine for sale. They constitute a Chinese equivalent
o f cheese and are apt to be overpowering, reminiscent o f strong Genii,in hand
dieese. The)' arc graphically known as clj’oit tonfit (stinking bean curd). Only the
very stoutest o f heart eat diem, and tlien onlv in sm.iil quantities. Soybean pn >d-
ucts, wheat gluten, and seaw'eed and otiler lower plants arc basic to die vegetarian
Buddhist temples. They supply critical protein, vitamin liiz (found in fermenting
yeasts), and trace elements,
Tlie soybean is tlie primary bean o f China and often counted as one o f the l-ivc
Staples o f classical terminology, but its importance is often overrated at the expense
o f tlie broad bean {Vida fitba), called d/an ton (silkworm bean) because o f the bean’s
vague resemblance to a silkworm It was introduced to China from the Near East (as
an old name, hit ton or “ Iranian bean,” indicates) relatively recently, perhaps under
die Mongols if not later (Laufer 1919). In subsequent years it has taken precedence
over die soybean in many mountainous, remote, or rainy parts o f China; the soy­
bean prefers warm plains with ridi soil. The broad bean is commonest in tlie west,
near its home, and thus is little known or quite unknown to most Chinese in the
areas best known to the outside world. Accounts indicate diat it is eaten given as well
as boiled as a dry bean and made into bean curd; it is commonly available in dry-
fcxxis shops, but little used. The form usual!)' seen is die classic broad or fava bean;
die smaller horse bean also occurs. In Szcdiuan it is made into fermented paste, o f­
ten with chile peppers {la ton drimitj, hot bean paste). Sometimes it is toasted as a
snack.
Other common legumes came from the Near East, achieved wide importance,
and were once known as hn ton, peas, or ii’n/t ton. Hie)' arc die field pea (Pisitw
atvensis) and die common pea (P. seuimni). These are also plants o f die interior,
more rarely seen in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and die urbanized regions o f China than
die broad bean (let alone die soybean), yet perhaps commoner dian die broad bean.
These ate boiled, made into pea curd, and evidently made into noodles as well.

Tlie niung bean is apparendy o f Indian or Southeast Asian origin. Usually a

golden-green in color, it is known as lu ton (green bean) in Chinese (Vifpin ntitiHjo
var. radiata). When Linnaeus named these closely related beans, he applied die In­
dian vernacular name, niung or nutttgo, to die wrong bean— die black gram. But the
two arc now considered one species, so his mistake is corrected. Tlie mung bean is
boiled and made into curd; its stardi is important in making die diin transparent
noodles known as beanstardi or peastareh noodles (/Hj-jjw), but its great fame is in
die form ofsprouts, for which it is the bean ofdioice. Tlie soybean is die odier bean
 C b itK s f b iiu d s ttijji T o d a y 12 f

normally sprouted, its spmuts being considered coarser. 'Hie w o arc sometimes
rather misleadingly distinguished in English as “ pea sprouts” and “ bean sprouts."
Mung beans are grown everywhere in China except in cold or very dry areas.
Hie peanut (A rnchis bypoqnen) is correctly regarded as a bean rather dian a nut by
many Chinese, It is called !o bun shag, which means “dropping flower gives birth,”
ivteiring to tlie fact tli.it the flower produces a ptxl that plants itself by growing into
tlie soil. 11 ie phrase is confusingly shortened to Jma shaijj in ordinary specch. Pea­
nuts, native to South America, were introduced by tlie Portuguese and otlier early
European vi si tors in the sixteenth ccnniiy. [n China they provided a new and superb
source of protein and oil diat grew' lx‘st in sandy, warm regions on lands previously
almost w orthless but made valuable bv tlie peanut and other New World crops
(such as the sweet potato). Peanut oil is now more important tlian any other vegeta­
ble oil in these parts o f China, especially the central and south coasts (rapcsced oil re­
mains China’s most important oil, but is primarily restricted now to tlie north and
interior). 'Hie peanut is eaten in every possible way— die plain nut is boiled, roasted,
or (rarely) eaten raw; peanut presscakes .ire usually an anitn.il feed but eaten by hu­
mans in hungry times. Ground or broken peanuts abound in pastries, candy, and
sweets, and when a new sweet is borrowed from die West, a laige dose o f peanuts is
ofren a step in making tlie borrowing into a true Chinese product. A mixture o f
ground peanuts and sugar is commonly used as a tilling for sweets and may be made
into sweet soup (as are immg and many otlier beans).
llic red Ivan (ton) is usually die ad/.uki (Vtfptn etiujtilmis), but a small red kidney
bean (a variety o f the New* World species Phnseoluus mlgaiis) goes by the same name,
as do led lorms o f the south's rice bean (Vijpia calcnraia). Red beans, like mung
beans, arc used tor sweetened bean porridge or Pnujj shiti (sugar w'ater), die
commonest dessert or sweet in many Chinese households and a standard sweet snack
tor children at street stalls. It is an important regulator o f bodily humors in die tradi­
tional medical system; red bean sweet soup is heating. M ung bean is cooling, and
mung bean sweet soup is one o f die commonest mediods o f restoring equilibrium in
people who feel diey are overheated.
Several species o f beans are grown primarily or entirely tor use as fresh “green”
beans. Best known and most widespread o f these is die yard-long bean {V. miguiai-
Ima var. fiuaists). Round and diin, it resembles string beans except in its striking
length; it is rarely a yard long, but I measured one at 3 9 inches and another at 3 7 Vi.
It is nonnallv cut in sections and stir-fried with odier vegetables in mixed dishes.
Other green beans, much less frequently used, include the sword bean {G w n W ia
aisifbmiis; tao tan), anti die dolichas bean (Dotidm lablab; piai ton or “ sided bean,”
bccause die pcxl is Hat, not cylindrical), 'lh e doliehos bean is often mentioned in an­
cient Chinese literature but is now a minor food, green or dried.
Tlie yam bean (Pacljyniztis avsits; sha k'o) is grown lor its toot rather dian tor its
seeds or pods. This is die jicama o f Mexico, probably a New World introduction o f
Spanish vintage. Tlie root resembles a large, flattened am lip; it has a very slight.
if* Chinese Foodstuff? Today szf>

rather sweetish flavor and is quite crisp. Slices are eaten raw as snacks, often w ith
pungent chili sauee as in Mexico, all over Southeast Asia and South China; tiiev are
appreciated for dieir refreshing crispness.

The Chinese have no word or category corresponding to vegetable- (Ot course,

vegetable really means simply “ plant.” English has never had a w ord specifically tor
edible vegetables. Perhaps 110 language docs; after all, the boundary between the edi­
ble and the inedible is a verv vague one.) lh e closest word is ty’ai, which means
“greens" (i.e., leaf-and-stem vegetables) but is generalized to include any dish. A
wide range o f other categories refer to edible, soft pans o f plants. I have already men­
tioned words tor root crops and beans, There are also words tor fruits used as vegeta­
bles (tlie Chinese have the same problems as English-speakers in thinking of squash
and tomatoes as fruits). Kua includes all the fruits o f die family Cucurbitaceac-—
squashes, melons (sweet and nonsweet), and cucumbers as well as the superficially
squashlike eggplant. But eggplants are sometimes included in the category t'huh,
tntitsof the Solanaceae family (tomatoes, eggplants, and relatives), ’I"he latter classifi­
cation has more traditional as well as botanical sanction, but m kua (“ dwarf gourd,”
because tine bush is small) has displaced it in the marketplace in referring to egg­
plants. Tlie re arc no terms between tlie level o f kingdom and tliat o f genus— 110
families or natural orders o f edible tilings. Such simplicity is typical o f folk classifica­
tion systems.
Tlie category tx’ni takes a certain precedence because it includes the vegetables that
make up die bulk o f tlie Chinese diet apart from starch staples. At the top o f the list
stand cabbages, which, with grains and soybeans, arc the most characteristic Chinese
tixxts and die most universally and abundantly used. Rich in vitamins, minerals, and
fiber, low in calories, they make an enormous nutritional contribution for verv little
extra energy intake (dieir production o f calorics |X'r acre, h o \w e r, is quite high).
They are considerably more nutritious than Western cabbages, comparable to broc­
coli. Tlie main tomis an: Hrassiai pektnctists (primarily grown in die north) and li.
dnuaisis (soudi), both called po tfai {which also refers to another southern winter
crop) and distinguished where found by local names, both may be ton its o f linusim
mpa. In Hong Kong, chinains is tlie paak dj'oi proper (and is thus the cabbage
known to Westerners as bok choy), whilepekmaisis is qualified by adjectives. West­
erners call diem Peking cabbage and Chinese cabbage, as die scientific names imply,
Peking is also called celery' cabbage, Michilili cabbage (one variety), and, confusingly,
Qiinese cabbage. In appearance and qualities dicv are quite different. Their taste is
milder than that o f Western cabbages; Peking has almost no taste at all, bur a pleas-
andy crisp texture. (Its crisp, fibrous lea\’es are responsible tor tlie quite descriptive
name “celery cabbage.” ) The ruling vegetable o f old Nordi China, it is now losing its
dominance as other producc becomes available. ’Hie third o f the three great tfai is
mustard greens (Bnissiai pamclmtciisis), ts’ai hshi or “greens heart,” because tlie heart
o f the plant— die stem, buds, and young leaves— is eaten. Tlie mustard greens o f
die American Soudi arc a different spedcs.
f t C:ijtins? 1-tniiisniJJi Totinv 127

Other lirassicas art- eaten in China, imperially tlie many varieties of /i, jwictn {drieb
ty’ai) .11id li. nflxvflnlmi (diieblnu tim). Oriel) means mustard. Ijni means orchid, re­
telling somewhat hyperbolicallv to die rather pretty white flowers o\' albofilabm.
These .ire Chinese counterparts o f kale and collards; alboglalwa in particular is very
similar to collards in t.iste and cooking qualities, though it is tenderer and pleasanter,
lioth are used primarily in soup. They are quite important especially in die hot sea­
son when little else grows in tlie south (again similar to collards). Western cabbage,
li. u/mimr, is well known and becoming increasingly popular as high-yielding strains
become available, but it is not liked as well as the native cabbages. Cabbages are fa­
vored tor pickling; the prtxiuct is usually crisper dian sauerkraut but not so crisp as
kimchi. Fveiv major region lias its distinctive picklcs, usually including garlic, chiles,
and ginger.
Spinach (Spnmctn olomrn), intnxiuced about 700 a.d. from tlie Middle East, is
popular in China. Western-style spinach widi blunt-endcd leaves is less popular than
the Chinese variety, w hose sharper-ripped leaves tan <.>ut like arrowhead barbs; it is
more delicate, less fibrous, more flavortul, and picks up less sand. Spinach is pri­
marily used in clear soups widi strips o f meat, bean curd, or other protein sources.
More popular than spinach in the warm ports o f China is the amaranth or red spin­
ach (Anui1in1tinagnngctictis, olso known .is A . »mngo$ta>iii> or/ 4 , trtidor), which lias
a reddish color and a more succulent taste and texture. It is know'll as bsim ts’ni.
Purslane (Pmitilnca dcracea) is very different from amaranth. It is known as mn d)tl)
Ijsuh (ts’ni) or pn Ijst bsiat ts’ni (borsetoodi bsiai or Persian hsiai— though pa Ijsi may
not really mean Persian in this ease). It is a common garden vegetable, often grown
primarily for its supposed medicinal value rather than tor fixxl. A native Soiidi
Chinese relative o f sweet potato, Ipomoen nquntiai, is grown tor its leaves and stems
(it iias no tubers) where water is too deep tor rice but tcxi shallow' tor lotus or in any
ixld wet comer where water is hard to control. It is blow n as k’tntg-lstH ts’ai (empty-
hcaited greens) hoi 11 its hollow stem, or as mug ts’ai. it is radier tasteless, but its
crisp texture makes it the favorite vegetable o f manv Taiwanese. Like many aquatic
plants o f Soudi China, it frequently carries water-bonic intestinal parasites, including
schistosomiasis (Herklots 1972:145), bur stir-living is hot enough to kill die flukes. In
general, Chinese c(X)king calls for brief but intense heat, which kills ordinary para­
sites; soups .ire simmered, but for a longer time, producing the same result. Experi­
ence has taught an accommodation between die needs to save tiicl and flavor and die
need to avoid waterborne padiogetts.
Lettuce (Lactam snttm) is known as shctig ts’ni (raw' vegetable) because it can be
eaten raw'. Leafy wineries similar to die Oak Leaf lettuce o f die West are d u se usu­
ally seen; head lettuce is unpopular because o f its watcrincss and bitter taste, tliougli
a recently introduced Western pattern is to use it as garnish. Lettuce is usually eaten
in soup— given salads are unknown in traditional China and generally unsafe in die
Orient. Lettuce's bcxik name is iw elm, blit this name really applies only to die bizarre
celtuce or asparagus Icttuce, die native Chinese thick-stemmed lettuce. Its stalk, sliced
and stir-fried or axiked in soup, is excellent.
4 * Chinese Foodstujfi Today izS

Otlier originally Western vegetables grown and used in China are parsley (dj’in
ts’ai) ,uid celery (!m cl/in or “ western parsley,” since it is a very recent 111m xl action).
Tliis tan be contusing, since dim originally referral to a native Chinese herb
OanntlK stolonifirn, and list diin meant parsley. Neither is used ninth in Chinese
cooking, though in American Chinese (and many other) restaurants celery's cheap­
ness means it is often used tu snetch more expensive ingredients in mixed dishes.
Traditional Chinese gourmets do not like the result.
Watertress [Rimppa nasiu)iitnn-aquatiann) may also lie ,111 intrtiduction from the
West, judging by its Chinese name, ixiymuf ts’ai (western ocean vegetable). It is
used very commonly in soup but is not eaten raw It is a great tonic, believed to be
one o f die best remedies tor overhearing (in terms o f Immoral medicine), ‘llic soups
are often combined with such strength-producing items as certain lisli and internal
organs like duck gizzards. Liking shallow water, watertress competes directly with
rice in many areas but is a higher-priced crop.
Other common soup vegetables include the matnmonv vine or Chinese wolfthom
(Lyatnti drinensis; koii d /i ts’ai) anti die garland chrysanthemum (Onynutboinnn
cmmimium; r’uiifj bno ts’m, in Japanese shwirjikn). Mallow (Malm spp.; k’ttci ts’m) was
once die most important Chinese vegetable but tell from grate and has almost ctased
to be used. Malabar nightshade or spinach (Basdla alba, lo k’uci or “ tailing mallow” )
has recently entered from South Asia. Dried buds o f day lily (HnuamaUis spp.—
many cultivars are complex hybrids), with their sujx'rb, distinctive, musky tlavi >r, are
known as chin d)m ts'ai (golden needle vegetable); they spread from the Chinese
vegetable garden to tlie Occidental flower garden due to tlie efforts o f plant hunters
in die nineteenth century. Lotus leaves are used to wrap food, and occasionally eaten
with it, under die name of'to tsai {lotus greens). A vast range o f minor green vegeta­
bles exists as well, and any trip through a large market will turn up several more.
One leaf crop, alfalfa, is normally tailed not ts'ai, blit mu hsii (not die same word
as in “mu hsii pork” ). Tliis I rani an-derived name has spread to closer. King (iyu)
noted diat clover was sold as food in Shanghai and was a common ftxxi in parts o f
North China; tender young growing rips and die young sprouts o f alfalfa and clover
are used, as in American healdi-food diets.

Tlie commonest and most important non leaf" vegetables are tlie root crops. O f the
nonstarchy ones, by far the most important is tlie white radish (Rnpbanus sativus; Ino
po), which comes in a range o f Chinese varieties. Tlie Oriental white radishes range
from large (6 -8 inchcs long and 2 -3 inches diick) to very large (2 -3 feet long), are
watery and crisp, and arc tumiplike in taste and quality, though without the cabbage
undertone. {Thus diey arc often translated “turnip.” Most mentions o f turnips in
Western literature on China actually reter to white radishes.) White radishes are
sliced or diccd and pickled as cabbages are, usually dried first; often garlic and some­
times fermented soybean products or chili pepper powder are added. ‘Ilie Koreans
perfected diis spiced pickling. Green radishes are called diing iuo po. (If diey must be
 'hntcsc b'oodstttffs Today tly

disnnguished from the white ones, the whites art tailed po Im po, but normally luo po
hy itself is understood to mean the white ones.) l l i e green are not thought as tasty as
tlit white varieties and are rarely used except as medicine— they cool down tlie
body— and occasionally in soup. W tsttm radishes— the small red ones— liave been
intr<xluecd into Westernized pairs o f China, where they art known by such neo-
nvms as Inufxi izu (little radishes). Sonic black-skinned radishes exist in China and arc
namrally enough known as ha luopo (black radishes). Other colors occur htrt and
there, with predictably descriptive names.
llie carrot is called hung luo po (red radish). It was introduced to China via Cen-
nal Asia at around the time o f the Yii.m Dynasty (La Liter 1919); first it was called
hit luo po { Iranian radish), Conors, tar niort than green radislits, are used to cool tilt
txxiy, to iniprovt die eyes (tins vim it o f tlie carrot was evidently determined in
China long betore carotene was known to science), to help tlie throat, and for other
niediein.il purposes. Catrots can be stored to provide a source o f carotene even in
winter, a vitamin-poor season in Noitli China and often in die soudi as well. Carrots
are non 11.illy used in soup, but they have been steadily increasing in stir-fried dislies,
and they are commonly cut into ornamental garnishes.
A number o f other nxits are eaten occasionally, as well as tubers, bulbs, conns,
■md so on. lk-st known o f such minor ’'root' crops is die conn o f a bulrush, die
water chestnut (Ekochaits dulas or Scirpus tubertxtts), nttt ft (horst hoof) in colloquial
speech, more classically pi ch't. Ill is must be carefttlly distinguished from die water
caltrop (I'rapa Imvntts; ling chiieh or "water-eakrop horns” ), actually a fruit, l l i e lat­
ter is frequently called "water chestnut” in English and is indeed closely related to
European water chestnuts (7 ’. uatnns). Tlie “horse-hoof” water chestnut is related to
die bulrushes., sedges, and niles, whose comis have often supplied foods in other
kinds— they w trt used, tor example, by tlie Indians o f California. It is diis kind that
is so common in fcxxls, widi a delicate, sweetish taste and marvelously crisp texture,
'riie water taltrop, a rather tasteless fruit, is roasted or boiled as a snack. It often har­
bors die1 snails diat cany schistosomes and if undercooked can transmit these para­
sites to humans.
Hie shoots o f many plants art eaten; seedlings widi small leaves arc calltd ya\
leafless diick shoots such as bamboo shoots arc siin. Commonest among the yn arc
bean sprouts; among tlie sun bamboo shoots. Bamboo shoots come tram species o f
Plryliastadm (smaller) and Sntocnlmutts (larger). Otlier bamboos art locally pressed
into sen’ice. Tlie general tenn is dm situ, dm meaning bamboo. Bamboo shoots art
traditionally best in winter and considered a great delicacy. Asparagus, a very recent
introduction to China, is known .is lit sim (rush shoots) or ditao stm. This name once
applied to wild rice (Ziznnitt aquatica), raised in Ciiina not tor its seeds (considered a
lowly famine food) but for its shoots. These are allowed to become infected with a
GtbbaiiLi fungus that makes die stem grow' thick, soft, and asparagus-likc, and eaten
as a delicacy.
Consideration o f roots and slioots natui'ally leads to Allium, the onion genus,
f t Chinese Foo/tit/iffi Todny t}o

whose bulbs and leaves ore important eveiywhere, but nowfiere n n w important
dian in China, In Nordi China especially, enomxxis quantities o f them ore eaten,
and thcv arc a viral resource; onions and garlic sometimes pres ide almost the only
source o f vitamins in winter. H ie dominant allium in China is nor garlic, however,
but rrtflift (A littunJistnlasit»!, tlie Welsh or bunching onion. It has nothing to do
widi Wales; “'Welsh” is from die German weld) or “ foreign," applied after it was in­
troduced from die Orient). This is the “scallion" o f Chinese ctxikl>x)ks. (Scallion ac­
tually means anv voting onion.) Verv mild in flav or and bite, it is used widely as a
garnish or minor ingredient, but often— especially in the north— it is die mam veg­
etable o f a vegetable—meat dish, especially widi mutton or an organ meat. Dump­
lings tilled with a mixture o f tt'tniet and chopped meat abound in various tom is .md
are among die best and most widely loved o f Chinese snacks; again, this is especially
true in the north, where alliums are successful and odier vegetables (except the
Peking cabbage) rare. Western onions (A. eepa) are evidentIv a recent addition, since
their name isymttj tfimjj (foreign onions). They are used dry, cut up and stir-tried in
mixed dishes, and have become ever more popular.
Garlic {A - satinnn) is also an introduction, but o f much longer standing—
probably several millennia. It has been parr o f Chinese culture throughout historic
time and has its own name, sitan (a head o f garlic is called snail fan). It is used most
commonly in stir-fried dishes and dumpling fillings. Elephant garlic, actually a vari­
ety o f leek, is grown occasionallv under tlie name tn sunn (big garlic). Shallots (A.
ccpn van ngrpxqatuiu— not A . ascalmiiatm as in older literature) occur fairly com­
monly in parts o f South China but are little integrated into Chinese cooking .uid
seem to be grown primarily for Westerners, in interesting contrast to the exneme
importance ofdiese bmmiuf wanJj (red onions) in Malaysia. In China there seems to
be no agreed-on name for diem. Leeks (A. mtipelopirisiini — A . perntun; chin ts'wiff)
are rare. Much more common are die native Chinese chives (not the Western chive,
but A . mbcrositnt), flat-leaved and garlic-flavored, hence called “ garlic chives" in the
West. Regarded as more or less a leafy fonn o f leek, thev are called chin is’ni and are
very widely used, chopped up and used like tyinig when a more delicate flavor is
wanted. Last and perhaps most interesting is the ehitro (A . dnnatsf; chim t'oit). Ex­
tremely popular primarily as a pickle similar to pickled onions, diis plant is .so tnily
Chinese that it has no Western name. It is often known in die West by its Japanese
name, rakkyo (kyo is die Japanese pronunciation o f clnao) or as ''Chinese leek.” It is al­
most always eaten as a pickled snack, but occasionally die pickled bulbs are used in
axjking, especially in strong-flavored dishes such as sweet-and-sour pork. Usual Iv
it is eaten by children and pregnant women (Chinese- tradition, like Western, attri­
butes fondness for pickles to pregnant women). Tlie greatest Cantonese artist, Su
Jen-Shan (nineteenth century), was also famous tor his addiction to die pickled
bulbs.

Solanaccous fruits are in part a natural group in Chinese. Eggplant (Solatium

melmiifaitt) has die most respectable antiquity, intnxiuced from India at souk; ol>
!&• C.hnusc Ftwdsmfji Today 151

scure time in the past. Its first Chinese name was d j’ieb, an unanalysable old name. It
is little used. Tomatoes (Lycopmuwi csailaitwii) were intnxluced from the West in
the 1500s and promptly namedfan cbicb {barbarian eggplant), their similarity to egg­
plants noted from tile stair. At first romatoes w ere grown only tor Westerners near
the coastal enclaves w here they stayed, but its taste and ease o f growth achieved pop­
ularity for the tomato eventually, and it continues to spread and become more
w idely accepted in cooking. At present, however, it is still primarily a part o f urban­
ized CCantonese cuisine-— the area diat lias been longest and most intimately in con­
tact with foreigners. K'c tsap means “ tomato sauce” in Cantonese; tliis is sometimes
thought ro be the origin o f tlie English word ketchup or catsup, but such is not tlie
case. “Catsup" is cognate with l ’rench csaivccbc and Spanish cscabedn\ meaning ftxxi
111 sauce, anti was used long before die Cantonese had tomato sauce (David 1986).
(11 ic Indonesian word kctjap or “ soy sauce” is equally unlikely as a source o f die
Hnglish term.)
Among die Solanaceae is tlie New World’s gift to mankind, tlie chili pepper (Cap­
ita mifiittfscetii and C. mnnmni). Brought to the Orient by the Portuguese in die
h o o s , thc.se plants did not remain a minor and local part o f the diet, as did tomatoes

and eggplants, hut swept through the bar East widi epochal eftect. Perhaps no culi­
nary advance since the invention o f distilling iias had more effect tlian die propaga­
tion o f chili peppers in the Old World, 'llie main one is C. mmtaan. Not only did it
incalculably benefit the cuisine o f all those peoples civilized enough to accept it, it
also ls high in vitamins A and C , iron, calcium, and other minerals; is eminently stor­
able and usable in pickles; can be grown anywhere under any conditions as long as
the growing season is long and warm; and thus is now tlie world’s most ubiquitous
high-vitamin supplement to grains and other staples, providing what they lack, in
both taste and nutritional qualities. In China, die existence o f the Chinese cabbages
fnutrition allv equivalent) and die concurrent spread o f die sweet potato (high in vi­
tamin A) made die chili less dramatically important than it is elsewhere, but it caught
on fast, especially in remote anti mountainous regions where odier higlvvitamin
foods could not gr ow well. Thus its center o f abundance today is in die warmer
mountain regions o f China—-the southwestern part o f die country— where among
both Chinese and minority groups it is vital to life. It appears to have spread from
Macau, and perhaps other Portuguese touch points, through the mountains o f die
south, until it found a true home in Hunan and probably Kweichow'. Prom here it
spread rapidly to Szechuan and dience ro Yunnan. Tlie near depopulation o f
Szechuan in die wars at the fall o f Ming led to an inflow o f Hmianese migrants, who
brought dieir cuisine widi diem, and a similar flow later went from Szechuan to
Yunnan, especially after the great Muslim rebellion that decimated the main cities in
that province. Travelers in Yunnan afterward note diat the e(x>ks were aln xst all
Szecliuanese. Only in these western provinces did chilis achieve tile importance they
have enjoyed in Korea, Soudieast Asia, and India. Tlie chilis used are mostly o f die
hot annual varieties. ’Hie very hot perennial chilis {C.. jrtttacctts, die bird o r tabasco
chilis) are grown rarely. Sweet peppers— recent varieties o f annual chilis, bred for
tfs Cbinac b'oodstttffi Today if1

mildness and size—-are very rare except in tlit immediate environs o f Hong Kong
and other highly Westernized places. Nowhere haw they penetrated into ordinary
cuisine. Chilis are called la cbmo (tot pepper)— they are classified with the peppers,
as in English, not with tJioir tnie relatives, tomatoes .md eggplants. Probably this is
due to straight translation from Western languages.
'Die largest class o f fruits used as vegetables, including many eaten purely as
sweets, is that o f kua (cucurbits or pcpos). These are large fruits with a rind sur­
rounding a central cavity fuli o f flat seeds attached by pith— melons, squash, pump­
kin, cucumbers, and so on. Plants with such fruits comprise the family Cucurbita-
ceae. l l i e Chinese have many and love them deeply. They aLso include as kua a tew
plants with similar fruits that are nor o f the family Cucurbitaceac,
Tlie most widely grown is a native Chinese species, Raiiucasa hisptda, the was or
hair gourd. It is eaten in two very different forms, derived from different varieties ot
tlie piant: tlie ttntg km (winter melon) and die mao kua (hair gourd) or tin kua
(jointed gourd). Tlie former is grown to ripeness, at which time it superficially re­
sembles a large watemielon, except tor die waxy coating diat covers and whitens it.
Its water\', slightly spicy flesh us used in soup; often it is steamed in a metal pot with
die soup inside die melon, wiiich is often carved. This Ls the famous titntf kua cJjihuj
(winter melon pond). TTie hair gourd is eaten when small and unripe, similar to a
pale, rather hizzy zucchini squash. Tlie differences correspond close Iv to those lx‘-
tween pumpkin and summer squash (varieties o i C.ucurbita pt'po)— particularly when
one remembers diat in South America die pumpkin is chiefly used as a partially edi­
ble stewpot very much like a tiuig kua chung.
In addition to the hair gourd there is a vast range o f minor gourds. Important arc
the bitter melon (Motiwrrtiai chmimtia),fii km or “ bitter gourd"; cucumber (Cucu-
»tis satiwis), btuiiifi kua or “yellow gourd" (many Chinese varieties are yellow or
brownish and are considered more Chinese dian the green ones); and watemielon,
ter kua or “western gourd” (it spread from Africa via Central Asia), some varieties o f
which are growTi only for dieir large seeds, which almost completely replace the
meat. Melon seeds are a great Chinese delicacy, the commonest snack. Tine melons
o f many varieties are known mosdy by name o f origin; notable Ls the famous (C.
mclo) Ha-mt kua or “ Hami melon” from Hanii in Sinkiang. It is often said to be the
best melon in die world (it is certainly the best I have eaten). Tlie N ew World cucur­
bits have taken some hold in Ciiina but arc not well liked. Chayotc {Scdnum I'rfulc),
in spite o f its Chinese ramc,fo shou kiia (Buddha’s hand melon— its shape Ls remi­
niscent o f Buddha’s Hand citron), is considered uninteresting. Winter squash (Cu-
anirita spp.— usually C. nuschttta in die markets) is considered coarse and plebian, a
poverty food. Its Western origin and early introduction are betrayed by its name,^w
kua, “ barbarian gourd.” (This name applies most usually to mosdmta. C. Mavima is
sometinKs called nan kua, “soudiem gourd” ). Unfortunately, die Chinese have nor
assimilated good ways of'cooking these fruits,
Kua also includes the quince {Clydmna oiAmtffa and Cbamomdes spp.). Tlie papaya
f t CJrinne Tooiistuffi Today ij ;

(Gancti papaya; nut fata or 'tree melons” ) was originally termed/«« mn fata (barbar­
ian nee melon) when first intrixluced from the Americas. At present there is no m y
of telling which fruit is referred to, except by contest, Exx'ality o f origin is helpful,
since tlie papaya only grows in more or less [Topical areas too wami tor tlie quince.
(C Jiam om dcs quinces are native to China; Cydonui is rare but o f long establishment
there.) There is a vast concision in Chinese on diis distinction.

i-ist come the low er plants. Many seaweeds are eaten, among diem tztt ty’m
(purple vegetable), a flat seaweed used in soup;_//r tfai (hair vegetable), a hairiike
black alga from Mongolian desert springs, used especially in Buddhist vegetarian
cooking; yaiitj ti'm (ocean vegetable), tlie agar-agar seaweed; and others, Mush­
rooms are collectively known as fat, tlie comnxMi one seen is Lnitimts edoda, called
tuxfi fat (winter muxhxxini)— the shiitake o f Japan. Increasingly common is tlie
padi-straw mushroom, VcimmUa mimcea, called ts'aoht (grass niushrooni). Tlie
tinifl fat is usually used dried, tlie padi-straw fresh. The Western mushroom has be­
come a common cash crop in Taiwan, where it is canned and exported; it is known
as mo fat. Many other mushrooms are eaten, among them one known as Immtg fat
(fragrant mushrixiin). Bracket fungi o f trees are given tlie generic tenn crlj (ears) and
are used dried; they are popular and common in mixed dishes, where they bring out
flavors subtly witliout adding much o f their own, like truffles. Like muslinxims, they
,\re rix> expensive tor anv but festal fare, in which diey are alnxist obligatory. The
common ones are mil ah (wocxl cars; A unadann spp.) and vtm mil (cloud eats; Tix-
mclla spp,). Various species o f both exist. Hsikh ai/ (snow ears) are common in me­
dicinal brews because o f their alleged six »thing and harmonizing characteristics as
well as their nutritional value, but they arc not used as food. Several other types oc­
cur. One bracket fungus not called an ear is Ganodcnna htndwtt, die lauj cJ>ih (“ mag­
ical power fungus” or, more loosely, “fungus o f immortality” ). Traditionally die
itx)d o f Immortals and a divine plant giving longevity and wisdom, tliis plant is now'
used widelv in Chinese medicine. It has many alleged values as a tonic, winch hav e
not been fully explored.
The Chinese cal! all fruits fato, including diose diat are valued only for dieir kernels
(i.e., nuts). Tlie term fato covers both die fruit as a wiiole and die ileshy part o f it.
Seeds are te«, particularly if small; rzit also riK-ans “son,” but die extension to “seed”
must have been very early— perhaps it always meant both. The kernel o f die seed or
nut is they«;, w'hich also means “ Ixsnestv” ; here die extension may be diat truth is
die “ kernel" o f a person’s words or intent.
Since some fruits are valued for flesh and kernel both, it is best to discuss tliis class
in correct Chinese style, as one. In general, die Chinese like fhiit but eat radier little.
Kniit is preferred sour, dius usually eaten green or salted and pickled, unless it is nat­
urally a very sour fruit. 'Hie habit o f eating green fruit— noted widi (usually unpleas­
ant) surprise by a great many travelers in China— no doubt arose from die need to
harvest die fruit before birds, rats, or diieves did. “ Never adjust your hat in a peach
& Chinese Foodstuffs Today

o rc lm i, or ycnir slux's in a melon field” is an old Chinese proverb counseling die

hearer to do nothing diat might arouse suspicion. Fruit's low nntricnr value and \nl-
ncrabilitv to theft h;is kept it a verv minor part o f die Chinese scene. 1-mic culture is
expanding now’, very rapidly in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where money is available
for such well-liked luxuries, hut fruit is still a minor item of'rhc diet.
Most widely distributed o f all Chinese fruits is probably die met (Pmmts iinone,
Japanese tune or »unite). Usually translated “ plum” in books about China, it us not a
plum; the plum (Pntiliis saltcmei) is called li and is less widely eaten and much less
widely painted and written about, Tlie mei is actually closer to the apricot (P.
nitncstinea, hsutg); indeed, it is a sort o f Chinese counterpart thereof and is often
called “ Oriental flowering apricot.” The fruit resembles a small sour apricot and is
usnallv eaten pickled as a snack. The (lowers, which bloom in January or February,
are spectacularly beautiful, and dicir anarchistic tendency to glory in even the worst
weadier has made diem a svmhol o f Taoism and o f die independent recluse as well
as making die tree traditional in gardens. The mei has an honored place in Chinese
conseiousness. There is an entire genre o f mei paintings, literally millions of px'iiis
about mei trees in flower, reams o f descriptions and allusions to the mei. It is a sym­
bol o f die Chinese world from its most exalted to its very lowest, from philosophic
Taoism to venereal disease. (Mei trees ornamented entertainers’ quarter anti thus
came to refer to the diseases one brings back therefrom. O r— anodier rheoiy— the
lesions look like mei flowers. Mei trees and flowers, like peaches, w ere probably a
symbol o f sex and sexual potency in ancient times.) Usually earen salted and often
dried, the mei is also made into a sauce. A number o f temis cover the various salted
forms, which may be flavored with licorice or other diings.
"llie peach (Pnimtspcrstca, r'no) originated in China. Ilie overgrazed, deforested
lulls o f North China are often covered with wild peach scrub; the tree appears to
dirive on die conditions o f erosion and misuse diat make odier n ee growth imi*>ssh
ble diere. Poaches are eaten commonly (radicr green) in northern and mountainous
western lowland China, but in the south, where the\' do not grow' {except flowering
varieties and a tew scattered fruiting trees), diey are usually seen only as rare snacks in
dried or pickled tonn. Even diis minor use is a great increase over the recent past,
when peach fruit was known primarily dirough pictures. The flowering varieties,
however, are grown everywhere in China, especially tor New Year decoration. In
Hong Kong a vast (lowering peach industry has grown up to supplv diis market,
and fortunes turn on the weather two or diree weeks before New' Year. Chinese
N o v Year, varying from January to late February, can come so early diat the tlow'crs
are found only in die warmest areas (and can all be destroyed by a late freeze) or so
late diat die trees have already (lowered out in w'armer parts o f the colony. At least
diis problem is somewhat self-adjusting in diat die warm areas are well oft'in die cold
years, the cold areas in die warm years. ’Hie prudent ordiardicr tries to plant his or­
chard on a slope, so that some trees are in warm pockets and some in cold. Tlie value
o f die peach in Q iina is more symbolic tlian nutritional. An ancient svmbol o f terril-
*0 “ Chinese Foodstuffs Today i;s

iry, perhaps because o f its resemblance to die external female genitalia (not exactly
stinking; perhaps the pink color o f Mowers and fruit was more important), tlie peach
Kxjk oil magical attributes. (On mci and peach in symbol, see Sowerby 1940.) Tile
peach brings luck, abundance, and pmtection. Peach wood is made into amulets to
drive oH demons; a gixxi display o f peach flowers at New Year gives good fortune
through die year; the Spirit o f die Locality' or Earth God carries— or has bow
around him who carry— tlie Peaches o f Immortality, which make die eater an Im-
niotTal. 'llie most famous use o f peaches in lire ram re is, o f course, in T a o Ytian-
nling’s many-layered and complex essay, “The Peach-Flow-er Stream.” One layer o f
T ao’s symbolism is sexual, and die sexual symbolism o f the peach is still important in
China (Groot 1892-1910; Schafer 196;).
A subtropical Ini it shaped like a long, thin peach and bearing a single seed is
known as “ fairy peach" or “ heav enly peach.” ‘Die flesh is yellow-orange and tastes
vaguely like a in >t-too-fresh sweet potato, and despite the hyperbolic name the fruit is
nor well regarded. It is clearly not related to the peach; it appears to be an American
introduction o f die genus Potttmn.
Other rosaceous fruits include Asian natives and many Chinese equivalents o f
mote widely known hints. llie mie apricot (hinuts anuauaca) is known as
the apple (Twits mnbts) is pntt} ktto\ both are introductions from West or Central
Asia, Many native crab apples .ire grown tor fruit, and some for dieir leaves, which
make an excellent tea, tlie best known is P. baantn, tlie “tea crab.” Tile cherry apple
(/’. sfH'ctabilu or P. prmnfaim), bat rn«<j, is also common, especially candied, and looks
and tastes like a sweet crab apple. ’Die Chinese pears are also independent o f Western
pears; thev are o f several species (Pvnts sinctisis, P. kmmixwtu, and so on). Those widi
silica granules 111 die flesh are sha It (sand pears); crisp, white-fleshed ones are hsiicb li
(snow pears). All are crisp and round, like apples, rather than soft and pear-shaped
like the Western world's P. communis. 'Hie Chinese cherry is also a different species
from the Western (Pntuits psatdocansus as opposed to P. amitm = P. canstts). Some
o f the manv species o f flowering cherries also produce edible fruit. There are also
die native hawthorns {C.mtncijus spp.), grown for candied huit; die fruit is also gadi-
ercd wild. Last and most distinctive o f Chinese rosaceous fruits is die kx]iiat,
EiwLwnya jnpomcn, known bv a strange name diat may be a loanword from some
odier language-—p’t p’n. The lute is also called p'i p’tr, from its shape, resembling
kx]ii.it leaves, llie loquar's fruit is orange, superbly Havortul, sweet yet sharp; good
varieties are among the finest o f all fruit and deserve to be better known and more
widely grown (diey arc easy to grow in wanii or subtropical climates). Tlieir nearest
European equivalent is the medlar, Mcspiiitsgcnumuca, which must be eaten rotten
and is said to be at best an acquired taste (and at worst reminiscent o f raw sewage).
The loquat is known in French and some odier European languages as die Japanese
medlar
Along widi tlie rosaceous fruits, die main fruit o f China's “ core” area is tlie jujube
or Chinese date (Ztzypfntsjujitba and Z . sinc/isx), A dioniy busli or small tree o f die
rjt C.huicsc Foodstuff Today 116

dry parts o f Nortli China, diis buckthorn takes over railroad embankments, city
j'ards, factory dumps, loess ditF breaks— anywhere too poor anti dry for anything
else to glow . A favorite yard tree, it bears fruits tliat look and taste so much like dares
that die Western term “ Chinese date” is matched by the Chinese term “ foreign ju­
jube” tor die n\ie date (Pijoaivc liactyHfcm), known in China as an import since die
early Middle Ages. Jujubes arc brown or black. Believed to be powerfully strengdi-
ening and healdi-giving, {they bear large amounts o f vitamin C .uid iron), these
fruits arc fed to infants and used as niitridonal aids. Red ones arc believed particularly
good tor die blood (because o f their color), black ones tor die Ixxly in general. A de­
lightful paste o f walnuts and jujubes is often eaten to: health— die brain-shaped wal­
nut kernels strengthen die brain, (This daim is deleted from packages tor sale in die
Unites States, due to truth-in-advertising laws.)
An odd “ fhiit” known since ancient daj's is Homan lialcis, the raisin tree. What is
eaten is not the small fruit, but die stalk diat holds die fruit cluster; swollen anti
sweet, it tastes like a particularly tine raisin.
A great range o f minor fruits tills out the list. Several o f these arc, or once were, ex­
otic. From Chinas central and southern mountains come plants such .is the “sheep
peadi” (yrnit; tno, die kiwi fruit Actidinia sinensis) and the “ foreign (lowering apricot”
(vain; tad), a term used for bodi strawbemes (Fimjaruj spp.) and ericaceous fruits
from die waxmyrtle (Mytiat) and arbutus. Strawberries are more often called tfno
»tci (herb mei). Odier berries are rare in Qiina, Further south, in the tropics, the
Chinese encountered the coconut, litdiis, longans, and bananas, lliere was also die
Cauarium albwn tree with its olive like fruit (called Chinese olives when salt-
preserved) and superb, almondlike seed kernel. Southeast Asi;m or tropic.il Chinese
fruits like die starfruit or carambola (Aiwlxki carnmboln) and die sour, poor-quality
fruits o f DmcaitmmUm saimsis were considered less attractive.
Far more important were die citrus fruits. Tlie sweet orange ((Units sinensis), man­
darin orange and tangerine (C. txtiailata), pomelo (C.jpmidis), wampcc (('Inusctin
nmnpi), and kumquat (Pmtanclla spp.) are die major natives; lemon and lime were
introduced early from die West, the lemon becoming well known under die loan
name ling »ten (from Persian layinwi, directly or via Arabic or some other language).
Hybrids o f tangerine and orange were known and loved early and given die name o f
“sweeties” {kan— the character combines the graph “ tree” and die word for
“ sweet” ). The hybrid o f pomelo and orange, however, did not occur; only in the
eighteendi-ccntury West Indies did these finally mix, producing die grapefruit. O f all
the dtrus, the most culturally important was die mandarin orange (die renn gener­
ally covers bodi die tangerine spccics and die tang-or hybrids).
The citrus fruits retained a magical and religious aura, probably attached to diem
by non-Chinese peoples in what is now Soudi China. Pomdoes, oranges, and man­
darins continue to be die commonest fruits at sacrifices. Tlie bizarre “ Buddha’s
hand” (a contorted form o f die citron C . niedica, borrowing from die Western
world) is often seen in temples. Water in which pomelo skins or leaves have been
rfi* Chinese Foodstuffs Today 117

soaked is commonly used to drive away ghosts and evil spirits. Small mandarin­
orange trees are (bund in houses at Chinese New Year. The popular name o f C.
rctiadnln— properly dm— is chicb, “ lucky one.”
Ille European grape (Vitis wiiifcra) was introduced to China by Chang Chien, an
envoy sent by the Man emperor Wu Ti to die Western world in die second century
B .C . Cirape wine followed eventually, introduced via the Turkic-speaking peoples o f
.Sinhang. Popular in the Tang Dynasty, it lost out again later to Chinese grain chin.
Pomegranates (Pimica grauatum; shib tin) canic soon after, and eventually all die
West and South Asian common fruits became known in China. Watermelons canic
from Africa and became as popular tor their seed kernels as for dieir fruit; they are
the iavorire fruit o f most o f North China. Last o f all, die New World fruits haw be­
come cnonnouslv popular in port cities, especially die tropical o i k s such as papava
and lemon guava (Psidntin rjuaja1»i, called/«« shi Hit or “ foreign pomegranate," and
sometimes nicknamed “‘women's dog meat” because women cat it to get warm in
winter, as men eat (.log meat, which is often disliked by women), 'line avocado has
recently appeared and is called “ butter fruit.” Chcrimoyas and soursops, pineapples
and sapotes now appear on fruit stalls and in southern orchards.
Nuts play a minor pan in Chinese food. In addition to walnuts (die best are Per­
sian, jitf/lttiis uvtj/t, known since the Middle Ages in China), chestnuts (the native
C.aftmica wolHssiniit), hazelnuts (CoiyliLs)^ acoms, and so on, fruit kernels are widely
used. Most important are the kernels o f apricots (Pntntts mmatmai). Special varieties
with uninteresting fruit air grown solely for dieir large, sweet, nontoxic seeds, which
are used as almonds are used in the West. A mixture o f apricot-kernel powder and
congee or milk is used to relieve die distress o f colds and sore throats (I can testify to
its eftcx'tivcness). True almonds arc barely known and not nomially used, The afbre-
mcntioned kernels o f die Cmmritttii tree arc popular in South Qiinese cooking. Pine
nuts— usually the seeds o f Pbnis komimsis, but odicr pines will do— are very popu­
lar and believed to convey long life, especially if diey are one’s staple ftxxi, (Pines live,
evergreen, for centuries.) Odicr evergreens supply nxire exotic nuts: ginkgo nuts
(Ginkgo bilobct-, usually called “white nuts” but sometimes “silver nuts,” o f which die
word jjiiikfio is a Japanese-English corruption) and nutmeg-yew kernels (Torrsya
rpnudts). Both o f these are roasted. They are bitter and astringent and thus often
eaten to relieve swollen and sore membranes in the throat.
Chinese food uses less herbal and spice flavoring dian do die cuisines o f most o f
Asia, but die spice list is not small. Most o f the classic herbs and spiccs o f die Near
East and India have reached Cliina: basil, fenugreek, and so on. They need no special
mention here. China’s native spices deserve a few words. Perhaps die most character­
istic, the most familiar from many dishes, is star anise {lUicium spp.) Its large star­
shaped fruits have a powerful anise or licorice flavor, diough it is not related to eidier
o f those two plants. Several species o f brown pepper (Zrwtfxixylum) are used in dif­
ferent parts o f China, especially in die west and southwest. Once again, the plant
beare no resemblance to its English-language namesake. It is, in fact, a fbnn o f
 Chinese Foodstuffs Todny i.iS

prickly-ash or fagara, growing on a small thorny bush or sprawling vinclike little tree.
Tlie flavor o f the small brown fruits is intense and distilictive, with vague am.is ech­
oes. In large quantities, tlie fruits can produce a numbing effect 011 die mouth and
tongue, apparently harmless.
China is also die native home of’cassia (Gnnnmomiaii enssur, Mandarin kttct). liodi
die bark o f young twigs and die dried flowers .ire used, bur the former is the usual
spice. Usually kuci is translated “cinnamon,” but cinnamon is a different though
closely related product ( C z<ylnntcn»K from South Asia). The two rend to he used
interchangeably in mcxfem Chinese cooking.
Clove, nutmeg, and odier Southeast Asian spiees have long been used. Various
herbs— smartweed, cresses, mints, and tlie pepperv water-lily Rrascwa spp., for
example— are used locally and radier sparingly. Few have any wide usage, and none
competes widi sovbean ferments and garlic in importance as flavoring.

Coffee, chocolate, and opium reached China, of course. Coffee is chinfci, from
Cantonese ttnfii, which—-like almost all odier words in tlie world for the berry o f
Coffcn spp.-— is derived fn)»i die old Ediiopian word immortalized in K;ilive (or
Kafi'e) Province, soudiem Ediiopia, whence C. nralnca conics. Opium came early
bur was not much used until the British aggressively merchandised it in the nine­
teenth century. H ie other indulgent o f worldwide name, cola (from West Africa's
Coin nitida and C. ncuwinatn), has now reached China ttx>. Much earlier was betel:
die quid o f PipiT hctlc leaf eaten w'idi lime and die nut o f die aieca palm (Anrn cntc-
clju), Tliis “betel" nut, whose still in laut alkaloids arc released bv the lime and the
chemicals in die betel leaf', was already known as a southern product in the early
fourth century a . i >. Then as now', it was called by its Malay n.ime, ptnnnij (binlmiß in
modem Mandarin, but presumably borrowed via one o f the south-coast Chinese
lajiguages; it is still piimantj in some dialects o f Southern Min).
It is probably significant that die most widespread words in die work!— bor­
rowed into virtually every language— are the names o f die four great caffe in plants:
toffee, cacao, cola, and tea. (Cacao’s ding is really theobromine, and tea has theo­
phylline as well as caffeine, but diese alkaloids all tbnn one closclv related chemical
group, tile mcthylxanthines.) Tea is tlie great Chinese contribution. From Mandarin
dm conics die Persian/Iranian dxn, borrowed direcdv into Mongol, Russian, and
East European languages, as well as Japanese odm and many other variants. From
southern Min (Hokkien) te come all the West European words. Tea was originally
pronounced closer to die Min form; tkta\F” gave way to “tee” in die eighteenth een­
tun', except in conservative dialects like those o f Ireland.
Tea, however, was not known to ancient China. The word then meant any infu­
sion o f leaves. (The evolution o f tlie word in English has been tlie exact rev erse
— from a term for a specific plant to a catchall.) Some odier sources o f early Chinese
brews are remembered in our words ‘‘tea rose” and “ tea crab apple” ; chrysanthemum
flowers and herbal medicines are commonly used in China as tea stock, and anything
cooling (from cold sweet bean porridge to beer) is called “ ctxiling tea” {limit} chn) to
rfi* C.bimsc Foodstuffs Today 119

diis day. It was not until the T ’ang Dynasty that die name came to refer preemi-
nendy to tlie infusion of C.emiellici mtatsis. This bush— ail exquisitely beautiful one,
similar to o th er white-flowered camellias— comes from die C h in a- India- liumia
border country; no one is exactly sure where, since unequivocally wild tea has never
been found. In diis area die hill people chew pickled tea leaves (a s o i t o f tea sauer­
kraut), called »nmijj in Burmese and thought to be a very ancient preparation. Ten
may haw been established as an aboriginal brew in what is now South China. The
classic story' o f its mmxluction to Chinese civilization is diat die monk Btxlhid-
h.mna, who introduced Zen to China, meditated Ix'fore a wall and fell asleep; in fiirv
lie cut o ff his eyelids, which fell to die ground and grew into tea bushes. Shorn o f die
humorous fiction, this storv tells us diat tea came from India in about the fifth r a i­
n i n ' a . 1 1 ., accompanying Buddhists, who used it to keep awake during meditation; if
this is not the whole storv, it is at least believable. But tea's real popularity' is due to a
single book, 1 be C'lavie of Tea bv Lu Yu (197+). Tins work o f die lateT ’aug (eighth
century) launched the hypei'aesrhetic and ritualized devotion o f tea that lists to diis
day in Hast Asia, climaxing in die Japanese tea ceremony, so well (and ironically) de­
scribed in Yasunari Kawabata’s novel. Thousand C'rnnes. Lu Yii «'as a purist, describ­
ing such things as spiced tea .is no more than “the swill o f gutters and ditches.” (1
wonder what he would have said o f flavored teas and coffees.) Odiers were already
drinking tea with flowers as well as spices; jasmine tea is die most popular drink in
Notth China tcxlav. ('Hie true jasmine, a Near Eastern or Indian plant, had been re­
corded as .111 exotic from die soutli by' Clu Han in die fourth century.) Unlike tlie vast
majorin' o f T ’ang exotics, tea survived the fall o f T ’ang and die more nativistie peri­
ods diat followed, 110 doubt because it had both stimulant value and tine taste.
Tea is currently prepared in three ways: green, lighdy fermented (tx)long and the
like), and black. Green tea is dried bv a rather complex process, widiour temieina­
tion. Black tea is fomented for a considerable time under controlled conditions. Tlie
Chinese call it “ red tea” (Inauj ch’n), attending to the reddish color o f die brew rather
dian the blackish color o f the dry leaves. Green tea is green in all languages; die Chi­
nese is eh 'nip cb’n.
'Hie primary' tea-raising areas o f china are in and around Kujian Province {where
the Min languages are spoken, lienee the widespread borrowing o f die word ft'), in­
cluding die island o f Taiwan, which is o ff Fujian and primarily Min-speaking. The
finest teas are generally considered to be die Lung Ch’ing teas o f Fujian and die oo­
longs o f northern Taiwan, but diere air multitudes oflocal patriots who swear by
dieir home brews. Black tea is nor liked or much used in China, and diough excellent
black teas do come from Yunnan and elsewhere, die best are still diose o f India, such
as Darjeeling. (Yunnan also grows coticc, less distinguished than its tea.) In Tibet
and neighboring areas, tea is drunk widi milk or butter mixed in. The Tibetan na­
tional food is buttered tea mixed widi tsamba (parched bar lev). In die T ’ang IX'
nasty', Chinese drank tea widi milk and blitter, too.
Opium and tobacco are smokes, not ftxxls, but the Chinese idiom is “ to eat
smoke,” so diey deserve a mention here. Opium came from die Near East at an early
f t Chinese Foodstuff Today 14 0

date but was not popular or widely used until die British forced it 011 China in die
1800s; tobacco Is a New World crop, intnxluced in die ijocxs and .spreading since.
Opium addiction is virtually cxtinct on die mainland and rare in Taiwan, but it still
flourishes in H ong Kong, where the stronger opium derivatives— morphine, co­
deine, heroin, and so on— have niosdy replaced the raw drug. Tlie resinous flavor of
opium smoke was until recently a common scent in certain ports o f Hong Kong but
now is rattier rare. Tobacco is now overwhelmingly the drug o f choice among Chi­
nese. Almost all men and a large percentage o f women are smokers; cigarettes are
virtuaUv die only tbmi o f tobacco used, though one occasionally still .secs pipes, in­
cluding beautiful old water pipes made from large joints ofb.milxxi. China has made
some attempts to com kit smoking, but Hong Kong anti Taiwan do little, anti
smoking is rampant among overseas Chinese as well. Lung cancer has predictably
become a major cause o f death and continues to increase, while other health conse­
quences o f smoking (from coughs to heart disease) also grow more common.
The Chinese have always been given to depressant drugs rather than to halluci­
nogens. Alcohol, tobacco, and opium dominate. Even the stimulant tea is drunk
weak in most areas. In spite o f widespread and ancient knowledge o f a whole lx»t
o f hallucinogenic plants— marijuana, aconite, licnlxine, various mushrooms in­
cluding tlie fly agaric (at least in die northeast), anti many more-—the Chinese have
never used these to any extent. The Taoist alchemists and immortality seekers o f the
medieval period swallowed quantities o f these drugs, as o f almost everything else
imaginable, but the)' were a small and usually elite group. Tlie folk counterpaiT was
self-induced hypnotic trancc. I and odier anthropologists have witnessed many such
tranccs, considered spirit possessions; drugs arc unused or verjr sparingly used (pco-
ple may smoke, drink, or even take a bit o f opium at such events). In general,
throughout East Asia from China south, avoidance o f hallucinogens and reliance on
self-indneed trance is prevalent. Expense and die possibility o f physical damage .ire
probably at die root o f this; the Taoist alchemy simply could not trickle down the
class hierarchy, or survive the difficult day's o f the late medieval period, because it was
so expensive in bodi financial and human terms. Confucian morality opposed it tor
these reasons, but ultimately it fell because it led to quick death radier dian to longer
life; and widi its rejection went any tendencies toward violent drug-induced stim­
ulation in Chinese culture. Chinese communities today reject marijuana and the
like widi horror, viewing diem as both alien and dangerous. (This is radier ironic
given the universal acceptance o f tobacco.)

Antnuti Foods
Throughout the world, more kinds o f water animals are eaten dian land animals.
The Chinese avoid very' few animals, and it follows diat essentially anydiing aquatic
is fair game. Jellyfish, sea cucumbers, sea slugs, limpets, barnacles, sea snakes, gulls,
and even' odier marine and freshwater being big enough to gather is eaten some­
 C Jiinaf Foortttiiffi Today t+t

where. Avoidances exist, hi it arc local. Hshermen I knew ill H ong Kong believed
ix-rrv creatures like barnacles were too small to bother with (except in famine) and
avoided sawfish, sturgeons, whales and porpoises because these were “divine fish,”
tatxxx.'d by the gods, lint elsewhere in China all o f these have been iLscd.
'Hie traditional Chinese favorites among aquatic ftxxis make an odd group, in­
cluding sea cucumber, shark fins, shrimp, crab, carp, groupers (rockfish), pom fret,
oysters, and some otlier bivalves. 'Hie Chinese were originally an inland, riverine
people whose main fish rest >urces were bream and carp. Sev eral specics o f die latter
were domesticated early, caught anti pond-reared in die Chou Dynasty and bred se­
lectively in captivity well before its end. In addition to die common carp {Cvpnntts
uirpin), domesticated in China blit spread worldwide in the Middle Ages, there are
the crucian carp (Cnrassnts numtus— goldfish are selectively bred ornamental forms
o f this species), die grass carp or ide ((^taioplmryjiqodon irfW/jtr), the black, bighead,
or noble carp (Atisticljtlm uoOilis), and die silver carp (Hypophalmidnirys wwft/uv)
(Ling 1977). 'Hie first two o f these are the most truly domesticated; many ancient cul­
tivated forms e\ist. Mullet (Muqil ccphaliis), eels (Anguilla spp.), and sometimes
odier fish are caught as wild finger Imgs or fry and raised to maturity in ponds. These
freshwater fish, widi tlieir firm, white flesh and delicate taste, set die standards offish
c|iialitv. Iliey are not muddlv-flavored when raised properly; die muddy flavor we
associate widi carp is caused by dirty feeding and by the ingestion o f geosmin, pro­
duced by certain algae in stagnant water. Cliinese ponds are kept fresh; feeding and
Icrrili/ing is done carefully; ponds are drained for harvest and dried oft' Well-raised
fish dins pick up link off-flavor.
Marine fish w ith similar qualities— white, delicate-flavored flesh diat is firm but
not chewy— are naturally preferred. Softer-fleshed marine fish are acceptably espe­
cially for fish balls and odicr lowlv uses, but die fish favored in Japan and most o f the
West— strung, rank, tough, oily fish like mackerel, salmon, tuna, and sw'ordfish
— are despised in China. I heart! a runa-canning plant described as a good way to rip
off die Western world by selling trash fish diat would otherwise be fertilizer. M y ex­
planation diat Westerners liked tuna w'as met widi incredulity.
Shrimp and crab are preferred to lobster (Chinese lobsters are o f the “spiny" vari­
ety, i.e., various species o f Pamdints), but all crustaceans are well regarded, even the
lowly mantis shrimp, which can be quite good when boiled, and the mud-lobster.
Among mollusks, bivalves rank higher dian snails, die oyster and pcn-slicl] consid­
ered very choice. Small clams (including scallops) and snails are not for gourmets,
widi die noted exception o f die large whelks, which are delicious, and die abalone
(Haliotis spp.). 'Ihese huge snails are chunked and cooked in many ways and arc
among the most higlilv regarded o f ftxxis. China’s native abs are now depicted; diey
have been imported from California and Baja California since early in this century.
Whelk and abalone are chewy and strong-flavored; I suppose the taste for them was
borrowed from some nameless, long-lost coast-dwelling people. Sea cucumbers
— teclmically Hdothima o f many genera— arc sold dried; stewed, die)' become ge-
 Chinese Fovdstuffi Today i+z

tattnous, chewy, and faindv fish-flavored. Their principal virtue is one common in
Chinese cuisine and deeply loved: dicy absorb and heighten the flavors o f odier
foods cooked widi diem and provide a diewy, soft, high-protein, easily digested
morsel as a vehicle tor these flavors. Shark tins are liked tor die same reason {as are
many o f die mushrooms and lieliens, edihk birds' nests, beet’ sinew's, and sev eral
other very high-priced items ofaiisin c diat non Chinese find bi/am:). They have a
more pronounced taste, dearly reminiscent o f gtxxi marine fish, and are also sold
dried for long boiling; a dish o f shark fins is somewhere between a thick soup and a
diin stew and is traditional— virtually obligatory among the affluent— at wedding
feasts and other major life events.
Fish swim-bladders (fish maws) are somewhat behind die.se but also popular, Fi­
nally, perhaps die best among fish products are dried roes, sometimes liglidy salted;
dicy are at least as gtxxl as caviar, though dry and chewy rather than wet. They arc
sliced and filed or steamed. Some o f die best come from die sea perch (Iji Us )- Mag­
ical beliefs attach to certain fish products, die swim-bladder and some other parts of'
die giant grouper are supposed to give the cater some o f til is mammoth fish’s power,
while parasites from its gills are even more effective. Indeed, a complex medical lore
spins around scafm.x.1s; some crabs are cooling, odiers hearing. Some shrimps and
otiler shellfish exacerbate venereal disease, leading to much low wit if a man refuses
diem at an all-male gathering.
Fresh seafood should befirs!), Fish is rarely eaten raw' as in Japan, partly because of’
awareness of" parasites; in T ’ang Chijia and more recently in the south, raw fish w as
popular. But fish is not overcooked, nor is it tolerated when long out o f water. In the
old daw, and often today, restaurants would keep fish alive in tanks. Shore inns
would have well-smacks: old boats w'idi die bottoms replaced bv wire mesh, in
wliidi fish and slicltfish were kept in dieir native element. Many fishermen turned to
running live-fish operations. Living on a houseboat sunoimded by we 11-smacks,
diese people lived by buying live fish from boats and selling them to goumieis, who
would run (not walk) wnth diem to die nearest restaurant. Water pollution in the
more affluent cities has ended tins practice, to die eternal sorrow o f goumicts, for the
difference between a fish kept dins and a tank fish— let alone a dead fish— is really
quite pronounced. (I spent some o f die happiest mondis o f my life living in a small
houseboat on Casdc Peak Bay, H ong Kong, tied to die well-smack fleet o f Kwok
Wai-tak and his family, some o f die finest [xople 1 have ever known. I would buy
seafood and am widi it to die excel lent restaurant o f ex-fisherman Tam Muk Choi. I
ate die best I ever have or ever will. Tile bay’s waters are too dirty now, and fish are
kept in tanks; it’s not die same.)
Good seafood cooking is kept simple. Fish is typically steamed with the classic
“ fish flavors” — oil, garlic and/or green onions, and ginger, often widi wine, soy
sauce, dried tangerine peel, tree fungus, or a coriander leaf or two added somewhere
in die process. (“ Eggplant widi fish flavors” on a menu means not an eggplant diat
tastes like a fish but eggplant flavored widi diese diings.) In H ong Kong, shrimps
are best liked when simply boiled; diey arc often eaten with a soy sauce and chile
rfl* C'.btiH'Si Foodstuffs Tadtrr 14 1

pepper (.lip. Crabs arc conked os simplv as possible and dipped in red vinegar. O f
course foil cixikery can be very complex, but such methods tend to be reserved tor
interior fish.
In old China, laek o f refrigeration and hot, humid climate guaranteed that fish
salting would be important. Lightly salted fish spoils fairfv easily, making it at best no
treat and at worst downright dangerous. Not only ftxxi poisoning but cancer from
nitrosamincs created by bacterial breakdown o f flesh are risks. Well-salted fish, how­
ever, can lx‘ a true gourmet delight. Fish with diin bodies and firm flesh arc best; die
salt penetrates them thoroughly anti doesn't reduce them to mush. Pom tret and
white croaker are typical species used. They arc often “salt-hidden” — buried in salt
tor a thorough job, rather th.ui mcrclv Ix'ing nibbed with salt. They are dicn some­
times chunked anti packed in vegetable oil. Smaller fish are simply dried, as are small
shrimp. 11 ic latter, known as ''shrimp seeds” or “shrimp children,” are a common fla­
voring; they arc, for instance, often stir-fried with cabbage. Small shrimp arc also
made inn >shrimp paste. Packed alive in barrels widi enough salt to eliminate micro­
bial ,k t k >11, the shrimp digest themselv es, producing a tine, purple, highly nutritious,
predigestcd ftxxi pitxiucr o f rather strong but interesting flavor. Essentially the same
thing is known as bctachmi in the Malay world. Similar products made from fish in­
stead o f shrimp arc rvpical o f cooking throughout Southeast Asia: biujttnjj and parts
in the I’ liilippines, mux mam (fish water) in Vietnam, and so on. Pntis and mioc mum
are liquids drained o ff from the autolvtic brew: bngitnjj, bcladmu and Chinese shrimp
paste are solids. Hie Chinese evidently learned diis art from Southeast Asian peoples
and have not really taken to shrimp paste; it is made fairly widely in die deep soudi
but not much used except bv Chinese with some Soudieast Asian experience. West­
erners who are repelled by it should remember diat anchovy paste (a descendant o f
Rom.m/prmj)/) is the same sort o f thing and tastes a lot stronger. Such products are
not rotten or fermented (conmuy to frequent mistaken claims in die popular litera­
ture), simply predigestcd.
Near water, HKxst animal protein came from diat source, and die choicest ftxxis o f
■ill Hast Asia air aquatic, ’lh e greatest potential for increasing world food production
lies in fanning the sea; only the Chinese and Japanese have seriously developed its
potential. Their tastes condition dicir development strategy and guide it in much
nx>re promising wav's than orthodox Western agriculture holds. Aquatic tanning is
naturally coupled with wet-rice agriculture. Here, even more dian elsewhere in Chi­
nese tixxi ecology, we see die mutual feedback and mutually beneficial relationship
between taste and ecology. The Chinese fondness tor aquatic tcxxis can be traced
right back to the earliest literary dtxiiments, and even to the earliest art, since die de­
signs painted on Pan-pb pottery emphasize fish and die bones in the site contimi
that river fish were a major food.

By >ooo ti.c., the Neolidiie villagere’ main meat animals vvea1 pigs and cliickens, as
they are in Chinn ttxiay. ’llic villagers aLst) grew and ate sheep and dogs, as do die
Chinese now. It was not long before the cow, water buffalo, and duck were added
*0* Chinese Fooiistujfi Today i-H-

and die Chinese mc.it roster was essentially complete. Tlie pig, sheep, and water buf­
falo were apparently independently domesticated in China at about the same rime
diat dicy were domesticated in die Near East, or, in die water buffalo's case. India.
Tlie duck (mallard, Anasplatytiwtdms) was probably domesticated in China and
spread to die West, like die carp. The Chinese goose is a different species from die
tame goose o f Europe (Anscr cyfptoida vs. Anscr misn% so diere is no question o f
anvdiing but independent domestication here; the water buffalo too was originally a
different ibmi from tiiat tamed in India. For die dog, cow, and goat— the last ap­
pearing by about 50c» b ,c.— Ciiina drew on die Near East. With the exception o f a
few very minor creatures (rabbit, pigeon, guinea fowl, and a few newcomers like the
American turkey and musco\y duck), diese constitute China’s domesticated animals.
Horses are know'll and widely used but not much eaten, due simply to lack o f avail­
ability; they were a delicacy in ancient China, diough die liver was avoided because it
was thought to be poisonous. (The early texts speak o f diis so matter-of-factlv that I
suspect die horses really were concentrating toxins from some ftxxl in then livers.)
Gits, rats, micc, and other (xkinients have been eaten in China, but only rarely, con­
trary' to certain stereotypes current in die West. Every wild animal diat can be found
has been eaten somewhere by someone, and early Chinese lived 011 game to a great
extent; as civilization advanced, game grew rarer, but it remains very popular today.
Snakes, frogs (called “ paddy chickens” when used as food), grasshoppers, and odier
small game are as popular as big game, often for reasons rooted in folk medicine.
I begin widi <kdie gendeman that paj's die rent” : die Chinese might well borrow
diis Irish name for swine. Tlie pig is overwhelmingly the chief meat source in China,
outranking all odier land animals combined. Daily meat for die rich, festival tare ten
die poor, souncc o f oil and industrial products, and a cotisrant feature o f the scene, it
is so common diat die vast majorin' o f die world’s pigs are on Chinese hums. Tlie
traditional porker is lean, radier slow-growing, but exceedingly fertile, tough, resis­
tant to disease, and o f excellent quality as a meat and lard animal. Modem out­
crossing has produced a faster-growing but otherwise inferior animal, and Chinese
pork has deteriorated dcpressinglv; some attempt to correct the situation is now
underway. Traditionally, pigs did not get fat enough to be a major source o f cooking
oii, but in a few areas— especially Fukien and Yunnan provinces and some montane
pans o f the central soudi— dicy filled diis role. As for ax>king the pig, suffice it to
say that anodier book as long as diis one would be needed to provide even an intro­
duction, and diat every part o f die pig is used (even tlie brisdes, for fcx>thpicks, skew­
ers, and food-cleaning brushes) in every conceivable way. Its bkxxi is coagulated and
fried, especially in Eukien. Superb sausages and hams are made; the hams from
Yunnaii Plateau arc among die finest in the world. Sausages are often temiented
with Ijutobaalliis, like salami, and high-proof spirits arc often part o f die
preservative.
Among mammal meats, mutton probably ranks a very long second. It is indifter-
endy from sheep and young goats and is eaten primarily in die west, especially
f t C .bttn-ic F o o d stu ffs T o d a y f+j

among Muslims and minority peoples. Beet is rarelv eaten, avoided by traditional
Chinese because o f an Indian-derived respect tor tlie cow diat entered widi Bud­
dhism. It tends now to take the form diat die cow is tc» useful to be treated with
sneli disrespect. Perhaps more cogent is the fact that Chinese beef— which tradition­
ally conies from animals that die alter long careers o f pulling the plow— is no deli­
cacy. Indeed, by comparison, shoe leather is definitely appealing. But tlie spinal cord
is gtxxl when sliced and stir-fried with vegetables.
As is well known. East Asian peoples make little use o f dairy products. Milk is
considered tixx .1 tor babies that comes from human females. The Chinese and most
minorities in China avoid ail dairy foods. The great exception is the band o f nomadic
or nomad-inHucnced peoples occupying China’s west. Not only the Mongols, no­
madic Turkic groups (not so much the setded ones), and Tibetans, but also tlie west­
ern Chinese cat yogurt, cheese, kumvs (which tastes tike spiked thin buttermilk), and
other fermented products.
Most As i.in peoples (and the majority o f the world’s peoples) cease to produce the
enzyme lactase at tlie age o f six or a bit older. Thus diey cannot digest lactose, and
large amounts o f fresh milk give diem bad indigestion. But Ijuxobnallus spp. break
down lactose, producing lactic acid, winch helps to preserve the resulting yogurt.
Tlie yeasts diat eTcate kumvs also break down lactose, but dicy work only on mare’s
milk; other milks have k x i little sugar and phosphorus to teed diem. Rudimentary
cheese-making occurs among nomadic groups. Butter is the principal cooking oil
among these peoples, as well as die universal unguent; fermented to allow storage—
and dius tasting slightly cheeseLike— it is tlie fevoatl food ofTibetan nomads. (Widi
g(xxt care in their ecx>l climate it does not spoil but ripens; why Westerners who eat
cheese refer to this butter as rancid is unclear.)
Much effort has gone into explaining the East Asian abstinence from dairy prod­
ucts. The failure o f Central Asian influence to spread dairy foods in China, even
though Chinese in Yunnan and die Central Asian borders (many probably sinicized
Mongols and Tibetans by ancestry) have taken to yogurt, is as strange as the failure
o f Indian influence in Southeast Asia. Tlie conversion o f that region to Hinduism
and Buddhism in the Middle Ages went with an increase in tlie use o f milk products,
as did die rise in Indian influence in China in die T ’ang Dynasty. But die use o f milk
products waned, and not wholly due to the decline o f Indian religions, since Burma
and Thailand arc still dioroughly Buddhist and resist dairy products almost totally.
Yogurt maintains an amazing, precarious tbodiold in Sumatra, among the Barak and
Minangkabau peoples, isolated until fairly recendy. There it is a rare delicacy— I be­
lieve one o f many vestiges o f the great period o f Indianization in 6 0 0 —12 0 0 a . d .
Recendy, die lack o f lactase in adult East Asians has been adduced to explain this
avoidance, but it does not stop die Indians and Central Asians from depending on
dairy foods for most o f their animal protein. The classic Chinese explanation is surely
in part correct: prejudice against Central Asians and desire to avoid economic depen­
dence on them. Since China is not good pastureland, die G iinese would have had to
rfr C'hincsc Foodstuffs Today f-fft

import most o f dieir dairy tixxls. They traditionally imported In >n*:.s and tluis were
perpetually dependent on Central Asia lor animal power. Doubtless another depen­
dence would have been too costly and too humiliating. Yet tliis does not explain rhe
equally pronounced rejection o f dairy tcxxls in Southeast Asia. One eaii only propose
diat given die environment, which is not only had tor raising cattle but also lor keep­
ing milk even when preserved as yogurt or cheese, milk processing was too difficult,
expensive, and dangerous. Cattle and buffaloes .ire kept in great quantities but .ue
used as work animals, able to teed only their own offspring. Around die world, hot,
humid areas are ptxir lor traditional strains o f canic, although in India strains and
techniques were developed due to religion anti in die teedi o f opposition from the
environment, Chinese and Southeast Asians more sensibly invested iii beans and fish
tor dieir protein. {Soybeans now provide equivalents to .ill dairy products, including
yogurt and cheese.) 'llic rise in popularity today o f canned milk and other milk prod­
ucts shows that the avoidance is due neither to intrinsic dislike nor to any deep-
seated opposition or taboo. Indeed, some South Chinese dishes now incorporate
evaporated milk in a “cream sauce” derived from European influence; it has been
dionouglily Sinicized. Cheese, however, is usually too much for Chinese to swal­
low— I have heard it described, to translate roughly, as "the mucous discharge o f
some old cow s guts, allowed to putrefy.” Even Chinese who have learned to eat diis
product usually confine dieir attentions to die mildest o f “American chccse” -rvpc
products.
Among minor animals, die dog may be preeminent. A delicacy dirougliout China
in ancient days, diis so-called “ fragrant meat” is now eaten only in the south, Islamic
and perhaps Buddhist influence ended its popularity in the north, in spite o f its higli
status in classical texts such as M nidas and die L i Chi. In the soudi it is eaten primar­
ily ti)r winter warmdi, for it is fatty. Tender young puppies can be good, but dog
meat is generally tough and rank, no delicacy by anyone’s standards. Cats are very
rarely eaten, but a dish called “dragon, tiger, and phoenix" is made from snake, cat,
and chicken. I suppose it is one o f die must hyperbolically named dishes in the
world.* It, too, is eaten more for medicinal dian for gustatory reasons.
Poultry arc festival tare, traditional for all special occasions from sacrifices to the
gods to visits by relatives, but not much eaten odicnvisc; diey were expensive until
recently. Much care is devoted to raising and feeding diem properly. The best are
those raised in die backyaid o f a home run by a good cook. Eating die table scraps o f
die world’s finest cuisinc all dieir lives, diey become unbelievably good, especially die
pigeons {Columba la w , a borrowing from the Middle East, perhaps in medieval
times), which are equalled only by chickens fed exclusively on sesame seeds. Such
chickens, killed at a tender age, are die proper raw material tor die Hainan Island na­
tional dish o f chicken ricc. 'Die cliikens arc boiled, die rice is boiled in die stock,
some more o f die stock becomes a soup, and die diree-course meal is saved widi
various sauces and garnishes. A good meal o f chicken ricc is better dian any fare I
have had in fancy Chinese restaurants; but the ctiickcns must be ted right, Peking
f t ('hi/icu Faaditnjfi T odm 14.7

duck, tcx>, is so dependent tor quality on its feeding that the iccipc given 111 one au­
thoritative ctx>klxx>k in China begins with tlie duck egg oixl tells the prospective
ecx>k how to incubate, hatch, and raise tlie bird, so dint not one second o f its life is
left to chance, llie duck dix'sn’t get to the kitchen tor several dozen pages.
Poultry is almost as versatile as pork, though no o i k lias vet figured out how to
eat the feathers, and no o ik makes sausages or preserved meat out o f chicken (it’s t<xi
valuable fresh). Duck is preserved, however, especially in die tlarrened and dried la
yn. Blotxl, tongues, and brains are choice. “ Beggars' chicken” is a specialty o f Shang­
hai. Chickens arc smiled and enclosed id a thick ball o f mud, which is put in tlie fire
(or oven) and baked- Tins dish originated among beggais who were reduced by des­
peration to “ bonowing” a chicken or two, die mud ball supposedly served as cam­
ouflage. ('"Chicken? What chicken? You’re five to look all you want.” Likewise, the
"bandit’s lamb” o f Mediterranean countries is wrapped and buried in die aslies.) The
mud ball also seals in the flavors so diat the cooked meat is melringlv delicate. Leaves
such as lotus, with their own gcxxl flavor to add, enfold die chicken before die mud
is put over all.
Snake meat, believed to lx‘ tonic and heating, is eaten primarily as a medicine. The
more poisonous the snake, the higher the medicinal value. Snake meat as normally
axiked is virtually indistinguishable from die white meat o f chicken. Like dogs,
snakes are now avoided in the noitli, but, again, diis is a recent and foreign idea.
Snake is expensive and eaten primarily in winter, frogs are popular; as in France, it is
die legs that ar e relished, because they have die big pieces o f meat. Grasshoppers, cat­
erpillars, and other insects have been famine tixxl for diousands of'yeans, and fried
grasshoppers are relished as a rustic snack in some areas (diey ore not very good but
110 worse than most American ctxktail snacks). Any .uid all wild animals are eaten, at
least during famines, bur the only ones worthy o f note arc diose widi traditional
medical values ascribed to diem. Animals that are very tenacious o f life, or very
uniLsuai-kx>king and -acting, are regarded as having .special power; diey are pu (sup­
plementing). Notable pu tixxis are pangolins, raccoon dogs, soft-shelled turtles, tor­
toises, snakehead fish (some sav), birds o f prey, wild ducks, and similar wildfowl,
and several larger game animals. (Tortoises, because o f their phallic-looking heads,
are o f obscene significance in folklore. Thev are believed to mate with snakes, so a
“ tortoise egg” is a miscegcnated bastard, and one o f die worst insults in Chinese.)
Some o f diese animals stand on dieir own merits— the soft-shelled m ale is superb
when cookcd right. On the other hand, die only recipe I can find for a pangolin— a
scaly creature diat lives on ,11its and temiites— calls for long stewing widi just about
even* strong-flavored item in the Chinese culinary arsenal. It seems suspiciously close
to die classic occidental recipe tor cooking a coot: “ l\it die coot in water with a
brick. Boil till brick is tender. Throw die coot away and eat die brick.” Only a step
away is real magical practice and folk medicine. Owrl soup for headache, “ white
crane” (egret) stew for longevity, dried sea liorses, boiled nightjars for loss o f some o f
one’s soul, and odier minor folk nostrums are found in die villages, and some have
 Chinese Foodstuffs Today f-fS

entered die classical Chinese herbal tradition. Their contribution to the Chinese diet
is, however, insignificant.
Calvin Schwabc, in !iis book Unmentionable Cuisine (1979), comments at length
on die Chinese ability to make almost anything taste good and to use almost all ani­
mals as tcxxi. It ccrtainlv makes more sense to eat pests, or at least teed them to the
pigs and chickens, dian it does to dump poison on diem and evervdiing else. It is
also cminendy sensible to make full use of' die earth’s resources by drawing on all
possible ecological systems. Relatively free from taboos and avoidances, the Chinese
have achieved a unique balance with their world, a unique succcss at supporting
maximum populations over maximum rime. As Schwabe points out, a world com­
mitted not only to using only a few animals but featuring one o f die most inefficient
and wasteful o f them (die cow) is not destined to endure.
 t Some Basic
Cooking Strategies

Batterie dc Cuisine
Chinese cooking Is a cooking ofscarcity. Whatever the emperors and warlords
nuy have llad, die vast majorin' o f Chinese spent their lives short o f fuel, cooking oil,
utcmiLs, id even water. Nodiing comparable to die huge cookware stores diat now
hloom in elite occidental suburbs could exist in China. Chinese ingenuity has gone in
anodier and ecologically sounder direction: designing die most versatile possible
tools diat can be used for evcrv imaginable task.
Hie traditional Chinese home is based around_t|ie stove, which is so important
diat die Chinese phrase tor breaking up a household translates as “dividing the
stoves.” Living in Chinese houses, I learned diat o ik * lias free run o f everything ex­
cept odicr families' bedrooms and stoves. The owner— if occupying die premises—
reserves die right to use the big stove; renters o f rooms must provide dieir own por­
table ones.
The big stove is an impressive creation. It seems to have reached its final form just
before die Han Dynasty; it is seen fully developed in models in Han tombs. Stand­
ing two or diree feet high and covering an area up to six feet square or more, it is a
brick or adobe construction. Usually rectangular, it can also be built freeform to
adapt to a rock diat die liouse has been built against. The stove centers on a stoke­
hole that opens onto a fijel-buming chamber. Above this arc holes diat serve the
fiiiiction o f burners. Pans can be fitted tighdy on diem, so that no hear escapes. The
brick sides insulate the firebox. Thus even a tiny amount o f very poor fuel will suffice
to cook a lot o f food.
The traditional portable stove is similar, but made o f pottery. It is now usually
made m an old galvanized bucket, suitably a it up for die purpose. Odier portable
stove models exist. Today, small kerosene stoves tend to replace older models, and o f
course in Hong Kong and odier affluent urban areas die full panoply o f electric and
gas stoves, rice cookers, and so forth is standard.
The old brick stove was a god’s residence. God o f the inner sanctum, tutelary deity
o f die household, he was a more intimate counterpart o f die door god who pro­
tected the house at die front door. The stove god or kitdicn god was told ail the
family’s life events; he was the first ro learn o f the births, deaths, marriages, and mi-

14 9
 Sonic Basic Cooking Strategies ito

nor joys and sorrows o f life in the rich-textured and biisv world o f a Chinese family.
On or around tlie lost full moon o f die year, lie went to the other world in die sky to
report; most families kept a little image o f him near the stove and smeared its month
widi a sticky, sweet stuff'(malt syrup or die like) at diis time, so he would say little
and diat all sweet. 'Iliis playful little ritual must have been die occasion tor many a
bittersweet meditation among women, who haw charge o f his cult.
The one too! diat most Chinese cooks would probably single our as indispensable
is die knife. Tlie word ton implies a cleaver-like tool; die character «'as originally a
drawing o f one. The most common ton today is the rectangular cleaver. It comes in
mail)' shapes and sizes, from huge, thick, square, bone-hewing bn rebel's’ cleavers to
tiny knives for small slicing tasks. Next most common are tou that come to a point;
these are used for boning, some kinds o f slicing and slitting, and otlier such tasks.
Narrow-bladed knives like diose o f die West are little used; diey air not versatile
enough and do nor pack enough mass to cut large chunks effectively. The basic task
performed with die tou is chopping, but slicing is also regularly done. Chinese e<x>ks
become so proficient in both that they can cut anydiing cutrable into neat, even sec­
tions o f exactly the desired thickness, working taster than the eve can follow. Chuang
Tzu has a famous story, known to all literate and manv illiterate Chinese in tradi­
tional times, o f a butcher who used one cleaver for twenty years without sharpening
it, because he knew so well die interstices between die joints; he merely separated
bones, he did not chop diem. Millions o f butchers to this day follow his practice (al­
though they do have to sharpen their cleavers).
Cutting, whether o f meat or vegetables, is usually done on die bias; this creates a
large surface-to-volume ratio in die chunk, pennimng fast cooking and tl ion nigh
coating widi any sauce. Slices o f meat can be “flying-thin,” almost thin enough to
read through. It helps if the meat is frozen and partially thawed, but traditional ctxiks
scorn diis as a modem “easy way out.” 'line tou is also used for tasks from trimming
fingernails to splitting kindling, and it can be a deadly weapon in a fight.
Almost all preparation o f ftxxi for cooking can be (.tone widi die cleaver: splitting
and cleaning fish, chopping meat and vegetables, scraping and peeling, skinning,
mincing (with two deavcrs, one in each hand), and so forth. Chopped-up material is
sw'epr onto die cleaver's broad blade to be carried to die pan. Few otlier tools are ab­
solutely necessary to cooking. Probably the most widely used is a common chopstick
or pair thereof. These are used as tongs, stirrers, whisks, strainers, rearrangers, and
so forth. A ladle and a wire-mesh ladle (for picking tilings out o f soup) are necessaiv.
So is a wok shovel, a flat trapezoidal blade on a long handle diat serves as a spatula,
scraper, large spoon, and above all a stirrer. Finally, a chopping block, usually a tree
section about nine inches wide, is useful.
Tlie well-equipped kitchen may hold a few more tools for special functions.
Among these are:

An egg whisk, a circle o f spiraled wire on a handle.

A small rolling pin for rolling out won ton skins and die like, and perhaps a
 Some Rnsic C.iKikiiit} Srrntcjlics l>I

tew more o f different sizes. There is usually no handle. The classic puII-
ing'pin is thickened toward rlic middle (tusitbrm), bur routine use o f
lengths o f do we! rod proves tins is not essential, Very fancy kitchens
have rolling pins with impressed patterns, like springerle pins, tor rolling
out small cakes with raised designs on diem.
A press tor m<x)n cakes.
A press for thin cakes, n\'o metal disks (witli or without patterns to impress
on die cakes), hinged, held by handles that allow them to be pressed
togedier.
A colander,
A mortar and pesde (hut most ctxiks employ tlie ton, using die handle as
tlie pestle and any dish .is the mortar).
Various sizes and shapes o f cleavers, and two or diree sizes o f ladles, bodi
solid and wire-mesh.
Mtxleni kitchens will add waffle irons, rice cookers, and other exotica ad
lib.

There an: also [lots and pans, starting with die wok. Wok is a Cantonese word; die
Mandarin is ktm. The wok appeal's to be a radier recent acquisition as Chinese
kitchen furniture goes, it lias been around for only two thousand years. Tlie first
woks I know o f arc little pottery models on die pottery stove models in Han Dy­
nasty tombs. Since die same sort o f pan is universal in India and Southeast Asia,
where it is known as afkttalijh several languages, I strongly suspect borrowing (prob­
ably from India via Cenmi] Asia )-— tuw must have evolved from some word close to
I:unit. Tlie wok is virtually indispensable for stir-frying, and thus I infer that this
axjking technique was a Han innovation, perhaps also borrowed or adapted from a
borrowed technique. Tile great virtue o f a wok, and its main special function in
south Asia, is diat when tcxxl is stewed in a wok die liquid evaporates very fast, be­
cause die surface-to-liquid ratio is high and die smoodi curve o f die wok sides allows
flame or heated air to rise rapidly, smoothly, and evenly along all die vessel. Tlie wok
may well have evolved as a tool for making curry, in which a reduction o f liquid to a
diick gravy or even a crust is generally desired. The fact that the wok is also perfect
tor stir-frying must have been appreciated for a long time as well. The smoodi, even
distribution o f high hear is the wok’s second vital, distinctive feature. This allows,
among odier diings, a tremendous saving o f Kiel— few' pans are nxire economical.
A wok should be diick and made o f a radier slow-heating substance; otherwise it
is hard to prevent die food’s burning to die bottom o f die pan. The original woks
were almost certainly o f pottery; pottery pans o f similar shape widi wide, shallow'
covers are used in Soudieast Asia for slow liquid-reducing stewing. Today, gtxxi
woks are made o f cast iron. Aluminum woks arc rapidly increasing but are interior,
sincc aluminum transmits heat too fast. Tlie old soft-iron wok, like its Western coun­
terpart, the cast-iron skillet, also added a good deal o f iron to die diet, since some
iron dissolved into die food, (An epidemic o f anemia in Nigeria was found to follow
f t Some Baste Cook'inq Strntetfies 1.«

in die tracks of'the aluminum pot salesman; the only gtxxi source o f iron in tlie lex. aI
diet had been soft-iron pots.) Today, a less coitus ible iron or steel is used, so this di­
etary source has become insignificant.
Tile oldest Chinese cooking vessel, still used most, is a deeper, covered pot. In diis
one boils and steams— still the prim,in’ cooking mediods in Cliin.i (sor-frying is a
long third) and die only regularly used meduxls before die days o f die wok. In tlie
Neolid lie, a perforated pottery disk or shallow dish was placed halfway up or odier-
wise set in. For steaming, die Chinese use round bamboo travs widi sides o f lvlit
wood and bottoms o f bamboo slats. Dishes o f fixxl are laid in diem and they arc
placed in die pot (over water, soup, or rice). One can also simply put dishes of tixxl
on die cooking rice, cover die whole, and make a one-pot meal o f many different
dishes-—a neat, commonly used trick. Steamers, known as clmiij-Itttijj (steaming bas­
kets), come in all sizes, from a couple o f inches across tor individual snacks up to a
meter or more for volume feeding in restaurants.
Mtxlcm pods are made o f nietai, but diere is reallv 110 substmite tor die old earth­
enware rice pots. Porous and highly heat-retardant, they produced fluffy, evenly
cooked rice even on die uncontrollable high flames o f w o o l ! anti straw fires, Ash-
glazed within, diey still retained enough old waters in their pores to flavor rice anti
stew widi die delicate csscnccs o f meals past; never allowed to rest long, diey did not
grow rancid but aged and acquired character. Known as “sand pots” from the sand
tempering o f dieir earthenware, diey are still absolutely indispensable tor stews and
casseroles, which are always made and served in them in gcxxl restaurants .uid kitch­
ens. Today, some restaurants, usually among die finest, make a specialty o f sand-pot
stews; only a seasoned cook (with a set o f seasoned sand pots) will attempt such a
subde, gonde, slow art.
Sandy-paste steaming dishes and flat-bottomed mixing bowls will often be found
as well. Completely glazed vessels like large pillboxes, now used mosdv to hold dry
foods, are really dishes tor the von' slow stcam-stewing known as tun (a temi that
may be cognate with die Indian word dttvt tor a very' similar process). From die
same material are culinary devices from spoons and ladles to pickle jars and opium
pots. Their construction is simple: common clay tempered widi sand or something
similar, coil-built or turned on a wheel, and slip-glazed widi a mixture o f water, clay,
and wood ashes from the kiln. Tlie Japanese have made a true cult o f derivatives o f
such pieces, dieir mint, scto, and odier «'ares.
The H'picaJ kitchcn will have a couple o f small metal saucepans widi covers, per­
haps a few metal steamers, and other assorted minor pots. It will also have a taniilv o f
jars, usually made o f a modem form o f die classic ash-glazed pottery'. Tlie clay is a
smoodi, liomqgeneous paste, usually glazed widi a greenish rather dian a natural
brown color. (Green, white, and dull yellow arc easy to make with asli/icldspar slip-
glazes; most odier colors were invented one to two diousand years later.) These jars
arc used to hold anydiing and everything. They arc also used as pickling jars. 'Hie
devcrcst is a very ancient type— unique among early cultures— diat achieves an ab-
 Sonic Basic Cooking Strategics Hi

solutcly airtight fermentation seal by fitting the covcr into a water-filled trough along
tlie rim o f the vessel. This idea spread widely in ancient days, but apparently origi­
nated in China. More usually, pickles are simply covered in brine. Jars tor them may
hold anything from a cup to gallons.
Some [X)ts existed tor special purposes. Most widespread was die Mongolian chaf­
ing dish or steamboat, known as “ tirepot” or “ hit-dic-side stove" in Chinese. A ring­
shaped vessel (like a doughnut cur in half and hollowed out) fits over a chimney that
holds burning charcoal, llic charcoal heats water in die pot. Diners boil thinly sliced
foods in the water and then dip diem into sauces and eat. At length die water turns
into superb soup, w hich is made substantial widi vegetables and eaten as die final
course. This do- it-vourself dinner is regarded by manv as the high point o f Chinese
cuisine,
A rarer specialty pot is made o f solid, hard-fired earthenware. On opening it one
finds a volcano within: the bottom conies up in a cone, open at die top. This pot
hails from Yunnan and is used to cook chicken. Tlie pot is covered, placed in a larger
covered pot widi some water in tlie bottom, and die w'hoic is cooked, The chicken
begins bv roasting, staits ro steam as vapors rise dirough die volcano crater, and fi­
nally boils as water percolates up over the volcanic rim.
Basic to serving are chopsticks, small bowls, and small cups tor tea or odicr drink.
'Hie more fortunate would have larger bowls as well (for soup and noodles), pottery
spoons, a teapot, a tew serving dishes, and small dishes for sauces and dips. Still more
elaborate setvice adds plates and stem-vessels tor serving die rice toppings (siniq).
Varied and elaborate dishes for types o f wine, meat, soup, stew, grain, and everv-
diing else have been part o f elite culture since die late Neolithic. For a normal family,
die teakettle, teapot, and teacups w'ere tlie basics. Chopsticks, spoons, and a bowl for
every member o f die family were necessary. Cliinese hospitality' centers on tea, and
die tea set was thus generally die finest riling in an old-fashioned household. People
generally' served themselves out o f die cooking and steaming pots, but most had a
big oval serving plate or two for very' formal occasions. Many, but by ix> means all,
had bigger bow'ls for noodles.
It was easier to eat the soup course after die rice and sung— dieti die soup would
clean out die bowl, picking up die last o f die rice and sauce and making cleanup
easier. Since tea was a luxury in die old days, soup was also die daily drink. All the
kitchenware could be neatly nested into a small wooden box or cubbyhole. One can
easily see why an old-time Chinese kitchen could lie small. A five-by-five lean-to or
veranda often serves ttxlav.

Cooking Methods
Chinese cxx)king is primarily boiling and steaming, widi stir-frying as a minor but
universal adjunct. Restaurants stir-fry more than do private homes; in old day's, oil
was expensive, and stir-trying was practiced sparingly, Among other mediods, deep-
frying is perhaps most popular. Sauteing, in which food is fried in a little oil with lit-
<§* Some Basic Cookirtfj Strntajics K4

de or no stirring, is sparsely but widely used. Roasting, pilling, and baking were
once rommoii, at least for meat, blit arc now' primarily used for Western-boinowed
foods; stir-trying seems to have replaced roasting, due at least in part to die rising
price o f meat as population grew denser in ancient times. Western baked gixxls have
bccome popular and widespread in China, but until recently die high cost o f fiiel and
die difficulty o f finding space and materials for ovens kept baking at a minimum.
Last o f all, foods are rarely eaten raw. Most Chinese foods are inedible raw , and die
rest are generally known to be unsafe. Even in traditional times die dangers o f earing
uncooked foods fertilized widi niglit soil and irrigated widi dirty water were well
known.
The refinements o f Chinese cooking come with die variations and combinations
o f these basic techniques (Francoisc Sabban provides a detailed account; tpKib). In
liis Encyclopedia cfCJnnesc Cookiilfi (1979), Kenneth Lo lists no fewer dian torn’ food
preparation tediniques, including salting, drying, and smoking. Nor is his list
exhaustive— one can, for example, prepare dishes by using any combination o f tech­
niques. A well-known dish is twice-cooked pork, in which die pork is first boiled in
stock and dien sliced and stir-fried. In some dishes ingredients are subjected to three
or four steps, or ingredients prepared in several different ways may be combined in
die last stage o f a recipe. The simplest and most widespread combination is almost
universal in stir-frying: die food is stir-fried, dien liquid is added (or ax>ks out o f the
food) and the dish finishes by boiling or steaming for a minute or two.
Chinese cooking js, fii'st and last, materially efficient. Here as in agriculture, the
one tiling that is not minimized is work time. A good cook works fast and with few
wasted motions, but many dishes involve complex procedures.
The first key to saving fuel is the design o f the stove, with its dosed-m firebox and
pan-fitting burner holes. The next is die emphasis on bite-size or smaller chunks.
Much care is expended producing a maximum surface-to-volume ratio. The excep­
tions, whole fish and poultry, are small and thoroughly opened (split and cleaned).
Third, probably in response to die need to cook fast and save fiiel, Chinese prefer
lightly cooked foods. Cliickens are served almost saignant, vegetables crisp, scafixxt
succulent. N o long-cooked (bods were oaten, widi die exception o f the rare tun
stews, which were kept closed and covered and simmered over infinitesimal fires. A
cuisine such as diat o f Boston (boiled New England dinners kept simmering for
hours, beans baked as long as a day) would have been undiinkable. l-ourth, cooking
was done over high beat, wliich did die job fast; slow-cooking consumes more fiiel.
Cooking mediocts that use a lot o f fuel, notably roasting and baking, were virtually
absent. Foods were steamed and boiled under a tight cover. Fifth, and perhaps most
interesting, vessel forms were adapted to need. H ie earliest Chinese cooking |x>ts
had pointed bottoms and cord-markings. They were set right 111 die ashes, and hear
flowed up the diagonal cord-markings and was distributed rapidly, dioroughly, and
evenly over die vessel. The cord-markings trapped hot air and made it eddy, ensuring
flill benefit; a streamlined vessel lets too much heated air slip by. The advent o f mewl.
 Some Basic Coohtiuj Stintcqics iff

whidi conducts heat taster dian air (and thus reduces the need for convection) ended
tli is partial lar bit o f technology; but sand pots, with their rough surfaces, hark back
to it.
Oil is conserved by tlie stir-frying technique. Salt, expensive and hard to get ill
much of old China, was usually used only in die form o f soy sauce and pickles; dms
it doubled as preservative and seasoning. Other ingredients were conserved chiefly
by being used down to die last hair. Vegetables too tough to stir-fry or steam went
into soup. Expensive ingredients were always dispensable; when they were used,
they tended to lie minor but critical and distinctive components o f mixed dishes,
yielding maximal salience from minimal amount.
It is possible to imagine a cuisine more efficient than die Chinese, but only by go­
ing still tardier on die road the)' have pioneered. Cooking times could be shortened
and any sale raw frxxls used. Fewer exodc or rccherclie ingredients could be em­
ployed. Such changes, however, would either have been difficult or unsafe in tradi­
tional times (e.g., earing raw foods) or would have been rather trivial in effect
(eliminating die tew, minor exceptions to die rules o f economy, e.g., stewed foods
and rare imported ingredients). On die whole, it is unlikely diat any cuisine averages
less use o f fiicl, oil. equipment, and so forth per meal. 'Hie main challengers are cui­
sines that have sacrificed variety and subdety— which die Cliinese have obviously
not done.
All o f the above, however, conics widi one enormous caveat. Modem Cliinese
restaurant cooking is derived from die cuisine o f tlie elite. This cuisine was, o f
course, substantially less economical dian diat o f the peasants. Alcohol, meat, cuid
other expensive ingredients are freely used; equipment multiplies; many-stage cook­
ing increases consumption o f fuel. Such cooking is probably more economical dian
most elite cuisines o f die world, but it is tar from die economy and simplicity o f
every-day fare.
Even in elite cooking, however, time is conserved. Perhaps die most \ital and dis­
tinctive goal o f Chinese ccxjking is to create die texture known by die word h’ui, a
word notoriously hard to translate. Ts’ui implies die texture o f somediing very fresh
and at its prime, cooked just enough and no mote. In particular, it implies a texture
ottering resistance to die teeth followed bv a burst o f succulence. Chicken boiled a
very short time so diat it is just done; fresh, newly picked asparagus and similar
shoots; absolutely fresh firm white fish very briefly cooked (or even raw); and fruit
ripe enough to eat but not soft (as Westerners like it) are ts’ui. Tlie opposite o f ts'ui
w'ould be (on die one hand) dry and tough diings like overaged vegetables, and (on
the odier hand) soft, mushy diings like overripe fruit. Ts’ui is usually translated
“crisp,” but obviously diis is far from an equivalence. Tlie goal o f Chinese quick-
cooking is to produce die most ts’ui texture possible, while bringing flavors to their
maximum, and not cooking die food a second longer. This is particularly difficult
with such fast-cooking items as shrimps and small fish, about which a Chinese prov­
erb is immortalized in die Trn Tc C'binjj: “ Governing a state is like cooking small
* Sonic Basic (.looking Slmtejjics >S<5

fish.” Knowing what to do and doing it immediately with the lightest possible hand
arc the requisites.
Timing is o f the essence. Tlie hissing o f boiling shrimp, tlie crackling o f frying pig­
eons, and otlier sounds arc often used as cues; split-second timing is ncccssarv in
diese and many otlier operations, and almost imperceptible changes in cooking
sound are vital indicators. This is perhaps especially mie in Cantonese cuisine. An-
otlier way o f preserving ts’ui is to seal die juices in picccs o f fcxxf usually by plun­
ging diem suddenly into already heated cooking liquid, occasionally by use o f batter
or tlie like.
Tlie niost distinctive thing about Chinese cooking, separating it instantly from the
similar and partially derivative cuisines o f Korea, Japaji, and Vietnam, is the flavoring
mix. Chinese food is tvpicallv flavored with a rather complex and subtle variety o f
tilings, which may include onions, garlic, brown pepper, chiu. lees, various tiingi.
sesame oil (often added just for die flavor), rice vinegar, chili peppers (in many
areas), sugar, malt syrup, five-spice, star anise, and so on. It almost always includes
one or another o f tlie fermented soy preparations. Obviously no one dish has all of
tlie above, but many have a pretty impressive subset. ‘Hie sotfcxxts arc the most dis­
tinctive element. Black beans, hot bean paste, seafixxf bean paste (with chilis and
dried or prepared seafood added), preparations with broad Ivans as well as or in­
stead o f soybeans, ami several o f the Chinese forms o f soy sauce (especially those
widi mushroom or seafood flavors added), are especially distinctive. Bv comparison,
tlie otlier three major East Asian cuisines are simpler. Korean fixxl relies more
heavily on salt, garlic, and chilis; Vietnamese uses several Southeast Asian herbs and
spices not much known in Cliina; Japanese has its ow'd very distinctive soyftxxls, as
varied as tlie Chinese. (Japanese food also uses several items rarely or never found in
China, notably two d istin ctiv e condiments: tiiiixja ginger (Zingiber muign j, rare in
China, and wasabi (Wasabia nvtuiin— a fine scientific name!), a horse radish like con­
diment absolutely unknown on die mainland. None o f die diree cuisines is as apt as
Chinese to use so many items, especially strong-flavored ones, in a single dish.
The last stage in food preparation is often left to die diner. Comiiments, sauces,
dips, and the Lilur are provided at die table radier than used to “ mask” die fixxf (as
Western cooks say, perhaps all too significandy). In some o f the most popular o f
Chinese dishes, die firepots and barbecues, die diners do some o f die c<x iking, hold­
ing food in boiling stock or stirring it on a brazier. Even die humble act o f selecting
which dishes to put on one’s ricc is given careful consideration; die dishes must mix
harmoniously and unite to flavor the starch staple, wiiich is after all dieir real pur­
pose. The whole process resonates with Chinese philosophy, in which hannony and
balance are such central concerns. Tlie individual must actively produce order out o f
disparate elements, whether in eating, governing a nation, or regulating one’s rela­
tionship with the cosmos. It is no surprise diat won ton soup is so called; the name is
derived from him-tun , the original cosmic chaos when die universe was “ without
form and void.” As the Taoists used a culinary metaphor for government, a cosmic
metaphor comes to cuisine.
 Sonic Haste Cooking StritHffics 1(7

This concern with balanced diversity is evident in the emphasis on tremendous va­
riety but careful coordin.ition that is typical o f both selecting ingredients for a dish
and selecting dishes for a banquet. Chinese cuisine seeks out diversity whenever pos­
sible, and sometimes indulges in novel tv tor novelty's sake, but usually assimilates cv-
entiling (at least at a given meal) into o ik structure.
It follows that there are niles tor what ingredients go together. These arc compli­
cated and vary hom place to place; it would be tedious to derail them here. Retail
the Szechuan dishes with “ fish flavors,” cooked widi the combination o f seasonings
traditionally associated with steamed fish: green onions, ginger, wine, oil, and a dash
ot soy sauce. Some etx>ks would add chilis, garlic, dried tangerine peel, or other
items. All these eliminate or counterbalance “ fishy” taste. Tlie combination is excel­
lent with manv other tixxis too, but when so used it akvavs reminds Szechuanese o f
fish cookery, hence tlie names. Sw eet-sour saucc in most o f China is also canonic­
ally associated with fish, and Chinese never cease to be amused at Westerners’ fond­
ness for tins sauce on chicken and pork.
By contrast to Chinese cooking, Japanese cooking not only has its own distinctive
flavors (wasabi, miso and other Japanese soytbods, etc.) and tewurcs (kotmyaht cake,
seaweed preparations), but some broader traits. One is a dedication to extremely
subtle flavors. A Chinese Is apt to find Japanese food insipid; Japanese often regard
Cliinese food as heavy-handed, witli too much spice, sugar, and so on. Japanese can
go into ecstasies over the taste o f cenain bean curds that to the uninitiated are nearly
flavorless (Shurrleff and Aoyagi, 198}). Another point o f distinction is the extreme at­
tention to eye appeal that characterizes Japanese cuisine Chinese arc quite conscious
o f this too, but Chinese are apt to feel that Japanese sacrifice taste to eye appeal. The
Chinese rarely do this (but they do it sometimes— especially when m in g to impress
naive Westerners, who are thought to have rudimentary taste anyway). Japanese are
thus apt to fee) that Chinese tixxl looks like a mess— garish or unacstheoc. It must
be admitted that neither tlie Chinese nor anyone else has ever even approached the
sheer aesthetic experience o f a traditional Japanese tea ccrcmony or a Zen temple cui-
sinc “ event.”
O11 a more mundane level, Japanese cuisine runs more to soups, frying, and
grilling, less to stir-frying. It uses more fish and bean curd, less fruit, and almost no
wheat or meat (although wheat and meat consumption have increased enormously
in the last few decades). It uses less thickened sauces and less oils (except for the fry­
ing). It is served in smaller, thinner dishes and eaten with smaller, more delicate
chopsticks. For all their close relationship, a Japanese meal cannot be mistaken for a
Chinese one; I think tlie distinction is more fundamental than can be explained by
divergence. Japanese cooking preserves something ftom an unknown Neolithic stra­
tum. In food as in many other tilings, Japanese culture show's some striking similari­
ties to die cultures o f Oceania, and many anthropologists have postulated early
contacts.
Similar rules could be stated to differentiate Chinese from Korean, Soudieast
Asian, and other ftxxi patterns. Tlie Chinese themselves remark on their greater
f t Some Basie C.ookiiijj Strategies i f8

awareness o f focxi in general. Indeed, they talk about it a great deal, with a compli­
cated and specialized gourmet language. The concept o f ts'ui lias been discussed. Re­
lated evaluative words in Chinese include sbttaiip (resilient, springy, somewhere be­
tween crunchy and rubbery, like some seaweads) anti knn (translated "sweet,” but
including amthing with a sapid, allnring taste), l;ried foods sliould be sit— oily but
light and not soggy— rather dian ni (greasy). Above all, ftxxls sliould taste listen,
whidi means not just fresh but an point in general. A vegetable just picked but past
its prime would be very dubiously lisien, while a ham at die pro|XT stage o f maturity
would be hsicn even if not literally fresh. In south and east China particularly, iix>d.s
are often praised by being described as cb'mrf, “dear” or “pure.” Tliis means that they
have a delicate, subtle, exquisite flavor— not obtrusive and above all nut over­
doctored with spices, monosodium glutamate, or anything else diat would give a
heavy, harsh, or nonhamionious taste. Other evaluative words include imaojon, meat
tliat is rich but not greasy (processed with sodium carbonate, which breaks up tlie
fat). Poo is “thin” , muß is “ putfv,” Jieiiß is “ tender.” A different nauj means “tena­
cious.” Fen is “ mealy,” stian "dcaning,” tan laiiiß “ resilient,” and clntan bito is “ mel­
low.” Banquet cuisine is shan. A restaurant is usually called a “wine household" or
‘V in e mansion,” but sometimes— if very fancy— a “shan hall,” One could continue
indefinitely watli increasingly arcane and refined terms. Surely few things give a bet­
ter measure o f tlie importance o f food in Chinese social life than tlie evolution o f tliis
complicated discourse.
 Regions and
10 Locales

The Qiicstion ofRcfjtmal Diiismis

Attempts to specify die regions o f Chinese «xjking are subject to debate. Transi­
tions are gradual, blends o f regional cooking npica] along borders. One person’s
subregion is another fvreon’s region, while a third may not clunk die area’s cooking
is distinctive at all.
flic classical wav' to separate regions is in temis of’ cities, which gives iis Peking
c<xiking, Sian cix>king, Omton « xiking, and so forth. There is also a grouping o f
the urban cuisines into five styles or style areas: northern, focused on Peking; Honan
{or central), focused today on Chengchou; eastern (or Lower Yangtze), fix-used to­
day 011 Shanghai but earlier on Hangchou, Suchou, and Nanching; southern, fo­
cused on Ouiton; anti western, focused on Chengtu, Chungking {in Szechuan) and
Changsha {in Hunan).
This rime-honored division is inadequate. Fii'st, it is too thoroughly a matter o f
elite cuisines. Second, it gives a whollv undeserved importance to the rather slight
differences between Peking and Honan cuisines, A better division begins widi die
separation o f the north— the region o f wheat and mixed grains— from the rice re­
gion in the center and south. Mutton is the important meat in the north; dogs, cats,
and snakes in the south {although these were formerly eaten in the north, too, as liis-
tory attests). The fruits and vegetables are different, the north being die land o f
peaches, jujubes, apricots, pears, apples, and turnips (among other diings), while the­
nce region uses citrus, litchis, bananas, taro, lotus, and so on. Southern fruits have al­
ways been northern luxuries, while the soudi imports soybeans from the north. Only
die China-wide onion tribe and die cabbage-and-radish family transcend both agri­
cultural and culinary barriers to become important throughout.
This division is quite different from diat current in die restaurant trade. In diat
business, "North Chinese” cuisine is anything diat is not Cantonese. A geographic­
ally comparable American division would be between die food o f soudi Florida and
diat o f everywhere else. Thus, "N ordi Chinese” restaurants often serve die rice, or­
anges, and taro characteristic o f die soudi. They tend to represent a cuisine o f die
Yangtze Valley, well north o f the Cantonese homeland but south o f die center o f
Chinn, Moreover, in recent decades rice has invaded tile north; fast-ripening new va-

W
f t Regions mill Loatlcs i6 o

ncries arc grown as fir north as Manchuria, 'flic rice-based meal is now typical o f
fancy cuisine diroughout China. Conversely, wheat products became ever more
popular in die rice region— where government policy entourages diversification—
and in Taiwan, H ong Kong, and die overseas communities, whose cuisines derive
from soutliem Chinese areas. Today, there is two to three rimes as much nee as
wheat in die rice region, but rice makes up only a small percentage o f tlie northern
fare and is still virtually absent from remote regions.
Witiun die great division, there are many minor cuisines. These sort naturally into
four— not five— great traditions, as Emily Halm (1968), Fu Pei-mci (1909), and
otlicr recent writers have recognized. Tile north remains as a single great whole, The
south is divided into three parts, east, west, and south.

The East
Tlie cast is basically tlie lower Yangtze Valle}' and the coasts north and south o f it.
Eastern cooking was developed in an area where land and water (fresh and salt) meet
and interpenetrate; thus it is preeminent in its treatment o f crabs (Chinese goumiets
swear that the best in the world or: the green crabs o f die Shanghai area), shrimp,
water plants, seaweeds, and everything tliat lives at tlie edges o f great water's, A pros­
perous and densely populated area, it cooks with much oil, vinegar, sugar, sweet
bean paste, and rice ale. Vinegar is said to be popular because it kills the taste o f die
bad water and can be used to wash away deposits o f salts (Isabella Yen, pers.
comm.). The best vinegar in China— and in the world, loyal Yangtze IX’lta folk
would say— is diat o f Chinkiang and some cities near it, where some vinegars are
aged for decades (allegedly for centuries) and refugees tied tlie area during wars with
nothing but the clothes on their backs and dieir precious vinegar pots. (The same
cult endures in Shansi, where vinegar is even more popular.)
Chinese recipes that call for generous amounts o f oil, sugar, and chiu .ire usually o f
eastern Chinese origin. Sugar is most typically used in tlie solid, clear, crystalline
form tliat lias been called “ rock sugar1’ in China for perhaps two thousand years.
This form is supposed to be more liealdifu! dian odier sugars; in traditional rimes it
was purer and less subject to adulteration. Eastern cooks delight in making simple
dishes— braised white cabbage, mushrooms, crabs, or fish slices— into complex
ones by incredibly subtle variations in tlie quantity, quality, origin, variety, and sub­
variety o f oils, vinegars, and liquors. Cooking in cliiu lees— pungent and unique
with a sliglidy sweet tang— is common. Shrimp-flavored soy sauce is primarily an
eastern taste.
Since it is not only the tidiest and most multicropped area in China but has also
been the trade ccnter for ccnturies, die Yangtze Delta has long had access to almost
every kind o f ingredient. Shellfish, fish, and tlie tenderer vegetables are probably die
most favored items— in diat order, A long tradition o f Buddhism has led to the cre­
ation o f superior and subtle vegetarian traditions. Almost every city in die delta has
its own variant o f the basic pattern and its own special dishes. Suchou and Hang-
d iow are the most famous among diese; Ningpo is also important. Shanghai— a
r fi Rrgwm and Locaks 161

nvxfem city chat arose in die nineteenth century \Ha trade with Europe and the re­
sulting "unctjual treaties” anti exploitation— has developed the most eclectic o f all
China’s cuisines, incorporating dishes and ingredients not only from every pan o f
China but also from the West. Large British, French, and Russian colonies left their
marks before being phased out after [9+9; Shanghai has tlius been the focus for die
diffusion o f bread, cakes, pies, candy, and many odier Western snacks through much
o f China during die last century. Russian influence is probably seen in the spec­
tacularly laiish cold appetizer pl.itrers diat frequently precede (and sometimes
render unnecessary) the main courses. 'Ihe kitchens o f die Chinese Empire produced
such things, but their importance in Shanghai must owe something to die similar
snUttsitfi tradition. Tlie Russians, most o f whom eame to Shanghai dirough Siberia as
refugees torn the Bolsheviks, also contributed to the city’s baking traditions.
Shanghai, in its early cwentiedvcenturv heyday, was a city perhaps unique in die
world tor its contrasts o f opulence and squalor. Tlie city’s famous restaurants, such as
the 1—6—9 and the Winter Garden (both o f which have spawned imitators— not al­
ways worthy— in every city on earth with a Shanghainese colony), catered to war­
lords and international bankers, serving banquets whose cost could run into five and
six figures in modem currencv. Today die city is a radical stronghold and its cooking
is much toned down, but it remains excellent, and Shanghainese restaurants in Hong
Kong and Taiwan continue tlie tradition widi reduced but discernible style. Shang­
hainese managers introduced tiie “eating palace,” with pseudo-imperial decor and
garish painted decorations running heavily to dragons, to diese realms; previously,
restaurants had been relatively unassuming widi an ambiance o f peace and quiet.
Dragons with flashing red light-bulb eyes do not improve die flavor o f food, al­
though diey may indicate diat die restaurant has enough money to hire a good
cook— if so inclined.
Outside o f the l>elta, eastern cuisine begins to blend into neighboring cuisines.
The L(X)kjng o f Shantung, north o f die Yangtze lowlands, is a famous and classic tra­
dition diat long predates die rise o f Peking, let alone Shanghai, Confucius, a native,
left enough comments on food and manners to verify the liiglily developed level o f
bodi, but he does not give us much o f an idea o f what was served. We do leam that
game, fish, vegetables, millet, and millet ale were important in his day. In modem
times. Shantung is probably best known for its wheat products, especially filled
dumplings; these developed long after Confucius’ time. More recently, die Germans
extracted a concession at Tsingtao and began a brewery dierc diac produces much o f
China’s beer, especially for die export market. Tlie beer is said to have been better
under the Germans. It hit a dismal low point in the early Communist years but has
improved since—-nor enough, however, to avoid stiff competition from odier and
newer breweries in die major cities o f China (and odier East Asian countries). For
die rest. Shantung «xikery toil ay is intcmiediate between the eastern anti northern
styles. One is most apt Co encounter it in a Shantung chiao-tzu cafe, specializing in
many different small dough-wrapped dumplings tilled widi chopped meat.
Inland from tlie delta provinces ofChiangsu and Chekiang lie Anhui and Kiangsi.
f t Re/fio>ts and Localcs id i

Little is known o f their aiisinc in the outside world, Huwei V.ing Chao’s deservedly
famous book, How to Cook and Eat in CJmicsc (Chao 1947), is based on tlie kxxl tit
her native Anhui; however, it reflects a generalized “Chinese home cooking” or .it
least “ Eastern China home cooking.” Northern influence extends well into this area,
where tlie Nortli Chinese language (Mandarin) borders on the kxal languages (VVn
and Kan).
l")own tlie coast from the delta is a very different and much better-known realm,
die nx>st distinctive and best o f a]I Eastern subregions after the urb.m delta core. Tliis
is tlie Fukiencse area: Fukien Pro\’ince and its borderlands. Merc a distinctive cluster
o f languages, tlie Min dialects, is spoken. A dialect o f the VVu language o f the low er
Yangtze extends a bit into Fukien, and a Min tongue— the well-marked i eocluu di­
alect o f Southern M in— is centered in noithcastem Kwangning Province. but by
and large tlie Fukien boundaries define tlie area o f Northern and Southern Min and
o f tlie distinctive cuisine tliat goes with these two languages. (The so-called “ Chinese
dialects” are languages as different as tlie romance languages .ire from each other.
Mandarin or p ’u fling htta is used in tlie nortli and west and as a national language,
there are also at least seven local languages, one tor each major region o f east and
soutli China. These eight are, in turn, broken up into actual dialects.) Fukiencse cui­
sine ts so distinctive and good tliat it has sometimes been elevated to the status o f a
separate regional aiisinc. Hut Fukien cooking is distinctively Eastern.
Tlie first important tiling about Fukiencse cuisine is its great focus on soups. Al­
most every class o f soupy dish on earth is represented by numberless tbnns. At a ban­
quet, people think nothing o f consuming three different soupy course's and may eas­
ily manage five. These range from die thinnest o f clear soups-— tlie pure essence o f
cliicken or fish— to thick stews. Rice is often eaten as congee (porridge). Since shark
fins and birds’ nests are eaten in stewed form, they are best handled in Fukien ctx>k-
ing. In fotopim (wokside) batter is cooked on tlie wok and then soup is a x iked in
tliis soft crust.
Tlie Mongolian firepot chafing dish, although invented in the nortli, mav also
reach its pinnacle here. Tliis is a dish with a central chimney stoked with charcoal and
ringed by a shallow, doughnut-shaped pan. (Nowadays it can be done in any old pot
on a gas burner or hot plate.) The pan is filled with sttx'k and diners are provided
widi plates o f raw tbod, which they pick up with cho|wncks and hold in tlie stock,
heated by* the charcoal in the central chimncy. The thinly sliced tbod ccxiks quickly; it
is dien eaten widi sauces. The sKX’k, enriched bv all die tilings cookcd 111 it, is drunk
to end tlie meal. This dish is a complete meal in itself— about the only case in China
where a tiill-scale banquet has only one dish. Variants include firepots or “steam­
boats” featuring lamb (like die “ rinsed lamb” o f Peking), skewered clams and mus­
sels (Teochiu satay), and so forth. Known all over China, diis arose as a winter dish,
providing wanndi and entertainment as well as nourisliment.
Anodier tiling diat disonguislics Fukiencse ax>king is die widespread use o f lard
as cooking oil. Tliis is virtually tlie only area in all East Asia where this occurs. It de-
ijt Rtjjious itii/l LtKiths iCii

vdoped because die area is mountainous, widi much fodder for pigs but little land to
raise oilseeds; now ir is simply a preference. Even in Fukien, it is by no means a uni­
versal iule, but when lard is routinely used to fry iixxi, ir indicates Fukienese
influence.
Fukienese t(x k I is apt to lx- cookcil more slowlv tlian other Chinese fixxis: tlie in-
tlueiKe o f slowly simmering soups and stews lias spread toother dishes. Mixed vege­
tables diat would lie flash-tried in seconds in a Cantonese home are apt to be slowly
simmered in laid in a Fukienese one. At worst, tinis produces grease-sodden, heavy
tare. Steamed and masted foods are also taken well bcvond die stage that would be
considered ideal in a Cantonese kitchen. Deep frying is aLso relatively popular here
(as in many odicr parts of the Eastern realm). The fat is usually brought to a very
high heat and the fixxi plunged into it, so that it scars insrandv and is sealed against
mmision o f the fat, thus not becoming greasy. This ideal is not always maintained.
Fukien tixxl is characterized by a fondness for dip sauces. Many dishes have their
particular accompaniments: garlic crushed in vinegar for poultry, sweet malt syrup
for hied fish balls, and so on. For such tilings as die firepot, many different dip
sauces are provided, and the diner is expected to mix and choose.
As tar as ingredients go, Fukienese Ls similar to odicr Eastern cuisine, except for
such minor matters as a fondness for blood. Blcxxf is eaten in the spirit o f avoiding
waste. It is co.igiil.ited the wav bean milk Ls (suggesting die origin o f die latter tech­
nology), sliced, and steamed or stir-fried widi alliums. Pigs' blood is considered a ple-
lx.-i.in dish, but fresh poultry bkxxi, served along widi die bird itself (boiled or
roasted), is choice,
Fukienese ctx)king has several marked subvarieties, which sort widi dialect and
subregional differences. The finest and most elaborate is the Tcochiu. Tcoditti is die
local pronunciation o f Chaochou, the northeastern district o f Kwangtung province,
centered on die radier new citv o f Shantou (locally pronounced something like
invifmi', and sometimes so spelled). Chaochou is pronounced Cbiudxnv in Canton­
ese, and since most Teochiu «x)king one encounters is in H ong Kong or in
(Cantonese-dominated ( Chinatowns in the Western world, ir is often seen under diis
spelling. The region entered history «'hen die great eighdi-century statesman Han
Yii was exiled to it for being tcxi outspoken, and the local people asked him to give a
proclamation to drive away a crocodile— believing diat anyone so eminent would
surely be able to swav eveii a saurian bv his oratory. He delivered an exquisite perfor­
mance, attacking his fix's at court in a scadiing and quite transparent satire. Tlie croc­
odile duly left the area, and Han Yu's toes met a bad end, too. Since then the people
have become more sophisticated; they would now no doubt «invert crocodile into
goumict fare, if diev could find one in diis age o f endangered species, Teochiu cook­
ing has been influenced bv Cantonese since die district came to be in Kwangtung.
(Compared to odicr Fukien-type cooking it is done much faster, with a lighter hand
and a better sense o f timing; dishes are made more tlavorti.il and spicy, more succu­
lent and piquant. Fried fish and shellfish balls, roasted and stir-fried poultry, stewed
rfi* Regions mid Lotitla 764

turtles and odier water creatures, deep-fried vegetables, and diick taro desserts arc
among die specialties. Goose, marinated and then roasted or barlx-aicti, is also note­
worthy. Combining die best o f eastern and southern cooking, Teochiu cuisine is one
o f tlie finest and most distinctive in China.
Another odd extension o f Fukicnese eulmrc into Kwangnmg province is tbnnd
on tlie island o f Hainan. Soutli o f the mainland, tliis large tropical island has its own
aboriginal population, but most o f the present inhabitants sjvak a very divergent dia­
lect o f Min. Their most famous dish is chicken rice, which is probably at its best in
Singapore rather dian Hainan; a great diaspora o f Hainanese to Southeast Asia 111
tlie nineteenth and twentieth centuries Jed to tile founding o f countless small cates
and coffce shops, Tlie whole bird is used, from tlie blood (steamed) to the cleaned
intestines, and from die head to die daws, Meanwhile, rice is first fried in sesame oil.
dien finished by boiling in some o f die stock. H i us is die pitaf method native to the
Near East, and I suspect it is a Southeast Asian contribution, borrowed by I lai­
n anesc cooks from Indian or odier Sondi Asian peoples. It is die only extension
o f this method into die Chinese world; true Chinese tried rice is boiled first, dined,
then fried.
Less need be said about tlie cooking o f Fukien Province itself. It is based 011 pork
and vegetables, o f which Fukien produces an cnomious quantin’ and variety. South­
east Asian influences have come here too, via returning emigres to that region. One
interesting case is tlie aforementioned Sinicizarion o f sate or satay. Many Chinese,
unaware o f die borrowing process, have wondered at the odd name for a sauce diat
has absolute!)' nothing to do with cither sand or tea. Fnkienese a x >kmg also runs
heavily to noodles; like odier easterners and unlike deep southerners, Fukicucse often
get half as many calories from wheat as from rice. Most o f these arc in the ion 11 o f
soup noodles, but all sorts o f stir-fried noodles are popular, horn wide, thick rice-
flour noodles to hair-thin wheat ones. The variety o f forms and names is comparable
to die variation in pasta in a comparably sized ivgion o f Italy; nowhere else in China
does die noodle reach such apodicosis. In most o f China it is basically a fast tixxi or
snack, but in many Fukienese areas it becomes the body and bones o f much o f the
most favored cuisine. Noodles were so loved and so constantly being devoured in
one Hokkicn village in Malaysia diat I gave it the pseudonym “ noodle village" in my
writings.
Fuchou, die capital o f Fukien, has its own cuisine, noted for use o f rice reddened
bv a fungus diat imparts a beautiful port-wine color to dishes but has little taste.
Fuchou also produces dumpling skins made o f powdered pork and odier distinctive
dumplings. Fish sauce (similar to mwe mam) is more common dian so)' sauce. One
dish is a sour, hot squid soup, which may include chicken and vegetables.
Most Taiwanese speak Hokkicn (Soudiem Min), “ die Taiwanese dialect.” 'Hieir
cooking is similar to diat o f odier Hokkicn speakers, but it vises more vegetable oil
and more seafood. Its main differences derive from Japanese influence. From 1891 to
19+5, Taiwan was a Japanese colony, intensively developed as a showpiece and a rice
f t Rcflunis and Locntci f( 5r

■liiti sugar bowl. At one rime die re was one Japanese for every ten people on die is­
land; most o f die Japanese were administrators. Thus Japanese foods became popu­
lar and considerably influenced island cooking, making it lighter, more delicate, less
greasy (less lard is used), and more oriented toward seafood. Rural areas preserve the
lard aiid ivxxile heritage, however. Today there are many more Japanese than
Taiwanese restaurants in Taiwan, and .still more mainland Chinese ones, Tlie main­
land refugees who came to tlie island in 19+9 disdained ltxal cuisine and imported
their own; by and large the islanders cook at home radier dian tor customers. H ow ­
ever, excellent Taiwanese restaurants exist, the fadier o f diem all being the Green
leaves in Taipei.
Taiwan— and to some extent die facing coast, especially die Teochiu district— is
China's fruit and vegetable capital. Some o f die finest fruits in die world come from
here, especially citrus. M y Taiwanese field assistant in California was astonished at
the |xxir selection o f vegetables and liuits in California markets. I was surprised at
diis— California is America's equivalent to Taiwan in this regard— and so we
counted die species in a couple o f California supermarkets and then tfxmght o f all we
could find at a typical Taipei street market. California scored about forty, Taipei over
one hundred. 'Hie Taiwanese raise just about every fruit and vegetable in die world,
except those restricted to very cold or very hot places; diey have developed a major
export industry for such items as asparagus and Wesrem-n,pc mushrooms, both vir­
tually unknown in most o f Asia. I11 addition, northern Taiwan aixH die soudieast
coast raise most o f China's tea, though tea is also grown diroughout die soudicm
half o f die mainland. The best can cost over eighty dollars a pound.
Various bean curd preparations are popular in Taiwan, especially dried bean curd,
which is not onlv dried but often pressed to get die fluid out. It becomes almost like
meat in consistency, thus is used in Buddhist cuisine, but it is really at its best as a
snack in fast-fcxxi cafes, often simmered in a tea and soy sauce stock along with eggs.
Eggs are cooked in die shell diis way all over China— die taste bur not die grease
diffuses d trough die shell. 'The addition o f die dry bean curd is a more narrowly
Eastern, or even Fukiencse, trait. Soybean milk, “soybean curd flowers” (a pud­
dinglike preparation o f undrained bean curd), soybean skin, and so 011 are all much
used in die region.

West Clrina
Tlie closest relative o f eastern cuisine Is western; die two are linked by the Yangtze
River. Tlie west is the spicy zone in China (refuting a facile generalization that cook­
ing gets spider as it nears die equator). Many books ascribe diis to the west's near­
ness to India, and diere may possibly be sotik slight influence from that quarter, but
we have ample testimony diat western Chinese cuisine originated in die middle
Yangtze and was spicy from the start, before India was known to die Chinese. This
evidence is bodi textual and archeological. Tlie main texts are die Sottjjs of tlx South,
a collection o f poems from the ancient state o f Q i’u in what is now Hunan. Dating
 ijt* Rrgioiis mid Locatcs >66

to about jo o B.C., they give ample testimony o f a cuisine in whn.li Chinese brown
pepper, cassia, artemisia, water pepper (a fiery water plant), simmveed, and the like
figured abundantly. Later texts bear tins out; Hunan had a reputation tor highly
spiced and iierbed fixxi by tlie Han Dynasty. 'Hie archeological evidence consists o f
tlie fcxxfs oflcrcd to die spirits o f the dead in tlie well-preserved tombs near ( liang-
sha, the capital o f Hunan and o f old Cli'u. Jlicse tombs date from early Han
rimes, but tlie people buried in tlieni are tlie heirs o f tlie C li’u aristocracy, which was
given great local autonomy and power at the time. (It was a deal. The 1Ian couldn't
subdue them effectively, tliev couldn’t insist Han effectively.) Tlie tix>ds are as the
texts state: rich, varied, sophisticated, and flavored widi a wide range o f pungent
spiccs and herbs.
'Hie introduction o f tiie chile pepper in about the seventeenth century added a fi­
nal crowning touch. Today, chile and garlic have replaced many of the old herbs, but
brown peppers, cassia, star anise, five-spice, coriander leaves, ,md so on ore abun-
dantlv represented in the dishes, Such uniquely Chinese and highly aromatic flavor­
ings as dried citrus peel arc particularly favored here. Ftxxl is often verv delicately
spiced, but on die odier hand some dishes— particulark1 those labeled “village
style’’— are blazing. Similarly, the concentration of'garlic can sometimes reach lev els
unthinkable in most o f Italv or soudi l;rancc.
More prosaically, the cuisine’s real skeleton and flesh consists o f rice, ntx idles,
pork, cabbages, white radishes, river fish (near die Yangtze anti its mam tributaries),
and “mountain fixxls,” which include banilxx) shixits o f many kinds, fungi and
mushrooms, game, wild mots and herbs, and other derivatives o f the lush montane
forests that still survive in many parts o f die region. Maize has become a major fixxl
in many areas; maize cakes or notxilcs \vith pickled vegetables and fieiv sauce com­
prise die diet o f die poorest. White potatoes, introduced in die eighteenth century bv
French missionaries, flourish. Among a wide range o f fruits, citrus mav he singled
out; among tlie Smujs of'the South is one comparing a lovely voting person to a tan­
gerine tree. Nuts include a variety derived from conifers: pine seeds, iotrtyii vevv
seeds {bitter but flavorful), ginkgo nuts, and die like. (These .ire eaten elsewhere in
China too, but diey are mountain products and so most readily found in die west.)
Walnuts are also common and popular, having been introduced from Iran in the
early medieval ccnmries, and halvah-like desserts are made from them; I assume
diese came widi die tree from die Middle East. Anodier Near Eastern bonowing is
die broad bean, often treated like a nut— roasted for snacks.
The heart o f western cuisine is die city o f Changsha, die spendid capital o f the an­
cient, rich, and powerful Ch’u state and a major trading and administrative city ever
since. At die strategic and economic center o f die upper-middle Yangtze drainage, it
has powerfully extended its influence in all directions. 'Hie cxxiking o f the province o f
Hunan serves as a base on winch Changsha chefs elaborate. Hupei, die province to
die nordi, is also rich and oriented around a great trading center (die Wuhan cities
diat dominate die lower-middle river) but has always been a sort o f balance zone be­
tween north, east, and west, dius lacking in cultural definition, culinary or orlicrwise.
 liajions and Ltxnia 16 7

1 lunanese axikm g lias now become known worldwide and has attracted a following
w Ik j regard it as the finest o f all Chinese cuisine. No one would deny that it is one o f
the ei intended for the title.
Up the river horn Hunan is the huge province o f Szechuan, China’s most popu­
lous prov ince and one of'the largest and wealthiest. With a diverse agriculture and
rich mountain forests, it produces a wide range o f foods, especially vegetables and
tree crops. On the other hand, its rivers are fast and turbid, its lakes tew, and its ac­
cess to aquatic ft x xt\ very limited. It bases much o f its cuisine on bean products—
bro.icl Ivans, mung beans, peas, and odiers as well as soybeans. Maize Ls verv
important as a tixxl tor die |>x>r, but nothing o f culinary significance emerges
hum tins grain. Several ditterences hav e grown up {or persisted) between Hunanese
and S/cchuanese fix x f Szcchuancse dishes naturally involve much less aquatic tcxxl
and more niovmtain products. liamlxx> shoots, mushrooms and fungi, wild fruits
and seeds (such as pine nuts), hill tree-crops such as walnuts, and herbs are die most
significant. Game is still found lex..illy. Szechuanese are connoisseurs o f these ntoun-
tain products; b.uiilnxi sluxiLs, for instance, come in many species, varieties, and
sizes, they may lx- young, old, fivsh, pickled, dried, sauerkrauted, prepared in count­
less ways. Long mountain winters make pickling essential, and vegetables are pickled
in many wavs: fresh or dried, in brine, vinegar, bran, oil, chili, and combinations;
liquid-packed 01 pr essed tairiv dry; sealed or unsealed; strong or mild. As one would
expect in a mountain area, storage o f meat is also important, with various kinds o f
sausage, smoked meat, and dried meat being prepared. However, there ls nothing
comparable to the not of such products that one finds in Switzerland or Bavaria, for
the Chinese here as elsewhere are basically vegetable eaters. Indeed, such mountains
as the sacred Omci have long been centers o f Buddhist monasticism, and much o f
the famous cuisine o f Szechuan is stricdy vegetarian.
Szechuanese cix>king is, if anything, even hotter dian Hunanese, Spices abound
— star anise, cassia, ginger, brown pepper, and so on— and such strong herbs or
herblike conuvwxiities as dried davlily buds (“golden needle vegetable” ) are heavily
used. Garlic and chilis are, however, die preeminent spices and often seem to make
up at least half the dish, particularly in small cafes. Dried chilis arc often stir-fried,
which brings out the hill heat o f the capsaicin (die spicy chemical in chilis). Won ton
soup Ls significantly known as “ red won ton” in its usual Szechuan form. Restaurant
tables are adorned widi crushed dried chilis, ground chilis in oil, and hot bean paste
(crushed chilis mixed widi fcmientcd sovhean-flour paste), to give die diner plenty
o f scope to add to die already incandescent food. Szcchuancse restaurants in the
West are based on the more subtle and less appalling cuisine o f the elite and are in­
variably toiieil down tor Western tastes. Even if you ask tor extra spicy, you will get
only what a high-boni ladv would get in old Szechuan, not what die porters and
clerks in the markets eat. But it should be noted that not only class but aLso region
and individual preference lend much variety to die spiciness of'Szechuanese euisiix'.
As in Mexico, ftxxl ranges from very hot to almost bland.
Another difference between Szechuan and Hunan Ls die prominence o f West
rfi* Rctjiom and locales 168

Asian foods in die former. These include baked gixxis, a mashed walnut dish closely
related to halvah, and a fondness tor broad beans and pastes made from diem. Al­
though Szechuan is relatively isolated in China's tar interior, it has been powerfully
influenced over die centuries by die outside world. Tliis has been partly .1 function of
Szechuan’s important trade; connecting to the Silk Road by a scries of passes over
die northern mountains and to die Ijower Yangtze \ia die ton 11 idable bur navigable
Yangtze Gorges, it has always been closc Iv linked to China's fortunes.
Among common Szcdiuan dishes, two o f die more famous are sonr-and-hot
soup and M a Po bean curd. Sour-and-liot soup is, as the name implies, strongly fla­
vored with rice vinegar and peppers (white, brown, and chili). 'Hie Chinese in means
die hotness o f peppers, and diat is the word used here (die word tor hot temperature
is jc). Tlie soup is.npically made widi very thin strips o f pork, coagulated duck's or
pig’s blood, bamboo shoots, and sometimes odier mild vegetables; it is flavored with
large amounts o f ginger, daylilv buds, and tree fungi- Garlic, garlic leaves, onions,
sesame oil, soy sauce, cliiu, and odier common Chinese flavorings may find their
way into it, for diere are many variations. Tlie van ants served in restaurants in die
Western world are usually very pale reflections o f the real thing, which should tic <is
diiek as stew and as potent as fireerackei's, but extremely subtle and rich 111 flavor, (If
you make it yourself and can’t get coagulated blood, use boiled chicken livers; it's a
“ legal” substitution and works fine,}
Ma Po bean curd {also kixiwn as “M a Po tou fit,” “ Szcdiuan-style bean curd,”
and so on) is bean curd and minced (not ground) pork mashed up together and stir-
fried in a lot o f sesame oil widi garlic, ginger, green onions, a great deal o f hot bean
paste or diilis, and often the other typical Szechuan flavorings such as cliiu, soy
sauce, tree tiingi, or coriander leaves (added at die end as a garnish). It is subde yet
potent. I have had versions with equivalent amounts o f chiles and meat. The name
literally means “hemp women’s bean curd” ; po means “old woman” and is nor ter­
ribly polite (it is used to refer to one’s wife, as English speakers use “die old lady” ).
Many mj'ths have arisen to explain diis peculiar name, including: (1) die women o f a
restaurant family named Ma invented die dish; (2 ) die name is a corruption o f a
place name whence die dish originated; (3 ) the dish was invented by or for ttxithlcss,
old, hemp-raising village women, who could not chew and dius needed minced
meat; (4 ) it was invented by a pockmarked (i.e., “ hemp seed marked” ) woman. Tlie
first is probably correct.
Another distinctive Szechuan-Hunan dish is camphor-and-tea-smoked duck. The
duck is smoked for a short while over camphor chips and tea leaves as diey smolder
in a dosed pan; dien it is fried. This dish is one o f die world’s great poultry creations;
I find it much superior to Peking duck, given equally good ducks to stait widi. Tlie
fame o f die classic Peking duck is due to die special breed anti special feeding em­
ployed. By all means get sudi a duck for die Szechuan dish. (I once made campbor-
and-tea-smoked duck from an old semi wild mallard I had around the yard, widi di­
sastrous results.)
 Rtfliwis m id Locales 169

South o f Szechuan arc the remote provinces o f Kweichoti and Yunnan. The
fbmier is heavily inhabited by minorities. Little is available on its cuisine, aldiough a
small lxx>k ot provinical recipes published in Peking some years ago includes a few
recipes.
Yi! 1man is a large province in which Chinese were a minority until recently. Its
cuisine draws heavily from Szechuan but has been influenced by local development
and by tlie many minority groups that live in the area. It uses less spices and hot fla­
vorings dian the rest o f the west and comes closer than odier Chinese provinces to
the Alpine preserved-meat model. Tlie finest hams in China are made here from spe­
cially raised pigs. Usually sold whole with die leg and foot left on, a Yunnan ham
commands a high price. They are frequently found in die finest grocery stores and
are important gift items, being valuable and useful. ’lheir closest analogues in die
Western world are die salt-cured hams o f Virginia, which are adopted as substitutes
by Chinese in die United States; die Yunnan product has a stronger, meatier flavor.
Yunnan also produces .sausages, a headcheese-like dish, bacon, and other aired pork
products, llie most distinctiv e is the “ boneless pig,” made by minority peoples in the
central plateau o f die province. 'Die bones and meat o f a huge lard hog are removed,
leav ing only die diick lard layer enclosed in die skin. Tlie skin is dosed lip again and
the result wind-cured. This is a good vvav to preserve lard in die cool, dry climate o f
die high plateau. In the old days, boneless lard hogs could be seen hanging or
stacked in well-to-do homes o f tlie Tibcto- Bunnan-speaking peoples o f die area.
Another txidity o f Yunnan is die use o f doin' products by the Chinese there, who
have adopted vogurt. The proximity to India, die influence o f local Tibetan and
quasi-Tibetan peoples, and die important settlement o f Mongols in the area in die
days o f Qubilai Qan probably all contributed to diis situation, quite unique in tra­
ditional China. Earlv cultures o f Yunnan, back in die last centuries B.C. when both
Indian and Chinese influence was strong, were cattlekeepers widi Indian-derived
humped cattle. I^ater the plateau fell under Chinese cultural influence, but India con­
tinued to dominate die culture o f Tibet and odier nearby areas, and Yunnan borders
on Indian-influenced Burma. 'Iliis has not direct!)' affected die food (the spiciness is
a dilute reflection o f Szechuan and lias nodiing in common with curries) except, per­
haps, in diis one way. Since die early centurics, India’s contacts with China were pri­
marily via Central Asia or die sea; die land route via Yunnan is appallingly difficult
and was very little used, and I am unconvinced by die attempts to explain food bor­
rowings (crop, spicy styles, or otherwise) by diffusion along diis route. Mediation
v'ia Tibet is more likely. Diversity also came to Yunnan with soldiers and government
officials wlio were sent to administer this formerly remote outpost o f empire. Dur­
ing some dynasties, many o f diese were exiles (Isabella Yen, pcrs. comm.), often offi­
cials who were once highly placed and able to introduce elite dishes from various
pans o f China.
Distinctive Yunnanesc dishes include “across-thc-bridgc noodles,” in which die
noodles, not quite cooked, are suddenly poured into the diner’s soup to finish cook-
 Regions m id Locales i? o

mg, there; aiiil “crystal chicken,” which is made in a volcano j-k>r (see chapter y).
Other dishes include meat snips (or shrimps), tried in a rather soft hatter and fla­
vored widi cassia. A cold eggplant salad with sov sauce is shared with other parts o f
tlie west. Yunnan produces g<xxi tea, including the taint ms “ Pu-erh.”

The Far South

Soudiem cooking means, preeminently, C m ton esc cuisine, hut first 1 will deal
briefly with an anomalous ethnic group and its axtking. H ie Makka moved south
from central China about a thousand years ago, and their language is closer' to Man­
darin than to die southern languages. The Hakka have always been mountain people
and have probably mixed heavily with non-Chinese ethnic groups o f the high ranges
o f tile Kiangsi - Fukien—Kwangtung border countrv. Ihis might explain their deli­
cate, tine-boned, sharp features (they are a beautiful people, akin to North Chinese,
but distinctive). At present, they live scattered throughout southeast China, but their
kxais is at die meeting point o f die three provinces just naiiK’d. This is a son o f no­
man’s-land between die Kan, Cantonese, and Min linguistic groups. Merc lies the
nearest diing die Hakka have to a center: Mei Hsien {hsiai is equivalent to county)
at die northeast comer o f Kwangtung.
Hakka food is simple, straightforward, and well prepared. Tlie South Chinese em­
phasis 011 freslmess is even more pronounced than usual. No exotic or expensive in­
gredients are typical. Tlie Hakka are past masters at cooking tiipe, liver, kidneys,
chitterlings, and die like, and one o f dieir delicacies is spinal cord o f cow, chopped
and stir-fried widi vegetables. It is called marrow in Chinese and appeal’s under that
name on menus. Tlie most popular Hakka dish is salt-baked chicken, which is just
what its name implies. The salt seals in die flavor and juices while transmitting heat
slowly and evenly. Hakka are famous for beef balls and chopped fish (which makes
fish stretch far). Tills fish paste, which includes onion, ginger, and the like, is often
used to sniff fresh or fried bean curd and can be used to sniff chilis, eggplants, bitter
melon, and other vegetables. These stuffed vegetables are usually deep-fried but can
be stir-fried or steamed. These stuffed items are not solely Hakka—-they are wide­
spread in die soudi— but die Hakka are especially tbnd o f diem. Hakka restaurants
arc now appearing in the United States and odicr Western countries.
But die true core o f the soudi is die Cantonese. Cantonese cooking is unquestion­
ably die one most often mentioned as the finest o f all Chinese cuisines. The immortal
proverb runs: “ Live in Hangchow, mam' in Suchou, dine in Canton, and die in
U ucIkiu ,” sincc diese citics air supposed to have, respective!)', die most bcautifitl
views, die loveliest women, die finest food, and the best coffin wtxxl in die world.
Modem Westerners, and many North Chinese, often aim up dieir noses at Canton­
ese cuisine, believing die chop suey, chow mein, and sweet-sour glop o f overseas res­
taurants to be tj’pical o f it. Such restaurants may indicate a lamentable Cantonese
tendency to seek tlie lowest common denominator in business practices, but die)'
show nodiing about Cantonese cooking. Unfortunately, Cantonese cooks arc easily
f t lityiHHti wifi Lucnlrs 171

corrupted .uid somenmes scornful o f the tastes o f foreigners, and it is redly difficult
to find gixxl Cuitonese ttxx.1 away from its native home. 1 have never had first-rate
tare outside o f 1long King, On won, and Macau. Alas, even tlie tine old restaurants
o f Canton (more correctly Kuangchou— the capital o f Kwangtung province) have
(alien on evil days. Moreover, (.lining out in H ong Kong is not always what it used
to lx‘, tor the huge new ‘V ine palaces” do not pay as much attention to freshness
and individual diners as the old-time restaurants did. Pollution and overfishing have
devastated Hong Kong’s «-.Wei's; fish teixi to be caught far away and kept alive in
fetid water th.it makes them taste as bad .is frozen fish. T Ik incomparable fresh vege­
table;. and exquisitely flavoitul rit e o f tlie old rural parts of [-long Kong haw now
been replaced bv factories and parking lots. T o balance tliis out, it is now possible to
get acceptable Oxntonese tood in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Ijondon,
and other cities with large emigre populations.
The verv Ivst O1nt011e.se tixjd is found in tliose homes lucky enough to be run by
sujx’nor axjks. A verv close second is the smaller, older restaurants o f Hong Kong,
including the rural New Territories, which have been less subjected to die ravages o f
urban commercialism. Hut 011 die whole, even widi well-meant recommendations o f
Oimoncsc friends (who are often overly impressed with decor, or widi one favorite
dish), one takes one's chances eating Ouwonese restaurant food, and it is all too easy
to see how the mvtli of’Cantonese inferiority began.
Hut it is a myth. Omtonese hxxl, at its best, is probably unequalled in China and
possibly in the world. N o other cooks insist on such absolute freshness; diners used
to visit ( ’„istle Peak Bay, twenty miles bv bad road, to get live tish simply because die
water was cleaner there .uid the fish tasted better. No odier cooks control cooking
temperature so perteetlv and maintain such split-second riming. Apprentice cooks
may he upbraided unmercifully tor letting shellfish remain a fraction o f a second on
the tire afrer they began to hiss softly instead o f loudly—-a good chef whisks diem
o ff die instant the noise softens. N o other ctxiks insist on such quality in ingredients.
Preferred species o f grouper cost up to five or more times as much as inferior species
(all species o f grouper taste the same to me, even after twenty years o f eating them),
and poultry are ted on particular kinds o f teed or scraps to maximize flavor. No odier
Chinese ctxiks draw on such a wide range o f ingredients; Cantonese use everything
Chinese, th>m Hami melons o f Central Asia to die recendy introduced guavas, bell
peppers, and manioc o f dieir own deep south. No other cooks can be so eclectic
while maintaining die spirit o f their tradition. European baking has been Qmton-
ized; tomato-potato stew- has been taken over and redone; and “ hamburgers,”
made by baking an old-fashioned dumpling and inserting a flattened beef ball, have
appeared in H ong Kong. N o other cooks excel in so many techniques, from deep-
frying (die ftxxi is scaled in a crackling, aromatic crust radier dian sodden in grease)
aixl baking (a recent Western introduction) to simmering and stewing. N o odier
cooks produce so many dishes; Qmtonese restauranteurs who listed only tour or five
hundred dishes on die menu have apologized to me tor die small selection dictated
ijt Rçpioits and Loenlcs 172

by Sack ot spate on tlie card and promised to cook anything else within reason I
might want. They mean it, too, and in tact many restaurants (in Canton and else­
where in China) do not even bother to list their specialties, 011 die assumption that
everyone who is worth feeding knows what the specialties arc, and the menu space
should be saved toi' less obvious suggestions. Even tiny calcs and sidewalk stalls mm
out literally hundreds o f dishes, often superb. N o culmre is more obsessed with
tbod; not even in France is so large a part o f the conversation dev oted to restaurants
and cooking.
Tliis is not to say that Cantonese tbod is superior in everything. C'ontonc.se c<x >ks
can’t touch tlie Fnkienese and Tecxhiu nvatment o f soups; they do not like and do
not excel in die extremclv subtle yet highly spiced and tbv ored mixtures o f much o f
tlie tbod that characterizes tlie Yangtze Valley from Szechuan to Shanghai; far from
wheat regions, diey do not do much with traditional wheat products; they do not
produce vinegars, chiu, or bean pastes diat abroach those ot the Yangtze country.
Nor do diey make many desserts. (No Chinese region emphasizes desserts, but
die Cantonese would be even lower on tlie scale than the others were it not fbr the
recent borrowings o f bakery gcxxis from die Western world.) Traditional Cliinese
simply didn't like sweets much, and die Guironcse were especially uninterested.
By comparison with odier parts o f China, the south uses fewer beans (soy, fresh,
or otherwise) and more o f die tropical and Western-derived fruits and vegetables
special to die region. Such tropical fruits as litchis, longans (“ dragon eves,” a litchi-
like fruit), papayas, guavas, and citrus abound (though not as diey do in die South­
ern Min areas, nor is die fruit so good; China’s best fruit comes from Taiwan and
Teochiu, not the deep south). Vegetables more common here dian elsew here in­
clude tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and odier Westemiana. Odier tropical products
woven into cuisine include die Cliinese olive or kmi-htu, acuiallv die fruit o \'Cwm -
rium albttm. Pickled, it is reminiscent o f a Greek green olive, though die trees arc not
related. Better than die fruit is the kernel, which resembles a large pumpkin kernel or
small alnxiiid in appearance and taste. One o f die world's finest nuts, it Ls used radier
sparingly in die south, but more commonly in Southeast Asia. It extends as tar north
as Fukien, but not very many trees occur north o f Kwangtung. Such plants as coco­
nut and manioc— die latter a rccent import from tlie New World— aiv even more
definitely tropical. An important item o f not-quite-tbod is die betel nut, tlie fruit o f
the arcca palm.
The best Cantonese cooking is what appears to be die simplest. Boiled shrimps,
steamed fish, steamed or stir-fried vegetables, clear soup (such as chicken stock widi
mushrooms), fried oysters, dried fish roes sliced and stir-fried, boiled chicken
{‘‘white-cur chicken,” boiled for a very short time and left to finish cooking in the
cooling stock), and a few similar dishes make up my happiest memories o f Canton­
ese cuisine. The secrets are timing and ingredient quality. Even relatively rich combi­
nations, such as tlie famous ‘Vinter melon pond” (soup made in a winter melon, o f­
ten beautifully carved; die whole melon, soup and all, is steamed in a closed
 Ri'flww m id Locales 173

container), .ire not as elaborate os tliev would be in manv areas. A Cantonese «x>k
will stick to roast pork, a hit o f Yunnan ham, and a very few vegetables, lotting the
subtle flavor o f die winter melon speak tor itself. 11n s is not to say that combinations
are simple to make. 'Hie rules tor what can combine widi what arc elaborate and de­
manding, specifying all the allowable permutations and combinations o f hundreds o f
ingredients taken two, three, and (occasionally) tiiur or nK>re at a time. Dip sauces
and flavorings extend die range; soy sauce is usual, but oyster sauce, chile sauce, very
hot mustard, ground chiles, vinegars, chilis chopped in soy, sesame oil, and occasion­
ally other flavors may be found at table, along with white pepper. As elsewhere in
China, free salt was once rarely seen in traditional restaurants, though the Western
custom o f putting a salt shaker at each table is now almost universal. The elaborate
flavorings listed above are sparingly used except in bland dishes like soup noodles.
One distinctive and common C-antonese seasoning is black beans (toiisljiJj in Man­
darin, Mon in Cantonese), which are now abundant in die south but rare elsewhere.
Here— as in its continued consumption o f dogs, cats, and snakes, and in some lan­
guage traits— t h e Cantonese world is conservative.
Much o f what passes for Cantonese cooking in die Western world would sicken a
traditional Cantonese gounnet. O nncd pineapple, canned cherries, and even canned
fiint cocktail; enormous quantities o f dehydrated garlic, barbecue or Worcestershire
sauce; canned vegetables, com starch, monasodium glutamate, cooking sherry, and
hcai’v doses o f sugar are found in manv o f these bizarre creations. This fusion o f
pseudo-( >mtonesc and pseudo-Polynesian food eon be traced to a renegade Canton­
ese chef at Trader Vic’s in California. The basic formula appears to be: take the
fattest, rankest jx >rk you can get; cook it in a lot o f oil with tlie sweetest mixture o f
canned fruits and sugar you can make; dirow on a lot o f M SG and cheap soy sauce;
thicken the sauce to gluelike consistency; and serve it forth, The Cantonese regard
die whole business as proof diat Westerners arc cultiireless barbarians, but diey cook
it, and now even manv Taiwan Chinese (having eaten Cantonese food only in cafes
catering to American G.I.s) are convinced diat tliis is typical Cantonese cooking.
About sweet-and-sthir pork, tlie tbllowing may be said. Traditionally, this was a
rare dish, and not welt liked. Cantonese more often cook sweet-sour fish, especially
yellow croaker. The recipe is nordicm and eastern in origin, though long borrowed
into die soudi. It is best widi freshwater tish in Honan. Real sweet-sour fish or pork
is at least as sour as sweet and includes no fruit. Real Cantonese sweet-sour pork is a
good dish, although not as good as the yellow croaker, but many Cantonese avoid it
now because it is so dioroughlv linked with the “ barbarians.”
Three other dishes that define Cantonese cuisine outside o f China are more au-
dientic, but are not the height o f die true cuisine. Fried rice (d/no fa » , “stir-fried
rice,” aldiough it isn’t always stir-fried) is a standard method o f cooking leftovers, in­
volving frying cold boiled rice widi cbopped-up meat and vegetables. In really supe­
rior restaurants, rice will be specially boiled and dried lor this, but usually old, un­
used ricc is served. Tlie common (and favorite) recipe, however, is not Cantonese,
f t Regions and Lotrtics 174

but eastern, deriving from Yangchou in the lower Yangtze country, it involves
mixing chopped ham, beaten egg, green peas, green onions, and otl 1er ingredients to
taste, and then radier slowly sauteing die rice. The rite is neither deep fried nor stir-
fried, but d m — left to cook slowly in a little oil, producing a thirty pitxhia widi a
slight crust. Chow mein is Cantonese d im mm (stir-fried ncxxlles), ,1 counterpart of
fried rice. The ncxxiles are boiled and tlien stir-fried with bamboo sluxits, Ivan
sprouts, slices o f pork, and so forth.
Last o f all, chop suey is not— as many would-be connoisseurs believe— an Amcr
ican invention. As Li Shu-tan points out in liis delightful autobiography, Hmijj Kmuj
Stmjcoi! (196+), it is a local Toisanese dish. Toisan is a rural dismct south of Canton,
the home tor most o f die early immigrants from Kwangtung to California. ITie
name is Cantonese tsnp sctti (Mandarin isn wh), “miscellaneous .scraps.” Basically, it is
leftover or odd-lot vegetables stir-fried together. Noodles are often included. Bean
sprouts arc almost invariably present, but die rest o f die dish varies according to
whatever is around. The origin myth o f chop suey is diat it was invented in San
Francisco, when someone demanded food late at night at a small Chinese restaurant.
Out o f food, die restaurant cooked up the day's slops, and chop suey was bom. (The
“someone” can be a Cliinese dignitary, a band o f drunken miners, a San Francisco
political boss, and so on). Fortune cookies, however, are a tme Californian Canton­
ese invention, created by a noodle company in I j o s Angeles (loyal Angelenos insist it
was in San Francisco). They were unknown in Asia until American tourists began to
demand them in the last decade or two.
None o f the above dishes ranks high with Cantonese gourmets, since all are mix­
tures o f a lot o f things and none demands fresh fixings. In tact, all o f them are in the
nature o f hash— cheap, quick, easy ways to get rid o f less than desirable leftovers and
other scraps. Their popularity with restauranteurs is easy to explain— all tlie stuff
that would otherwise have to go to the animals can be fed to people. As a matter o f
feet, they can be excellent dishes in their own right and are widely popular, but their
avatars in traditional cafés and homes in H ong Kong are very different from those
one encounters in restaurants catering to Westerners.
The real gourmet dishes o f the soudi begin with seafood. Steamed tish or whole
fish quick-fncd and then masked with sauce; shellfish o f ever)' description prepared
in coundcss ways; swim-bladders, sea cucumbers, cuttlefish, squid (fresh or dried),
fish roes, and every other imaginable sea product— all arc treated reverently. N o
land meats attract so much enthusiasm or attention. Seafood is nKust highly regarded
when alive and kept in clean water, but some o f die salted products are almost as
popular, especially salt-dried squid, salted dried fish rocs (much like the finest caviar),
and salt-hidden white croakcr fish. Sea cucumbers and jellyfish are almost always
dried, and oysters are not only dried or salted but boiled d o w i and strained to make
the thick oyster sauce.
Among land meats, poultry has die cachet o f special occasions and religious rites,
but pork is the standard meat and the one that brings out the best cooking. Whole
ijt" R it}whs mid Lomlt'S i j f

pigs are roasted slow ly with a honey or brown sugar glaze diat caramelizes to a gold­
red color; tins makes tlicni “ golden pigs,” suitable for sacrifice, tlie color being of' re­
ligious im p jit as the color o f! ill1 and warmth. More famous is cb’n shao, dm sin in
Cantonese, which nKaiis “ fork roasted.” Barbecued strips o f lean [x>rk, marinated in
litmkt, sov, chin, and other flavorings, are hung upon forks {or equivalent) in a spe­
cial in in oven widi a strong, steady, warm air flow rising through it. Poultry can be
d i’.i shao as well. O va shao pork is sliced thin and used in noodle soups, steamed
buns (the well-known din sbrni /mi), and odicr snacks and dishes.
Another class is aired meats— laap in Cantonese (Mandarin In). These iiKludc ex­
cellent sausages made with rose-flavored vodka; they are known as hap d i’auiq (liter­
ally “cured intestines” ). Pressed cured duck is, poetically, !nnp nap (Mandarin laya).
II ie strong, meatv-tasting Cantonese bacon is laap yenI: (la joti, “ cured nie.it” ). One
iu.iv often see these hanging in a shady, wind}' place to cure; a beach with a constant
sea breeze anti shadv trees is ideal, and swimmers may mix cheerfully with nieat-
curcrs.
11 ie mt ire exotic meats are not really eaten much. Dog and snake arc eaten in win­
ter to provide wam idi— they are believed to be verv hearing, in tlie case of dogs be­
cause of the high amount o f tat. '11 icy are not really very gotxl, though tender voting
ones can lx- fair. In spite o f all the literatiue on the subject I have never eaten cat or
rat or seen them eaten; Cantonese known to me .ire repelled by tlie thought o f eat­
ing rats. 1 hav e never seen anyone bring a live monkey to tlie table, cut its head open,
and eat the brain out as a strengthening foot!, though til is is done in some places. It
is a medicine rather than a lood in any meaningful sense. The most exotic iixxi diat
is really common is frog legs, which are less popular than in France but not to be ig­
nored. Know'n as “ paddy chickens” and cooked as o ik would cook chicken, they arc
very good, especially chunked and stir-tried widi black beans. Wild gaiiK o f every
sort is eaten when av ailable and believed to be strengthening or odierwisc medicinal;
owls and nightjars cure headaches, “ white cranes” (egrets) cure soul disorders and
convey long life, and— among items diat are less purely medicinal— wild ducks are
believed to lx- tremendously strengthening, probably because the high iron content
o f die meat once helped many anemic persons.
H ie Cantonese are less dirifty than dieir immediate neighbors; diev do not nor­
mally eat hkxxl or relish intestines and spinal cord. They wall use anything in a pinch,
but on tlie wliole they prefer die cuts used in the more cclcctic parts o f die Western
world. O i k major exception is poultry feet, which arc greatly loved bodi for making
stock and for nibbling. Well-cooked duck and goose webs are considered real delica­
cies. I have heard diat H ong Kong uses twice as many pairs o f poultry feet as it does
actual birds. 'Hie additional feet are imported from Canada and elsewhere. Milk
dishes arc found, mostly due to Western influence starting widi the Macau Portu­
guese in die sixteenth century.
H ie Chinese fondness for snacks and “small eats” reaches a kind o f apotheosis in
die south. Substantial breakfasts o f congee with peanuts, meat, fish, sauces, or similar
 Regions ami Locales 176

tools arc common. Ntxxile soups with meat (red-ax>kcd beef or ch'a shao [x>rk arc
typical) and won ton soups arc even commoner. The amount o f notxlles per serving
is large enough to make these dishes Hill meals in diemselves. Hie rise o f VVestem-
r\rpc baked goods has led to a wide range o f breads, rolls, and pasnies diat have fined
into die snacking pattern.
But the ultimate in “small eating" is tlie Cantonese institution ut u iiii cb ’a (Manda­
rin Ik dr’a: “to drink tea” ). Drinking tea traditionally involves the consumption o f
snacks known as tint stun (borrowed into English as dim mm, pronouiKcd “deem
some” ). This phrase (the Mandarin is n a i l/siti) means “to dot tlie heait,” a peculiar
idiom o f obscure origin, meaning something like “to hit die spot.” “ Dot-hearts” (as
Buwei Yang Cliao calls diem; Chao 19+7} are found throughout China, but in C.111-
tonese culture diey become die sole kxxi at huge luncheons or late breakfasts, w hile
elsewhere in China they are definitely "small” afiairs, Iliere are hundreds o f them.
Many restaurants specialize in diem, such as die famous I.uk Yu Tea [louse o f Hong
Kong, which was one o f die finest Cantonese restaurants until its recent move from
tiny, aged, eramped quarters in the garment district to fancier lodgings uptown.
Typical tim sani are ha kaatt (Mandarin hsin dnnu), based on minced shrimp and
odier items wrapped in tliin dough skin; stit mani (shew mi), with meat filling .inti dif­
ferent skin composition; taro horns, chopped meat covered with mashed taro
dough, rolled into a hornlike shape, and deep-tried; ch’a sliao p.10; other p.10 o f
many kinds; beef balls pi ingently flavored widi soy sauce, ginger and so on; /w «
kitu, oily chopped fillings wrapped in rice-flour dough skins, duck webs on l ice;
tuiiuj or junjj, glutinous rice dumplings stuftcd with chicken or aromatic seed fillings,
wrapped in lotus or broad bamboo leaves, and steamed; and anything else the ax>k
can diink of, up to and including radier substantial dishes o f stew and chicken, and
even suckling pig roasted and sliced. The commonest and most basic rim sam follow
die pattern o f some sort o f starch staple wrapped around a filling o f chopped meat,
soy sauce, ginger, water chestnut, or similar extender and textunzcr, oil and
flavoring.
The ritual o f iam ch’a is well established. One sits at a table in a very crowded and
noisy restaurant. Tlie waiter brings whatever tea one requests. Then one watches for
die carts o f rim sam being wheeled around die restaurant by young servitors. They
cry out what they are bringing, contributing greatly to die high noise level o f tea
houses (my young son referred to them as “screaming places” ). Diners take quite a
while over die meal, waiting for favorite items to come round. At die end o f the
meal, a more senior waiter counts up the dishes and charges accordingly. More ex­
pensive dishes are on bigger plates, so charges are always figured by the number o f
empty plates; waiters have eagle eyes to forestall shifting o f plates from table to table.
Tim sam travel fairly well— diey do not depend 011 freslmcss and timing as much
as most Cantonese dishes do— and there are now good tea 110 uses in larger Western
dries. The level o f tim sam in Canton is also high, radier more so on die whole than
the level o f restaurant and hotel food. But one must still go to H ong Kong to get die
good stuff; and the like o f the old Luk Yu will probably never appear again.
f t Rcifimts and Locales 17 7

Very common in Cantonese c<x>king arc tmjj, dishes o f mixed ftxxts cut into
cubes. Examples arc chicken diced and stir-fried with cashew nuts and pork diced
and stir-fried with vegetables. Stow ed duck with barley, stewed chicken with Chinese
medicines, and other stewed strengthening tixxls usually appear. Shark fins, die
Almost-inevitable showpiece o f tancv banquets, are cookcd in chicken soup or brown
stock. A dish shared w ith the rest o f South China, and rather greasy to anyone out­
side that realm, is slices o f taro alternating with slices o f fat fresh bacon in vertical ar­
ray, the whole being steamed. Casseroles, cooked in the traditional sand pots, in­
volve the tougher aits o f beef, or poultry, often with bean curd, Chinese cabbage,
star anise, and soy laments. Pork ribs are steamed with black beans; pork, chicken,
or se.iti.xxl is stir-fried with pungent little fermented confections. Fish is steamed
with slivered ginger, green onion, tangerine peel, hingi, and a bit o f chiu and soy
sauce.
A strange kxal least is si!,' pint (“ eat from [the common] pot” ). Tliis consists o f
meats, lish, Ivan curd, and spices, cooked separately, die 11 combined in a sort o f
stew. In some villages it is served at fbtmal banquets as die sole dish when die idea is
to legitimate a major social event (such as a wedding or adoption). It represents a
sell-consciously plebeian cuisine, lev eling distinctions to involve ail equally in the
event. Like the soeiallv equivalent U.S. barbecue, it is cooked by men (Watson 1985).
Cantone.sc e<x iking admits o f many side-branches, but most o f diem are little
known, 'Hie great tradition o f Canton urban cooking, now established (with West­
ern influences) in i long Kong and Macau, tends to blank everything else. One ex­
ception is die cooking o f die Sei Yap—Toisan area. Set Yap or Sze Yap (four dis­
tricts) relei's to an area south o f Clinton where a very divergent dialect o f Cantonese
is spoken. This dialect, virtually incomprehensible to standard Cantonese speakers,
extends dirough neighboring districts, Tlie area us a rich vegetable-raising region but
one in which [lie peasants were traditionally poor; population density and high taxes
created die contrast o f rich farms and ptx.ir fanners. These people lived to a great ex­
tent on mixed vegetable frv-ups and tried ncxxlles; this is why die great ti-xais on
chop suev and chnw mein in New World Cantonese restaurants— since most o f die
Chinese who came to die Western hemisphere were from the Sei Yap-Toisan re­
gion. Including xs manv as ten vegetables in one dish is standard— one ate whatever
the garden was pixxlucing in suqilus. Not much animal tcxxl was available, but die
vegetables were unexcelled in freshness and quality, and Toisanese emigrants to
Hong Kong and elsewhere spend a lot o f time nostalgically recollecting diem, or else
become vegetable growers themselves.
Other subregions o f die soudi are too jxxirly known tor comment. Even die huge
.uid (xipulous prov ince o f Kwangsi, west o f Kwangtung, is terra incognita as fir as
published material on fixxl is concerned, although it has its own dialect ofGvntoncse
and many minority languages as well. Informants say only diat food was restricted
by distance from die sea and from rich fanning areas. Fork and mountain products
were relativelv frequent bur tisli, vegetables and many odier diings were hard to
come bv.
ijft Regions mid Lih'nla- 17$

T he N orth

'Hie vast and heterogenous realm o f die north is imireti by sever.il factors into .1
single region. In diis area every province has its distinctive features, In ir many are not
partial lari y noteworthy. Manchuria in the northeast has yet to produce much dis-
rinerive eiiisine. Shansi and Shensi in die central west arc a soit ofChine.se England,
characterized bv thrift, hard work, industrial development, and solid but stolid tare
diat merits little comment here. This leaves three great traditions: those o f i lopei,
Honan, and the northwest (particularly die Muslims).
Hopei is die province centered on Peking, aklxmgh Peking is now sep.1r.1ted in its
own capital district. Peking cookery naturally dominates the province. The heir ot
empire, it is so elaborate as to deft' description. 'Hie capital (or at least a capital) has
been here since about 1000 a . ix , and long before that the region was important,
populous, and sophisticated. Imperial dynasties left their mark on cooking in the
risual ways: cooking became more elaborate and more expensive ingredients were
used. Bears’ paws, camels' humps, apes' lips, and odier exotica are rc|lotted in the old
literature, and at least die first two were eaten in recent times at the imjx'rial court.
Hears' paws are said to be glutinous and sinewy— perhaps rather like jugs' teet 011 a
grand scale. Much o f this elaborate cuisine is dead now, lost with die world that cre­
ated it. Tlie waste and luxury o f die old court were as great as one would expect; its
disappearance tcxik down widi it die destructive conspicuous display,
A favorite Peking dish is rinsed lamb, Mongolian firepot widi mutton. A major
institution in Peking anti elsewhere in die north is the Mongolian barbecue (Mnt/j-hi
k’ao-jou). Hiis dish is originally Altaic— die Mongols, Koreans, and other Altaic
peoples have versions— but is now quite Sinicized in its Chinese fomi. The barbecue
is not so much a dish as a ritual, and restaurants specializing in ir serve n<>thmg else o f
consequence. Meats o f various kinds— mutton, beef, pork, game, and whatev er- else
may come to hand-—are sliced extremely diin. 11 ie diners select these and add flav or­
ing sauces to diem: soy, chiu, sesame oil, liot pepper oil (sesame oil in which chilis
have been soaked), vinegar, and so on. Slivered onions, ginger and the like mav lx-
added. The meat is borne to a conical brass grill, on which it is quickly tossed until
done. Fresh hot shao-ping (die small sesame-seed-covered pocket breads o f Near
Eastern origin) are used to make sandwiches widi die cut meat. Additional spices .ire
provided at die table. Tlie whole affair is very much an example o f the Chinese fond­
ness for letting die diners perform much o f the artistry o f the meal.
Peking is fanxxrs for its “small eats” as well as for its classic dishes. Indeed, in
Peking today yon can probably cat better at sidewalk stalls and cafes dian at die fancy
restaurants diat cater to tourists. Street vendors sell fruit and wheat dumplings
stuffed with sweet or savory fillings. Noodle shops abound. Chiao-tzu halls sell mil­
lions o f dicsc marvelous dumplings. They are boiled or shallow-fined widiour stir­
ring, in which ease diey are “pot-stickers,” because die bottoms toast themselves
onto die pan, becoming exquisitely crisp. Many o f die wheat products are made
 Rayons and Loitth's 179

with whole-grain flour, tints arc not only appealing to Western health-food dev otees
but also superbly flavorfril. (Nothing excels freshly ground whole-grain wheat Hour
from the hard, ted tradition.il wheats o f Asia. Tlie best American commercial Hour
cannot compete, largely because it is stored tor so long.)
1 1011 an is hen to an even longer tradition o f civilization than Hopei. O f its major
cities, K.uteng was capital jiust before Peking was founded; Ijoyang was capital be-
ibic that and intcnnittentlv for the previous millennium, back to 774. B.C.; Cheng-
chon, die present provincial capital, was tlie seat o f rule o f the Shang Dynasty about
1500 b.c. Naturally these cities (and die small towns, some o f which were capitals o f
Shang even before Chcngchou was founded) look down on Peking as a mere
ephemeral upst.m. In mv experience, the finest food in North China is to be found
here; the extra millennia do seem to matter. Chengdiou claims to be die native
home o f sweet-sour fish. 11 ic yellow croaker o f the local rivers is quickly fried and
then masked with the pungent, aromatic, subtle sauce. Among the countless excel­
lent vvhe.it products, one stands out: notxilcs diat are made by swinging a rope o f
dough, doubling it over anti swinging it again, keeping die n<xxlles floured so diey
do nor stick together. This not only makes diem fine as hair, it also develops die glu-
ren in the high-gluten local flout to a maximal degree and is an impressive perfor­
mance to watch, (lh e stretching pitxess o f pizza crust and strudel dough is similar.)
llic n ixx llc.s are quick-fried and sc ia c as a bed for the fish or anything else wanting a
substrate. Excellent candied apples and odier fruits are made here from Honan’s fine
produce. Stir-frying is done carefully and gently.
l lonan was the birthplace o f Chinese civilization and Chinese cuisine. Recall that
111 Chcngchou markets one can still find pottery ketdes identical to those made diere
in die Shang Dynasty. As one would expect, die province is a meeting ground or
central radiating point. All die features o f Chinese cooking are found here. Skill and
painstaking thought are the features o f Honan cuisine, which has few local outstand­
ing dishes (primarily because its best dishes have become pan-Chinese) but is abso­
lutely outstanding in the creation o f all o f diem, from die must ordinary wheat bun
to die finest sweet-sour yellow' fish.
China’s Muslims (H ai) arc mostly cdinic Chinese, converted or descended from
part Central Asian lineages o f Islamic ancestry. (The word H u i is derived from
Ui/jbitr, but now refers to cdinic Chinese rather dian to the Turkic folk.) Muslim
cooking is localized in China’s northwest— Kansu anti Ninglisia— and based on die
general Chinese cooking thereof, but it has spread throughout Nordi Qihia, since
wherever they go die Muslims must have dieir own butcher-sliops and eateries. Tlie
rcason, o f course, is diat all regular Chinese eating places arc redolent o f swine, alco­
hol, and other fare interdicted by die Koran.
Lying near Szechuan, tliis area has enthusiastically adoptee! die chili pepper. It also
makes maximal use o f onions and garlic (here die influence went die odier way:
Szechuan evidently picket! up its garlic from die northwest). The characteristic dish
is thus mutton stir-fried with onions and/or garlic. Young garlic leaves, as well as die
f t Regions nnd Locnlrs tSo

garlicky Chinese chives, arc used in soups and odier ftx>ds. Pocket breads and dump­
lings arc unexcelled here, since diey were antral Asian—Near Eastern borrowings 111
tlie first place. The chiao-tzu arc stuffed with mutton, o f course, rather than pork or
shellfish. Nortli western cities such as Sian feature Muslim eateries with excellent,
well-cooked tixxl, and liv ely atmosphere.

The Mhioiity Nationalities

China’s non-Han minorities deserve much more attention than is usually given to
diem. While diey make up (inly 7 percent o f the country's population, that is sev eral
tens o f millions o f people, dominating about half the area (much more than half un­
til die tvventiedv century expansion o f die Han Chinese), There are slightly fewer
dian sixty' minorities aitrendy recognized, defined as groups with distinctiv e lan­
guages and cultures. Tiiis discussion proceeds clockwise around China.
The “ Aborigines” or “nxn 111tain people” o f Taiwan .ire speakers <if widely diver­
gent Malayo-Polynesian languages. They are primarily slash-and-bum cultiv ators,
but setded wet-rice cultivators existed in Taiwan before die Chinese drove them to
die hills or assimilated diem. The aboriginal groups use rice but usually regard Setn-
ria millet as their sacred tcxxl, their ancient staff o f life. The commoner vegetables
and rtxjt crops o f Taiwan, such as fart), are grown, and chickens, pigs, and dogs air
raised. Mash rooms, game, and odier forest products are important It x xts, F<xxl is
generally very simple— boiled or cooked by mediods learned from the Chinese.
Southernmost C'liina is dominated by groups speaking lliai-K.idai languages. Hie
Kadai languages are a tiny group, die only significant representative Ix'ing Li o f
Hainan Island. The Li grow dry rice (hill rice) and maize in slash-.uid-bum fields,
hunt, keep pigs, grow vegetables, and drink a great deal o f home-brewed, often
spiced rice beer. The Miao o f Hainan and die mainland harvest glutinous or regular
rice and preserve meat products. Tlie M iao— blow n as Hmong in Southeast Asia
and America— have taken to maize as a main crop and also raise many vegetables
(Jolnison 198s; Lin 1940). In short, thev are tvpical o f die up-countrv people o f
Soutlieast Asia, from die Philippines to eastern India, Many of'die smaller Thai­
speaking groups have similar life-styles. The larger ’lliai groups, however-—sjx'aking
languages close to, but not identical to, die major tongue ofThailand— practice wet-
rice cultivation and depend on rice and vegetables, earing lixxls broadly similar to
those o f the Chinese. O iina’s largest minority, die Chuang o f Kwangsi, arc typical.
One Chuang locality has attracted attention because o f the exn-emc longevity o f its
citizens, many o f whom are over a hundred years old. Almost 7 percent are over
sben'-five, very old for China. The main foods here are com, squash, hair gourd /
winter melon, and wild greens; diis healdiy diet must have soniediing to do widi the
longevity but cannot be die lull explanation {Chinn Rcantstinds^ no. 5,1981).
Zanthaxyhtm spp. similar but not identical to Chinese brown pepper is an important
spice. Tlie area o f Hsishuang Panna (from 'Fliai Sipsmi/j Pnn-na, “ twelve states” ) in
soudiem Yunnan is dominated, in die lowlands, by Northern Thais speaking die
 Rcjjttins and },denies 1H1

s.inic language diat is tailed Laotian in l_.ios. They depend on glutinous rice, which
is lulled into a hall and dipped in ver\' liiglilv spiced sauce featuring chilis— adopted
as enthusiastically among Thais as among Szechuanese— and Za»itlxixytH»i, hi Loos
and n<»them lliailand, and so presumably in south Yunnan, another very’ popular
sauce is made from fermented giant water bug. Raw chopped beef spiced with
br< iun and chili peppers is anodier Tli.u delicacy' that I assume is common in the low
Mekong Valiev o f Yunnan. Manv medicinal and flavoring herbs grow in die moun­
tains and villages o f this area, as well as many Southeast Asian green vegetables and
tin its.
Scattered throughout the Kills and mountains o f the southern half o f China are
Miao and Yao peoples who depend on slash-and'-bum cultivation o f maize and rice
and on the raising o f pigs, buffaloes, catde, chickens, and dogs, They also grow vege­
tables, including hot chtlis, and obtain much iixxi by hunting and gathering. In
Kweichow and Yunnan dicy border on Tibeto-Burmin speakers— minorities widi
languages related to Tibetan and iiunue.se, and thus, more distantly, to Chinese. Tlie
Tibeto-itunnans o f die lower, more level plateaus, such as die plateau o f Yunnan,
tend to lv wer-rice cultivators widi agriculture and tcxxl almost identical to tlie Chi­
nese (but simpler). On the higher or steeper mountains, maize becomes the domi­
nant cr< >ps and above the maize belt is a zone o f barley and buckwheat, "lliese coarsc
grains are eaten in die tonn o f tluck, heavv cakes, and—-with thin vegetable soup,
usuallv involving cabbages— are often almost die only tbod in these regions. How­
ever, the usual animals .ire raised, and forest products gathered. The Nosu or Yi o f
Szechuan are typical, liv ing on diick buckvv'heat and maize cakes and on parched oats
ground anti mixed with water. They eat boiled meat at major feasts. A popular dish
(found widely in South China) is minced raw meat— the Nosu tavor internal
organs— seasoned widi black and red peppers and other spices. They ear raw' liver,
lungs, and heart, minced with chilis. Oatmeal is used, and so is bean oil (Pollard
tyir).
'IIie high altitude agriculture o f all East Asia Ls barley and buckwheat, grown in
rotation. 'Hie six-rowed Himalayan varieties o f barley extend through Tibet and
much o f Central Asia; two-rowed barlev occurs farther north. Barley is a winter
crop, buckwheat a spring one. The better buckwheat is Fiufopynnu esadcntuur,
higher up, F. tMaricum, which is bitter and low-yielding, must be grown instead.
Bodi mature quickly and survive in the very dry, windy, cold summers o f die moun­
tains; die bitter buckwheat, like die barley, grows to over i+,ooo teet in Tiber. In
such high altitudes, no vegetables will grow, but cabbages and white radishes flour­
ish almost to this level. In lower parts o f Tibet, along die Tsangpo (upper Brah­
maputra) River and its tributaries, various cool-weather foods such as apples can
be grown, and some o f Tibet is even low enough tor rice and maize. In high Tibet,
die only meats are yak, sheep, and wild game, but in slightly lower areas there arc
pigs and cattle. Cattle hybridized widi yak produce an animal o f superior size, meat
yield, stamina, and milking quality.
ijft" Rc/iwns ami Local rs 182

H ie staple hxxl o f Tibet is barley, parched ami then ground into .1 coarse meal
(tsamba), eaten in buttered tea. Vak butter is usually used. It cannot be kept Ircsli,
and so is fermented into a burvrie counterpart ot yogurt (like the sinai o f North
Africa). It is mixed into the coarse, black, brick tea that the Chinese have always
palmed oft’on tlie Tibetans, and the tsamba mixed into that, to form a paste or pnr-
ridge which can be eaten with spoon or fingers. Meat and vegetables are usually
bailed, which means they stay half raw, tor the air is,so thin that water boils below
200 degrees l;ahrenhcit. Milk, vcigurt, cheese, and other daiiv products arc cmv
sumed in large quantities. Tibetan elites at feasts ate a provmical version o f northwest
Chinese tixxl: ehiao-tzu, noodles, stir-tried meat anil vegetables, good tea, finits,
nuts. H ie tix>d, either emphatically native or Ik »rowed from China, tom is a striking
contrast with tlie heavily Indian-influenced art and religion.
North ofTihet are the vast desens ot\Sinkiang, Chine.se Central Asia, where Iaim­
ing can be practiced only in oases, These are inhabited mostly by people of'Turkic
stock, primarily tile Uigluirs, but also groups known collectively as I urki, A few
odier etlmic groups, including some T.uizhiks s|xaking a language elose to Persian,
inhabit tlie westernmost oases. Fixxl in these areas is not related to Chinese at all. ex­
cept tor recent superficial borrowings; it is part and parcel ot the great Persian cul­
tural area. Ilie staple is wheat bread, sourdough-raised or otherwise leavened, and
cooked in large, flat, boat-shaped or oblong loaves that puff up 011 baking, lilts pro­
vides a pocket tor inserting anything one is eating with the bread, making a kind of
sandwich, llie loaves arc much bigger and thicker than the equivalent pita breads of'
die Near East. Tliev an.' often sprinkled with sesame seeds. Grilled meats, especially
small shish kebabs, arc tradition.il accompaniments, lioiled mutton and daily prod-
nets, primarily yogurt but also cheddarlike cheese, .ire common tare. Vegetables ex­
cept tor onions and garlic are few, but this is made up tor by the incomparable tinit,
apricots, grapes, and melons predominate. Ilic finest melons o f tlie world, according
to many gourmets, are tlie green-and-vel low-striped Persian melons o f the I lami
area in dieTurtan Depression in the center ofSinkiang. (’11ic Uzbeks, close kin to
die Uighurs, have a proverb; ‘T o r procreation, a woman; for pleasure, a boy, but tor
divine ecstasy, a melon” ) WatenlK'lons o f excellent quality also abound. Apricots,
mulberries, and grapes are often dried, producing a staple tor winter use or tor cook­
ing widi lamb. Filled dumplings equivalent to chiao-tzu are made.
The nomads o f northwest China— Turkic groups like the Kirghiz and all the vari­
ous Mongol tribes and linguistic groups— live on bread or potridge made from
traded grain, and on dairy products. Meat is not often eaten, since animals arc tixi
valuable to butcher frequently; when old diey are often sold radier dian butchered at
home. Yogurt is die staple. Mare’s milk is typically fermented with staple yeast into
kumys, which tastes like slightly spiked buttermilk. Kuniys can be distilled into nymu
or m-cuj, which is said to taste like bad vtxika with a little sour buttermilk added.
Kumys by itself is a staple drink, indeed a staple food, tor its nutritional value is
liiglier than its alcoholic content. The nomads grill or boil meat when diey do get it,
and haw borrowed many North Chinese and Persian dishes tor feast foods.
ft R e p tutu n u d L o ca te ; tS f

Related to die Mongols linguistically .ire the Tungus jxoples o f northern Man­
churia, The M.u k Iui were one such group; tlicv are now essentially all assimi­
lated into die Chi ne.se jx>jiulation, In it other .small Tungus groups still exist. Those
along the main rivers lis e pnmarily by fishing, drying most o f the eateh and using it
as the staple. Some made dieir clothes and tents out offish skins until the rweiiberh
ceil tun'. Other groups live hv hunting, gad le ring, and practicing small-scale agricul­
ture. Game is still a suple tixxl in a verv few areas, incredible as diis may seem in
modem China w ith its hillion jx-ople; nloose (known as “ elk” in die Old World) and
deer are the mam sources. Oeer are now domcsticatcd .uid farmed on a large scale.
Other animals ir<>in mole rats to racoon dogs are eaten. Ginseng is an important
pnxluet o f these northetnmost reaches o f Chi 11.1, but it is tar tix) expensive lor nuist
o f the jxople there to eat in .111v quantity. Sorghum, soybeans, buckwheat, barky
and (farther south) maize are pushing dieir wav northward into these forest realms.
List o f Chinese minorities in our clockwise progress arc the Koreans, also an Al-
t.iic jvople; there arc sonicwhat fewer dian a million of them 011 the China side o f
the border. Hie land is basically montane their, and they live predominantly on
buckwheat anti bar lev, tvpicallv nude into mxxlles, Maize, rice and odier tixxis are
increasing in Mii|n iitance; millets, soybeans cabbages, radishes, .uid allium cixips
flourish. Nixxile.s or boiled grain are eaten widi meat— beef is esjxxiaily impor­
tant— .uid fish. H ie fiery Korean pickles, must common o f which is kimclii, are con­
sumed in large quantities; dicv are made o f cabbages, radish, or otiicr vegetables
cured bv lacric-aeid fermentation in verv strong brine or salt, widi cnomxius quanti­
ties o f chiles .uid gai lic added. Anything .uid everything can wind up in the kinichi
jar: chickens, tish, onion leaves, pine seeds, wild herbs, mushrooms. Pine seeds are an
imjxtrt.ii it tcxxl ,uid cxjxirt; die main source is Ptmis kumtcmh, the cedar pine. Odier
forest «luts and herbs abound, from hazelnuts to ginseng. These, domcsticatcd deer,
raccoon dogs {NyctavutcspixKyoiiaidcs, miscalled “ badger" in English; a trickster in Ja­
pan, .1 medicinal strengthening tixxi in China), and other forest products are eco­
nomic mainstays o f die Korean autonomous region. Like tlie odier minority' zones
of China, this area remained backward mini recendy, die people treated as second-
class citizens. Tins attitude changed dramatically during die 1950s, but the improve­
ment was reversed in tlie i<X>os and bad conditions prevailed widely until die late
1970s. At present development o f minority regions is proceeding apace, and much
less jirejudicc is seen dian one found a few vcars ago. This has its costs: Han Chinese
jx'netration and acculturation are increasing today.

What can we leam from this lightning survey o f China’s regional cuisines? First,
die efficiency I sti^css in diis txxik gix-s only so far. Cultural and subadtur.il prefer­
ences take precedence much o f die time. A clearly inferior adaptation will go to die
wall, but when two alternatives arc roughlv equal in efficiency, die clioice between
diem is made 011 the basis o f cultural valuation. The Chuang ear regular rice, dieir
close linguistic relatives o f Hsishuang Panna cat glutinous rice; then; is no reason ex­
cept tradition and a desire to keep one’s own culture, ftxxlways, .uid lifestyle distinct
ijft Regions and Locates 18+

and marked. Tlie Cantonese avoid chiles, die Hunanese low diem; Link's an; highly
nutritious, but the Cantonese simply cannot get used to liighlv spiced lixxl. (] have
sometimes treated Cantonese and Min people to Szeehuanese meals; dieir reactions
are at best polite.) Such exodea as bears’ paws may persist in spite o f obvious ineffi­
ciency because tradition and conspicuous consumption demand. Hie boundaries be­
tween staple crops— maize anti barky, wheat and millet— are sharpened by ethnic
and regional preference; thev often stop shott at a cultural boundary, instead o f fad­
ing our slowly along a climate gradient. Rxxlvvav-s are quite resistant to change, fvr-
sisting over tliousands o f miles and years; though acculturation is occumng rapidly
now, as it has at times in the past.
Sccond, it is still true that much is determined by what grows best and most
dieaplv. Rice is always tlie staple in tlie lowland south, wheat in the tin' north, barley
and buckwlicat in cold areas. Animals are raised where they can best Iv raised, lliese
generalizations transceixl ail rural differences; tlie Tibetans may make their barley
into tsamba, the Koreans into iKxxllcs, and the Chinese into [V.irl barky, but all raise
this crop where tlie weather is cold and dty.
It seems that people arc basically efficient .uni economically rational in the narrow
sense, but that tliey will also sacriticc a ceitain amounr to keep tlieir cultural distinc-
avencss. At one extreme, the Turkic peoples o f Central Asia are separated bv lan­
guage, religion, climate, agricultural tradition, and classical culture ti t >m the ( Chinese,
and have quite different tbodvvays. At die other, tlie Chuang live w ith the Chinese
and ftinn like them, and so ear fairly similar fcxxts. In bew een, religion often makes a
barrier— the Muslims avoid pork even «'here pigs arc the most efficient animal to
raise— and language or dialect make barriers. ‘Hie stronger or higher the barrier, the
more people will sacrifice to maintain it in tlieir fixxlways.
All this has led to better tcxxi, and to better use o f die earths resources, tor it maxi­
mizes diversity and experimentation and provides tor the retention o f g<xxl ideas
diat would otherwise have been abandoned due to some short-temi economic con­
cern. Culture has its ecological merits as an encourager o f diversity, a conservcr o f
lore, an educational device, and a guide to protection and management o f resources.
Even diis cursory' survey should sliow diat human—environment relations .ire not
simple matters o f cither “ tradition” or “environmental derenninism,” but a complex
interplay o f or acton inxxlation between bodi. Long mav such accommodation
endure.
An interesting part o f regionalism is die wav's regional fotxis are used self­
consciously as etlinic markers. Many such regional foods are quite connnonlv senvd
at importajit and special occasions but vvrv rarely in the home. Knowledge o f re­
gional cuisines is spread to a great extent by restaurants, but restaurants rarclv serve
plebeian but important and clearly regional specialties such as soured milk in west
China, thick com cakes in die west and northwest, buckwheat in die west and north,
sweet potatoes in the east and soudicast, millet porridge in die nordi, or pearled kao­
liang in Manchuria. Chinese do not seem mil iKindy supportive o f dieir poverty fcxxls
ijt 8
R o y oils and Localcs t <

or prone to stereotype dieir neighlxirs thereby. Thu1; is probably because poverty was
until recently an all too familiar fact o f life in most o f China. When people are poor,
they tend to think o f the foods o f tlie rich. When people are rich, they may afford
themselves the luxury o f clinging to tlie familiar foods o f tiieir early, and poorer,
days. Soul tixxi, for example, was not higlilv regarded by its creators; only when
American blacks became urbanized did soul food become an institution, and dien
primarily among better-off and bctter-edneared members o f the community. The
somewhat similar apotheosis o f “bitter herbs” in M ao’s China seems to have been
premature, 'flic memories i[ revived were too bitter; I have heard little about “dinners
o f bitter herbs” lately.
Tlie other obvious fact that emerges from tlie survey is that tlie items are genu­
inely local anti tend to mark o ff the cuisine involved. This is more true o f dishes dian
ingredients, o f which amount ofiisc is important but die kind o f ingredient rarely is.
I have overemphasized the regional in’ o f dishes by disregarding cases in which a
giv en area is known for tile especially good way it prepares a universally known dish,
as for instance Honan is known for a form o f sweet-sour fish. A radier more interest­
ing case is die set o f what I called/jo jo n/ intapes, in which general taste and texture o f
fcxx.1 is stressed and a giv en cuisine is distinguished if'it lias the most X o f die aiisines
o f China (A' being, tor example, one o f die classic Five Flavors and/or odier pro­
nounced flavors or textures).
For a regional dish to reach worldwide restaurant fame, it must be truly regional;
it must be a protein dish, including some meat or equivalent; and it should be elabo­
rate and expensive. Ingredients and general images should be pronounced and evi­
dent in fairly sophisticated axjking, should be die most X in China (if possible), and
should not tv strictly povem' foods. Tile more dearly limited an item is to a given re­
gion, and die more extremely obvious its use is, die nxwe it labels die n'gion. What is
not so obvious is why a region should be labeled by fancy foods more often dian by
nuly typical (i.e., widely eaten) ones. Tlie fact diat most people know others1 cuisines
only from restaurants is onlv one reason; die rest o f die explanation is that people
tend to .stress fixxis diat diey like and foods diat are prestigious. Expensive ingredi­
ents are prestigious, as are complexity and skill needed for preparation.
llie re are interesting problems widi tills approximation o f an explanation o f why
some foods become markers. First, it tends to be eaters o f die cuisine in question that
make a focxl a success, by choosing it frcquendy, serving it to guests, serving it at res­
taurant feasts, featuring it on menus if die)’ run resraurants diemselves, and so on.
Second, such dishes as M a Po bean curd and Hokkicn fried ncxxlles have sonic pro­
tein in diem, bur diey are hardlv the quintessence o f sophisticated cuisine. Out o f
many cheap and available foods, why are diese chosen over odier foods topical o f die
regions diey stand for? Why does M a Po bean curd mean “Szechuan” to a world o f
eaters, when die equally characteristic West Cliinese “ home-style bean curd” does
iKit? Why are Teoehiu fish balls widi malt sm ip sauce served frecjiiendy at self­
consciously Tcochiu feasts when odier Teoehiu foods are not?
 Rajiorts and Locals 186

These foods arc among those that cmlxxlv must dearly the genera! traits ascribed
to die given cuisinc; tlicy arc also very popular with die pe< >ple whose region they
arc taken to typify. But so cue otJier fcxxls. A tcxxf diat is fmiticitlnilv striking. ex­
treme, or common will almost always become an ethnic marker, unless it is a poverty
food, but some not particularly notable foods are also labels. In these cases, 1 susjvet
diat pun: chancc establishes diem as markers. At one time perhaps they were partial -
larly common, or particularly well prepared, or no similar tixxfs were known.
hi die actual use o f diese foods we come closer to a structure in the usual sense ot
diat abused word. They stand at die head o f a given section on a restaurant menu;
diey are criterially served ar selfconsciously eduiic dinners, though tew have the
really rigid nation/festival connection o f our Anglo- American Thanksgiving menu.
Chinese o f a given ethnic group,1ire faith till ro their cuisine. Most o f my Hong Kong
informants ate in R’staurants pmvexing dieir own edmic cuisine and rarely or never
tried otilers {altlxxigh no one in Hong Kong can avoid having a gtxxl deal ot Can­
tonese food). Tiiere was little o f die experimentation with different cuisines that is
characteristic o f diners out in other cultures. However, it is in the last analysis impos­
sible to separate marker foods from nonmarkers at anv single specific breakpoint.*
 ym Traditional Medical
11 Values ofFood

“ It is hard to find a dish in the Middle Kingdom that Ls not based upon the recipe
of some sage who lived centuries ago and who had an hygienic principle in mind
« lien he designed it.” So wrote E. H. Nichols in 1902, with pardonable exaggera­
tion. The mith is, o f course, less extreme, but die point is well taken: die Chinese
have a complex anti very ancient science o f nutrition.
In the Chon Dynasty, the CJxm L i (Rituals o f Chon) prescribed diat nutritionists
tv attached to the court as part o f the highest class o f medical personnel. 'Hie impe­
rial household had a large number o f specialized cooks. 'Die high position o f nutri­
tional medicine and o f culinary art. in and out o f the imperial court, continued to be
characteristic o f Chinese civilization throughout historic times.
Chinese mid ition categorizes ftxxl in several different ways. Foodsntfis are classi­
fied according to biological relationship. All diese categories cross-cut; a given item
can Ik clawed under many heads, depending on context or purpose. This chapter
concerns die traditional classification o f die foodstufls themselves— dieir traditional
and folk biology. 1 begin widi some comparisons o f Chinese and English names for
lixxls,
Tlic earliest record o f plant names from China is provided by the Book o f Songs,
supposedly compiled by Confucius (see chapter i)- Hsuan Keng found and identi­
fied seventy-five plant names therein. AJnw>st all o f them, .uid al! die fbcxl plant
names, are simple, basic terms. By the time o f the first agricultural manuals known,
in the Han Dynasty, several compound temis were in general use. Today, most com­
mon plant names are binomial compounds; scientists can readily give anv plant in
die world such a name. Some o f die more recent coinages an: complicated: kohlrabi
is “ bail-stalked sweet vegetable.’' Some are delightful: a citron diat looks like a
clenched fist is “ Buddha’s hand fruit,” and so die Mexican chayote, which kxiks like
die citron, is “ Buddha's hand gom d." Some are borrowed words: fenugreek is Im hi
pa from Arabic bittbn. SonK- are translations: grapefruit is p ’n r'ao vit (grajx: pomelo).
Some are descriptive: fig is “ tkwcrlcss fhiit” (fig flowers are tiny and hidden inside
the “ fruit,” which Ls actually a swollen nvig).
Meanwhile, in English, someone has recently turned die Infra or silk gourd into
“Chinese okra,” diough it is neither related nor similar to okra. Apricot kernels arc
 Traditional M edunl Values o f Food sS8

used in China as die Western world uses almonds, so die tonncr are often confused
widi the latter. {Tlie apricot kernels are cooked, which eliminates die poisonous hy-
drocyanates and makes die kernels into a good thro,u-six>thmg fcxxl. Tliey are usu­
ally powdered.) “Chinese artichokes” are die roots o f a mint (Slncljys) and “Cliinese
olives” are not related to olives. Such problems are inevitable when different lan­
guages meet. But it is a shame when diey go uncorrected-— especially if you are try­
ing to make an authentic Cliinese dish and die recipe translates the ingredients
wrong.
Today, Chinese traditional medical and nutritional beliefs persist, and they are in
no danger o f disappearing. Arthur Kleinnian (1980), studying a large sample ot Chi­
nese on Taiwan, found diat in 93 percent o f sickness episodes, diet was altered
-—usually die first diing done, initiated by die patient or familv. M y sketchier figures
from Hong Kong are even liigher. Certainly the vast majorin' o f Chinese react al­
most immediately to physical distress o f any kind by changing what diey eat. Diet
therapy grades into herbal medicine with no sharp separation: ginseng, white fun­
gus, birds’ nests, stewed wild birds, and die like are tbods but air considered to Ik ot
almost purely medical use.
The Chinese traditional science o f nutrition is based on die commonsense obser­
vation that foods provide energy for die bodv. Different amounts o f energy arc con­
tained in different foods, and die energy takes different fonns. Some foods arc ex­
tremely strengthening; otiicrs are weakening, if eaten to excess. (For a very full
account o f Chinese nutrition and food dierapy, sec Lit 1986.)
The traditional word for energy’ is JjV. w hich literally means “breadi.” Like the
Latin spiritiu, it was generalized to mean “ spirit” — not it spirit but spiritual or invisi­
ble energy. Air and gas are ch’i as well (carbonated water is ch’i water). A “cli’i
vehicle” is one powered by an internal combustion engine. Ch’i in reference to die
human body, or any other natural object, usually means “ energy” unless die context
makes it obvious that breadi or spiritual nature is meant. When Chinese talk o f ftxxl
providing ch’i, however, diey do not mean energy' in die limited Western sense. The
forms or qualities o f bodily ch’i are different from anything known to Western
science.
Tlie most basic division o f die cosmos, in traditional Chinese thought, is between
yatig andyw. Originally, yang meant the sunny side o f a hill— die southwest
face— and^in meant die shady side. The character for yang includes a small abstract
picture o f a hill and die character for “sun” written over what might be a slope. Yang
is tiius die bright, dry, warm aspect o f die cosmos; yin is die dark, moist, cool one.
Note diat these are aspects o f a single hill (or person, or universe), not really diings in
themselves. Males have more yang quality, and the penis is politely known as die
“ yang organ” ; females are more yin. However, each sex has some o f die other's qual­
ity; indeed, all things have bodi aspects.
Anodier key division o f die cosmos is into the Five Phases (sec Liu and Liu 1980;
Porkert 197+; Unsdiuld 1985), earth, metal, fire, wood, and water. These have been
 Tradirwunl Mcdicai Vnines o f Food iSi?

calk'd “elements” in Engl is]1, likening them to the Greek elements, but the Chinese
concept is fundamentally different. 'Hie Five Phases deal with phases o f die cosmos
and everything in it radier than with things. (Ch’i is not a phase; it pervades every­
thing.) 'Hie full cosmology o f die phases was elaborated by T s’oli Yen in die War­
ring States period anti became die basis o f scicnce and cosmology, including nu­
trition and medicine, in die early Han I}ynasty. Tlie til inkers o f those ages classified
everything in die universe by fives. Preoccupation with fives has lasted to diis day in
China. 'Hie compass directions— including die center-—are die most classic and uni­
versally known set o f five, and everything else probably stems from diis basic percep­
tion; even die phases may haw been set at five to fit diem to the all-important direc­
tions (see chapter’ 5), O f particular importance for tbod arc die Five Smells (rancid,
scorched, fragrant, rotten, and putrid) and die Five Flavors (sour, bitter, sweet, pun­
gent [piquant, “ hot”], and salt). These equate widi the compass directions: east,
soudi, center, west, nortli. 'llie tastes are apparently diose the Han scholars found to
be characteristic o f the regional cuisines o f those times. At least the Tcllmv EnipctmJs
Classic of Internal Mcdicmc (Veidi (966)— tlie great Han medical text— says diat
people in die respective regions eat fcxxls flavored accordingly. The alternative
idea—-tliat the coding was arbitrary and die scliolars merely imagined, post hoc, die
regional cuisines— seems ttx> forced even for die liiglily scholastic Han academies.
llie Five Flavors remained to classify ftxxls, but nutritional medicine was soon to
be rransfonned. Sometime between die Tdlmv E>npawJs Classic and die great fifth-
century herbal and agricultural texts. Western media nejyachcd China. The nutri­
tional medicine o f tlie Western world at diat time was based on die humoral astern
and w'as shared by tlie Hippocratic-Galenic, Vedic, and Near Eastern medical tradi­
tions. N o one knows where or how it started; Hippocrates in die fifth century B.C.
speaks o f it as old. Greece, the Near East, and India all take credit for it. Tlie Greeks
have “prior publication” on dieir side, and die system could well have spread widi
Alexander's world conquests. It may have reached China from many sources, but
there is little doubt that die main impetus for its adoption was Buddhism (Sivin
1980). Independent origins o f similar beliefs in several places may also be involved.
'llie humoral dieorv, in its most general form, holds diat die human body is af­
fected by heat, cold, wetness, and dryness. T h ese “qualities” or ‘Valences” must re­
main in balance if die body is to remain healthy. Most illness is caused (or exacer­
bated) by imbalance. Tlie model is o f a person working in die hot sun and suffering
heatstroke or falling into cold water and suffering from a chill. The ancient Greeks
noted diat illness varied with season and climate and naturally assumed diat die
weadier had a direct effect— which was true up to a point. Lacking microscopes,
diey had no way o f knowing how typhoid (commoner in summer) differed from
heatstroke or winter pneumonia from frostbite and exposure. Anodier observation
was diat certain foods increased body heat, odiers seemed to make the body colder.
For a long time, modem scientists thought tliis w'as all nonsense— purely arbitrary
and irrational— but we now know that die ancients were really attending to some­
ttys Trnduw im l Mcdun! Vnlun of hood 19 0

thing. High-caloric t<xxls were quite correctly seen a s more heating; they raise lx x.iy
heat in a malnourished people in winter. Perhaps the ancients saw that such t<xx.is
bum with much heat when dry. Low-calorie tixxls don't maintain !>xiv lieat in a
malnourished person in cold weather (unless inirc.il istic amounts o f diem arc eaten),
thus such tilings as lettuce and cabbage were considered axiling. Salty water was
seen to prevent heatstroke, tints it is classed as ctxiling, (’Ilic truth ts that heatstroke
caii be caused bv salt depletion through sweating.) Water itself chills the Ux.lv it one
tails into cold water, so it was obviously cooling (see Anderson 1980,1982, 1984, M S .;
Goukl-Martin 197S)-
Oncc these simple observations had been incorporated into a simple system, ev­
erything seemed to fit. Some fixxls have an etfect on the skm that is similar to a
bum; thus ginger, pepper, and (much later) chilis were obviously hearing. Ilic ef­
fects o f alcohol make it obviously liearing. A “ neutral” category arose for lexxis rh.it
are everyday staples— bread in the Western world, nee and tish in the Eastern
— these mainstays were (surely) die perfectly balanced tixxts. Since bread is much
higher in calorics than rice, bread is considered heating in the Orient; the stage is set
tor argument. Meat, even when new verv high in calories, was seen os strengthening
and body-building; so it was axled as heating, but much le.vs so than tar or sugar.
Sour foods seemed ctxiling (think o f lemonade); bitter ones often heated i ’inally,
foods of hot colors— red, orange, brilliant yellow— were often axled as hot. while
foods o f cool colore— icy white, green— were cool, hixxls o f a pale brown or dull
ehalk-wliite were neutral. Sonic ftxxls, o f course, present mixed signals: plums are
red, but sour and watery. Disagreement over such items led to locally ditlerent lists
and eventually to frequent modem dismissal o f the whole system as sheer supersti­
tion. We can now see that, while die system is not perfect, it was a plausible exten­
sion of real home tmtlis. Nothing succeeds like a simple extrapolation from everyday
reality. This is not to say tJi.lt the full system is simple. Much remains to be learned
about Ilow and why it produces effective therapy. There are no doubt many values
still to be discovered in die old hot/cold ctxiing system (see 1.11 1986), and Chinese
medical research continues 011 it.
Wetness and dryness— obviously relevant in climate— were also seen in humans.
Weeping rashes, bloating, and edema were due to excess o f wetness. Dry throat, fe­
verish wasting, and a scratchy, rough feeling could be due to excess o f dryness.
R x x is diat promoted these must be wetting and drying. I11 China, several tixxis that
often cause allergic rashes— wet and succulent— arc wetting; shellfish are a common
example. R x x is that are tinmglit to produce a dry, scratchy tcvling in the thitxit, in­
cluding coffee and dry-roasted peanuts, are drying. This dimension was never as im­
portant as heating/cixiling, however.
In recent decades, many Chinese have abandoned die heating/cxxiling dichotomy,
aldiough it and the related concept o f "rising fire” (sbniif/ bud) widely persist in
China and througliour East Asia.
There is a catcgpry o f “ cold” (imu) Rxxis that are quite separate from axilin g
tfi' Trmiitmml McdtcnI Vnines of Food 191

ftxxfs. Sev eral tcxxts are both cooling and told. “ Coldness” is not very salient, arxl
my informants do not have a very clear picture o f tlie quality; such foods are thought
k* give ont a cold tee ling in the stomach or to make die btxiy actually feel icy. They
are the opposite not o f hearing fcxxfs in general, but o f those specific hearing ftxxls
tli.it are standardly’ used in winter to make one feel warm; dog meat, snake meat,
guava, and the like.
Remember that die actual temperature o f tlie (<xx1s is not relevant here; tiieir ef-
feet on die Ixxfv is wliat counts. Cxxiling kxxls may tints be used to treat fever, rash,
sores, red places, and other over hot or bumlike conditions, as well as constipation
and other binding symptoms. Hearing fcxxis are used to treat low temperature (as
from shock or chronic tuberculosis), p.illor, frequent chills, wasting, weakness, and
diarrhea. Observation often bore out the value o f these cures. When people in old
China suffered from chronic sores, drv skin, and redness, the problem was very tre-
quendy due to (or exacerbated by) vitamin deficiency, especially vitamins A and C.
11 ic e<xiling fixxfs are usually vegetables high in one or both of diese vitamins: Chi-
11e.se cabbage, watercress, carrots, given radishes, and so 011. Similarly, p.illor and
weakness li.s u .i 11v involved anemia. W.inning and strengthening fixxfs were tvpieallv
chicken stew, pigs' bkxxl or internal organs, Chinese wolfrhom berries, and other
excellent sources o f iron and other minerals. O11 the otlier hand, tlie svstem some­
times had disastrous results. I11 particular, diarrhea is considered a cold symptom;
water, vegetables, fhiits, .11id other fcxxfs would be withheld from the sufferer, a
practice often fatal. CChildren with diarrhea might go witliout vegetables and fruits
and suffer from malnutrition (especially lack o f vitamin C). However, on balance,
the svstem fitted obsen ation and cured inanv more people tlian it killed. The tew
deaths would likely have been among children, who in old China were almost ex­
pected to die; at least among tlie (xx)r, infant mortality frequently exceeded 50 per­
cent. 11ic system's failures thus attracted ttxi little notice. (Moreover, the belief in
widiholding vegetables and fruits was far from universal.)
By the nineteenth ccnturv, humoral nutritional medicine was believed and prac­
ticed in China, India, tlie Near East, most o f Europe, and most o f Latin America. It
was widespread in the Philippines (where Spanish influences met Chinese), northern
Africa, Japan (but identified there as a Chinese import), and Southeast Asia. Most o f
these areas’ medical s y s terns included concerns widi heat and cold even before identi­
fiable Creco-Arab-Indian influence readied them. Today, tlie humoral system re­
mains the basis o f folk medicine in all the less developed parts o f this vast realm, and
it is .in important scientific field in China, Japan, and die Indian subcontinent. M od­
em nutritional science was not advanced enough to challenge it in the English­
speaking world until die late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Indeed, a few'
remnants o f humoral medicine are still with us— not just such metaphors as “ cool as
a cucumber” or the use o f “'hot” to mean “spicy” bur also beliefs in such things as tile
curative value o f chicken soup and die weakening effects o f getting ones feet wet or
standing in a draft. No medical belief .system in .ill human history has influenced
f t Traditional Mcdicai Values o f Food 192

more people or lasted so long in tlie popular mind. Direcdy or indirectly, humoral
nutrition affects the diet of" literally every Chinese who still eats anv tr.itlirion.il tcxxl.
Indeed, few people in die world have not been influenced a bit by die system’s teach­
ings. Tlie wide use o f many vegetables, chicken soup, and sevcr.il c<x)king herbs is
dependent 011 it.
Heating and cooling caught on as an idea in China not only because the system
worked but also because it fit so beautifully with the age-old yang anti yin cosmol­
ogy. Foods had been classified to some extent as vang or yin ev en before the Greco-
lndian ideas entered. By 550 a .d ., Greco-Indian codings domin.itetf Chinese ones.
But die whole logic o f die svstem is bcautifi.rlly Chinese; it stressed balance, order ,
and harmony, die greatest o f all virtues in the Confiician worldview.
Once tlie sj'stem became popular, litde was added to it. New' tixxls were added;
disagreements arose about tlie codings o f some items. But die whole simply based
system never changed. Significantly, die Greek concept o f actual humors-— san­
guine, choleric, melancholic, and plilegmatic— was nev er accepted in Eastern Asia.
Hot, cold, wet, and dry energies were enough to explain what needed to be ex­
plained. Actual bcxiilv secretions were thought to be just secretions, and none re­
ceived die special pride o f place diat blood, phlegm, and bile obtained in Europe.
In its final fbmi, as seen today (and for many centuries past), the system classifies
some foods as dangerously heating, to be avoided except by those in gixxl health.
These include fried and long-baked foods, strong alcoholic drinks, and hot spices.
Milder heating foods are strengthening and restorative, gcxxl tor those with too
much coo! energy: most meats, red beans, ginger, ginseng (some kinds are ccxiling,
though), a few vegetables like chrysanthemum greens {they are spicy tasting), and so
on. Neutral foods are die great mainstays, starch staples and ordinary white-fleshed
fish. Cooling foods used routinely as medicine or dietary aid include Chinese cab­
bages, green beans (fresh or dry), radishes (green ones are cooler), watercress, and
many other vegetables.
But not all diet therapy is based on tlie humoral dimensions. Almost as important
is die co tK C p t o f pit: “strengthening, supplementing, patching up.” Such ftxxls are
initially those that promote tissue repair, cure anemia, or show' general tonic action.
An ah'sis o f supplementing foods shows diat they usually do have some such action,
but also diat they are striking in appearance. Often sympadietic magic is at work:
walnut meats have a reputation for strengthening the brain beeau.se they kx>k like a
brain; red jujubes and port wine are thought to strengdien die blood mainly because
o f dieir red color. However, usually foods regarded as pu are not only appropriate
but also effective. The vast majority o f pu foods are easily digestible, high-quality
protein. Fowl— especially wild— arc probably most used. Much stronger are sea cu­
cumbers, birds’ nests, raccoon-dogs, deer antlers, shark fins, pangolins, and many
odier wild animals and animal products. Many o f diese are famous worldwide as ex­
amples o f die bizarre things human beings will eat atid pay high prices for.
One o f die most expensive is ginseng. Tlie plant is on tlie border between iixxl
 Traditional Médical Values o f Food >91

and medicine, categories diat merge in Chinese. It is called medicine (yikb) but is
eaten in quantity bv diose who can afford it, either cooked with foods or drunk in
powder or tincture form. Ginseng's acnj.il effect appears to lx tonic. Drugs widiin it,
including panaquin and panaquilonc, have a mildly stimulating effect; the taker ti-els
energized but not “ wired” (as with caffeine). Many odier drugs o f tonic effect arc re­
garded as pu, and frequently arc placed— as ginseng is— in the highest class o f med­
icines: die “heaven” or “ ruler" class, which strengthens the body or increases its en­
ergy, radier th.in treating or helping a pardcular condition.
It is the combination of iv.il effect and apparent oddness or weirdncss that gives
some ftxxls dieir special reputation as pu. Sympathetic magic enters in ways other
than appearance; tor instance, the male genitalia of" deer are believed to be especially
strengthening to die human equivalent, doubdess because one male deer can service"
approximately seventy does during ait season. This Ls the nearest tiling to an aphro­
disiac in Chinese medicine; the dozens o f items so listed in salacious books arc all pu
rather than actually aphrodisiac (i.e., directly irritating or stimulating to die sex or­
gans), and lew are specifically pu to die genitalia. O f course, all o f them can work as
aphrodisiacs, since nothing is mote responsive to placebo effects dian sexual func­
tions, 'Hie general tonic and stimulant effects o f such mcdieincs as ginseng are obvi­
ously useful in such cases, k x ). But the main reason tor die sexual effects o f most pu
lix >ds is (I toeI sure) diat malnutrition rapidlv and drastically weakens sexual perfor­
mance and interest. Ftxxis rich in minerals and protein were just what was needed in
the bad old days. Thev are described as chttmuj ymuj {helping die yang organ), pu
ihcn (strengthening the testicles), and so on.
In short, pu is a system generated by— and explicable only by—-die interaction ot
empirical trudi and psychological construction. On a solid base o f observed fact,
people erected a structure o f extrapolation and inference. Psychosomatic effects ap­
pear to validate much o f this structure; traditional Chinese medicine has never seen

strangeness, diougli diese are certainly factors, and conspicuous consumption is a

very major part o f dieir use. More basic is the concept o fch ’i. In the traditional Chi­
nese worldview, bodilv energy, spiritual energy, and die flow o f energy in the natural
world are all part o f one great system. This is tnic o f modem physics too, but die
Chinese belief is more extreme, claiming diat people can draw on natural energy
flow by earing creatures that have a great deal o f energy or even by positioning
themselves in places diat are appropriately located to take advantage o f die How o f
ch’i. The striking appearance o f such creatures as pangolins and racctxan-dpgs is
diought to indicate great energy or unusual energy patterns. Powerful creatures like
eagles— to say 110thing o f die sexually hvperpotent deer— are also obvious sources
o f energy. Unfortunately, desire for such pu items as antlers, hear gall, snake meat,
and rhinoceros horn is leading to vast worldwide poaching and tlx' extermination o f
many species o f wildlife. Only large-scale forming or ranching offers hope for die sur­
rfi* Traditional M cdim ! Values of Food igj.

vival and continued use ot these animals. The Chinese arc moving (but perhaps tcx>
slowly) in this direction.
A further powei+ul factor in directing Chinese attention to the vital importance o f
balance and harmony (/w, “ hamiony,” is die term most often used) is the six'ial im­
portance o f diis value.
Odier fcxxis impart pn to odier Ixxiilv systems. 'Die fXxTrine o f Si mil.in ties is im­
portant here. Stewed lungs o f animals improve tlie lungs; steamed pig or chicken or
duck blood supplements the blood (which is perfectly correct it one kxiks at the as­
similable iron value), likxxi is strengthened not only by animal blood, hut by poit
wine and many other bkxxi-rescmbling items.
Almost all animal fixxls are pu to some degree if prepared con ectly— usually by
steaming or simmering slowly, especially widi herbs. Essentially, all pu things are
heating, but gently so; they arc at the low-caloric, low-fat, low-irritant end of' the
hotness scale. line slow7simmering is intended to reduce their heating ch’i still mi >rc
The idea is to provide a gentle wanning radier than a sudden shock ot’heat. 1’ repared
this \vays pu foods are almost always easy to digest, hv both Cliinese and mixicm sci­
entific criteria, They are also usually rich in protein and often in mineral nutrients.
Such items as chicken arc often stewed with enough vinegar to leach sonic o f the cal­
cium front the bones and otherwise pick up mineral .111 orients, Many o f the herbal
items, such as ginseng, also actually have some tonic or nutrient effect. Tile similarity
o f the ginseng root to tlie human Ixxlv is also relevant. In short, it is not enough for
an item to look tike on organ. Tlie Chinese do nor take the simplistic attitude once
found in Europe, that any liver-shaped leaf is gtxxl for tlie liver, or any yellow plant
is gtxxl for jaundice. They will accept an item as pu only if it does have some discern­
ible nutrient, drug, or medical efleet— though in China as in nineteendi-cennirv
America it is sometimes to be strongly suspected that the only e fleet o f .some items is
produced by tlie strong alcohol content. (Not only port wine, but a vast variety o f
native wines and tinctures, are pu.)
White trec-fiingus, abaionc, and odier anomalous creatures and plants are also pu.
Such routine creatures as eliickcns an; still less pu. It is almost safe to say that the
more bizarre and striking an item is, the more pu it will be. This Is an obvious in­
stance o f Man' Douglas’ famous generalizations about anomalous animals, and all
her comments about tlie pangolin in Africa are apposite-— I think— in China Kx>
(Douglas 1966, 1975). M y fisherman informants in Hong Kong told me that die gi­
ant grouper (which may reach five hundred pounds) often has a tiny crustacean par­
asite in its gills; if die grouper is caught and dies, all its d ri goes into the crustaccan,
w 'liich is dius die richest possible source and die most powerful o f all tonics. 'Hiis is
definitely a folk explanation. Although Chinese doctors educated in the elite tradi­
tion often explain pu action in terms of’ actual tonic chemicals alleged to exist in the
foods, die folk explanation is probably die older.
Another key tcrni in Chinese medical nutrition is in. T h is literally means “ poison,”
but it is used in two different seitses, and almost all informants note (often sponrane-
f t Traditional Mcdicai Values of Food 195

ouslv) that dlev arc reallv quite distinct. One, identical to die English word, refers to
things tliat arc directly toxic if eaten, like puffer-fish liver, 'llie other U used in refer­
ence to foods tliat are not poisonous in dieniselves but bring out or potentiate any
poisons in the body o f the eater. Tlie classic ftxxls in tliis category .ire uncastrated
male poultry. In a study o f cancer epidemiology, I found diat cancer victims and of­
ten their entire families rigorously abstained from all poultry thev did (Kit actually see
killed and cleaned, for fear o f getting w en tlie tiniest bit o f an uncastrated male; diey
believed cancer w ould be stimulated by such foods. Beef is often considered tu, lamb
and mutton sometimes. Several fish are poisonous in this sense, as are some nuts,
seeds, and vegetables, although lists differ widely from informant to informant and
in tlie various classical Chinese mcdicai herlials. As Giro! Ladennan (1981) points
out, allergic reactions— specifically hives and rashes— are often at tile rtxit o f such
ascriptions, especially in regard to seafoods. Since rashes are often seen as internal
jxiisons breaking out at or through die surface o f the Lxxfv, responding to a foot!
with a rash is often raken as a sign tliat the ftxxi is poisonous. Alternatively, tliough,
it may indicate tlie tixxi is bearing and wetting, t(>r tliis humoral combination brings
out or stimulates certain poisons, notahlv those of venereal disease.
Doe to the lack o f agreement about what fixxis are poisonous, general izarion is
riskv, but one thing stands out: tlie fixxis usually considered poisonous and/or hot
and wet are either similar to or specific forms o f those that are pu. Most pu fixxis are
non poisonous, but the poisonous fcxxls tend to be pu to some degree. Many heit>al
remedies— those o f the lower herbal classes— are poisonous in their action (some­
times they act by "using poison to drive out |X)ison,” as the Chinese used to Lluse
barbarians to control barbarians,” another social-mcdicai analogy.) Hie ideal pu
fixxis and medicines are non poisonous, but it is clear that there is some association.
Perhaps uncastrated male poultry and the like are seen to strengthen the internal poi­
sons, nourish die cancer and give it power, tor example. 'Hie tremendous amount of
yang energy in a rooster or drake converts it from a gentle nourisher and cherisher o f
the body to an uncontrolled, dangerous nourisher o f both tlie Lxxiy and the body’s
enemies. I am thus tentatively persuaded— pending a much fuller study o f ascription
o f fixxis to the tu category— that poison-potentiation is a logical extension o f pu, or
perhaps o f a more general category o f pharmacologically broadly effective tilings.
Poison-potentiators are effective but hard-to-control drugs. They are, o f course,
conceptually very close to dings that actually have toxic side effects.
Harder to explain are the manv poisonous combinations. Here tlie belief is not
merely tliat these combinations are poison-potentiating; certain f(xxls. eaten to­
gether, an: supposed to react ro producc actual, virulent poisons. Gould-Martin lists
“ in Taiwan, crab and pumpkin, port and liquorice, mackerel and plums and, in
H ong Kong, garlic and Imncv, crab and persimmon, dog meat and green beans”
(1978:4?). Very long lists o f these can easily be compiled by anyone with access to in-
fonnants or traditional medical books. At present 1 am completely at a loss to explain
them. Informants tell 111c the combinations were arrived at empirically radier than
 Traditional Mcdicnl Values o f Food 196

through theory or logic; yet none o f diem is empirically demonstrable to lx- liimifi.il
in die slightest degree. N o one dares actually experiment (except modem Chinese
outside the traditional framework), so the belief goes untested, A delighrti.il article by
Libin Cheng (1956) recounts his daring experiments widi allegedly poisonous combi­
nations. H e survived unhurt, as did his experimental animals, and lie gives a good
overview and summary o f the whole matter. Cheng suspects the complex may be
traceable to experiences with allergy, bacterially contaminated foods, adulterated
foods, and the like. But why diese particular combinations were chosen seems im­
possible to determine.
I pass briefly over such minor problems as foods said to bloat or cause llatu-
lencc— here people describe reality. One other key concept underlies die concepts of
th’injf (cleaning) and Imno (dispelling, clearing away). In both cases, die idea is to get
rid o f undesirable matter or essences in die body. Ch’ing gets rid o f waste products
and any poisons built up in die system. One clears away (lisiao) excess wetness,
“wind,” and other pathogenic natural forces diat have entered die bodv. Curing in­
flammation, edema, and the like involves clearing away the accumulated ill humors.
Some foods, licorice and honey, for example, free one from poisons (cinch in). “ Dirt”
(not the same tiling as tu) can also be dispelled. Foods particularly gixx .1 at cleaning
are honey, brown sugar, and sugarcane juice (Gould'-Martin 1978:40), some vegeta­
bles, a number o f herbs. A very common herbal mixture, sold in all Chinese drug
and general stores, is the dfingpu liaiuj (cleaning, strengthening, and cooling) herbal
tea or soup mix. Cl/big Umuj foods relieve heat; iin nno tixxts are diuretic (often be­
cause o f potassium content in the context o f a high-salt diet).
The Cliinese have lived widi famine and malnutrition for a very long time and
have accumulated conntless observations connectcd therewith. From these thev have
constructed a folk nutritional science— radier, both a folk and an elite nutritional
scicnce-— that subsumes die observations under a set o f simple principles or con­
cepts. Sonic o f these broad concepts stand die test o f modem science. Others merely
illustrate the truth o f die remark attributed to H . L. Mencken (among others) diat
“ for every problem dicre is a solution diat is simple, plausible, and wrong.”
The study o f medicinal classification has implications for the study of Chinese
diought. More important arc its implications for die study o f human thought in
genera). In actual working taxonomy (so to speak), people appear to go up die taxo­
nomic tree and then back down. They classify tilings by seeing some particularly im­
portant general, shared qualities. 'Dicy die» overgenci-alize and overextend diese
qualities to produce a simple, grand, overardiing, high-level system, They dien use
deduction to classify new or unusual items: if a new item has quality X , it is classified
under the appropriate heading. Often die new item should not be so classified, in
remis o f its actual effects, but the assignment o f it to a particular category is dior-
onghly system-driven: logic takes precedence over mere fact. On die other hand,
feedback from experience guarantees diat any widespread system has some trudi or
value. Nutritional medicine, in particular, must be grounded in experiential reality.
 Traditional Medical Values o f Food 19 7

“Chunking” enters in that people do not generalize along a smooth gradient.

They recognize tlie natural “chunking” o f die world— for example, into biological
species— and oversharpen diis distinction by treating members o f a chunk as if they
were pretty much identical but very' different from members o f any other chunk. All
pangolins are about equally pu. This apparendv simple matter— ovcrsharpening o f
some distinctions and blurring o f die distinctions not so ovcrsharpcned— is at die
nx>t o f many human mistakes and misperceptions (Nisbett and Ross 1980).
C u t is analogical diinking. It was once said in philosophy classes diat die Chinese
are analogical radier dian logical in tiieir diought processes. During the critical for­
mative peruxl o f Cliinese philosophic diought, syllogistic logic vied tor place widi ar­
gument based on analogy. Tlie latter won, but not without being affectcd by die
former. Chinese diinkers recognized diat diere were analogies and analogies— even
if you do answer Ijcwis Carroll’s question, “why is a raven like a writing desk?” you
haven't learned anything very exciting. Philosophers argued by analogy, but die one
w hose analogy actually included a homology (or somediing like one) was die win­
ner. Tlie idea was diat if W o things share a common quality, diey may share a com­
mon substrate, There are qualities diat arc real and shared but superficial and trivial
(whiteness) and ones that are real, shared, and basic (energy, in moving systems, for
instance). Chinese philosophy, as it took tbmi, focused on pragmatic, existential real­
ity and 011 process. Thus, what was shared was, most importandy, certain types o f ef­
fect, o f energy, o f transfbmiing ability' and transforming power. The Western tradi­
tion o f idealism (focusing on essential reality and on unchanging, ultimate Form)
was unacceptable to die Chinese, even though it was often introduced, tor example
widi some schools o f Buddhist diought, from westward.
Tlie re is little “ essential’’ difference between logic anti analogic. O ne can set up
analogies as syllogisms:

Tilings diat are strikingly unlike odier natural things have a particular and
powerful ch’i.
T lie pangolin is strikingly distinctive.
Therefore, it has a lot o f powerful ch’i.

O ne can set up syllogisms as analogies:

All die people I know o f w ho readied a great age died.

Socrates is like diese odier people I know o f— not in everything, but in
what I diink are key respects.
Tim s, w e can expect Socrates to die too.

Eidier way, one carries out similar inductive and deductive processes.
O n balance, Chinese traditional beliefs worked very well to keep people healthy
and to keep the food prcxluction system diverse. M any plants and animals diat
would not otherwise have been domesticated, or kept in domestication, were g r o w l
Lx’eause o f dieir alleged niedkal values. W hile few o f these were as medicinally eflec-
f t Trnditionnl Mcrfkat Vnines o f Food litS

tive as traditional doctors thought, they did provide a richer and more varied re­
source base tor agriculture. 'Finis more ecological niches were used; nutrients .uid
land «'ere employed more efficiently, since each culrigen had its special requirements
and habitat tliat would often have lain unused if people had wished to grow' only the
cheap grains. lX'cr and racoon-dog farms, for instance. provide a valuable economic
resource in areas odierwise too cold and too tar from markets to pr<xluce much.
Onlv the higli prior commanded by tliese animals justifies cropping the areas where
they occur. In the centivi) lands, such crops as wateaTess and Chinese wolfthom
make efficient use o f marginal bits o f land. (What besides watercress w ould grow
profitably in shallow, cold water?) Such crops also prov ide insurance; an agriculture
diat specializes in die two or three most productive crops dtxmi-s its users to 1ami lie
when the crops tail. Chinese agriculture was so diverse diat the people were relativ ely
buttered against famine— or, more accurately, more people could lv supported
when famine struck. A knowledge o f wild edible plants, gained through use thereof
as medicines, also stixxi the peasants in good stead at .such times.
But, also, the system is based on much empirical observation, 'llie Chinese ex­
plained diese observations as best thcv could; lacking modem laboratories and hav­
ing a radier primitive, although extensive, analytic chemistry, they could not possibly
have discovered those compounds and analyzed diem. iliev thus eanic up with rea­
sonable, plausible, logical inferences, which we now know to be often incorrect. Bur
dicv were often verv close to die trudi— as in die similarity o f the heating/ci x>ling di-
nxm ion to our concept o f calorics. (Hie calorie is a measure of heat.) Therefore,
die}’ worked reasonably well. T o an old man who had never had much protein-rich
and mineral'rich food, or tor that matter to one who had been rich enough to in­
dulge in die fatty, greasy, salty diet o f banqueting luxuriant*, a diet o f birds' nests and
sea cucumbers would be nothing but helpful.
We still have much to learn from Chinese traditional medicine and nutrition. Re­
cent discoveries o f homiones in deer velvet, stimulants in ginseng, and literally thou­
sands o f valuable drugs in Chinese herbal remedies should drive us back to the labo­
ratories and clinical trials to sec if odier traditional ti.Kx.ls have values that we do not
yet know about. Mineral availability, enzyme systems, undiscovered animal medi­
cines, and synergistic effects o f various ftxxls seem particularly promising avenues for
research. I do not believe diat we know all die reasons why pu fixxis strengthen,
whv cooling fixxis seem to heal sores, why honcv seems so s<x)diing, or why licorice
seems almost magically effective at harmonizing medicines in mixes! doses and pre­
venting bad side effects. I can personally testify to such benefits as relief o f cold symp­
toms and sore throats by kxjuat syrup and pear syrup. Tlie whole concept o f a medi­
cal therapy based on gende, inexpensive, everyday means o f strengthening die Ixxly
and scxjdiing its adies has much to contribute to our nvxieni system with its power­
ful and dangerous remedies that all too often create iatrogenic pari 10logics o f their
own.
 Food h i Society 2ii

and exploitation. Tin: government did best wlicn it acted as quiet arbiter— the \vidi-
drawn ruler o f Taoist writings— in a world o f relatively small and relatively indepen­
dent producers and distributors. Neither capitalist nor socialist extremes work well in
practice, if tlie goal is coupling productivity with public welfare.
In the end, tlie nx>st important lesson I learned from tlie development o f China’s
food system is that nor only man, but bread, does not live by bread alone. Ideology
{both public and personal), human emotions and errors vie with rational calculus in
determining behavior Onlv rarely do people create such glorious s\Tithescs as the
Chinese system; all praise to the million';, named and unnamed, wlio have done so!
llicir accomplishments— and tine accomplishments o f all those wl>o have fed hu­
manity, the masses o f India and Mexico, o f France and Finland— arc as brilliant as
those o f poets and artists, and perhaps even more useful. “With tlie deepest rever­
ence,” I chink o f emperors Wen and Ching, o f T a o Hung-ching and Li Shih-ch’en,
and o f a billion peasants whose names arc lost in die black flow o f rime. Thanks to
them, we are alive ttxlay, and we may even hope to see our children and children's
children survive.
 Appendix:
H Dinner at the N/js

It may lv useful tu take ,1 look at one very traditional Chinese family at tabic.
In 1974—7> Marja Anderson and 1 returned to our old field home o f Castle Peak
Bay, Hong Kong, to cam' out field research on Chinese food production and con­
sumption. As part o f die research, we kept a record o f ftxxl consumption by our
g<x>d hie 1ids and next-door neighbors die N g family. In our earlier fieldwork in
1965-66 we had studied the boat-dwelling fishermen o f the area. Most o f die boat
people have gone on shore now. We rented a iioom in die house o f an old friend and
informant, Mr. Chan; he and his family were rarely at home, so our nearest observ­
able neighbors w ere the Ngs, who rented a small house in die same compound from
Mr. Chan. 'Hie N g family consisted o f a former boat man now moved on shore, his
wife, dieir children, .inti often a relative or two, usually the mother o f one or the
other parent. Mr. N g worked ar a fish-assembling market diat bought fish from die
fishermen and resold them to nrban wholesale marketers in Kowloon twenty miles
away. H e never left the Castle Peak area on his job, but Ik- worked long Ilours, usu­
ally from about six a .m . to nine p .m . or more. It was a rare treat and cause for a fam­
ily celebration when he could come home early enough to cat widi die younger chil­
dren. The family was close, warm, and happy; mealtimes, especially with father, were
times o f relaxed happiness and sociability'.
Most o f our fcxxi consumption studies in H ong Kong were based on interview­
ing or interviewing plus observation, but to see what die Ngs ate we used observa­
tion alone unless we had a specific question. Over a period o f five mondis, we ob­
served about half die main meals (lunches and dinners) eaten (152 out o f about 300).
(For the other meals eidler die Ngs or we went out to eat.) During diis time we also
ohseived a vast and uncounted number o f snacks, including breakfasts. Mr. N g was
usually gone before die children got up, and on special occasions (including most
days «'hen he staved home later than usual) die Ngs went out to breakfast as Can­
tonese so love to do, so we never saw a real formal breakfast there— die morning
meal was an impromptu affair with die children snacking on bread or die like. We
recorded seventeen snacks, but we missed the vast majority o f them or saw only pair

21s
tp* D in n er nt th e N jji 216

oft)ic caring trailsaction and did not bother to record it. Someone in die house, usu­
ally everyone, had sonic s o i t o f snack every dav, in addition to breakfast. Snack tixxts
rccordcd were cbn sbno pao (flour buns sniffed widi roast pork tilling), raisin bread,
w'liite bread with margarine, cookies, candy, small cakes, gum. and tin it (usually or­
anges but also apples, bananas, dried persimmons, grapes, tangerines and mandarin
oranges, etc.). Breakfast and more substantial snacks often involved a howl ot ricc
widi soy saucc. The children often bought candy, minor meat snacks such as tiny
sausages, or buns from local vendors. Fruit was the major snack however, although
breakfast always involved some starch (ricc, bread, or buns).
During all but the coldest day's, everyone ate outside, tlie houses being small. "Hie
Ngs and the Andcrsons watched each other cat, noted what w as being eaten, and
asked about each other’s more exotic food wavs, (We lived Chinese style and ate
more or less Chinese food, so there were few' exotic toodw ays lor rhe Ngs to see. )
Our diree children proved most valuable to our fieldwork. Laura and Alan were the
same age as two o f die N g children and quick! v ton tied close friendships with them
and the rest o f die family, 'lTiey had entree to ail situations, including meals in the in­
ner sanctums o f die house where no nonfamily adults could politclv enter, and they
dius observed many snacks W'e missed. The N g and Anderson children also continu­
ally shared tbod, mosdy fruit.
The advantage o f a purely observational approach— especially when helped bv
seven- and ten-year-old children— is that it produces a tar more accurate record o f
what is actually eaten than do interview's, which are necessarily less accurate especially
as to cooking method and minor ingredients. Tlie disadvantage to observation is
diat one has to estimate quantities. But we did not need exact quantities, since we
were interested in what people ate, not in nutritional levels (all the Ngs were clearly
wcll-nourished and ate healthful food, and we were not specializing in nutrition). Tlie
quantity problem was made easier by die fact diat ttxxl was usually bought by
weight; Vi or i catty was die nonnal quantity (a catty is i 'A pounds). This was not
true offish or chicken bought whole, however. Most o f die protein eaten came from
fish diat Mr. N g acquired on die job, and diis perquisite o f his labors was weighed
incxacdy if at all. Also, weights o f food bought and cooked would give a very inade­
quate picture o f w'hat anyone actually ate. Everyone ate different amounts from die
common dish, and often much was left over, placed in die refrigerator and nibbled
on later. Such nibbling was impossible to record. Rarely was a dish completely eaten
at one sitting, unless it was somediing die children loved; but dishes never lasted
more than a day. ’Ilie refrigerator, a very recent addition to such working-class
households o f H ong Kong as die Ngs’, wras a supremely useful diing to have, but a
bane to die andiropologist. However, we were allowed to use it ourselves, so we or
more usually our children would make a point o f chocking it often to see what die
Ngs were using it for.
Tlie Ngs, boat people (even though now living on shore) from fishermen’s fami­
f t Dinner nt the Njjs 217

lies, .itt: a groat deal offish, 'nicy also ate rice at every real meal— in fact, a meal, here
as elsewhere in East Asia, was defined as ail occasion where rice was eaten with side
dishes (mntf ). 'Hie adults and two older children ate one or one and a half bowls o f
(ice at lunch, each bowl tilled with 8 ounces (volume measure) o f rice or a bit more,
and tw o bowls at dinner; the younger children ate about one bowl at each meal,
down to and including the baby (two and a half'years old). A good deal o f soy sauce
went onto this rice, and often rice and soy was a snack by itself. Noodles made a
rarer snack (we recorded 7 occasions).
llie most important sung bv weight was vegetables. At every meal cxcept very
small ones (e.g., it almost everyone was at work or at school), about [—2 catties o f
vegetable* were cooked up. Mustard greens were tlie most often used (main ingredi­
ents in fifteen dishes anti several soups, a minor ingredient in several odier dishes).
'llie.se are the commonest vegetables in H ong Kong, and very popular. During the
coldest p.m o f die year, Peking cabbage was common (Ki meals), almost always
boiled with pork or fish or shrimp to make a rather soupy dish. It is strictly seasonal.
A litde later, Ictrucc came into season (8 meals; it was boiled widi animal foods). T o ­
matoes, white radish, potatoes, bok chov, carrots, kaai clioi (another kind o f mustaRl
green), bean sprouts, and pickled vegetables (of indeterminate species in die genus
Brasfiui or near relatives) appeared at a few meals each (3—5 or so). Once boiled yam
{Dtosanra ninra, not sweet potato) appeared, and once Chinese arrowroot. Luffa
gourd apjvaied once, 111 soup. Cauliflower, taro, and snow peas appeared once each
in times' feast dishes on holidays. Tlie reliance on Bmssicaccne— including die cab­
bages, mustard greens, and wliite radish— is notable; one or another species o f diis
family appeared almost every day. Since die Chinese Bmssicaceac include what are
perhaps die most highly nutritious vegetables eaten commonly in the world, rich in
vitamins A and C , iron, odier minerals, and folic acid, diis was a good feature o f die
diet.
"llie standard everyday condiment in die diet was salt fish. Depending on how'
many people were earing, about 2 - 6 ounces were steamed in the closed vessel in
wliich rice was cooked, the fish resting 011 the rice in a small shallow dish. This
amount served for die entire day. Tile adults, especially die women, used most o f it.
l l i e children did not like it especially but ate tiny bits to add salt and flavor to the
fix*.! Salt fish appeared at no less than m o f the 152 meals and may have been eaten
more often than that, since we probably missed it a few times (occasionally it was not
brought out, tor instance, but snacked on from die icebox). Most o f the exceptions
were special meals: salt fish was considered too ordinary for most such affairs.
Fresh fish appeared steamed (usually small fish were steamed over rice) 51 times,
stir-tried 16 times, minced and formed into sheets, balls or paste 3 times, and also in
many mixed boiled dishes— twice in fetal dishes, once in soup, and many times to
flavor boiled greens. Only a few festal days were without fish. T w o meals included
steamed, stir-fried, and salt fish. Fish was steamed with pickled soybeans, ginger, oil,
 D inner at the Njii 218

green onions, or other “ deftshers’’ or “fish flavors.” Stir-frying o f die tougher,

stronger-flavored fell usually involved pickled soybeans and garlic, 1-rcsh fish was
liked by all. Usually die fish consisted o f small and cheap varieties that Mr. Ng got at
work; about Vi to 1V2 tatties per day were eaten.
Meat always meant pork. There were 79 servings ofpork (counting multiple ap­
pearances at the same meal). 'Hie commonest form was small salami-I ike sausages
made widi Chinese grain in alcohol and called Innp cJjauiij (dried sausage). These
were used only in cold weadicr; they began to appear about die middle of October
and becamc almost dailv adjuncts to die meal from November 011 (seen at 37 meals,
probably missed a few rimes). One or two per dav were steamed, a it up, and eaten
as a sort o f relish widi food. The adults liked diem; die children did nor esjx.-ci.illy
since thev were very greasy. Rarely did anyone eat as much as an ounce at a meal.
More substantial quantities of’ fresh pork (or in one case liver) were eaten at >6
meals, about 1A cam' bought at a time. More exacdy, 1A catty was the standard ra­
don except oil festive occasions, when a catty might be boughr, or more for com­
pany. Sometimes onlv l/f canv was bought to flavor the blander sorts o f vegetables.
Usually die pork was lean, but almost as often— l+ times— it was in the f<mil of
p'fua hunt (“ ranked bones” or “ bones arranged in ranks,” i.e., spareribs). These arc
quite fatty and were not greatly loved by die children, who did not like greasy fixxf;
dius, only small quantities were eaten. They were usually steamed with pickled soy­
beans, garlic, and/or similar strong flav orings. Much less pork was used than fish,
and a lot o f fat and/or bone was discarded, so pork contributed far less to die diet
dian fish.
Chicken marked a festive meal. A bit might be bought for company, but at every
major festival diere «'as a whole chicken or more. Chicken appeared at iy meals.
Usually it was boiled; on very' festive occasions it was prepared in various ways—
some boiled by itself; die less choice parts boiled widi odier fixxis; some o f die
choicer parts fried. On die major festivals bodi chicken and pork were consumed,
along widi mushrooms (never seen odienvise) and odier expensive vegetables such
as the one occurrcncc o f cauliflower. In H ong Kong, chicken is self-consciously used
as a marker o f a festive occasion, and mushrooms also are always classed as very spe­
cial. Another festive food— seen twice, at minor occasions— was glutinous rite
dumpling widi meat bits in it, known as io mamfont1. Oysters once and lobster twice
assisted at other minor festmtics. Roast pork and roast duck occurred very rarely in
very small quantities on minor occasions.
Eggs were moderately important in die diet. Bodi chicken and duck eggs were
used, more often the former. Salted and dried egg yolks appeared twice each, at very
casual lunches when few people were home. More important and popular were egg-
and-meat dishes: a sort o f stew o f egg, minced meat, tomato, and green onion or a
custard flavored with meats— especially strong-flavored items such as dried shrimp
and squid— and soy saucc. Tliis dish was very popular widi the children, indeed
about their favorite everyday fare.
 Dinner at the Njjs 219

Tlie ordinary seasoning for tbod was soy sauce. Salt by itself was never used, nor
were pepper or spices. O11 very rare occasions salt might be added to food, but al­
most invariably it was in tlie tomi o f soy sauce and/or salt fish. Ginger, green onions,
garlic, pickled black soybeans, and cooking oil were die only other diings added to
die ftxxl, except for a few cashew nuts in pork dishes for major festivals. T o Western­
ers used to a kit o f salt, pepper, M SG and the like in Cantonese food, I will mention
diat the Ngs were typical o f traditional Cantonese households in this respcct: free salt
is hardly used and pepper, M SG , spices, and so on simply do not exist. People en­
counter them only when earing out and are not at all enthusiastic ahour diem. For
most South Chinese, soybean products are die everyday flavoring agent, widi ginger
a close second; the boat people acid salt fish as a standard tbod used to add flavor.
K x x i was usually prepared by boiling or steaming. Tlie rice was boiled; so were
die vegetables, either in soup or in a waters' boil-up widi varying amounts o f meat or
rish. tine or die other o f these soupy dishes was always found at die normal meal.
Ilie howl was rilled at die end o f die meal widi diis liquid, die last o f die rice and so
on incorporated in the soup, and all eaten. Like many— perhaps most— Cantonese,
die Ngs ciid rx)t drink tea except on social occasions, and o f course they did not
drink plain water. ( Ilie local w'ater supply w'as unsafe, and Cantonese in general
avoid plain w'ater when possible.) Thus soup, often very watery, provided die main
liquid intake.
Steaming was done in small shallow dishes on top o f die rice: a one-dish meal
could lie prepared by steaming some fish in one dish, some salt fish in another, and a
bit o f vegetable in a third, all above die rice in one big closed container. The only
odier mediod o f cooking was stir-frying (chaoing— some variants o f stir-frying in­
volve more or less oil and/or more or less water). An ordinary meal always included
at least two dishes to cat widi tlie rice, and usually dnee— ideally one steamed dish,
one boiled soupv dish, and one ehaoed dish, but dierc was no effort to conform to
this pattern w'hen convenience or cheap ingredients dictated otherwise. On festal oc­
casions diere were up to ten dishes, plus great quantities o f fruit and other sweet
small eats.
The detenu inants o f this diet w'ere many and various. Cost loomed large; small
fish, salt fish, and die usual vegetables were all cheap. Yet root crops were avoided al-
dlough they arc die cheapest o f vegetables; a good deal o f pork and sausage were
eaten although these were very expensive by the Ngs’ standards; the seasonings used
were no cheaper than the seasonings that were not; and o f course everyone splurged
011 festivals. Family preference patterns were probably the next most important de­
terminant. Tlie Ngs (tike most Cantonese) liked cabbage-type vegetables and liated
root crops, especially yams. They all liked eggs, especially the children. The adults
liked salt fish and sausage, although die children did not. Everyone loved fruit, espe­
cially oi'anges; the children in particular showing an alnKst miraculous ability to
stow diese away (as do almost all H ong Kong children). The Ngs all liked fish. Like
most boat people, diey had been raised on fish— on the boats, ricc, fish, and the
I

Dimier nt the Nift 220

commonest seasonings moke up most o f [lie diet— and fish seemed almost as indis­
pensable as rite to them. During the New Year season when tliey do nor fish, boat
people develop a real craving tor fresh fish and arc often reduced to jigging desper­
ately few minnow's in the harbor. (Robert Randall told me o f the same “ fish hunger”
as a common and recognized cultural pattern among die Samal fislietmen o f the
south Philippines, and I have tound the some tiling among British G>lumbia coastal
Indians.) Onlv during festivals did die Ngs miss fish for a day.
Special occasions prov ided a source o f variation in die diet. Chicken was obliga­
tory at festivals, virtually untouched otherwise. Use o f cashew nuts, nmshnxims, and
die rarer fruits, nuts, and vegetables was even more restricted; the)' appeared only at
die biggest and nxxst religiously important festivals. A lot (if pork— as opposed to
very small quantities— almost always meant festivity, especially when cooked in large
amounts widi mixed vegetables, llie special importance o f chicken and pork lor
such occasions is a sort o f spin-off from dieir use in sacrifices; 110 major sacrifice rite is
complete without chickens and/or swine; thus die meats dicreot became associated
with iesral occasions even when no sacrifices (xcurred. Hie other items are lesral only
because they are expensive and different from everyday fare.
Medicine rarely entered into the Ngs’ diets. They tried ro balance hot and cooling
foods (in the humoral medical system) and avoided tixxis believed poisonous or un­
healthy, but they made no special point o f it, since they were almost always in robust
health. When an adult was feeling weak or “ poorly,” a little chicken long-stew ed
with strengthening medicinal herbs appeared (2 occasions were noted).
In addition to festal and health coasiderations. ordinary socializing entailed vary-
ing tiie fare. Soft drinks and tea, fruit and cookies, pork and especially time-con­
suming dishes, and for evcrv special entertainment a chicken, were markers o f signifi­
cant social events; they are listed here in order o f their importance as markers and
thus o f die importance o f die social transactions they mark.
Much of" the variety and excitement o f die diet came from eating our, and the
most important and significant social-eating transactions were also carried out in res­
taurants, so wc missed these— dius more or less “cutting die head oft'" our survey,
since we saw none o f die most higiiiv prized and highly liked meals except the main
festivals. What wc got was a good view o f ordinary, everyday fore.
The Ngs ate extremely well for their money but did not skimp— they spent a
liighcr percentage o f their budget on food dian a comparable American family
would, and they did so bccausc dicy wanted to: festal foods, pork, and eating out
were more important to them than, say, better housing (dieir house was small and
crowded), fancier appliances, or odicr alternative liscs o f the money, The Ngs were
very well nourished, dianks to the spectacular ridiness in protein, vitamins, and min­
erals o f die fish, soy products, and Btwsicaccae that bulked large in die diet; pork, or­
anges, and other vegetables added dieir benefits to diis dominant triad. Candy and
cookies were uncommon; luxury meant more meat and vegetables, not more sweets.
Som e other provisional conclusions can be drawn from diis dietary. First, virtually
tfit Dinner a! the N/JS 221

all tixxi eaten was native to China and northern Southeast Asia. Except for peanut
oil used in cooking, New World and western Eurasian or African foods counted tor
very little indeed and made absolutely no significant contribution to the diet or nutri­
tion. 1 1 ic only siit'li tixxi o f any importance was wheat— in noodles, bread and
buns, as well as cookies and crackers— hardly a recent borrowing (it spread from
West Asia perhaps tour or five thousand years ago). Among tixxis themselves (by
contrast with ingredients or fixxlstutfi). these wheat products were tile only borrow­
ings o f significance except tor candy, soft drinks, and a tew odier sweet snacks. The
Westernization o f the Hong Kong diet is proceeding by way o f white Hour and
white sugar, but among the Ngs it had not proceeded far. The poorer boat people o f
the rural New Territories are perhaps die most traditional— at least in diet— o f any­
one in 1 long Kong, and their dietary reflects conditions o f a thousand years ago.
In tile Ngs’ diet, die importance o f steaming and boiling, and o f soup and greens,
should be noted, ’llicre is as yet no thorough study o f Chinese eating patterns. Most
Westerners anti nutritionists seem to think o f stir-Irving, animal products, and bean
curd as more important than they usually are— to say nothing o f spices, sweet-sour
dishes and such.
Hie importance o f social and festive occasions, and tlieir frequency, was also
slightly surprising; tliese were important in cansing tile Ngs to spend a higher per­
centage o f their budget on tixxi than I believe most Western families would do. I
was surprised to find personal likings and ancient traditions bulking so large, but
usually the Ngs ate what was cheapest and most easily available.
And they were as wonderful neighbors as anyone could hope to have! Love to
them all.
 Notes

1110 land in (iik county, ca. niK, was used thus (Shiba 1970):
mu
L o w irrigated paddy fields 39,545
In term ed tare paddv fields 178,1+5
H illside m ulberry land 17,933
I .cvcl d ry fields 35,705
H illside d rv fields 29 ,06 +
B am b o o proves 3,288
D w a r f bam boos 8,322
{Peasants’ ) dw ellings 15,222
Ponds 23,393
M iscellaneous trees 58,385
T u n g -n u t and fruit trees 15,699
Fircw cxid forests 508,935
U nplanted farmland 24,685
G raves 8,ori
T e a lands 1+6
Lim e quarries 280
Cbarijj (Frontage)
Urban sites 20,826
Each o f the ten categories o f urban land seems to have been subdivided into
three subcategories according to quality.
Several Jurdien recipes have been translated by Herbert Franke (1975:172—77). Tiny
deserve wider currency and arc reprinted here, renumbered and slightly corrccied.
The vegetables are traditional to North China— die Qlincsc had in large part
abandoned mallow and smanweed by diis time. Tlie underlined words arc Jurdien
names for tlie dishes, now untranslatable. “ Earth pepper1’ is identified by Franke as
Gann jnpmiiatm.
1. Jurdicn Quail sa-nm
The quails are boiled until thoroughly cooked. Remove spine and bones.
Chop (meat) into fine hash. Cur fine several pounds o f smartweed
(Polygonum) leaves. Mix dwrougilly wjdi bean-sauce. Prepare a juice widi
ground mustard, mix juice witli very liot water. Season with a pinch o f
salt, then put into wooden pot; for scr\ing fill into wooden bowls.
(fl* Horn 22+

2. Jurchen Rice-gniel widi Moat Hash

Take a sheep’s head, boil until dioroughly soft. Pick otf (iiK-.it) bv hand,
remove botKS, and put (meat) aside together with juice. Fill mutton-tail
for mixed with sesame oil into metal pan that has been rinsed and cleaned.
Fry (in pan) washed glutinous rice, let stxik for a short tinw, then add
sheep’s head juice, wait mm] the whole is softened to .1 pulp. Pm soft
slrcep’s head into bow'ls; for serving fit} these up (widi tile gruel soup),
j. Ssit-ia Mallow Cold Soup
Remove die bark from the mallows. The soft interior widi smaller leaves
three or tour inches long is then boiled until seven tenths cooked. Add
again mallow leaves and let thoroughly cook. Spread out separately
selected stemmed leaves that have been rinsed in cold water, arrange like
the pattern o f a Spring Plate, die central leaves facing each odier on all lour
sides. Put ill between sltredded chicken meat and skin, shredded ginger,
sliredded v'ellow cucumber, slirtdded bainboo-slloots, shredded lettuce
stems, shredded vegetables and shredded halt-bred duck’s eggs, mtinon
tongue, kidneys, intestines, meat witli skill from head and tix't, all slued-
ded. Use meat juice and strained polygonum soup, add a sprinkle of
wild red currants.
+. Steamed Mutton Met-Po
Take a wiiole sheep, scald and dean, and remove head, feet, intestines, cte.,
cut up into manageable pieces. Prepare small specimens o f earth-pepper
widi wine and vinegar, pour over die meat and let soak tor two hours or
more. Put into enipt)' metal pot, build a fin: with fuel-wixjd sticks and seal
tlie lid witli clay. Liglit die fire but let it not come too dose. Wait unril
well-cooked. To be served in bowls witli original juice separately.
j. Ta-pu-ln Duck
Take a big specimen, scald, dean, rvmove intestines. Mix elm-secd (?)
saucc and meat broth widi oil in whidi oruoiis have been fried, pour die
whole juice into pot widi some pepper-con is. Afterw.in.ls put in duck, let
beconK well-cooked on slow fire, ait to pieces and serve filled up with
soup. Geese and chickai are prepared in the same way.
6. Pheasant sa-nm
BoiJ thorouglily, use the breast meat and cut into hash. Take a tew smait-
wecd leaves and cut them into small pieces. Mix into a juice widi soy-
saucc. Add powdered mustard and salt according to taste. Serve in
wooden bowl. Quails arc prepared in the same vvay.
7. Persimmon Pastry
One peek (taw) o f glutinous rice aiwl fifty big dried persimmons are
ground together into a paste. Add dried boiled jujube paste and pass all
this through a hair-sicvc. Steam in a pot until well cooked. Add pinc-sccds,
walnut kernels and pound, form dumplings, sprinkle with honey before
eating,
rfi* Notes ” i

8. Korean Chestnut Pastry

Chestnuts, no matter whether many or fov, arc dried in tlie shadow, the
husks removed, and pounded into a powder- Mix diis evenly with two
tlurd.s of rhe amount with glutinous rice. Soak with honey-water, steam
thoroughly .«id eat.
Gloss lurchcn dunipliiijj; soup is die s.inx: as Mohammedan dumpling
soup. Therefore they are not novated here.
i Marco Polo’s accounts o f China are too well known to warrant further attcntjou,
hut a word needs to be said about his reliability. )olm Haeger, among odiers, has
questioned whetlier Mateo saw as much as we usually assume (pens, comni.).
There is iki question that he relied 011 odiers’ accounts— usually reliable ones, but
sometimes minors— tor his desenpnons o f some remote, oft-routc places, including
Burma, interior Indonesia, puts of the Near East, and so on. Ilie question is where
Ins observations leave oft'and liis second-hand dara begin. Haeger tliinks tiiat all his
accounts of Soudi China may be cnbbcct direcdv or indirectly from Chinese
geographies and g.izeteei-s .ind tliat Marco may not even have gone back by die
southern sea route. I would not be so drastic, but it does seems liiglily unlikely tliat
Marco took die soutliwestern route he describes into Yunnan and Burma. He \\Tites
o f it .is if at second hand. Several Chinese cities o f tlie north center and o f die
southeast (on Marco’s Hangchow—Ouiton route) are described so cursorily and in
such a stereotyped wav* that one must eitiler agree wndi Haeger or surmise diat
Marco passed through them very quickly, On the other hand, die similarities of
Marco's account ot' Hangchow to Chinese records are due to die fact tliat bodi were
describing the same place from similar points ot view; it does not seeni to represent
ounight cribbing. Marco was probably not die regnant official o f Yangchow, as he
claimed (later accounts make him governor o f die whole lower Yangtze, but this is
absurd): 1 believe that Marco’s amanuensis, Rusknano (Rusridiello), wlio copied
Marco’s account while diey were in prison togedier, is responsible few the niisinfor­
mation, adding a bit o f glory by changing die words “an official” to “the governor.”
For his part, Marco never talks as if he had been vested widi high audiority. Given
the Mongols’ eagerness to hire all se-mu o f any worth, it would have been almost
lncrcdibk- diat Marco would not have had some sort o f post while in China.
For evidence o f Marco’s qualities as an observer, it is necessary only eo direct the
reader to his account o f die cranes o f Central Asia (Yule and Cordicr 1905:1:206)
— so clear and concise that it permits easy identification o f die precise specics o f these
renxxe and difficult to view birds. (As a veteran North Anxrican crane watcher, I
can confirm many o f Yule’s identifications.) Marco as a political observer can be
judged by his pithy comment on Sou diem Sung: it was “very strong by nature, and
all die cities arc encompassed by sheets o f water o f great depth, and nxjre than an
arblastsliot in width; so that the country never would hast been lost, had the people
but been soldiers. But diat is just what they weiv not; so lost it was” (2:145).
Oversimplified, but a slircwd comment. O f Yuan food, Marco tells us a good deal,
all o f it confirmed by odiers. Tlie importance o f dairy products, especially liorsc milk,
is clear. Dried skim milk was a staple (1:261). Wine is described as being made o f rice
and flavored with spices (1:441). Tlie luxury o f tlie Great Kaan’s table service is
<)<£ Notes 226

described (1:581 —S^), and from Marco’s ixite 011 the Yuan planting of shade tixx-s, it
sam s di.it the Great Kaan was as industrious as tin: mtxlem People’s Republic in
lining die highways with diem. (The idea, tor the Mongols, was .1 Persian bor­
rowing.) Marco notes die sharp contrast between die Cl'iitra] Asian influenced
north and die refractory soudi in dioicc o f fcxxis: in the soudi “they eat even' kind of
flesh, even diat o f dogs and odier unclean beasts, which nothing would induce a
Christian to cat” (2:187). The importance o f die salt nvinopoly is stressed.
Marco retells die stories about cannibalism (2:2y), which sound suspiciously like
part o f the fictional lore that eveimially ted into die Sbui Hit (.'htttui. 'Iliis and other
novels portray die Chinese o f Sung and Yuan eating lnunan flesh wadi enthusiastic
abandon. But, as mentioned, tiiete is no reliable evidence dut»Chincsc ate luirn.ui
flesh except during desperate famines or in small quantities for medicine or revenge.
Tlie human flesh shop crops up often in Chinese stories, but it is purely fictional.
Perhaps someone, somewhere, tried diis dubious means o f making money, but such
a business surely could not have been viewed widi die cheerfiil moral niLliHerence of
die Shni H11 Cljimii— a book whose astonishing unconcern with murder and
mayhem is comprehensible only in temis of die totalitarian, brutal society of late
Yuan and Ming.
+ Chinese dishes are often imaginatively named. Tlie apogee was reached, I should
diink, in a menu in a Cliinesc restaurant in Malaysia, on which occurred die
folbw ijig:

Victorious Chicken
Tcdinicolour Cold Qiicken
Sapphire Chicken
Seven Stars Accompanying Full Mtxjn
Three Musketeers amidst Bamtxx> Shoots
Fried Crab Balls widi Phoenix’s Liver
Birds’ Nest o f tiic Soudiem Mountain
Crispy Pigeons o f die Apricoc Blossonis
Pregnant Phoenix by Dragon Fetus
Swallow Nests o f die Count
Dragon’s Eyeballs with Phoenix's Eyes
H appy-Go- Luck)’
Spring Blossom and Autum n M oon
Seven Stars Sliining over die Joyful Steamboat

(Quoted in Far Eastern Economic Re\ncn\ June 16, [983, p. 41}.

j Tlie infbimado» given in chapter to is not intended to preempt die excellent derailed
accounts o f Chinese regional cuisines found in such books as F. T, Cheng, Mststncfs of
a Chinese Gotmnet {195+) or the many cookbooks o f Chinese food. Qxikbooks range
a good deal in quality and in faithftiincss to Chinese tradition. Tlie following is a
9^- Notes Z27

random selection from tlic better ones; I have not listed older cookbooks or those of'
limited availability or local distribution, so many excellent cookbooks art left out of"
tlie following list. Som e o f the best currently available sources for regional dishes are:
Buwci Y an g Ch ao, How to Cook and Ent in CImiac (Q ia o 19+7); Kenneth Lo,
Encyclopedia of Chinese Coolmiß (1979a), Chinese Rcßtonal Cookbi/j ('[979b) and Pelting
Cookin/j (1971). A m o n g otlier cookbooks listing regional dishes arc: Pearl K ong
O w n , Tien C h i Chen and Rose Tseng, Ewrvthiiuj Ton Want to Know about Chinese
Coda)it] (198;); N obuko Sakamoto, The People’s Republic afChitm Cookbook (1977),
which Is fascinating in its translations o f modem Chinese books; Mai Lxung, The
Chinese People’s Cookbook ( 1979) which covers ingredients, terms and “street eats,” and
ls also issued under die nxire descriptive title, Dim Sum atid Other Chinese Street Food.
IjCss clearly regional, but collectively die best guide in English to Chinese food, are
Stella Ijtnt Fcsslcrs diree books: Chinese Meatless Cookinjj (1980), Chinese Sceijbod
Cjjokny (lySr); Chinese Poultiy Cookery (198:1). There are, o f course, cookbooks in
Chinese for every style and region, but citation seems unnecessary here. Th e best is
the scries Chniß-kno Miuß Ts’ai Pu (1965 - 6 j ) . Sakamoto translates several recipes
from diis. A general recent survey o f the food situation in Cl lira is: Elizabeth Cnotl,
The Family Rice Bm i (198^).
 6 T a b le I: Western and Chinese Fixxls Used by Chinese Residents in Riverside,
California

Recent Immigrants (under <; years)1

Food reported used:

W eekly- N e v e r ou

Foods D a ii .v OFTEN SOMKTIMHS ALMOST N

Cbinctc
pork 6 9 1 O
rice 13 * O O
tea G J ] 4
noodles 1 12 2 O
sweet potatoes o O 7 9
toft] (bean curd) 2 7 6 1
dried bean curt! 4 S ft
k’ung hi in ts’ai I 3 [I

k’u kua (bitter melon) ( 2 12

bamboo slioors 4 5 6
ginger ID 5 ] o
small white cabbage 5 j 11
dried radish 6 6 3
muai (ricc porridge) 1 a 3 4
yard-long bean 1 2 2 IL
winter melon ] I 4 io
Western
hamburger O 3 J [2
bread 7 3 Z 4
coffee 3 2 5 6
spaghetti o 3 2 ]]
white potatoes o 3 5 3
chccse 3 3 T 9
milk [2 3 o
salad I 5 3 7
hot dogs O 3 3 IO
tacos O Q [6
TV dinners O O 15
steak-* O 4 3 9
canned soup O 3 5 S
pie O 2 9 5
doughnuts O 3 4 9
dry breakfast cercal 3 2 I IO
T a rlf. j (continued)

Long-term Residents (more than j years)2

Food reported used:

W eekly- N e v e r or.
Foods D a il y OFTEN S o m e t im e s ALMOST NEVER

C h in e s e
pork s 7 i o
ricc 6 6 o [
tea s 4 i o
iio< idles 1 12 o o
sweet potatoes o 1 5 7
tofu (bean turd) o io y o
dried h i:.in curd o 2 6 s
k’unj; hsin t.s’ai o 2 4 7
k'u kua (bitter melon) o 0 5 8
bamboo shtxiis r s 4 2
ginger 8 + 1 o
small white cabbage r o 9 J
dried radish o J 7 J
muai (rite porridge) o 6 6 [
yard-long bean o 2 7 4
winter melon o O IO }

W este rn
hamburger o 3 i i
bread 8 3 2 o
toftce J [ 2 5
spaghetti i 2 i 4
wliite potatoes o 4 J 4
tiiccsc 2 7 2 2
milk II I o I
salad 2 J z J
hot dogs O 4 6 J
tacos I o i 9
T V dinners O t s 7
steak'1 I 7 J 2
canned soup I 7 i J
pie o 4 J 4
doughnuts o 6 4 *
diy breakfast cercal 5 i 2 1

'll = 16
2n - i)
■' Several o f the “steak" responses probably refer ro steak cut into scrips and cooked Chinese
style.
Source: Anderson and Wang [980.
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Index

abalone, [41,194 anise, 137; star, Ij6 ,166,167

abortion, 89 Annual Customs and Festivals m Peking
abs, 14] (Tun), 2 0 4
■icorutc, 140 antelope, 75
atom, 137 Aoyagi, Akiko, 106
adzuki bean, 4 2 ,12s apes’ lips, 178
Afghanistan, 17 aphrodisiacs, 193
Africa, [91 apple, 66, 68,96, i3i, <S9 ; candied, 1 7 9
Agriatlturnl Dnvkpnumt in China, apricot, 2 0 -2 1,6 8 ,9 6 , Iî 5, 1J 9 , 182; oriental,
136S-1968 (Ptrkîns), 79 27-28; kernels, 137
“agricultural involution,” 100 aquatic foods, 70 ,127,16 0 ; farming o £ 143
agricultural manuals, 4 0 -4 1, 56, 63, 76, araq, 1S2
9 1 -9 3 arbutus, 68, 136
agriculture in China: first agriculture, archaeology, 3, 8, 9,15, 4 2 , 166; Neolithic
9—10; in Neolithic community, 11—12, China, 10 ,11,12; Shang Dynasty, 19,
13, Sw also buihndtud dynasties and 21—22
regions area palm, 138,172
ai kiia (dwarf gourd), [26 Arens, William, 85
Ajall, Sayyid, 73 aristocracy, 60
Aji-no Moto Company, 105 arrowroot, 122
alchcmy, jo, J9 artemisia, 28, 29, 41, jo, 166
alcohol in cooking, 2 1,15s; drinks, 119, ashak (dumplings), 11S
120—21; consumption of, 201, 202, 20+ ashes, 102
alcoholism, 48,121 asparagus, 12 9 , 165
alc,@ 4^4^jïi.6o, 161 _ astronomy, 19
alfalfa, 39,128 Australia, 14, 95—96
algae, [02, ioj, 133 authoritarianism, 100,111
allergie reactions, 87,19s, 196 avocado, 137
Allium family, 129—30 anwnori (sweet potato vodka), 121
almonds, j8, 68,137,188 Azolla, 103
amaranth, 82, [27
An Lu-shan, 52
Analects, 24—25 bacon, 169,17s
anchovy paste, 143 Bacon, Francis, 108—09
anemia, 191,192 baking, 8J, 112,117,15+, 171
Anhui, 161—62 balance in cooking, 44 , « î —<4> IÏ7,192,194

Mi
5^ hiiicx 246

Balasz, Eoennc, 87 Bodde, Derk, 25

bamboo, 27,19, 7+, 83 Bodhidhamia, 139
bamboo leaves, 176 boiling, 13,112,142-+3, 153, 154, 172
bamboo shoots, 12, 42, 68, 70,129; in bok choy,
regiona] cooking, 166,167,168 bones, 8, 20
banana, $4, 6*, 159 Book ofAjpicitltiHT (Wong Chen), 63
banditry', 93 Book vf History, 21, 25
banquets. See festivals and banquets Book qfS o ttffS, 25, 26 -29, 187
Bar Saiima (Nestorian pilgrim), 73 books about food, 49—50,54—55, 68, 70-71,
barbarian invasions, 57-58 81, 84. See also agricultural manuals;
barbeque, 156,178 hertials; medical books
barky, 4 - J , 10,17, 20, 2J, io+, 183; moden Boscrup, Ester, 13,14, 46
use, 120-21,181,18+ bowk, [52,153
bamacle, 140, 141 brains, t+7
basil, 137 brandies, at
bnsmnti ricc, nj Bmssicn family, iz, 26, 126—27
bats, 70 Bray, FraiKesca, K8
bean curd, 54, 69, 82, i6j breads, 54,112,117,118,161,176,182,
bean flour, 118 209
bean oil, iSi bream, 25, 141
beans, 2j, 81, 82,103, iqs; modem use, brewing, 65, 82
124—26,166,167,168. See also huinviual broad bean, 15, 82,124, tj6
knuis ofbentis broccoli, 105, [72, 209
bear, 75 bronze, [9, 2t, 24
bear gill, <93 Bronze Age, 19
bear paws, 178,18+ broomcom, 26
Beattie, Hilary, 81 brown pepper, 137—38, *56, 166, 167
beef, s+, ij, 68, 98, [+j, 178 brown rice, 115—16
becfballs, 170,176 — brown sugar, 196
beer, 161; ricc beeii, i8cy&r also ale buckwheat, 17, 65,120—21, 181,183,184
bdadmn, 143, buckwheat flour, 118
bell pepper, 105,171 Buddha’s hand fruit, 132,136,187
beriberi, 115 Buddhism, 59,107,145,189; influence on
berries, 136 food, 50, 54—ss, 69, 71- See also vegetar­
betel nut, 138,172 ian cooking
beverages, 76. See also alcohol in cooking; Buddhist temples, 51, 53,124, *57
chiu (alcoholic drink); tea buffalo, 81, [46
Binford, Lewis, 8 bulgur, 117
“biological” option in farming, 105—06 bureaucracy, 45—46, 60, 62, 72, 88. See also
birds’ nests, 96,142,162,188 scholar- bureaucrats
birth control, 89-90 burials, 15,16
black bean, 156,17s, 177 Burma, 16, 145, 169
bloating, 190,196 Burning o f Books (Ch’in Dynasty), 32,
blood in cooking, 69,144, H 7 , i7i; in 36
regional cooking, 163,164,168; mcdical butter, 50, jj, 7 4 , 1+5
valuer 191,194 buttered tea, (82
 Index 24.7

cabbagc, 68, 84, 112; ill regional cooking, d/a sbno poo (pock dumplings), 117-18,176
[26,127,160,166,181; medical value, 190, Champa rice, 6}—64, 65, 66-67
191. 5 a: also Giinesc cabbage Chan, Albert, 85
cacao, 158 dftoi ton {silkworm bean), 124
caffeine, 138 Ch’ang-an, n
cakes, i+, 69, [[4, ii6, i6t Chang O i’ien, 3 9 , 1 3 7
calcium, 4;, 69, 103,131 Ch’ang Ch’un, 6+, 6;, 66
California, 95-96 Chang Chung-Ching, 44
calorics, 101, ios, 121. Sec also humoral Cbang Han, 8 7
theory Chang, Kwang-chih, 17, 24
caltrop, (29 Changsha cooking, 166-68
camels’ bumps, 178 d/ao (stir-frying), i[j
ai»mi. See sweet potato Q iao, Buwei Yang, 162
camphor, 81 dr'ttojhti (fried rice), 173—7+
camphor-and-tea-snioked duck, [68 Chao, Kang, 4 6 , 88
canals, 109 Chao K’ua-yin, 57
Ceinminm, 54, 76, 136, 157 Cliao Kuo, 38
candy, 125,161 d/no win (stir-fried noodles), 174
cannibalism, 8, 68, 85, 226>fJ cheese, 5 0 , s j , 6 6 , [ 4 s , 1 4 6 , 1 8 2
Cantonese cooking, 131,156, [70—72.; dim (hazelnut), 28
variety of, 173—77 Cheng Hao, 87
Gjo Xueqin, 93 Cheng, Libin, 19 6
capitation tax, 92 dierimoya, 137
capitalism, 59, 77 cherry, 135
capsaicin, 167 dierry apple, 135
tiirambola, 136 diesmut, 12, 20, 28, 29,42, 68,84,137
cardamom, 54 chcstnut pastry, 22JH2
carp, 25, 42, 141 dri (Oiinese date), 28
Carroll, Lewis, 197 d/i (energy) concept, 1 8 8 ,19 3
carrots, 68,105,129, 203 d/i (sow thistle), 27
cash-cropping, 100, 109 Ch’i Han, 4 9 , io
cashew nut, 177 Chi, Juan, 48
casseroles, 177 CM Mni Too Shu (Chia Ssu-hsieh), jo
cassia, 54, 69,138, [66,167,170 Ch’ia<hia culture, 17
Castle Peak Bay, Hong Kong, 207-08 driafit (coflec), 138
caterpillars, 28, 147 Chia Ming, 7 5 - 7 6 , 86
Cathay, 58 Cilia Ssu-lisidi, 5 0 , 63

cats as food, 14+, 146, IJ9 , 173,17S driang (soy sauce), + 2 , 6 7

cattle, ios, [43, 14+, 146, [69; early use, io, diiao (brown pepper), 28
12, 17, 20 dnna (“Chinese leek” ), 13 0
cauliflower, 172, 203, 209 cJjiw-tzit, 118, 182
celery, 26,128 diicken, 55,101,104, IQJ, 1+3, i+S; early use,
census, 37 10,11, 20 ,6 7, 6 8 ; black-fleshed, 3+; in
Central Asia, 3 -4 , 63, 72,182 regional cooking, 1 8 0 , 1S1
ceramics industry, 65 chicken rice, 164
d/a sljtio (fork roasted), [7J diickpea, 1 0
 Index 24$

chieh, 12Ö chop suey, 170,174, >77

drielj tu (poison), 196 chopped foods, 150,170
dri’cn riccs, 15 chopping blocks, 150
drill fim, 114 chopsticks, 150,153
children, 7 0 ,7 1,130 Chou Chin Sheng, 62
chili pepper, to, 80, 94 , iqs, 131—52-, 156,181; Chou Dynasty, 24-25,53,111
in regional cooking, 166,167 Chou Hsien-wang, 86
oErtw (Chinese celery), 26 Chou Hung-Hsiang, 25
Chin {Sung Dynasty), 61 Chou-k’ou-tien, 8
drin dxti n’m (daylily buds), 138 Chon Li, 32, [87
Ch’in Dynast)', 36 Chou Ting-wang, 86
O i’in Kuei, 58 dfoii tonfit (stinking bean curd), 124-
Ch’in Shih Huang Ti, 36-37 diow mein, 170,174, 177
chin dm (sweet potato), 121 duysanthemum, 76,128,138,19;
dfin triw (paisley), 128 dm (bamboo), 27
China: five realms of, 2-5; period o f dm (porridge), 114
disunity, 4J—io, (07—08. See also regions chit (raisintree), 28
o f Chinese cooking atid individual Chu-dria Pi-ytmf! (Ncccssitics o f Daily
dynasties Life), 76
“Chinese artichoke,” 122,188 Chu Hsi, 60
Chinese cabbage, 3,12, 82, ioj, 126,131 Chu Hsiao, 86
Chinese chives, 26 Chu Yiian-chang, 77-78, 86
Chinese communities overseas, 210-11; dntan him (mellow) foods, 158
Riverside, Calif., 227—29**6 Chuang Chou, 29
Chinese date, 28. See also jujube Chuang o f Kwangsi, 180
“ Chinese okra," 187 Chuafgf Tztt (Chuang Chou), 29—3°! *5°
“Chinese olives,” 188 chuangyang, 193
d/mg (pure/deaning) foods, 158,196,208 chuarÿ-yuan (large estates), 61
Q i’ing Dynasty: overview of, 89-92; dfui. See tfui
agricultural system, 93-95; food in, dfuti t’ien (equa! field) system, si
96—100 Churÿ-^uet-lu, 70
Ching, Emperor, 38 Chtitig-yao Ta Ttu-xkn (Great Dictionary
drittg-hing (steamer), 152 o f Chinese Medidnc), 49, 86
Ching Village, 12 cigarettes, 140
Chinggis Qan (Genghis Khan), 64,72 cinnamon, 42,138
Chinkiang, 160 dtron, 187
chitterlings, 170 citrus, 54,136-37, « 9 , 166
drift (alcoholic drink), 21,43,120—21,156, civet cat, 70
160,177,178 dvil service exam, 45
driu (Chinese chives), 26 dam, 12,141,162
Chtu-huang Pen-tfoo (Chou Ting-wang), Classic t f Tea, The (Lu Yü), 55,139
86 daws, 164
driu irtw (garlic chive), 130 dcavers, ij, iso, 151
chives, 130 dimate, 58—59,78, 89
chocolate, 138 clothing, 12, 64
Ch’oc Pu, 82-83 dove, 138 *
 Index i + y

eoddebitr, 27,50 cresses, 68,138

coconut, 68, 76, 156 croaker, 14 3 ,173, >74, 179
codeine, 140 crop notation, [7,54 ,120
coflcc, 138, 139, 190 Crow, Carl, 89
coffee shops, 16+ millers (dough strips), 58
Gohen, Mark, 14 Cruz, Friar Gaspar dc la, 8 3 -8 4
coinagc, 6i—6 i cubed foods, 177
cola, 158 cucumber, 68,126,132, 203
colander, iji Citctirbitaaae family, 132—33
collards, 10; cuisine. See regions o f Qiinese cooking
colonies in China, 161 mid indhidturf cities mid province
commerdaliAirion, +6, 63, 93, 94—95 cups, IJ3
composting, 95,10 2 , 103 curds, 55
condiments, 69 curcd meats, 175
confections, 11+, 115 curries, 151, 210
Confucian ideology, 24 —25, 30, 47, J9, 60, cuttlefish, 174
71, 99
Confucius, 29, 33, 16]
congee, 114, 137, r62 dairy products, 66, 74, 145- 4*
conservation, 31—32, 95 Darjeeling tea, 139
constipation, 191 date, 10, S4-, 136
cookbooks, 56, 70, i+7, 206, 226—27H5 datura, 48, 87
cooking mcdiods. Sec boiling; stir-frying daylily, 26 ,4 3; buds, 128,167,168
mid other iiuiii’uinnl mctlxxii deer, 12, 20, +2,75,183; medical value, 193,
cooking oil, 112,125, 14a, 157,160; sliortage 198
of, 1 4 9 ,153, 155 deer velvet; hormones in, 198
cooling foods. See humoral theory deforestation, 65,78,109
topper, 68 detoxification o f plants, 86
coriander, 105,1+2, [66,168 diarrhea, 191
cormorant fisliing, &4 dietary books, 71, 98
com cakcs, 1S4 digging sticks, 21
com flour, 1[8 dips. See sauces and dips
com meal mush, 119 diversification, 93, 95
com on the cob, 96 Doctrine o f Similarities, 192,194
com starch, 173, 205 dogs as food, 10 2 ,14 4 ,14 6 , IJ9, »73, 17s;
corruption, 107 early use, 10,11, 20, 32; in regional
corvcc labor, 40, 62 cooidng, 180 -81; medical value, 191
cosmetics, 114,1:6 dolichos bean, 82,125
cotton, 3, 64, 80,81, 9+ domestication o f animals and plants, 10,11,
Court o f Imperial Entertainments, 84 12 ,13,20
Court o f Imperial Sacrifices, 84 donkey, 68
cowpea, 82 double cropping, 20, 62, 93,101
crab, 6 8 ,14 1,14 2 ,16 0 dough skins, 176
crab apple, 13s dough strips, 54, *8
crane, 7j Douglas, Mary, 194
cream, 55, 7+ dove, 84
y L Index 2 fo

draft, military, 40 ever-normal granary system, 62

drake, 19s eye appeal at food, 157
dried foods, 123,14.1,1+2, tt+, 165, 167
dm iking vessels, 21
drought, 5, 6, 38 fian Lim, 176
drugs, 4+, 45, 48 fogara, 42 , 158
drying quality o f food. See humoral theory famine, 5, 6,13,30,52, 55, 78, Si, 86, 91,109
duck, +2, 68, 103, 10 4 ,14 3,14 4 ,16S, 177; fin (grain foods), 21
pressed cured, 17J; recipe for, 224312 fit ,11 (mugwort), 27

dumpling skins, 164 fin (southern barbarian), 80

dumplings, 54,112,130,178,180,182; rice, fin cbkli (tomato), 131
115; wheat, 117—sS Fan Chung-ven, 60
Durkheim, Emile, is fin knei Imt (barixirian ghost fellow), 80
Fan Sheng-chili, 38, 40—41, 46, (O
f iii- s lm (sweet potato), 121
fiiiff, 70
eagle, [93 Fanners ofForty Ccntuiics (King), 9 S
earthquakes, 5, 6 fat, 75
ecological deterioration, 59, 65 fin (mealy) foods, t<8
economic decentralization, 59 fin/j (Chinese cabbages), 26
edema, 190 fiiig-sbut (geomancy), 104
education, 71 fin-ssn, 118, [24
eel, 141 fenugreek, 63—64,137
efficiency, agriculniral, io+—0$, 106 fermentation, 42, [83
efficiency in cooking, 154,155,183,184 fermentation pnxhicts, 50, 76, 81,112; soy,
eggplant, 68, 105, 126,130—31,170 113, 123, 138, [56
CggS, 112, [65, 219 fertilizer, 62, 95, [02, 103, [06
egret, 147,175 festival foods, 30, 71, 8j, 146, 202, 203
elephant, 20 fever, 191
elm, 27, 41 fiber crops, 25, 95
Elvin, Mark, 62, 88 fig, Si, 187
Encyclopedia <fChinese Ceciatig (Lo), 154 fire, 8,12
encj’clopcdias, 76, 92 firepots, [53,156,162
Engels, Friedrich, 16 fish, 25, 55, 112,166; early use, 12,13, 20, 42,
Ennin (Japanese monk), 54 65, 66, 67; steamed, 157,177. See also
ephedra, 87 vidn’tdual kinds tffish
equal field system, ji fish balls, 163,185
erh (fungi), 133 fish forming, 84,105
erosion, 62, 64—65,109 Five Dynasties, 52,57
Essentials cfFarming and Agriculture, 63 Five Elements, 3s, 4 4
ethnicity, 199, 210. See also regions o f Five Goings, 35—36
Qiinese cooking Five Phases, 35,188—89
eunuchs, 78, 79 Five Smells, 36,189
Europe, 89, 90, 91, 92,107 fivc-spicc, 156,166
European influence, 79, 83-84,161 Five Staples, 41
evaporated milk, 146 Five Tastes, 36,189
■jt Index 2fi

flatulence, 196 Gecrtz, Clifford, 100

floating heart, 27 Gcmet, Jacques, 68, 70, 85, 92
floods, 5, 6,58, 89,102, 104 ginger, 42 , 4 J, 69, 113, [27, 156, 157; in
flour, 80, 82,114, ]]6, 117, 1[8 regional cooking, 142, 168, 170, 177, 178
flour milling, 43, 106 gingko nut, 137,167
tly agaric, 140 ginseng, 92, 183, 188, 192—93,194
fodder, 20, 114 gluten, 25, 6j, llj, »6, 118, [8[
foodways of China: social science’s \new goat, io, iz, 3 0 , 68, 144-
of, 199-200; as means o f communi­ god o f liousehold, [49-50
cation, 301—04; impact ot modem Gddai Ijittts (anon.), 85
world on, 204- n; in contemporary goose, 42, 68, [64
Chinese family, 215-21 goosefoot, 42
foot-treadle pestle, 82 Gorman, Chester, 13
forests, 3 Gould-Maran, Katherine, 195
Fortune, Robert, 94, 95, 96 gourd, 26, 41, 68,109,132, [80
fossil bones, 45 goumietship, 30, 46, 66, 68, 85,106, tC7 ,
Foster, George, 90 205; origins of, 57, 60
Foucault, Mjdiel, 109 grain equivalent, 121
ftmyt (plantain), 27 granaries, 52
fowl, 147 Gronet, Marcel, 28
toxnut, 68 grape, 39, 42, 55, 137, ‘82
foxtail, 20 grapefruit, 136
freeze-drying, 123 grasshopper, 144, '4?
freshness o f fbtxi, [13—14,142,155,170,171, gravy, 113
208 grazing, 3, lOJ
fried rice, 113 Great Unity Diagram, 35
frog (“paddy chicken"), 70, 84,104,14+, green onions, 142,157
t4 7 , 17S green pubes, 64
fruits, 13, 66, 68, HO, 133, 165, 166, '67 Green Revolution, 36, 62,76
frying, 113,123,157; deep frying, 153,163,164, Green Shoots Plan, 62
171 green tea, 139
fii (poke), 27 Grcenough, Paul, 89
Fu Pei-Mei, 160 greens, 13, 68,105,180
Fuchou, 164 grilling, 154,157,1S2
fitel, 103,106,114,149,154—55 grouper (rockfish), 141,1+3,171,194
Fukien Province, [62—64 guava, 80,137,17», 172,19!
fungi, 98, ii7 , 123,124,129, 133,142,156; in guinea fowl, 144-
regional cooking, 164,166,167,168,177; gull, 1+0
mcdical value, 188,19+ gynecology, 99
Furth, Charlotte, 99 gypsum, 69

galangal, 42, 54 liackbcrry fruit, 8

game, 25,43, 65-66, 68,74,175,180,181 Hahn, Emily, 160
garlic, 68, 71,84, »3,127; modem use, 130, Ixti tang (cherry apple), 135
[38, IJ6, IJ7,168 Hainan, 70,16+
 index 25,2

Hakka people, 29,170-71 liorsc, 12, 17, 20, 42, 75, [++, 146
hallucinogenic plants, 4a, 140 How to Cook and Eat hi Chinese (Chao), 162
halvah-like desserts, t66,168 hri d/in (celery), 128
ham, 146,169 hsi yang ertw (watercress), 128
Hami melon, 66, 132,171 Hsia Dynasty, 19
fxm (cold) foods, 190-91 Ijsia-fim (“downing die ricc” ), 67
Han Dynasty, s, 37,107; state role during, hsiao (dispelling) fixxis, 196
38-40; major foods in, 42-46 hriaojou, 158
Han peoples, j, 37,108 hsiao shu (white potato), 121
Han Sh i (a history), 40 Hsich Ling-jwi (poet), 49
Han tombs, 1+9, iji, 166 hskn (very fresh) foods, [58
Han Yu (statesman), 163 imcn tfai (amaranth), 127
Hangchow, 160 Imng (apricot), 135
hare, 29 Ijmuj-a’ni (floating heart), 27
harmony, concept of, 4+, 192,194 hsii (water plantain), 27
Hartwell, Robert, j9 Hsu Cho-jTin, 38, 42, 46
hawthorn, 135 Hsii Hsia-k’o, 80
haws, 68 Hsun Tzu, 30
Hayami, Yujiro, 88 htt (bottle gourd), 26
hazelnut, 28,137,183 hit hi pa (fenugreek), 187
headchcese-like dish, 169 lm-pin(j (Iranian cakes), 69
Headland, Isaac, 96 hti wtt (pea), 124
hcatingfcooling foods. See humoral theory Hua To, 44
hemp, 12,25,41, +8, 82 Huai Nan Tzu, 44
hemp oil, 67 htmti (daylily), 26
henbane, 140 Huang, Ray, 78
hcrbals, 4 9 - JO, 71, 7J, 86,92- 93 , 108 huanUui, 27
herbs, 42, 43i 137,195 Hui peoples, 5
heroin, 140 humoral theory, 49,189-92,195, >98 , t9 9
high bkx>d pressure, 44 bun (unclean) food, 203
Hinduism, 145 Hunan Province, 166-67
Hjppocraric-Galenic tradition, 189 “hundred schools,” 29
Hmong people, 16,180 Imtig luo po (carrot), 129
ho (lotus), 26 bung-shu- See sweet potato
ho lan shu (white potato), 121 hurtg-yu (red taro), 79
Ho-mu-tu people, 13 Hungshan culture, 19
Hoa Binh, Vietnam, 17 hunting, 19, 20, 25,65
hoe, 21 hunting and gathering, 14
Hokkien, 185 hunting paiks, 38
Hotzmann, Donald, 48 hue; 27
Honan, 178,179,185
honey, 4 2 , 175,196,198
honeybee, 12 I Ching (Book o f Changes), 25, 3S
Hong K aig Surgeon (Li Sliu-fan), 17+ iam dfa (drinking tea), 176
Hong Kong, 161, 200, 201 ice, 43
Hopei, 178, »79 ideology and food, 10 8-09 ,113,11+
hops, 43 Illustrated Basic Herbal, 71
t$* Index z_f?

“immortality” drugs, 52 kan su (sweet potato), 121

imports, 74 kan ton (tin,' bean curd), 123
imposts, [8, 23, 94 K’ang-hsi Emperor, 90, 9 6 —97
India, +, 16,55, 89,107, 108,151; foods of, ktmji (congec), 114
131, [39,199; influence of, 165, [69; Kao Shill, 55
medicine, 189,191 kaoliang, uS—)9, 184
tndka rices, 13,115, n6 Kawabata, Yasunari, 139
Indonesia, 16, 123 ke (kudzu), 26
infant mortality rates, 90 k'c tsnp (tomato sauce), 131
infanticide, 89, 90, 93 Keng, Hsuan, 187
innovations in food, 86,95,106—07. See aho kc>i(j rices, 13
tndmdaed dynasties kerosene stoves, 149
International Rice Research Institute, 115 ketjap (soy sauce), 131
intestines, 164., 175 Khitan people, 57-58
iodine, 68 kidney, 170
Iran, t66 kimchi, 112,127,183
iron, 24., 59, 65,131, 136 Ring, Frank H., 95
irrigation, 3,15, 21—22, 38, 62—63,102, kings: emergence of, 23
106-07 kiwi fruit, 136
Kleinman, Arthur, 188
knives, 21,150
jade, 22,19 kohlrabi, 187, 209
jaggery, 70 kmmyaku cake, 157
jakftuit, 68 Korea, 50, 82,120,121,131,156,157, i#3
Japan, 10, 14, 5 4 - 55, 9 0 , roi, 120; krepitidl, 118
cuisine of, 95,113,156,157; influence of, bit (mushroom), 133
164-65,191 lata (cucurbit), 126, 132-33
jnpmka rices, 13, 115 lata (melon), z6
jars, 152-S3 Kuan Tun-shih (poet), 73
jasmine tea, 139 kudzu, 25, 26, 29
Java, 100,101 kuri (cassia), 138
je (hot temperature), 168 htet (mallow), 27
jellyfish, 140,174 kumquat, 95 ,136
jeti (kemal), 133 kumys, 5S, 66, 7 4 , 145, >82
jerky, 43 , jo K’ung Fu Tzu. Su Confucius
Jesuits, 99 k'nng-hsin ts’ai, 103,127
jicama, 80,125—26 kuo (fruit), 133-34
John o f Plano Carp ini, 73 law (wok), 151
jujube, 20, 28, 29, 66, 68, 110, 135-36, 159 lawpieti batter, 162
Jung people, 24 Kwangsi, 5
Jurchen tribe, 58, 61; recipes from, Kweichow, 5
223-25W2

la (hotness o f peppers), 168

Kabir, 108,109 la dmo (hot pepper), 132
katt (“sweet” ) food, 136,158 la wu cbuttjff (hot bean paste), 124
kan-Lm (“Chinese olive”), 172 loop (cured meats), 17s
 Index if 4

lathiang (salami), 42 img chih (fiuigus o f immortality), 133

lactase, 145-46 Linnaeus, 124
Lademnan, Carol, 19s Lippit, Victor, 87, 88, 9+, 102
ladles, ijo, 151, 151 litchi, 42, 54, 68,76, 8i, 84,136, 159, 172
lamb, rinsed, [62 literature, food in, 20-30, 84, 8;, 9 1, 93 , 97 ,
letnfan (spoiled rice), [14- 1J 5
land reclamation, 62 Little Ice Age, 78, 89
land systems, 47,51 -5*, 53, l° 4-
also Liu (Han Dynasty), 36-37
ntdividual dynasties Liu An, 69
landlords, 39, 9U '06; in Sung Dynasty, S7i Liu Tsung-yuan, 212
61,6+, 71; in Ming Eh'nasty, 78, 81, liver, 144, 170
87-88 lo fata sbniif (peanut), 125
languages o f China, 5,16-17,162, >7 0 , [80 Lo, Kenneth, 154
Lao-tzu, 96 lobster, 141
Laos, iij, i8t tongan, 42, 83,136, [72
lard, [62, 169 longevity, 4 9 - 5 0
leek, 41,130 loquat, 95, liS
Legalism, 29, 30,32, 33 loquat syrup, 198
lemon, 136 lotus, 26, 42,128,159,176, 202
lentils, to Lu Chih (poet), 71
leopard, 75 Lu, Empress, 38
lettuce, J3 ,127—28 lu sun (asparagus), [29
li (Chinese chestnut), 28 In toit (green bean), 124
li (fermenting mash), 43 Lu Yu (poet), 55,58, 68, 69,139
li (oak), 28 lufta, [87
li (pear), [35 lungs o f animals, 194
li (plum), 27, 134 Lungshan culture, 17 , 18,19
U On, 32-33, Î4 - 3S, 59, 146 lue po (radishes), 128-29
Li Ho, 5j
Li, Hui-tin, 50
Li o f Hainan Island, 180 met (hemp), 26
Li Shih-di’en, 12 Ma-diia-pang people, 13
Li Shu-fon, 174 nta chib hsien (purslane), 127
Lt Yuan, 52 ma ling shu (white potato), 121
Uarsg (millet), 26 Ma Po bean curd, 168,185
bang dm (cooling tea), 138 tna ft (water chestnut), 129
L ia o Dynasty, 58,59, 6i Macartney Embassy, 94
lichen, 142 Macau, 79
licorice, 196,198 mackerel, 141
Lteh Tzu, 30 MacNcish, Richard, 14
lien creeper, 29 magnesium, 68, 69
life expectancy, 305 magnolia buds, 42
life stages, concept o£, 70—71 mat (barley, wheat), 26
lima beans, to Maio people, 16,180
limpet, 140 maize, 3,17,79-80, 9+, 104; modem use,
l o t m oo (diuretic) fo o d s, 196 118-19,166,167,183
 Index 2ft

Malaysia, 29, 210, 211 Mencius, 30-32,33,108,146

mallow, 12, 27,41, 48,67, ips, 128 Mencken, H. L., 196
mallow soup recipe, 12+111 Mendoza, Father Juan Gonzalez de, 84, 88
malnutrition, 93 Mnuj-lai k’aojott (Mongolian barbeque),
malt syrup, 156,163, [85 178
Man-Enting Myth, The (Areas), 8s menus, zz6 « 4
»Ulll-t'oil, [12 nxxils, 29,59, 74
Manchuria, 2,10,17,19,178, 183 mctliylxanthines, [38
Manchus m China, 90, 91. See also Ch’ing Mexico, to, 14, [25,167
Dynasty »itiwtl (pickled tea leaves), 139
mandarin orange, 68, 136 Miao o f Hainan, 180, 181
manganese, 68 Miaoo-kou cultures, 11,12
Manila, 79 microenvironments, 94, 95
manioc, 122, 171 military, 57—58, S9 , 60
manos anti nictates, 12 milk, 146,175,182
manufacturing, 59 millet, 3, io, n, [2,17, 20; early use, 25, 29,
manure, human, 102, ioj 42, S3, 54, 65, 9 6 ; modem use, 104,112,
nuto (watcr-shicld), 27 120-21
Maotai, i2i milling, [15—16
mari|uana, 12, 87, [40 millstones, 82
Markos (Nestorian pilgrim), 73 “ minced meat sauce,” 42
Marks, Robert, 91 minerals, 68,106
mamv >t, 75 Ming Dynast)': economic landscape,
Marx, Karl, 16 77—78; New World foods in, 79-80;
“masking” food, 156, tj7 other fixxis, 81-86; autocracy' and
matrilineal groups, 16 stagnation, 87—89
mattocks, 15 Mbig History, 85
meats, 20, jj, 66, 68, [12,114; in northern mining, 59
cooking, 180-8;. See also ituiu’uiiial mint, [38,1S8
kinds of meat ntiofja ginger, 156
“mechanical” option in farming, 105—06 miso, [57
medical books, 44—45,46, 86, 87 missionaries, 88, 9 4 ,121
medical value o f foods, 70,71, 75, 98,106, nio-ino (dumplings), 118
107,175,187—88; o f various plant foods, Mo Ti, 30
122,127,129, lii, iJ 7 ; tea stock, 138—39; “modernization” in China, 77, 88,92, 9 9
seafoods, [42-43,194,195; humoral Mohists, 29, 33
theory, 189-92; concept o f ptt, Mollison, Bill, no
192—94; concept o f tit, 194—96; human monetization o f economy, 61—62
thought and, 196—98. See also blood; Mongolia, 3, 4, S9 , 66
deer; pangolin; snake Mongols in China, 63, 6j, 72—76,145
Mediterranean lands, 1,113 nxxikey, 17s
medlar, 135 monopolies, government, 59,74, 92
nici (oriental apricot), 21,27-28,29,68,134, monosodium glutamate, 158,173, 205, 206
135 monsoon, 1, i, 6
tnein (noodles), 118 moon cakes, 203
melon, 15, 26,41, 66,126,132,180,182 moose, 183
 Index 2.r6

morphine, 140 nitrogen-fixing plants, 102—03

mortar and pestie, 12, ij, 21, 82 Noiiyn cooking, 210
modieis, 70, 71 ixxxllc techtiology, 43, u8
motherwort, 27 noodles, $4, 80,112,178, [83; rice, 114,116;
mountain songs, 29 wheat, 117—18; com, 119; buckwheat,
mouse, 144 120; pea, 12+; in regional cooking, 164,
»1» (land measurement), 39 165, 166, 169-70, 174, 179, 182, [83; as
mu hsii (alfalfa), 128 snacks, 176
mugwort, 27 noria, 63
ytmkua (Qiinese quince), 28 North China, 2-3
mulberry, iz, 20, 28, 29,41, 6 6 , 68 , no, 182 Northeast China, 2,3
mulfct, 141 NtDig Shtt (Wang Chen), 76
mung bean, 63, 82,124—25,167 nutmeg, 69,138
muscovy duck, 144 nutmeg-yew kernels, [37
musliroom, 68,133,142,160,166,167, [80; nutrition, 50, 86, 87, 105, 107, 203—04;
haUurinogenk, 140 books on, 56, 75—76
muskmelon, 97 nuts, 13, 68, 84, 133,137,166, [67
Muslims, j, 178,179-80,184
mussel, 12,162
mustard, nz, 173; greens, 41,126-27
mutton, 75,130,144—45, iJ9,178,179; recipe oak, 28, 29
fix, 224«2 oatmeal, 1S1
mutton threads, 96 Oceania, 157
myrabalans, 54 oil, 3,4 3-4 4 , 67, 80. Sec niso cooking oil
Okinawa, t2i
Olmec civilization, 22
nan (bread), 54, 117 onion genus, +1, 68, 71, 84,113; modem
Naqqash, Ghiyath al-Din, 83 use, 129-30,156,1J7 ,168,170,178,180
Naquin, Susan, 92 oolong tea, 139
nationalism, 58, 66 opium, 138,139—40,152
natural disasters, 5-6, jj orade bone inscriptions, 19,20
Neanderthal Man, 8 -9 organ meat, 106, t2S, 130,181, (91,19s
Near East, 14,53-54,107, »3, <89, i?< oranges, 42, 68, 83, 84, no, [36
MCTyr (tender) (bods, 158 organic farming, [04
Neolithic China: agriculture in, 8—12; food Ou-yang Hsiu (poet), 59, 69
experimentation, 13—14,15; daily life overcultivarion, 85
in, 16—18 overfisliing, 171
Nestorian Christians, 73 owl, [47, ITS
New World crops, 93, 94 ox, 8i-
N g family, 215—21 oyster, 141,172,174
m (greasy) food, ij 8
Nichols, E. H ., 187
nightjar, 147,175
nightshade, Malabar, 128 pa hsi hsiett tfai (purslane), 127
Nine Staples, 41 padiyma cakes, 98
Ningpo, 160 “paddy chicken.” Sec frog
fjfk Index 2(7

paisbtt (wlute sweet potato), 121 perdi, (42

pat-yit (sweet potato), 79 Pereira, Galeote, 83-84, 88
pain-relievers, 12 perilla seed, 41, 44, 67, 82
pfltpni (rites), 21 Perkins, Dwight, 79, 93
paired plants, 29 persimmon, 12, 68,95
Paiute Indians, 22 persimmon pastry, 224m
palni stardi, 70, 122 Peru, 10
palm sugar, 54 pestieidcs, 106
p'cui {tlat cake), 117 pesde, L2,15, 21, 82
Pan family, 37 petrochemicals, !o6
Pan-p’o Village, n -tz, R, 16 pheasant, 29, 42, 68,75; recipe for, 224*12
panaquin, 193 Philippines, 14;, 191
pangolin, [+7,192, 193, 194 philosophy and food, 60,156—57; during
pao (thin), 158 Chou Dynasty, 29—jo, 32—36; mcdid-
patbdrin system, 60 na] classifications and, 196-98
papaya, 80,1*2-33, *i7, 172 ffip ’a (loquat), [35
paper sizing, 04 pickled foods, 42, J 3>67,112,127, (66, <67
Parker, Richard, 84 pickkd tea leaves, 139
parsley, ioj, 128 piddcs, 112,130,155, [83
pastes, 123, (4J, 156, 160, 167, 168, 170 picks, 15
pastries, 125 pig, 10,11, 20,101,102,105; in regional
patrilineal groups, 16 cooking, 143,144,162,180,181
Pawnee Indians, [3,16 pigeon, 42, 8 4 , 144-, 146
pea, 82, [03,124 “piggybank" storage jars, 12
pea curd, 124 pilaf, 113
pea flour, [|8 Pimentel, David, 106
peach, 3, 27, 68, 84, 96,134—3S, 159 puitvuj (betel nut), 138
“ PeadvFbwer Stream, The” (Tao pine, 29
Yuan-ming), 135 pine nut, 12, 68,137,166,167,183
peanuts, ij, 79-80, 94, »2, 125, 190 pine soot, 6;
pear, 68, 84, 96,135,159 pineapple, 137
pear syrup, 198 p ’iruf (water fcm), 27
peasants, 37, 46, 4«, 61, 91, 94 pity law (apple), [35
pediatries, 99 pita {pocket bread), 117,179
Peking, 58,178-79 plagues, 78
Peking duck, 146-47,168 plant-ash, 68, 69
Peking Man (Hcww enctits pekinensis), 8 plantain, 27, 45
Peking University, 96 Pleistocene species, 8, 9
pellagra, 94 plowing, 81
pekitad, [18 plowing ceremony, 38—39
Pm-tfao Katig-mu (Li Shih-ch’en), 12, 49, plum, 27, 68, 84, PS, Ii 4
86-87, 98 ,108 Po Wu Chih, 50
penicillin, 4j poke, 27
peonies in sauce, 42 polished rice, 116
pepper, 28, +1—42, 69,168. See also brown poll tax, 74
pepper; chili pepper pollen, 3
 Index 2iS

pollution, 106,171 Qian Wenwan, 87,88

Polo, Marco, 68, 73, 74, 118, 212, 225-2&n$ quail, 68; recipe for, 223-24J/2
polyculture concept, 110 quince, 28, 68, [32—33
pomegranate, 68,137
pomelo, 83, 136
pomfret, 141, Hi rabbit, 20, 43,144
pond scum, 10; raccoon dog, 147, [83,192, iyS
poplar, 29 Rada, Friar Maran dc, 84
population, 15,37, 7J, 76; in Neolithic radisli, 26, 68, 84, 105,128-29, 166, 181, 183
Qiina, 13-14 ,17; reasons for increase, rainfall, 1, 2,11, 20
17-18; in Ming Djtiasty, 77, 78, 79, 85, raisintrce, 28, 136
88-89; in Ch’ing Dynasty, 88-89, 93 rnku ware, 152
population pressure model, 14, 46 rapcsccd, 81, 82
porcelain, 59 rasiies, 190, 191
pork, 68, 84, 96,154,177; in regional rat, [44, 175
cooking, 164,165,166, [68, 202 ravioli, ii8
pork dumplings, 118 raw foods, 34, 67—68, [13, [26, 154, 155, l8[
Porkert, Manfred, 35, 36 Rawski, Evelyn Sakakida, 77, 94
porpoises, 141 Read, Bernard, 86
porridge, 42,112 rebellions, 52, 92, 94
Portuguese influence, 79,119,125,131,175 recipes, 66,70, 75, 76, 98,147; o f Jurclien
potassium, 68, 69,103 tribe, 223—25»2
potato, 94,110,121-22,166,209; sweet, 79, recycling, 95,102
96,131 reforestation, 4, no
potlaches, 16 regions o f Chinese cooking, [59; cast,
pots and kettles, ijz, 153, 1S4 -M, <79 160—65; west, 165-69; for south,
pottery, 10,13,17,19,43 170—77; northern, 178—80; minontv
poultry', 68, 146,163 nationalities, 180-83. Sec also indnid-
poultry feet, 175 tud cities and pivvinces
poverty’ foods, 67 religion, 4 4 ,184,199, 200. See also
presscake, 81, 82,125, iji Buddhism; Muslims; rituals invoking
prickly-ash, 28, [38 food
Prince Millet, 29 restaurants, 85,155,158,165, [67,178;
printing, 59, 63, 65 Cantonese, 171, [72; regional cooking in,
property tax, 74 184,185,186
protein sources, 10s, 106,112,123,124,146, rhinoceros, 20,193
193,194, 203 Ricci, Matrco, 88
p t (supplementing) foods, 147,192—94 rice, 25, 42, 63,65,104; earliest use, 3,4, J,
p ’u (sweetflag), 27 13, ij, 20; in T an g Dynasty, 53, 541 in
pu-erb, 170 Ming Dynasty, 80,81 —82; modem use,
pu sben, 193 112,114 -17; in Cantonese cooking,
p’u faoyu (grapefruit), 187 1 7 3 -7 4
public works projects, 38, 8j rice ale, 160
puffer-fish liver, 1535 rice bean, 125
pumpkin, 132 riccGookcr, iji
purslane, iqj, 127 rice flour, 114,116
tf* Index 2(Ç>

rimais involving ftxxL, n , 25,70,84-85, 175, sc-tnu, 73

20j; described iii L i Chi, 32—33, 34-35; sea brine, 69
ritual foods, 136—37 sea cucumber, 140, [41-42, >7 4 , >9 i
existing, 13, il, +5, R7, iî4, [63 sea horse, 147
rock sugar, 16O sea slug, 140
rot of fish, 142,172,174 sea snake, 140
railing pin, 150-51 sea trade, 4 , 59, 60-61, 74, 80, 87
Roosevelt, Theodore, 96 seafood, 142 - 4 3 , 194, >95
rooster, 195 seaweed, 124, 133,160
root crops, 9+, 121, 128-19 Scart History of the Mongols, 72
Rossabi, Morris, 83 selective breeding, 14
rush shoots, +2 serfdom, 91
Russian influence, 101, i6t sesame oi], 67, 82, 156, 164,168,173,178
Ruttan, Vernon, 88 sesame seed, 3, is, 4 ', 4 +, 182
scto ware, 152
shn cir’a d m iu j (sand tea sauce), 123-24
sagebrush, 87 shallots, 130
sago, 70,122 shan, tiS
Saliluis, Marshall, [8 shan-yao (yam), 79
Soke, 121 Sliang Dynasty, 18-19, 20-23,53
salads, 127-28 Sljatyf-imt Luttg, 4 4
salami, 42,146 sfmitff htm (“rising fire” ) concept, 190
salmon, 14.1 Shanghai, 160—61
salt, 22, +4, 68,82,15J Shanidar Cave, Iran, 9
salt-baked chicken, 170 Shansi, 178
salt monopoly, J3, 59, 61, 74 Shantung, t6i
salted foods, 42, 143, it+ sbao-piitg (roast cakes), 54, 96,117,178
uwutsa, n8 Shaohsing wine, 207
sandal making, 114 sharbat, 76
saitff (white mulberry), 28 sharks’ fins, 9 6 ,1+ 1, 14A 162, 177. ‘92
sapotc, 137 she ll pea, 76
sate, 164 slieep, 143, ‘44, 181; early use, 3,5, «, 2° i
sauces and dips, 123,156,157,16}, 175 42, 66, 68, to;; fet-cailed, 75
Sauer, Carl, 13 sheep peach, 136
sauerkraut, 112 Sheri Nutig Pen Ts’ao, 44—45, 4 9
sausage, 146,169,175 Shen-tsung, 61
sautiing, »3, 153-54 slmig tfai (lettuce), 127
sawfish, 141 Shensi, 178
scallion, 41,130 ihih (yarrow), 26-27
scallop, [41 Shii)-tei Kwm-cln, 76
Schafcr, Edward H., 70 sfiih hit (pomegranate), 137
scholar-burcaucrats, 57, 60, 69 Shih Sheng-han, 50
Scholars, The (Wu), 91, 97 Sliih Wen-ying, 63
Schwabc, Calvin, t+8 shiitake mushroom, 133
science, 77,107—08 shish kebab, 1S2
scotched-earth warfare, tto shoots, 129
 Index 2 6 0

Short of Pearls (Schafer), 70 sourdough starter, 117

slirimp, 141,142-43,155,156,160 souisop, 137
shrimp paste, 123,143 South America, [4
sIm (millet), 26 South China, 4 -5
shu (soybean), 26 Southeast Asia, 14, 60, 70, iji, i;i, 157, 191
dm yii (yam), m sow thistle, 27, 42
shuotig (resilient) food, 158 soy saucc, 6 7,113,14 2,15s, 157, 160
Shtti Hu CltttMh 68, 226JJ} soybean, 3, 24, 26, 42, 82, 9 4 , [Q5, 112; wav*
Shunyu Yi, 44 o f preparing, [22—24
Shurdeff, William, 106 soybean milk, 165
sicklcs, 21 soybean skin, 164
life pun feast, t77 spades, 21
silk, 2J, 6+ specialty' cropping, 109
silk ceremony, 38-39 Spence, Jonathan 97
Silk Road, 4, 39 spinach, 53, 68,105,127
silkworm, 12, 81 spinal cord o f cow, 170, 175
simmering, 171 Spirit Cave, Thailand, 13
jot (freshness), 208 spoons, [jo, 152, ij3
sinews, beef, 141 Spring and Autumn Annals of the State t f
Singapore, 164, too Lu, 2J
“single whip” tax reform, 8i sprouts, 124,129
Sinkjang, 3 squash, 10,126,132,180
Sinoda, Qsamu, 67,76 squid, 164,174
Skinner, G. William, 109 Ssu-ma Ch’icn, 37, 40
slash-and-bum agriculture, 12,180, 181 Ssu-min Yueh-iiryj, 4 1-4 2
slavery, 23, 39, 91 scar anise. See anise
“small beans,” 42 starfruit, [36
smamvoed, 138,166 starch foods, 67, 118
smoked foods, 154,167 state, emergence of, 18, 22,106; in Han
snacks (small eats), 21,113,123,130,132,134, Dynasty, 45—46; in Sung Dynasty, 62,
147, 201; regional, 16 4 ,16 J,175-76, 64
1 7 8 -7 9 status and food, 199, 201, 211
snake, 7 0 , 144 ,146,147, ‘59,17 3 . 175>«», 193 steamers, 113
snafcehead fish, 147 steaming, 13,42,67; in modem use, 112,117,
sodium'potassium balance, 68 119 , 142, 153, 163,171
soft drinks, 209,120 stewing, 113,162,171
SoLmoceous family, 130—31 stewpots, 42
Solcdd, Ralph, 9 stir-frying, 4 3 , 55.67, iii, 113, iji, ISA 153, >79
Songs c f the South, 165-66 storage o f grain, 8j, 92
sopa seat, 113 Story <fthe Stone, The (Cao Xueqin), 93, 97 ,
sorghum, 3,17, 21,64,83, 93,10+; modem 98
use, U 8 - 1 9 , 183 stoves, 43,149-50,15+
soup, 67,69, in , 128; in regional cooking, straw, toi
162,172 strawberry, 136
sour-and-hot soup, 168 street stalls, 206
sour cream, 66 Strickmann, MidwL, 52
 Index 261

strokes, 44 ton hsntg (resilient) food, [58

sturgeon, 141 Tang Dynasty, 63
sit (ckan vegetarian) food, [58, 203 t’attg sbiii (sugar water), 125
nt (foxtail millet), 26 tangerine, 68,136; peel, 142,157,177
n< (refers to fried tixxis), 158 fno (peach), 27,134
Su Jcn-Shaji, [30 too (rice), 26
Su Shili, 59, 67 T;k> Hung-ching, 49
simn (cleaning) tixxi, 158 7 /m Tc CJritig, 29,155
man (garlic), [30 T ao Yiian-ming (poet), + 8- 49,135
substitutions, 106, 207 Taoism, 29, 30, 33, 35, S3, 59, 71; drug use in,
Sudiou, 160 [40
sugar, 69, 80, 81, 85, (56, ifw tapai, 43
sugar beets, 53 tapir, 20
sugarcane, 41, taro, ij, 41,54, 67, 122,159,177,180; desserts,
sugarcane juice, (96 (64; horns, 176
Sui Dynasty, 51-52 tmtsu 42
Sui^yuati Shill-tan {Yuan Mci), 98 tax dodging, 92
siir1 (shoots), 129 tax sy'stems, 13,18, 23, 37, 3®, J2 , 53, 55,107;
shiuj (“food to eat on ricc” ), 67, 114 centralization of, 57; in Sung Dynasty,
siitu; (pine), 28 61, 62,7+; in Ming Dynasty, 78, 81, 85; in
siouj (pufly) foods, 158 Ch’Lng Dynasty, 91-92
Sung Dynasts', 107,111; history' of, 57—60; tea, +7, 55, 56, 76,80, no; in Sung Dynasty,
land system in, 61—62; crap innovations, 61, 64, 67, 68; modem use, 138-39;
63-64; variety of foods, 65—69; food buttered, 182
books from, 70-72 tea monopoly, 59, 61, 68
Sung Ying-lising, 81, 82, St tea ccremony o f Japan, 157
surpluses, 94, 102 teapots, 153
sushi, 68 tea-seed 82
swan, 7j technology, 77 , 87, 88, 93 , 95
sweet pepper, 131 - 32 temperatures for cooking, 15+-55, <7 *
sweet potato, 79, 96,131 Teochju, 162,163—64,185
sweet soup, 125 texture o f foods, 155—56
sweet—sour dishes, 130,157,173 Thailand >3, 99, nj, 145,181
sweet—sour fish, 179,185 thatch, 103, » 4
swcetflag, 27 theobromine, ij8
swim bladders, 142,174 theophylline, 138
sword bean, 82,125 thinly sliced food *5°, 162,168
swordfish, 141 Thousand Cnuia (Kawabata), 139
sympathetic magic, 192 Tibet, 5,74, 76, 9i, 169; foods of, 120,139,
Szechuan Province, 70,157,167-68 145,181,182,184
fiat dm ittit/uj (sweet ferment), u6
tiat-hsin (pastry'), 69
tabic manners, 201 'Pini-kutig K ’ai-wu (Sung Ying-hsing), 81,
Taiwan, 16, nj, 161,164—65,172 82
tallow, Si tiger, 75
tallow tree, 80 am stun, 176, 201
 Index 262

rime (length o f) in cooking, 136,154,163 tuna, 141

riming in cooking, 156,163,171,172 t’ung. Si
rt>uj (cubed foods), 177 Tung Chung-shu, 44
tissue repair, 192 trtruj but dttttwt (winter melon poixl), 132
tobacco, 80,139-40 turkey, L+4
toddy, S4 turnip, 68, 84, [2S, tjg; greens, 105
tomato, 80, 9+, ips, 131,172, 209 tumip oil, 82
tongue, 147 turtle, 2 0 ,4 2 , 147, 164
tonics, 4s, 128,133 twice-cooked dislies, 154
tolls, 21, 46, j 9 ,106; Ncolithic, 8, 9,10, is, Twitdiett, Denis, sî
2+ typhoons, 5
topsoii, 106 to« {seeds), 133
tortoise, 42,147, sliell of, 20, 22
ton (deaver-likc tool), iso
ton (red bean), us tdaiia plums, 96
tonfii {tofu or bean curd), 6 9 ,123 UmnatnonaùU Cuisine (Schwabe), 148
toil sink, 42 urbanization, 36, 76
trade, 4,14, is, 16,20, 76, 87; in Sung utensils, 149, iso-si, 201
Dynasty, 60-61,64, 74; in Yuan
Dynasty, 73—74. See also sea trade
trances, 140 Vcdic tradition, 189
transportation, 109 vegetarian cooking, 54, 71, n 8 ,123,160,167,
travelers to China, 54, 64, 66,73, 80, 83, 87, 20}

95 venereal disease, 19s

trays, 152 Vietnam, 10, 29,103,143,156
treadle pump, 63 vinegar, 67, 74,116,156,160,168
tribute payments, 58, 74 \itamins, 106,115,124,130; \iramin C, 105,
tripe, 69,170 131,136,191, 209; vitamin A, 131,191
truffles, 133 vodkas, [20,121,175
triw {“dishes to go on rice” ), 21, 67
t’sai (greens), 114,126—28
rrta (seaweeds), 133 wadded clothing, 64
tsamba (parched barley), 120,139,182,184 wattle iron, 151
tsao (jujube), 28 walnut, 12, 68, 98,137,168,193
ts’ao urn (strawberry), 136 wampec, 136
tsao-tzu, 71 Wan-li Emperor, 78
£rW (texture o f foods), 155—56, 158 jiw; tint (peas), 124
Ts*ui Shih, 41 Wang An-shih, S9, 61—62
ts’itng (scallion), 130 Wang Chen, 63, 76
tu (poison), concept of, 194-96 Wang Pao (poet), 39
tuberculosis, 191 war, 13, 16, 30, 92
Tughluq, Muhammad bin, 74 Warring States period, in
tui {motherwort), 27 HHvalri, 156,157
tun (steam-stewing), 152,154 wasp, 28
Tun-huang Oasis, 53 water buffalo, ij, 20,103,143,144
Tun U-ch’en, 204 water caltrop, 42
it'In d ex 26i

water chcstnut, 129, 176 won toil soup, [56,167, 176

water fern, 27, [03 words describing food, [47,158, 208—09
water-lifting devices, 74 Wu Ch’ing-tzu, 91, 97-98
water management, 17, 38, 62, 95, 102, 1+9 Wit, Emperor, 39
water pepper, 166 Wu Tzu-mu, 67
water plantain, 27
water-shield, 27
watercress, io j , 128,198
watcrlily, i}8 ya (sprouts), 129
watermelon, 64,157 yak, 5, 181
waxmyttlc, 42, [36 yak butter, 120
Weber, Max, 87 yam, 54, 67, 79, 122
weeds, [02 yam bean, 125—26
Wei Dynasty, 47 Yang Q i’ien, ;i, 52
Wei River Valley, 10 Yang Gnu, 30
Wen, Emperor, 37-38, 39 ya>ig n iti (apricot or strawberry), 136
liVN/f irtii, (27 Yang-shao culture, 10—n, 19
wet/dry energies, 49,189,190. Stt also yang roe (sheep peach), 136
humoral theory Yang Wan-Li (poet), 70
whale, 141; bones of, zt, 22 Yangtze Delta country, io, t6o
wheat; *+, 65,80, lot, 104, early use, 3 ,4 —5, Yao people, 16, 80,181
10,17,20, 25,29; modem use, 112, (17-18, yard-long bean, 125
178-79 yarrow, 26-27
wlieat Hour, 82,117,118 yeast, jo, 82, (17
wheat gemi, 4; Ych-lu Chu-tsai, 74
wiielk, 141 Yeilotp Em peror’s C lasni o fIntern al M ediant,
wliisks, ijo 44,189
wild game, 11, 42,188 Yellow River, 10, 74, 85
«ild rice, 129 Yen, Isabella, 160,169
William o f Rubruck, 73 yeoman tanning, J 3
wilkiw, 29 yield, agricultural, 39 -4 0 ,5 3,8 1,9 4 ,10 1—02
wine, 74-, 98, [20, [+2,157, i9_% grape wine. yin/yang concept, 35, [88,192,195
Si, 137 Tin-ihan Cbagj-yno, 7 5 -7 6
wine monopoly, 59, 6i Yin-ibih H itt yao Chih (Chia Ming), 75
winnowing, Si yogurt, jo, 55,66, 74 , 14S, 169, i8z
winter melon pond, [72-73 yii (elm), 27
Wittfogel, Karl, 22 Yiian Dynasty, 72—74, 7S, 76
wok, 43,151-52; slxjvel for, 150 Yuan Mci (poet), 98
wolfthom, [2 8 ,19 1,19 8 Yiieh Fei (general), s8
women, pregnant, 130 Yunnan, 5,139 ,16 9 -7 0