Corn was originally called maize, and has many common names in various places, such as fanmai, jade wheat, corn, Baogu, Baolu, Pengzi, pearl rice, etc.; it is also called Liugu (also written as Ziegu or Deergu). ), meaning another kind of grain besides five grains.

Corn is native to the Americas.

The early development of ancient northern civilization and the leading position in agricultural production determined that ancient Chinese food culture was basically formed based on northern food etiquette and habits. Chinese food culture, with northern food culture as the main body, played an important role in ancient society, still has an important influence on modern society, and has become an important behavioral norm in the civilized era. Although the social, economic, and cultural development of the South in later generations surpassed that of the North, in terms of food culture traditions, it only enriched and perfected, sublated and inherited, and did not fundamentally negate the traditional Chinese food culture.

“The beginning of etiquette begins with food and drink.” Food etiquette is the foundation of all etiquette systems. The northern region has long been a relatively developed political, economic and cultural region in ancient China. Most of the relevant dietary customs and regulations in the early stages of civilization were first formed in this region. Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, who had a strong habit of being a refugee, encountered a chaotic situation after he came to the throne where "the ministers drank and competed for merit, were drunk or yelled indiscriminately, and drew their swords to hit pillars." Lai Shusuntong "collected ancient rituals and mixed them with Qin rituals" to formulate court rituals.

"Liu Bang even served wine in the court, and no one dared to make a noise or be disrespectful." Liu Bang "knew that he was the emperor's noblest person." The ancient etiquette of Qin that Shusun Tong refers to includes the dietary etiquette that has gradually formed since the pre-Qin period. The idea of ??putting food first in the Eight Policies of "Hong Fan" and the regulations and requirements on food in "Zhou Rites", "Rituals", and "Book of Rites" were regarded as classics and were followed by later generations. Although the pre-Qin scholars had different theories, they were all nourished by the agricultural mother culture, and they all valued or cared about food to varying degrees. Lao Tzu has a famous saying, "Governing a big country is like cooking small delicacies", which shows that he is proficient in dietary theory. "Those who manage the body and cultivate the character must sleep in a reasonable place and eat appropriately" (4), which clearly mentions the important role of diet in people's self-cultivation. The Mohists regarded hunger as the "three troubles", cold as the clothes, and fatigue as the "three troubles", and advocated the frugal theory of "eating according to the belly and clothing according to the body". Paying attention to etiquette, art and hygiene are important contents of Confucian food education. Confucian food thoughts and concepts represented by Confucius form the core of Chinese food culture.

Monographs on dietary life appeared very early in China. These food and drink documents are called the Food Classics. "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi" records seven volumes of "Shennong's Food Classic"; "Suishu·Jingjizhi" records twelve related food classics and seventy-one volumes; "Xin Tangshu·Yiwenzhi" records five volumes of food classics Seed, one hundred and sixty-two volumes. These treatises can roughly reflect the situation of dietary literature from the Pre-Qin Dynasty to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Unfortunately, most of these valuable documents have been lost. Volumes 8 and 9 of "Qimin Yaoshu" are the most complete and valuable cooking works before the Sui and Tang Dynasties found today. They account for about 2% of the total length of the book and cite 144 items from the "Shi Jing", "Shi C" and other documents. So many.

The author of "Shijing" may be Cui Hao, who is from the famous Qinghe clan in Hebei Province; the author of "Shici" is unknown. Some people think that the provincial title of "Shijing Law" was cited from "Yaoshu" Zheng Based on the examination of the content, "Shici" is also a recipe for eating in the North. Jia Sixie, a native of Yidu, Shandong Province, served as the governor of Gaoyang in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Judging from the "collection of scriptures, romances and ballads, inquiring about the experience, and testing the practices", most of the farming and minting matters recorded in "Yao Shu" should be the situation in Jia's hometown or the place where he served as an official. Works on food and drink before the Tang Dynasty basically appeared in the Yellow River Basin, which may reflect the historical status of northern food culture.

The famous Japanese food history expert Mr. Matsuta Tsutomu once wrote the article "Research on the Classics of Modern Food". He believed that "Compared with the previous dynasties in the Song Dynasty, the power of the Han people obviously expanded to the south. But in daily dietary life In general, it is still a continuation of the Tang Dynasty." The influence of modernization has not been obviously reflected in the kitchen. The development of southern food culture roughly coincides with the gradual southward shift of ancient China's economic center of gravity. In particular, the Song Dynasty's migration to the south promoted the integration of Beijing cuisine (Henan cuisine) and Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisine. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the food culture of the south had come from behind and surpassed that of the north.

2. Development of wheat farming and characteristics of pasta

China is the world-recognized center of the origin of millet and rice. Since the Neolithic Age, the agricultural pattern of millet in the north and rice in the south has been shown. Millet and rice were the most important food crops in ancient China, and rice or porridge were basically "grain foods". Therefore, although there are differences in agricultural types between the south and the north in terms of water and dry farming, there is not much difference in the staple food and catering methods.

The difference in dining styles between the north and the south is largely related to the development of wheat crops in the north. Wheat crops are generally believed to have originated in West Asia. Around the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the "Gao Mai" and "Deng Mai" sacrificial rituals appeared. "Poetry·Zhou Song·Si Wen" has the phrase "Yi Wo Lai Mu", which is considered to be a blessing from heaven. The seed coat of wheat is hard and the quality of "grain food" is poor. Even in the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu still said that "it is not good to grow wheat in Guanzhong".

With the emergence of grain processing methods, especially large-scale stone mills, wheat pasta technology that is different from "grain food" has emerged, and the eating quality of wheat has been greatly improved. The localization of wheat in China has gone through a process from west to east and from north to south. The middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River are one of the best growing areas for wheat.

With the development of wheat farming, northern China has gradually transitioned to a diet dominated by wheat. However, in the south, due to climate restrictions, there may be cases where wheat is planted but not mature. Wheat farming in the south of the Yangtze River developed greatly during the Song and Qing Dynasties, but the transformation of rice and wheat fields from floods to droughts involved complex processes and technologies, and required hard work. Since wheat crops only play a supporting role in rice production. Therefore, the south still maintains the tradition of "grain eating" of rice.