Chapter 3 Section 3 Contribution of Chinese Food Culture to World Culture

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period more than 2,000 years ago, a relatively systematic cooking theory appeared in China, which is a reflection of the development of the ancient cooking industry and a certain depth and breadth of dietary practice.In the past thousand years, seven major cuisines have been formed: Cantonese, Wu, Sichuan, Lu, Halal, vegetarian and therapeutic.All kinds of flavor foods in tens of thousands of cities and towns in China present an unparalleled ocean of delicacies.Chinese cuisine has traveled across the oceans and has been around for centuries.Chinese cooking knowledge, cooking techniques and cooking aesthetics have enriched the treasure house of world culture.At present, there are more than 100,000 Chinese restaurants in every corner of the world.These all reflect the fruitful achievements of Chinese cooking skills.China is called the culinary kingdom by people all over the world. This is not because the Chinese taste buds are born with special functions, but because they have a unique and profound culinary cultural tradition.As early as the beginning of this century, Sun Yat-sen discussed Chinese food culture in many places in his "Strategy for the Founding of a Country". If the taste is not refined, if the taste is not refined, the cooking technique is not good. The beauty of Chinese cooking is also enough to show the depth of civilization evolution. In the past, before the opening of China and the West, Westerners only knew how to cook one dish, and France was the best in the world; And to have a taste of China, there is no one without China as the crown.” For a long time, many foreign friends who travel to China regard being able to enjoy authentic Chinese cuisine as one of the greatest joys in life.Chinese food, scenic spots, and cultural relics have become the three major advantages of the tourism industry.

China has been founded on agriculture since ancient times. The Chinese people have been at the forefront of the world in developing food resources since ancient times, regardless of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery. The horticulture industry is particularly prominent. The working people have cultivated countless high-quality grains, vegetables and fruits.China is the hometown of millet, rice, soybean, taro, chestnut, tea, tangerine, orange, kiwi, loquat, mango, litchi, longan, peach, plum, plum, apricot, sugar cane, etc.Among these crops, the contribution of soybean is particularly prominent. The earliest record of soybean was found in the literature of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Soy sauce and various sauce condiments were made from soybeans, and tofu products were created from soybeans in the early Western Han Dynasty.Today, the tofu series food produced in our country has increased to more than 100 kinds.The soy milk series launched in recent years is also very popular.The soybeans and soybean series products cultivated by the Chinese people have provided the world with an important source of vegetable protein and a series of high-quality condiments.There are many special foods in China, which are famous all over the world, such as roast suckling pig with melted skin in Guangdong, crispy roast duck in Beijing, ham in Jinhua and Xuanwei, and salted eggs, preserved eggs (preserved eggs), and bad eggs that are popular all over the country. Pickling, all kinds of smoked and waxed products, hair-made bean sprouts, cooked vermicelli, vermicelli, etc., all have a set of special techniques, and there are many local famous foods with unique techniques in various places, too numerous to enumerate.These are all contributions to the world's food culture.

As early as more than 2,000 years ago, China combined cooking science and medicine science, thus producing a unique "diet therapy". In the Warring States period, it was written in a book, and it recorded nearly 100 kinds of food that were believed to have curative effects.In China's earliest medical book "Huangdi Neijing" (written in the Warring States Period), diet therapy also plays an important role.China's medicated diet, medicinal food and medicinal beverages are emerging and attracting the attention of the world. There is never a shortage of melons, vegetables, and tofu products on the Chinese table. All kinds of beans, potatoes, and bean and potato products are regular non-staple foods.These foods provide the body with plant protein, unsaturated fatty acids, multivitamins, minerals, trace elements and plant fibers, and are essential for ensuring protein absorption, ensuring acid-base balance, ensuring normal operation of the gastrointestinal tract, and adjusting various physiological functions. functions, all play an important role. A well-known dietary principle is put forward in the "Huangdi Neijing": "Five grains are for nourishment, five fruits are for help, five animals are for benefit, and five vegetables are for Pei [pei matching]...to nourish leanness and nourish qi." This is the earliest balanced diet in the world theory.During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Confucius and Lu Buwei, who paid attention to food, both advocated restraint in eating meat. Confucius said: "Although there is a lot of meat, it does not make you eat better." Lu Buwei believed that "fat meat and thick wine" is "food for rotten intestines." ", these views, are in line with the principles of nutrition and hygiene.The balanced diet theory is also commonly seen in Western newspapers and television.But the change of the old tradition of four high diets (high protein, high fat, high calorie, high cholesterol) is not an easy task.Today, the high incidences of obesity, rectal cancer, bladder cancer, cardiovascular disease and premature aging in countries with four high dietary traditions are all relatively low in China, which is recognized by the world's medical circles and health experts , which is related to the national tradition of Chinese dietary balance.

The tea cultivated in China provides human beings with a refreshing, thirst-quenching and health-care high-quality drink. It has been gradually popularized all over the world for more than 1,000 years. China's ceramic tableware has a history of more than 1,000 years when it goes abroad. It is loved by people from all over the world. Together with tea and silk, it has become China's three outstanding cultural envoys and has entered thousands of households in many countries around the world.