Pepper was introduced into China from America at the end of Ming Dynasty, but at first it only entered China as an ornamental crop and medicinal material. In the early Qing dynasty, Guizhou and its neighboring areas first ate Chili. In Guizhou, where salt was scarce, during the Kangxi period (1662- 1722), "soil seedlings replaced salt", and pepper played a role in replacing salt, which shows that it is closely related to life. During the Qianlong period (1736- 1795), people in Guizhou consumed a lot of peppers. During the Qianlong period, Zhenxiong, Yunnan, which is adjacent to Guizhou, and Chenzhou, Hunan, which is in the east of Guizhou, also began to eat peppers. After Jiaqing (1796- 1820), four provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan and Jiangxi began to grow peppers. During the Jiaqing period, it was recorded that Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Sichuan had begun to "grow vegetables".
During the Daoguang period (182 1 year-1850), there was a "sweet pepper in every meal" in northern Guizhou, which prevailed during the Tongzhi period. Most of its dishes were bean curd, that is, pickled salt blocks and sea peppers were dipped in water, a bit like the sea peppers dipped in the bean curd in Fushun, Sichuan today.
It was not very common to eat spicy food in some areas of Hunan during Jiaqing period, but it was more common in Hunan during Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi and Guangxu periods. According to Records of the Qing Dynasty, "people from Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan and Sichuan like spicy food", "people from Hunan and Hubei like spicy food" and "no pepper mustard is put in the soup", which shows that people from Hunan and Hubei like spicy food in the late Qing Dynasty, and even the soup should be put with pepper.
The record of edible pepper in Sichuan is a little late. Neither Yongzheng's Sichuan Annals nor Jiaqing's Sichuan Annals recorded the cultivation and consumption of peppers, but the earliest record was probably in Jiaqing years. Judging from the areas where peppers were planted and eaten during Jiaqing period in Sichuan, they were mainly in the Chengdu Plain and Daba Mountain area in the south and southwest of Sichuan, bordering Sichuan, Hubei and Shaanxi. After Daoguang, Xianfeng and Tongzhi, Sichuan edible peppers began to spread widely, and even peppers were planted all over Shan Ye, Sichuan. After Guangxu, eating peppers became more common in Sichuan. In addition to being widely eaten by the people, there are also many records of eating peppers in classic recipes. Fu Chongju's Overview of Chengdu in the late Qing Dynasty recorded that there were 1 328 kinds of dishes in Chengdu at that time, and pepper had become one of the main ingredients in Sichuan cuisine, including hot oil pepper and pepper noodles, especially Sichuan cuisine, which was officially recorded in writing. In the late Qing Dynasty, eating Chili peppers has become an important feature of Sichuan people's diet. Xu Xinyu's Travel Notes of Sichuan records: "Only Sichuanese must choose extremely spicy peppers, and every meal and dish should be spicy."
When did Yunnan start to eat spicy food? In Zhenxiong, Yunnan, which is adjacent to Guizhou, chilies were eaten in Qianlong years, but it was not very common to eat chilies in Yunnan during Qianlong and Jiaqing years. There is no record of pepper in Yunnan Tongzhi during Guangxu period, but people began to eat a lot of pepper as early as Guangxu period. According to Xu Xinyu's Travels in the Middle of Shu in the late Qing Dynasty, his father discovered the peppers imported into Yunnan every year through Ya 'an, Sichuan, "worth hundreds of thousands, and the number of peppers eaten by Yunnan people is not weaker than that of Sichuan people". Therefore, in the Qing Dynasty, Tsui Hark's "Notes on Clearing Barns" said: "Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan and Sichuan are spicy products." According to Textual Research on Plant Names and Facts, edible peppers were planted in Jiangxi during Jiaqing period. During the Guangxu period, eating Chili was common in Jiangxi, and now Jiangxi Nankang Chili sauce is very famous.
Pepper was introduced to China for about 400 years, but this exotic spice quickly spread throughout China, grabbing the position of traditional pepper, ginger and dogwood. The consumption of Zanthoxylum bungeanum has been squeezed in Sichuan Basin, the hometown of Zanthoxylum bungeanum. Cornus officinalis has almost completely withdrawn from the stage of spicy ingredients in China diet, and the status of ginger has also largely withdrawn from the diet. The introduction and entry of pepper into China's diet is undoubtedly a diet revolution, and its unparalleled power makes traditional spices unable to compete with it. Only this revolution, due to the constraints of traffic and information at that time, seemed a bit slow.