According to documents, as early as 5,000 years ago, there were barbecues, grilled fish and other foods in China. In the Shang Dynasty, a famous dish named "Eight Treasures" appeared in the Zhou Dynasty, which had a great influence on later generations. During the Han, Wei, Southern and Northern Dynasties, China's cooking developed rapidly and its famous dishes increased greatly. "Five-Hou mackerel" invented by Lou Hu in Han Dynasty is the earliest mixed dish in China. There are hundreds of dishes on bamboo slips unearthed from Mawangdui No.1 Han Tomb. There are more than 200 kinds of dishes in the Book of Qi Yaomin written by Jia Sixie in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Due to the introduction and popularity of Buddhism and the advocacy of Liang Wudi in the Southern Dynasties, Buddhist fasting gradually influenced the society and further developed the vegetarian dishes that have appeared in China. During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, China's color and diet dishes had a new development.
In the Song Dynasty, the development of Chinese food reached a climax. There are hundreds of cold dishes, hot dishes, soups and colorful dishes in the shops in Bianjing and Lin 'an. At that time, there were dishes and vegetarian dishes marked with southern, northern and Sichuan styles in the market, which indicated that the main flavor schools of China cooking had begun to take shape in the Song Dynasty.
During the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, China cuisine developed greatly, with thousands of dishes. During this period, due to the migration of ethnic minorities who believe in Islam, Muslim cuisine, as a unique flavor, occupies a certain position in China cuisine, and the flavor genre of China cuisine has basically taken shape. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, with the arrival of foreigners, China cuisine was mixed with some western food.
Since the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), especially since 1979, the inheritance and innovation of cooking have made gratifying achievements. Traditional dishes from all over China have returned to the market. In addition to Beijing imitation cuisine, Xi 'an, Hangzhou, Kaifeng, Yangzhou and other places have also excavated and developed imitation Tang cuisine, imitation Song cuisine, Confucian cuisine and red chamber cuisine.
There are many kinds of dishes in China, which are not only classified by region and nationality, but also processed differently by different consumers. There are two categories as follows. 1 consumer category. Due to different consumers, the level of dishes is also different, mainly including home-cooked dishes, local dishes, public canteen dishes, temple fair dishes, official dishes, palace dishes, medicinal dishes and so on. ② Processing class. Due to the diversity of cooking techniques in China, the forms and functions of dishes are different, which are mainly divided into cold dishes, hot dishes, large dishes, side dishes, beets and soup dishes.
China is a multi-ethnic country. Due to the differences in geography, climate, products, culture and beliefs, dishes have different flavors, forming many schools, including four major cuisines and eight major cuisines. The four major cuisines are Shandong cuisine in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, Sichuan cuisine in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Huaiyang cuisine in Huai 'an-Yangzhou region of Jiangsu Province and Cantonese cuisine in the Pearl River basin. Because these cuisines are formed by natural evolution, they can only be roughly distinguished from materials, production, taste and artistic style.