porridge is a unique food culture in China, with a long history.

According to historical records, the Yellow Emperor cooked cereal for porridge. In Historical Records Biography of Bian Que Canggong written by Sima Qian in Han Dynasty, the story of Chunyu Yi, a famous doctor at that time, who used porridge to improve his illness was recorded. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, porridge continued to flourish. There are some porridge diet prescriptions and folk remedies recorded in Treatise on the Causes of Diseases and Prescriptions to Prepare for Urgent Needs. For example, rice bran porridge can improve beriberi, and sheep bone porridge has the function of warming and nourishing yang.

porridge was also very popular in the song dynasty, when more than 1 porridge recipes were recorded in Taiping shenghuifang. There are also dozens of porridge diets recorded in the Book of Supporting the Aged and Offering Relatives, such as using cistanche mutton porridge to treat fatigue and ginger porridge to treat nausea and vomiting.

In the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, porridge also developed. Li Dongyuan, one of the famous four masters in Jin, Yuan and Yuan Dynasties, is very good at porridge dietotherapy. In his works, he specially introduced dozens of most commonly used porridge dietotherapy prescriptions. In the Yuan Dynasty, Zou Xuan continued to expand the space on the basis of the book of supporting the elderly and offering relatives, and wrote a new book of supporting the elderly with a long life, supplemented by dozens of porridge diets. At that time, porridge diet health was also recognized by the royal court. Doctor Tai, who was in charge of court meals in the Yuan Dynasty, had collected many porridge recipes for nourishing and strengthening the body, assisting in treating diseases and preserving health and prolonging life. As for the Ming dynasty, porridge diet health has been very common. Li Shizhen, a famous doctor in Ming Dynasty, compiled a book Compendium of Materia Medica by summarizing the medical theories of predecessors and combining his own medical experience, which included many porridge diets. The "Puji Fang" compiled in the Ming Dynasty contains nearly 2 porridge recipes. Nearly 1 kinds of porridge recipes were also recorded in the book Lao Lao Heng Yan in the Qing Dynasty.

porridge is widely accepted because it is simple to make, convenient to obtain materials and meets people's demand for food to a certain extent. Up to now, eating porridge has developed into a fashionable and healthy health-keeping method with cultural accumulation. Not only are the types of porridge extremely rich, but the popularity is not the same as before.