Soybean belongs to the family Papilionaceae and belongs to the genus Soybean. Alias soybean. Many ancient books in China once called soybean glutinous rice, and it was recorded in the Book of Songs that "there was glutinous rice in the Central Plains, and Shu Ren adopted it"; Du Yu commented on the word "glutinous rice, soybean also" in the Western Jin Dynasty; After Qin and Han Dynasties, the word "bean" was used instead of "dragon". Soybean is native to China, and it is estimated that China has been planting soybeans for more than 4,700 years. The history of soybean cultivation in Europe and America is very short, and/kloc-0 was introduced from China in the late 9th century. In 1930s, soybean was planted all over the world.

According to different sowing seasons, soybeans can be divided into four categories: spring soybeans, summer soybeans, autumn soybeans and winter soybeans, but spring soybeans account for the majority. Spring soybeans are generally sown in spring, harvested in 10, and begin to enter the circulation channel in 1 1 month. China is mainly distributed in three northeastern provinces, Hebei, north-central Shanxi, northwestern Shaanxi and northwestern provinces (regions). Summer soybeans are mostly sown after winter crops such as wheat are harvested, and the farming system is double cropping one year or double cropping two years. China is mainly distributed in the Huanghuai Plain and the Yangtze River valley provinces. Autumn soybeans are generally sown after early rice harvest, and winter crops are sown after soybean harvest, forming a three-cropping system a year. There are many autumn soybeans planted in Zhejiang, south-central Jiangxi, southern Hunan, Fujian and Taiwan Province provinces. Winter soybeans are mainly distributed in Guangdong, Guangxi and southern Yunnan. The temperature in these areas is high in winter and there is no frost all year round. Soybean can be planted in spring, summer, autumn and winter. So there are soybeans planted in winter in these areas, but the planting area is not large.

Soybean can be divided into five categories according to seed coat color and grain shape: yellow soybean with seed coat, northeast soybean and general soybean according to grain shape; Green soybean with green seed coat; Black beans with black seed coat; Other colors of soybeans, the seed coat is brown, brown, red and other single colors of soybeans; Feed beans (feed beans).