From the end of the Warring States Period to the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, Sichuan Province experienced three large-scale immigrants.

The first immigration was the Qin immigrants to the Bashu region after the Qin Dynasty destroyed Shu, and the nobles from the Six Kingdoms moved to Sichuan after Qin Shihuang unified China; the second immigration was during the turmoil at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, first by Liu Yan, and then by the Central Plains aristocrats led by Liu Bei.

Entering Sichuan; the third immigration was during the turmoil in the late Tang Dynasty, when Sichuan accepted a large number of Central Plains families who took refuge.

The three immigrants all have the same characteristics. The high cultural level of the immigrants brought the advanced culture of the Central Plains region into Sichuan, thus promoting the progress and prosperity of Sichuan culture. As an important aspect of culture, food has also been

reflect.

Its birthplace is the ancient countries of Ba and Shu.

According to the Records of the State of Huayang, the country of Ba "plants grains in the soil, has six domestic animals", and produces fish salt and tea honey; the country of Shu has "the mountains and forests are full of fish, and the gardens are filled with fruits and melons, which have been ripe for four generations, and they are endless."

.

At that time, the condiments of Ba and Shu already included brine, rock salt, Sichuan pepper, and "Yangpu ginger".

Among the cultural relics unearthed from the cemetery during the Warring States Period, there are various bronzes and pottery utensils, and the germination of Sichuan cuisine can be seen.

The formation of Sichuan cuisine roughly occurred between the unification of China by Qin Shihuang and the establishment of the Three Kingdoms.

At that time, the political, economic and cultural center of Sichuan gradually moved to Chengdu.

1. During the Qin and Western Han Dynasties, Sichuan food culture had not yet developed regional characteristics: from the Qin Dynasty's destruction of Shu to the end of the Western Han Dynasty for more than 300 years, due to the economic development of Bashu after the first immigration, Chengdu's prosperity led to the abundance of products and the development of the catering industry.

Prosperity, this is what Yang Xiong said in "Ode to the Capital of Shu": "Tune the five flavors of husband, the harmony of sweetness, peony soup, Jiangdong fish and abalone, Longxi cattle and sheep" and the banquet with rare wild birds and beasts "five meats and seven vegetables"

vegetable.

From these few sentences, we can infer that classical Sichuan cuisine has begun to take shape in the late Western Han Dynasty, and the spirit of the Central Plains cooking culture - "five-flavor harmony" has become the keynote of the diet of at least the upper class in Sichuan; and then "Jiangdong Fish and Baobao"

, Longxi cattle and sheep” shows that Sichuan cooking raw materials are not simply selected locally, but obtained from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the west of the Qinling Mountains through water and land transportation.

However, we should note that the above description implies that during this period at least the diet of the upper class did not have regional characteristics. If there were, it was the pre-Warring States "Yizhou deer (evil deer)" inherited by the lower class people mentioned in the previous section.

Committee)" Such unhygienic and uncivilized habits.

Before this, it can be inferred from the "Wenjun Danglong" recorded in "Historical Records" that the catering industry in Shu had also appeared.

Generally speaking, just as Sichuan rarely showed the legacy of the ancient Bashu culture after the Qin and Han dynasties, the food culture of Sichuan during this period was basically completely assimilated by the advanced culture of the Qin and Han dynasties and had not yet formed its own regional characteristics.

2. The distinction between classical Bashu cuisine and Central Plains and Jiangnan cuisine appeared at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Wei and Jin Dynasties: After the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Sichuan's economy and culture continued to develop, and its culinary culture began to show its own characteristics.

The "cooking figurines" in the Eastern Han Dynasty tombs in Zhongxian County introduced in the second section illustrate the mature scene of Bashu cooking, among which the appearance of dumplings should especially attract our attention.

Dumplings should be understood as a variant of wontons. During the Han Dynasty, wontons were called "wontons" and were a type of cake commonly known as "cake", or soup cakes.

"Cake" in Liu Xi's "Shiming" of the Eastern Han Dynasty has mentioned "steamed cakes, soup cakes, scorpion cakes, marrow cakes, gold cakes, suo cakes" and other cakes. However, we cannot accurately understand the meaning of soup cakes. We only

We know that wontons or dumplings should be made from wheat flour after gluten removal, which requires high quality flour processing. From this, we can speculate that at least during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the agricultural processing technology in Sichuan, like the Central Plains, had developed to a considerable extent.

stage.

Steamed buns, or "mantou", as a kind of instant noodles, should be a type of the so-called "steamed cakes" in the "Shiming" sentence cited above. They had already appeared in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, but why was it attributed to the Shu Han Dynasty by Gao Cheng

Zhuge Liang's invention?

In addition to the celebrity effect here, it may also be because Mantou from Shu was the first to add meat fillings and its shape slightly resembles a human head. It is definitely different from Liu Xishi’s steamed cakes.

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the "Wei Wu Four Seasons Food System" written by someone who may have been named after Cao Cao talked about the cooking of Bashu at that time, saying: "Pixian fish, with yellow scales and red tails, can be made into sauce when it comes out of the rice fields"; it is said that yellow croaker is "large in size".

Hundreds of kilograms, soft bones and edible, produced in Jiangyang and Qianwei. "It also mentioned "steamed catfish", which shows that steamed catfish was already a dish in Bashu at that time.

In any case, it shows that the cooking level of Bashu area has been greatly improved at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, and it was known in the Central Plains as "happy with sweet honey". Later, in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it was once again "Shangzizi" by Chang Xu.

, so spicy" confirmed.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Chengdu, as the capital of one of the three countries, entered China's political arena. The second immigration movement promoted the continued economic and cultural development of Bashu. During this period, Liu Chan, the later master, carried out extensive construction projects and "traveled a lot.

Amplification of Vocal Music”, accordingly, is reflected in high dietary levels.

At this time, Chengdu had become a prosperous metropolis across the country that was "both beautiful and respected", with "rails extending in all directions on the outside, courtyards facing each other on the inside, and thousands of villas connected to each other."

During the Western Jin Dynasty, Zuo Si wrote "Ode to the Capital of Shu" based on documents and inquiries from people in Luoyang. He praised the rich products in Shu, saying "konjac and dogwood, Guachou taro area, sugar cane, spicy ginger, yang and yin."

Therefore, there is a saying in Chengdu banquet that "the dishes are presented on four sides, and the cups are made clear (youpiao)".

The poet Zhang Zai of the Western Jin Dynasty also talked about the rich food in the Shu capital in his poem "Ascend the Baitu Tower in Chengdu": "The food of the tripod can be brought in at any time. The harmony of everything is wonderful and unique."