Strictly speaking, people who lived in Sichuan in ancient times were not unhappy, because pepper was officially introduced into China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, so the history of eating spicy food in China is not too long. Besides, there are two main styles of ancient Sichuan cuisine, one is spicy and the other is sweet, and the connection with pepper is not too close.

1. Pepper was officially introduced into China in the late Ming Dynasty

You know, pepper is an exotic plant, and its origin is mainly concentrated in Mexico and Colombia, and it was officially introduced into China in the late Ming Dynasty. Moreover, when pepper was first introduced into China, people didn't use it as a seasoning, but later people discovered the wonderful use of pepper in the field of food, which made the spicy taste officially popular. So in this respect, the history of eating spicy food in China is actually not very long. That is to say, in ancient times, pepper was not widely planted, and the ancients in Sichuan could not get in touch with pepper, so naturally there was no way to be unhappy.

Second, the taste of ancient Sichuan cuisine was mainly spicy and sweet

In terms of food taste, eating spicy food in Sichuan is not a long-standing tradition, because many ancient books recorded that Sichuan cuisine is not spicy, but spicy and sweet. Among them, spicy flavor can be said to be the closest to spicy flavor, but the spicy spices commonly used by the ancients are usually pepper, ginger (Sichuan ginger) and cornus, which have little to do with pepper. As for sweet food, it has nothing to do with Chili. However, with the passage of time and the gradual spread of pepper in the whole country, and the climate in Sichuan is also suitable for the growth of pepper, people in Sichuan gradually accepted this taste and finally formed a unique food culture. It can be seen that the taste of ancient Sichuan cuisine is not mainly spicy, but has changed in the evolution of history, so we can't think that people in ancient Sichuan are not spicy and unhappy.

to sum up, because pepper was officially introduced into China late, and the taste of ancient Sichuan cuisine was not mainly spicy, it can't be said that people in ancient Sichuan were neither spicy nor unhappy.