abstract Chili peppers (Capsicum Annuum) have been an integral part of Chinese cuisine and culture in the modern era. It is grown to be 12% of all Chinese agriculture products that are worth 70 billion Chinese yuan, and the country consumes about four hundred million tons of it per year. Yet, this particular plant is not native to China or Southeast Asia; it is native to northern Mexico. Capsicum Annuum was first discovered by Christopher Columbus int the 15th century who notice that the fruit of the plant has a similar spicy quality to that of black pepper and brought it back to Europe. And that Capsicum Annuum was only introduced to China in the late 16th century. This paper’s objective to understand how did Capsicum Annuum arrive in China and why it has become an essential part of Chinese culture. This research is done by the analysis of primary historical documents, secondary source documents, oral histories, arts, and poems.
Through some historical text, it seems possible that Capsicum Annuum was not introduced to China from the northwest through the traditional silk road, but through the sea routs from Zhejiang province, with the people calling it “sea pepper.” It seems that the initial use of the plant was neither for dietary purpose nor medicinal but as decorative. One document describes the plant as “tufted with white flowers, shaped like a bald-headed pen, tastes spicy with red color, very preferable looking. (1)” Later on, it was discovered in traditional Chinese medicine that the Capsicum flower could rid of a person’s yin and replenish their yang (2). So, Capsicum Annuum was thought to be a remedy for cold and other chronic diseases. As a result, it is possible it was introduced to Szechuan and Guizhou province, which has been historically humid and cold place, and a herbal remedy to prevent diseases. There is further evidence in oral histories that in Guizhou province, people with a lower socioeconomic standing may have converted Capsicum Annuum into food, so the ingestion of food would be more comfortable. One other possibility is that Capsicum Annuum enhances the central salty-taste perception and reduces salt intake (4). Thus, it becomes a substitute for salt, which was a costly item in inland china at the time
Focus: Szechuan and Guizhou, China, 16th-17th century.