Prehistory of Chinese Food

206BC- 220AD	Han Dynasty—World's 1st Green Revolution This dynasty gave Chinese the identity of "people of Han" until now.
2AD	World's First Census calculated that there were 600,000,000 people living in China. This made agriculture the basis of the empire. Probably because of the growth of agriculture, the empire expanded and its contacts extended. The famous envoy—Chang Ch'en brought back various useful plants from Central Asia, for example grape and grape wine, alfalfa, Northern cakes etc.
	Since the small farms were worked by families, they gave birth to many children, hoping they would have a boy. He would be more capable of helping in the farm.
	9 staples: wheat (for noodles) barley millet (most popular grain) glutinous millet spiked millet soyabeans rice (second most popular grain) hemp small beans (usually boiled) Plant foods: lotus litchis cinnamon magnolia buds peonies rush shoots daylilies Meat was from: horses sheep deer ducks geese pheasants wild birds pigeons wild fish turtle and tortoise Fruits: oranges grapes chestnut water caltrop bamboo shoots sugar cane The methods were more or less the same as Chou's except that stir-frying was added and there was a stress on slicing foods thinly and evenly. There were even the presence of model woks, great kettles and stewpots. As for the kitchen, there were stoves with great stoke holes and apertures for curved bottoms of pots. However, a lot of food was consumed in the sacrifices for ritual ceremonies and feasts.