The story of Emperor Yanhuang
China is rich in salt resources, and the salt-producing areas are all over the country, with large output, which can not only fully meet the needs of domestic people's lives, but also organize exports. The salt produced in China mainly includes sea salt, well salt, pond salt and mineral salt.
Salt can be divided into raw salt (crude salt), washed salt and refined salt according to different processing degrees. Raw salt is a salt crystal made directly from seawater and salt well water. In addition to sodium chloride, it also contains impurities such as potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium sulfate and sodium sulfate and a certain amount of water, so it tastes bitter. Salt washing is a product washed out with raw salt (mainly sea salt) and saturated brine; Dissolve the original salt to make saturated solution, remove impurities, and then evaporate to make the prepared salt again. Double salt has few impurities, high quality, powdery particles and white color, and is mostly used for cooking in catering industry. There is also artificial iodized salt, which is used for diet in some iodine-deficient places.
The history of salt in ancient books: Emperor Yanhuang fought for salt.
In ancient China, natural salt was called "halogen" and artificially processed salt was called "salt". The earliest discovery and utilization of natural salt in ancient China was in flood times, just like animals licking rock salt and salt water, which was based on physiological instinct. The ancient records handed down from China, such as "White Deer Drinks Springs", "Beef Licks Produce Salt", "Monkey Licks Land" and "Licks Sheep Licks Earth", and the existence of Connowa Salt Land in Virginia, North America, all illustrate this point. Emperor Yanhuang fought for salt.
The first natural salt discovered and utilized in China is pond salt. Its origin is Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu and other vast northwest regions. The most famous salt ponds in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province (namely Jiechi and Hedong Salt Pond) have a long history. According to Records of the Historian, the Yellow Emperor fought against Emperor Yan in Hanquan, and was defeated by Zhuolu, and later became the city of Zhuolu. According to experts' research, "Hanquan originated in Yanchi, Xie Xian County, Shanxi Province, with Chiyou City, Chiyou Village and Zhuoze-Zhuolu". And "the bloody battle between Yan and Huang is actually caused by salt."
Another kind of natural salt is rock salt, which is called rock salt because it is produced in Yanshan Mountain. It is produced in Nanquzi, Huan County, Gansu Province, and near Quanshi, Gansu Province. The so-called "salt mountain" actually refers to large particles of mineral salt. In addition to the main chemical component NaCIQH, its trace elements are also different due to different geology and strata, resulting in different colors such as red, purple, cyan, black and white. The main use of salt in ancient times was eating. In Zhou people's view, "salt shape" is used to entertain guests. He also said: "The king's diet is shameful, not only for salt, but also for future generations." The "shaping salt" mentioned here refers to white rock salt, which can be "carved" because of its large volume. "Salt salt" is the best kind of rock salt, which tastes salty and delicious, like water essence and tiger beads, and is also called "king salt".
In the southern minority areas, there are still legends about Salt god. Naxi people in Yanyuan County, Sichuan Province worship the girl image of "Salt god". It is said that she found salt water while herding sheep, and later dug a salt well here. There is a legendary story in Cuba, which tells the story that the Japanese monarch fought against Salt god and finally settled in the "land of fish and salt". This shows that ethnic minorities pay special attention to the possession of natural salt. Consumption of ancient salt
In ancient China, salt was used as a condiment. "History? 6? 1 There is a record in "Life Telling": "I worked hard to make soup, but only salt and plum", which shows that people in Shang Dynasty already knew to use salt as seasoning to prepare delicious soup. Contact Shangshu again? 6? 1 Gong Yu recorded Qingzhou's "lost tribute salt", that is, in the Xia Dynasty before Shang Dynasty, there was salt "tribute" to the slave country. This kind of salt is used for seasoning and is extremely precious. This was handed in as a tribute. Therefore, the earliest record of edible salt in China can be traced back to the Zhixia Dynasty. By the Zhou Dynasty, people had regarded salty taste as one of the "five flavors" (sour, bitter, pungent, salty and sweet) and used it to treat diseases. " Zhou Li? 6? 1 There is a record of "salt nourishing pulse" in Tianguanzhai, which is a new understanding of the medical function of salt in Zhou Dynasty. At the end of the Warring States Period, Qin Xiangpin did not appreciate the book "Lv Chunqiu" compiled by a group of scholars, and proposed that "when things are mixed, they must be bitter, sweet and salty, and more or less, starting from themselves" and "salty but not reduced", and more specifically talked about the methods of regulating salty taste. Since then, people have paid more and more attention to the seasoning function of salt. Wang Mang in Han Dynasty called salt "the general of cooking", which highlighted the position of salt in cooking.
When did humans first start eating salt? So far, there is no historical record or archaeological data to explain it exactly. However, as you can imagine, like the use of fire, the discovery and consumption of salt has gone through an extremely long period. In the era of "eating animals and plants and drinking their blood like their hair", ancient ancestors didn't know what salty taste was and what salt was. Later generations did not add salt to the broth used for sacrifice, that is, the so-called "big soup does not arrive" to show compliance with ancient etiquette. Sima Qian in Historical Records? 6? This ancient ceremony is also recorded in 1 Le Shu: "The gift of big food, Shogen wine and fish, big soup is not harmonious, there are survivors." These records in ancient books can be regarded as evidence that ancient ancestors did not know salt or salt. Therefore, it can be inferred that the ancient ancestors did go through a long historical period when they knew nothing about edible salt.
Human food culture begins with tasting everything. Of all the things that nature has given to human beings, which can be eaten and which can't be eaten are all gained by people's own taste accumulation. In ancient China mythology, there is a legend that Shennong tasted a hundred herbs. I don't think this is an unfounded fabrication by the ancients. It is the countless bold tastes of ancient ancestors that have built a ladder for the progress of human food culture. After countless times of bold tasting, ancient ancestors built a ladder for the progress of human food culture. Ancient ancestors randomly tasted sea water, salty lake water, salt rock and saline soil for countless times, tasted delicious salty taste and added naturally occurring salt to food. They found that some foods are more salty and fragrant than the original taste. After trying, they gradually used salt as seasoning.
With the passage of time, people are no longer satisfied with the natural salt obtained only through the gift of nature, and begin to explore from seawater, salt lake water, salt rock and salt soil. The largest salt reserve on the earth is seawater. The earliest record of salt production in China is about sea salt production. According to ancient records, Su Sha, a warlord at the time of Emperor Yan (Shennong), was the first to cook sea salt with sea water, which was called "Su Sha as edible salt". It is uncertain whether Su Sha really existed in history. In fact, it is impossible to make salt from seawater in Su Sha, but the ancient ancestors living by the sea created the sea salt making technology through long-term exploration and practice. At present, there are no updated archaeological discoveries and ancient books to prove. "Su Sha edible salt" can be regarded as the beginning of China sea salt industry, and Su Sha is the founder of China sea salt.
The working people in ancient China had long explored the causes of salt and had preconceived ideas. They believe that the formation of salt has a lot to do with water vapor: "Water is wet and wet is salty." . This is the conclusion of long-term observation of lake salt formation. Lake salt, also known as "pool salt", is an inland salt lake (pool). Due to the influence of dry climate, crystalline salt can be naturally generated. The most famous and oldest Hedong Salt Pond in the history of China (also known as Jiechi, now the south of Yuncheng County and the northern foot of Zhongtiao Mountain) naturally produces salt through wind, sun and evaporation, which is called "Xie Yan", "Luyan" or "Hedong Salt" in history. Can you find the earliest record of "resting pool" in Shan Hai Jing? 6? 1 Beishan Jing, in which there is a sentence of "three hundred miles south, saying Jingshan, looking south at the salt vendor's ze". According to A Jin scholar Guo Pu, salt vendors are "salt ponds". At present, Chaerhan Salt Lake and Chaka Salt Lake in Qinghai Province are rich in this kind of pool salt, of which Chaerhan Salt Lake covers an area of 65,438 0.600 square kilometers, making it the largest salt lake in China. Pool salt has the characteristics of natural crystallization. The Jin people's "Luodu Fu" said: "Hedong Salt Pool is clean and fresh, and it is natural for nothing." In other words, the pool salt can be made naturally without boiling. "Xiechi" is located in the Yellow River Basin. It is conceivable that the ancient ancestors living in the Yellow River Basin have been exposed to this natural pond salt for a long time.
One thing is certain: sea salt is cooked only after natural salt is discovered and eaten. Because cooking salt is an advanced production process, it requires certain cooking utensils, such as the "prison basin" used for cooking salt in the Han Dynasty. What materials are used to make such vessels, how to cook them, and so on, are unknown. But one thing can be summed up: the discovery and consumption of natural sea salt, pool salt, rock salt, salt spring and earth salt are the beginning of human edible salt. This should be shared by all countries in the world. Yunnan, Sichuan, where salt cooking has a long history.
Well salt appeared late and first appeared in Bashu area (now Sichuan Province) during the Warring States Period. During the Qin Dynasty, Li Bing was stationed in Shu County. While controlling water, he surveyed the distribution of underground brine and began to dig salt wells. History book: Li Bing "knows all the water veins of Guangdu Yanjing, and all the ponds of Tongguangdu Yanjing, so it is full of health." This is the earliest record of digging salt wells in ancient China.
The rock salt system is refined from mined salt ore, mostly concentrated in the northwest and southwest mountainous areas, such as Xinjiang, Ximao and Yunnan. In which generation did the production of rock salt begin? There is no historical record. The production method of rock salt, according to "water mirror note? 6? "1 River Water" contains: "There are stones at the gate of Ren Yan County (now Yunyang County, Sichuan Province) for 43 miles, which are boiled into salt. When the stone is big, it will rise. When it is small, it will be like a fist. When it is big, it will consume water into salt. "It can be seen that rock salt is boiled.
Soil salt, that is, "alkali salt", is produced in saline-alkali land, with bitter taste and poor quality. It is at the bottom of the salt family and is only used as a substitute for edible salt. It is also impossible to test when the production of soil salt began. Its production method is based on the Book of the Later Han Dynasty? 6? 1 "Southwest Biography" says: "Wenshan has salty soil, which is cooked as salt, and elk, sheep, cattle and horses are all fat." It can be seen that soil salt is also obtained by boiling.