Compendium of Materia Medica of the Ming Dynasty is the most famous among ancient Chinese medical books. However, Food Materia Medica recently published by Guangling Press of Yangzhou was actually written earlier.
From Food Materia Medica, we can acquire what people eat daily in the Ming Dynasty.
Food Materia Medica explains uses and value of health preservation of nearly 400 common edible medicinal materials.
To our surprise, rice is not staple food in the Ming Dynasty. Instead, wheat is the “king of five cereals”. What’s more, not only such fruits as kiwi fruit and olive, but also tiger, bear, leopard and elephant meat, were popular food in the Ming Dynasty.
