Porridge

Porridge has a long history.The earliest record of porridge is in Rites cole and Historical Records by Sima Qian in Han Dynasty tells a story of porridge curing illness.Ever since the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty，medical practitioners gradually put medical porridge into practice，and developed more varieties.In Compendium of Materia Medica，Li Shizhen，distinguished physician in the Ming Dynasty，recorded 62 kinds of medical porridge，and introduces their functions.

There were more scholars studying medical porridge in Qing Dynasty.Cao Tingdongintroduced 102 kinds of porridge ranging in”top grade”，”medium”，”low grade”.In Guangxu Period，Huang Yunhe wrote down in detail 247 soup recipes in different categories.This book includes the most common porridge recipe in ancient China.Physicians’medical practice of the past dynasties has proven:porridge though it seems only an insignificant skill，once chosen，is the best way to prevent and cure diseases.

As time passes，the variety of porridge has been renewed.Firstly，porridge gains its popularity in the society.The publicizing of medical porridge deepened people’s understanding of it.Porridge as a traditional medicinal diet has now extended to the health care field，and from the family to the society.To adapt the socialization and popularization of porridge，many porridge restaurants have opened，and the variety has been enriched too.

Secondly，commercialization.In order to make it convenient for people to bring home and store，some brands have produced canned nutritious porridge，and instant products like bean porridge and sesame porridge.

Thirdly，internationalization.With the deepening of economic and cultural exchanges with China，more and more foreign friends start knowing and understanding medical porridge.In some developed countries in Europe and America，people even began to make medical porridge themselves to keep healthy and prolong life.Thereare many new medicinal diet restaurants and porridge restaurants opening in Hong Kong，Macao，Japan and some South East countries.They provide wide variety of porridge，which enables Chinese medical porridge to shine both at home and abroad serving for mankind health.

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