Did people in ancient times smoke? Which dynasty did it begin in?

Although people have long known that smoking is harmful to health, some old smokers still find it difficult to quit. Smoking is not only the patent of modern people, but also the feeling of smoking. However, when tobacco was introduced into China is a controversial issue.

Previously, some scholars inferred that tobacco had been introduced into China in Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty at the latest according to porcelain tubes unearthed from Shang kiln site. Related research results were published in Agricultural Archaeology 1986. Based on three porcelain tubes and hammers unearthed at Shangyaoyao site in Hepu county, Guangxi, this paper points out that tobacco was introduced into China during Jiajing period.

The most important evidence asserted by the author is that the hammer is engraved with a line at the same time as the porcelain tube:

? Made on April 20th, the 28th year of Jiajing? In the 28th year of Jiajing, namely 1549. Considering that the appearance of pipe may have a certain lag, the author thinks that the time when tobacco was introduced into China was probably in the early years of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty, or even in Zhengde.

However, due to the relatively complicated situation of the Shang Kiln site, there are few pipes unearthed in the early stage, and some scholars are more willing to explore the time and route when tobacco was introduced into China from the literature.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Jiebin mentioned tobacco in "The Book of Pure Moon":

? This thing (according to: tobacco) has never been heard of since ancient times. It began in the Wanli period of self-knowledge, and has been planted in Wu and Chu since then. ? According to Zhang Jiebin's Jing Yue Quan Shu, we can get two pieces of information:

Tobacco is not a native of China, but a kind of tobacco? Imported goods? ; Tobacco was first introduced through Fujian and Guangdong in Wanli period, and then it was popularized. A similar statement can also be supported by Fang Yizhi's "Physical Annals" in the Ming Dynasty:

At the end of Wanli, those people with Zhang Quan, called Ma Shi, made light fruits, which gradually spread to Jiubian. Northerners call for light bagu or not to go back. Like Zhang Jiebin, Fang Yizhi believed that tobacco was introduced to China in Wanli period, and then spread to the northern frontier. Judging from the appellation in the literature, the appellation of tobacco at that time was also transliteration.

Tobacco was originally from the United States, but later, with the development of navigation, it spread all over the world. So, where was tobacco introduced to China? According to the records of scholars in Ming and Qing Dynasties, tobacco in China was introduced by land. For example, Loushu, Smoke Spectrum and other books insist on this statement. Later, Wu Han, an expert in Ming history, agreed with this statement. He said:

Tobacco was first introduced to Fujian sailors in the early17th century. The tobacco seeds they brought back from Luzong spread from Fujian to Guangdong and Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the north. As far as historians are concerned, tobacco was introduced into China by land during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and this exotic product spread rapidly as soon as it was introduced. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, smoking became very popular. For example, as we all know, Ji Xiaolan is a famous heavy smoker.