ABSTRACT
FRESH treatment of the introduction of American food plants into China a. seems justified. For, in the first place, although the question has been
tackled by two generations of Western sinologues and anthropologists, certain important historical evidence has escaped their notice, and consequently the dates for the introduction of such plants must be revised upward. In the second place, some of their far-reaching conclusions which are not results of exhaustive examination of Chinese local histories, the vast branch of Chinese historical literature which yields the most systematic information on our subject, must be re-examined. Furthermore, there has been in recent years a revival of an old controversy as to whether there were indeed no American food plants introduced into the Old World in pre-Columbian times. While interested scientists are well-versed in relevant European literature, they are generally illinformed about Chinese sources, which yield the most systematic botanical and agricultural records in Asia. Since the implications of this question are so important to both the extreme diffusionists and the Americanists, the student of Chinese history feels impelled objectively to present his evidence. It is hoped that such evidence will be of some help to scientists in their attempts to reexamine an old question. For convenience, our discussion of the introduction of American food plants into China will be in the order: the peanut, the sweet potato, and maize.2
