Page 102 - Vol_2_Archaeology of Manila Galleon Seaport Trade

70 C. Wu

Fig. 4.3 Historical image showing the commodities in Aztec Empire market including a series of
American native domesticated goods as potato, sweet potato, tomato and pineapple. Cited from
exhibition of “Ancient Americas” in The Field Museum of Natural History Chicago. Photographed
and re-edited by C. Wu

My father Zhenlong Chen have engaged in trade in Luzon and stayed there for many years.
He discovered that sweet potato had been grown all over the countryside there. Both the
raw and cooked sweet potato were eaten by the local people who knew the series bene!ts of
this food to be as healthy as the Chinese Five Crops. But sweet potato was forbidden to be
exported to China then by Philippines administration. My father knew that this species
would be a very important food source for the Chinese people so he bought this species and
learn the method of cultivating in Philippines. He brought it secretly to Fujian and taught
the local people to grow and eat it as a new grain. He succeeded and his contribution will be
remembered forever. (Chen 1982)
One of the most important books on agricultural science of ancient China, the
)
Nongzheng Quanshu (The General Affair of Agriculture, !$!%&" in Ming
Dynasty recorded the same fact:
There are two species of potato in China. One is the mountain yam (dioscorea japonica) as
a native species of Fujian and Guangdong. Another is imported exotic species known as
Fanshu (sweet potato) from foreign country. It was said that Fanshu had been forbidden to
be exported to China from its original oversea country (the Philippines). The maritime
merchant of Zhangzhou took the rattan of sweet potato and twisted it with ship rope
underwater. Then this species was secretly smuggled by boat to Zhangzhou from Luzon of
Philippines. (Xu 1956, pp. 112)
)
Haicheng Xianzhi (Chronicle of Haicheng County, !"""!" of Qianlong
('") reign recorded in Vol. 15th Custom and Products:
Digua (!!, ground potato) was called sweet potato in Yiwu zhi (Foreign Object
Chronicles,!"!!"). It originated from foreign state and was known as Fanshu
(foreign potato). Sweet potato was planted all the year round as a new grain in Haicheng
("") county where Yuegang seaport is located. (Chen and Deng 1968, pp. 180)