Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c6.s3.t2.2

v1.c6.s3.t2.2

The earliest sweets in ancient China were not made of sugar. Yi and Tang, as the main sweets during the times from the Zhou Dynasty (1046 BCE-256 BCE) to the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420 CE-589 CE), were made from rice, wheat or barley. It was much late when sugarcane was introduced and planted from abroad, and, as a precious variety of crops, it was not afforded by normal families for a long period of time.