In The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic, a medical classic in TCM ( Traditional Chinese Medicine) which appeared approximately in the Warring States Period, several medicated diet prescriptions were recorded.
In Shennong's Herbal Classic, which was published approximately in about the Qin and Han Periods and is the extant
earliest monograph on materia medica, many sorts of medicaments which are both herbal drugs and food were recorded, such as Chinese-date, sesame seed, Chinese yam, grape, walnut kernel, lily bulb, fresh ginger, Job's-tears seed, etc.In the book Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases written by Zhang Zhongjing, a noted medical man, in the East Han Dynasty, some noted medicated diet recipes were recorded, such as Soup of Chinese Angelica Root, Fresh Ginger and Mutton, Decoction of Pig-skin, etc., all of which now still have important values. Sun Simiao, a well-known doctor in the Tang Dynasty, listed and discussed such questions as dietetic treatment, dietetic treatment for senile health are and health preservation, etc. in his books Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergencies and A supplement to Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergencies.
