略论中国古代的糖类

A brief discussion on ancient Chinese sugars

中国古代的糖类主要有饴糖、蔗糖和蜂蜜。饴糖又称麦芽糖,是中国古代起源最早、应用最为广泛的人工糖类。蔗糖是现代中国人食用量最大的糖类,它利用甘蔗榨汁提纯而炼制。中国古代的蔗糖,按其外形可分为沙糖(砂糖)、"乳糖"和冰糖等。蜂蜜是天然的糖类,西汉以前的蜂蜜均为野蜜,东汉时期中国始有养蜂的文献记载,南北朝时期家蜂蜜作为商品已在市场上出售。在中国语言文化中,不少形容甜的成语用蜜来表达。

Ancient Chinese sugars mainly include cerealose,sucrose and honey. Cerealose,also known as maltose,is the earliest and most widely used artificial sugar in ancient China. Sucrose is the most consumed sugar in modern China,which is refined from sugar cane extract. In ancient China,sucrose can be divided into granulated sugar( sand sugar),milk sugar and crystal sugar according to the shape and size. Honey is a natural sugar. The honey referred to wild honey before the Western Han Dynasty. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty,there had appeared records of apiculture in China. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties,honey was sold as a commodity on the market. In Chinese language and culture,many idioms that describe sweetness are presented with honey.