🌿 Folk Prescriptions

China has had vegetarian customs since pre-Qin times. With the introduction of Buddhism, Han Buddhist monks began practicing “fasting and vegetarianism,” leading to the development of temple vegetarian cooking, which became distinctive in people’s diets and promoted vegetarian habits in society.
During the Liang Wudi period, a chef at Jianye Temple in Nanjing was renowned for his exquisite skills in preparing vegetarian dishes—“one melon could make dozens of dishes, one vegetable could yield dozens of flavors.” In Tang Dynasty, Meishan Wuzu Temple in Hubei produced delicacies like stir-fried spring rolls, blanched green shoots, braised mushrooms, and white lotus soup—delicacies cherished by Buddhist disciples. The spring rolls were made using wild vegetables from the temple’s mountain, combined with tofu skin, fermented black bean sauce, wheat gluten, and various seasonings, then wrapped in spinach leaves or oil paper and pan-fried.
From Song, Yuan through Ming and Qing dynasties, temple vegetarian cuisine evolved into high-quality full vegetarian banquets. Many dishes imitated meat—such as vegetarian chicken, duck, fish, and ham—resembling their meat counterparts in appearance and even offering slightly similar taste. Temple chefs could create “pork” from white radishes or eggplants mixed with fermented dough, “fried fish” from bean products and yam paste, “pigeon eggs” from mung bean flour mixed with water, and “crab meat” from carrots and potatoes. Their ingenuity and skill satisfied people’s culinary desires.
One famous dish, “Luohan Zhai” (Arhat Vegetarian), is made from eighteen ingredients symbolizing reverence for the Eighteen Arhats. The Luohan dish at Yufu Temple in Shanghai includes dried shiitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, grass mushrooms, hair moss, ginkgo nuts, vegetarian chicken, vegetarian sausage, potatoes, carrots, Sichuan bamboo shoots, winter bamboo shoots, bamboo shoot tips, fried wheat gluten, black fungus, golden needle mushrooms, and seasonings. It is plump in appearance, fresh in flavor, and rivals the taste of chicken, duck, fish, and meat. Other famous vegetarian dishes include “Bamboo Shoots Stir-Fried with Eel” (main ingredient: shiitake mushrooms) from Daming Temple in Yangzhou, and “Stir-Fried Preserved Pork” (main ingredient: wheat gluten) from Ciyun Temple in Chongqing—all mimicking the look, color, taste, and texture of real meat.
Temple vegetarian cuisine is widely popular among the public. The Shijin Tofu Soup (also known as “Wen Si Tofu”) enjoyed by people in Jiangsu during the Ming and Qing dynasties originated from the Wen Si monk at Tianning Temple. The pickled radish and preserved turnip praised by Qing dynasty gourmet Yuan Mei were originally breakfast dishes for monks at Cheng’en Temple. Temple mixed vegetables have long become household staples in southern China.