China
Where millet agriculture began over 10,000 years ago
Countries: China
Overview
China is the birthplace of millet agriculture. The Cishan archaeological site in Hebei province has yielded evidence of foxtail millet (Setaria italica, known as su or 谷子) cultivation dating back approximately 10,300 years, making it the world's oldest confirmed millet farming. Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum, known as shu or 黍) was domesticated concurrently in the loess plateau region of northern China. Together, these two millets formed the foundation of Chinese civilisation — sustaining the Yellow River cultures that would eventually give rise to the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The mythological figure Hou Ji (Lord Millet), the legendary ancestor of the Zhou dynasty, reflects the grain's central role in Chinese identity. For thousands of years, "she ji" (altars of soil and grain) symbolised the state itself: to lose one's millet fields was to lose one's nation.
Key Fact
The Cishan site in Hebei province contained an estimated 50 tonnes of stored millet in underground pits — evidence of organised, large-scale agriculture dating back 10,300 years, the oldest confirmed in the world.
Primary Millets
Iconic Foods
Xiaomi Zhou (小米粥)
A silky golden porridge that has been the quintessential breakfast and convalescence food in northern China for millennia. Slow-simmered until the starches create a creamy consistency, it is believed in Traditional Chinese Medicine to tonify the spleen and stomach qi. Postpartum women traditionally consume xiaomi zhou with brown sugar and eggs for recovery.
Lajia Noodles
In 2005, archaeologists at the Lajia site in Qinghai province discovered a 4,000-year-old bowl of noodles made from foxtail and broomcorn millet — the world's oldest known noodles. Sealed under an overturned clay bowl by an ancient earthquake and flood, they provided definitive evidence that noodle-making originated in China, not the Mediterranean.
Millet Mantou (黄馍馍)
Steamed buns made from millet flour, golden-yellow in colour, traditionally eaten across Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia. These dense, slightly sweet buns were the everyday bread of northern China before wheat flour became dominant. They gained renewed fame through the 2012 documentary "A Bite of China."
Millet Wine (黄酒)
A traditional fermented alcoholic beverage from Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, brewed from proso millet using qu (a fermentation starter containing moulds, yeasts, and bacteria). Millet wine predates rice wine and was the primary alcoholic drink of early Chinese civilisation, mentioned in Shang dynasty oracle bone inscriptions.
You Mian (莜面)
Rolled millet dough shapes (resembling small tubes or fish) from Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, steamed and served with vinegar-garlic dipping sauce or lamb broth. You mian represents the sophisticated noodle and dumpling techniques that northern Chinese cooks developed specifically for millet flour.
Historical Highlights
Cishan: world's oldest millet agriculture
Phytolith analysis at the Cishan site in Hebei province, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2009), confirmed foxtail millet cultivation dating to approximately 10,300 years ago. Storage pits at the site contained an estimated 50 tonnes of millet, indicating large-scale, organised farming — the earliest anywhere in the world.
Hou Ji (Lord Millet) mythology
The Shijing (Book of Songs), China's oldest poetry collection, recounts the legend of Hou Ji, the mythological ancestor of the Zhou dynasty who taught humanity to cultivate millet. His story — from miraculous birth to the invention of agriculture — reflects how deeply millet farming was embedded in Chinese origin myths.
4,000-year-old noodles discovered at Lajia
A sealed earthenware bowl at the Lajia archaeological site in Qinghai preserved the world's oldest known noodles, made from foxtail and broomcorn millet flour. Published in Nature (2005), this discovery resolved the debate over whether noodles originated in China, the Middle East, or Italy.
She Ji altars — millet as state symbol
For nearly 3,000 years, every Chinese dynasty maintained She Ji altars (altars of soil and grain) in the capital, where millet represented the agrarian foundation of the state. The phrase "she ji" became a metonym for "nation" itself — to protect the she ji was to protect the country.
Cultural Significance
Millet is woven into the very fabric of Chinese civilisation. The character for "grain" or "cereal" (谷) originally referred specifically to millet, and ancient Chinese texts consistently place millet first among the "five grains" (wu gu: millet, rice, wheat, sorghum, and beans). In Traditional Chinese Medicine, foxtail millet is classified as sweet and salty in flavour, cool in nature, and beneficial for the kidney and stomach meridians. The Comperta Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) by Li Shizhen (1596) devotes extensive sections to millet's medicinal properties. In folk culture, xiaomi zhou is the first food given to the sick and the last food shared before parting — a symbol of care and connection. The phrase "xiao mi jia bu liao da jiang" (millet alone cannot make a general) is a common proverb about the importance of combining resources.
Modern Status
China remains the world's largest producer of foxtail millet, harvesting approximately 1.5-2 million tonnes annually, primarily in Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, and Shanxi provinces. However, millet's share of Chinese grain production has fallen from over 50% in the early 20th century to less than 3% today, as rice and wheat have become dominant. The Chinese government's "coarse grain revival" (粗粮复兴) initiative, launched in the 2010s, promotes millet consumption for its health benefits — particularly for managing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Premium Shanxi foxtail millet now commands high prices as a health food, and brands like "Qinzhou Yellow Millet" have received Geographic Indication protection. Research institutions including the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences continue to develop high-yield, disease-resistant millet varieties.
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