The cucumber is clearly green, so why is it called cucumber and not green melon?
Why is the cucumber called cucumber and not green melon? It is obviously green, so why is it called cucumber? In fact, the cucumber was originally called hu melon. The cucumber originated in the tropical rainforest region of India at the southern foot of the Himalayas, and was brought back by Zhang Qian when he was sent on a mission to the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty. The renaming of hu melon to cucumber began in the Later Zhao. Let us now take a look at why the cucumber is called cucumber!
Shi Le, the founder of the Later Zhao dynasty, was himself a Jie person who had entered the frontier. After he ascended the throne as emperor in Xiangguo (present-day Xingtai, Hebei), he was greatly angered by the people of his own state calling the Jie people hu people. Shi Le issued a decree: whether speaking or writing articles, the character "hu" was strictly forbidden to appear, and violators were to be beheaded without pardon.
One day, Shi Le summoned local officials at the Chanyu court. When he saw that Fan Tan, the governor of Xiangguo Commandery, had come to see him wearing worn clothes with patches, he was very displeased. He bluntly asked: "Fan Tan, why have you come to court with your clothes and cap in disarray?" In his panic, Fan Tan did not know how to answer, and blurted out: "This is all because the hu people have no sense of morality and seized all my clothing, leaving me no choice but to come to court in rags." As soon as he finished speaking, he realized he had violated the prohibition, and hurriedly kowtowed to beg forgiveness.
When Shi Le saw that he acknowledged his guilt, he stopped reproaching him. Later, during the routine "imperial bestowal of the midday meal" after the audience, Shi Le again pointed to a dish of hu melon and asked Fan Tan: "Do you know what this thing is called?" Fan Tan saw that this was Shi Le deliberately testing him, so he answered respectfully: "On the purple table, fine delicacies; in silver cups, green tea; in golden goblets, sweet dew; on a jade plate, cucumber." After hearing this, Shi Le smiled with satisfaction.
From then on, hu melon was called cucumber, and the name spread throughout the court and among the common people. By the Tang Dynasty, cucumber had already become a common vegetable in both the north and the south. Today there are many kinds of cucumber, roughly divided into spring cucumber, trellis cucumber and dryland cucumber. The varieties famous throughout the country are the Beijing thorn cucumber and the Ningyang thorn cucumber, which have a beautiful appearance, thin skin, thick flesh and small seed cavity.