What are the five grains?

1. What does it mean?

The five grains refer to wheat, corn, rice, soybeans, and potatoes, but it is also customary to call grains other than rice and flour miscellaneous grains, and the five grains and miscellaneous grains are also generally referred to as grain crops, so the five grains are also a general term for grain crops.

II. Historical Origins

The concept of five grains and miscellaneous cereals has a very long history. The Chinese have followed a diet based mainly on grains and cereals for thousands of years. It was mentioned as early as two thousand years ago in the book "Huangdi Neijing". People generally think that wheat and rice are fine grains, and coarse grains refer to other grains besides these. What we now call whole grains include a variety of cereals and legumes, such as: corn, millet, barley, black beans, broad beans, mung beans, peas, sweet potatoes, etc.