Table of Contents

Ancient Shanghai in an Archat:ological Perspective
History, the Memory of a City (Preface)
I The Beginning of Civilization.
II The Peak of Pre-historical Civilizations
III The Era of Culture Blending.
IV Wu and Yue Kingdoms.
V The Prosperity of Shanghai as a Town
VI Shanghaiin the South.
Epilogue: Western influence in China

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people had more choices: they could boil the food in a pot. Fuand Ding found in Yangtze delta are typical ucensils of this kindwhich directly use the heat from fire to cook food.
In the late period of Songze civilization, a new coc）ker, Yanwas invented, once again changing people's cooking style. Takethe Yan found in Jinshanfen Site in Qingpu district, Shanghai forexample. It is identical co a Ding, except having a ring on theinterior to place the grate. It has a hole on the waist to ensurewater being continuously added into the oven. Basecl on theshape of Ding, makers of Yan made minor changes and crafted itinto a cooker particularly aclapted to steam food.
The invention of Yan changeci people's way of using fire.It uses the steam from boiling water to cook food, utilizing thetransfer of heat from the boiling water, it representeci the people'sunderstanding of the new form of energy. Beloved by gourmets,food cooked through steaming preserves the nutrition and taste of foods. Steaming is a unique traditional way of cooking in China and still an important way of healthy cooking nowadays.