The introduction of cucumber into China should be related to China's import of Buddhism since the Eastern Han Dynasty. There had already been hugua 胡 瓜 (literally foreign gourd) in the translation of sutra in the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms and it was renamed huanggua 黄 瓜 (literally yellow gourd) during the reign of Sui Yang Emperor. Cucumber had been ignored for a long time because people were influenced by the negative statement on its property in the Buddhist scriptures. Since the Southern Song Dynasty,planting and eating cucumber has become more and more popular and the main edible variety changed from the early old cucumbers to the tender ones. There were no signs of loofah before the Song Dynasty in China and its first record was seen in the late Northern Song Dynasty. Loofah,whose alias yuji 鱼 际 might be a transliteration of its foreign name,was introduced into China in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty or even before. There were some relevant records about loofah mostly from Fujian and Zhejiang areas in the Song Dynasty. Since then,the most of the records about loofah have also come from the local chronicles of the two provinces. The local chronicles of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces repeatedly mention that loofah was introduced from Fujian. Thus it can be seen that with the rise of foreign transport and trade in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, loofah was introduced into inland areas by sea in the Song Dynasty.%黄瓜的传入应与东汉以来佛教的传入有关,十六国时期的译经中已有"胡瓜"之名,隋炀帝时改名黄瓜.受佛经对其性味负面说法的影响,长期未获重视.南宋以来,种植、食用逐渐普遍起来,且由早期食用老瓜转为以食用嫩瓜为主.我国宋以前无任何丝瓜迹象,北宋后期以来始见记载.其别名"鱼际"或为外来音译,传入我国当在北宋中期或稍前.宋人有关记载多出福建、浙江,此后地方志的记载也以此两省最多,两广方志多称从福建引入.由此可见,丝瓜当是入宋后,随着闽、浙一带对外交通贸易的兴起而由海上传入.
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