Chinese cabbage (''

Brassica rapa ''Brassica rapa'' is a plant species that has been widely cultivated into many forms, including the turnip (a root vegetable), komatsuna, napa cabbage, bomdong, bok choy, and rapini. ''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''oleifera'' is an oilseed c ...

'', subspecies ''pekinensis'' and ''chinensis'') is either of two

cultivar group A Group (previously cultivar-groupInternational Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, 4th edition (1969), 5th edition (1980) and 6th edition (1995)) is a formal category in the '' International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants'' (' ...

s of

leaf vegetable Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by their petioles and shoots, if tender. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...

s often used in

Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine comprises cuisines originating from Greater China, China, as well as from Overseas Chinese, Chinese people from other parts of the world. Because of the Chinese diaspora and the historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine ...

: the Pekinensis Group (

napa cabbage Napa cabbage (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''pekinensis,'' or ''Brassica rapa'' Pekinensis Group) is a type of Chinese cabbage originating near the Beijing region of China that is widely used in East Asian cuisine. Since the 20th century, it has al ...

) and the Chinensis Group (

bok choy Bok choy (American English, Canadian English, and Australian English), pak choi (British English, South African English, and Caribbean English) or pok choi is a type of Chinese cabbage ('' Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''chinensis'') cultivated as a le ...

). These vegetables are both variant

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s or subspecies of ''B. rapa'' and belong to the same

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

as ''

Brassica oleracea ''Brassica oleracea'', also known as wild cabbage in its uncultivated form, is a plant of the family Brassicaceae. The species originated from feral populations of related plants in the Eastern Mediterranean, where it was most likely first cultiv ...

'', whose cultivars include Western staples such as

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...

, and

cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables cultivated from the species '' Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. Cauliflower usually grows with one main stem that carries a large, rou ...

. Both ''B. rapa'' cultivars have many variations in name, spelling, and

scientific classification image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

, especially bok choy cultivars.

History

The Chinese cabbage was principally grown in the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

Delta region, but the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

naturalist

Li Shizhen Li Shizhen (July 3, 1518 – 1593), courtesy name Dongbi, was a Chinese acupuncturist, herbalist, naturalist, pharmacologist, physician, and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is the author of a 27-year work, the '' Compendium of Materia ...

popularized it by bringing attention to its

medicinal Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

qualities. The variant cultivated in

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

around the 14th century was brought north, and the northern harvest of

soon exceeded the southern one. These were then exported back south along the Grand Canal to

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

and traded by sea as far south as

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

. Napa cabbage became a staple in Northeastern Chinese cuisine for making '' suan cai'', Chinese

sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , ) is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferment the sugar ...

. In

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, napa cabbage was used for '' baek-kimchi'', which developed into

kimchi Kimchi (; ) is a traditional Korean side dish (''banchan'') consisting of salted and fermented vegetables, most often napa cabbage or Korean radish. A wide selection of seasonings are used, including '' gochugaru'' (Korean chili powder), ...

. Chinese cabbage is now commonly found in markets throughout the world, catering both to the

Chinese diaspora Overseas Chinese people are people of Chinese origin who reside outside Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. As of 2023, there were 10.5 million people livin ...

and to northern markets that appreciate its resistance to cold. In 2017, aboard the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

, a crop of Chinese cabbage from a plant growth device included an allotment for crew consumption, while the rest was saved for scientific study.

Cultivar groups

There are two distinct groups of ''Brassica rapa'' used as leaf vegetables in China, and a wide range of cultivars within these two groups. The binomial name ''B. campestris'' is also used.

Pekinensis Group

This group is the more common of the two, especially outside Asia; names such as

, ''dà báicài'' (, "large white vegetable"); ''Baguio petsay'' or ''petsay wombok'' ( Tagalog); ''Chinese white cabbage''; "wong a pak" (Hokkien, Fujianese); ''baechu'' (), ''wongbok''; ''hakusai'' () and "suann-tang-pe̍h-á" (Taiwanese) usually refer to members of this group. Pekinensis Group cabbages have broad green leaves with white petioles, tightly wrapped in a cylindrical formation and usually forming a compact head. As the group name indicates, this is particularly popular in northern China around

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

(Peking).

Chinensis Group

Chinensis Group cultivars do not form heads; instead, they have smooth, dark green leaf blades forming a cluster reminiscent of

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, small, round seeds of ...

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'' Dulce Group or ''Apium graveolens'' var. ''dulce'') is a cultivated plant belonging to the species ''Apium graveolens'' in the family Apiaceae that has been used as a vegetable since ancient times. The original wild ...

. These cultivars are popular in southern China and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. Being winter-hardy, they are increasingly grown in Northern Europe. This group was originally classified as its own species under the name ''B. chinensis'' by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

References

External links