History of saffron foods, saffron stigmas were also soaked in water to yield a golden-yellow solution that was used as a fabric dye. Some historians believe that saffron first came to China with Mongol invaders by way of Persia. Saffron is mentioned in the ancient Chinese medical text "Shennong Ben Cao Jing", believed to be from the 3rd century AD (but attributed to mythological emperor Shennong). Yet the Chinese were referring to saffron as having a Kashmiri provenance. The Chinese medical expert Wan Zhen wrote that "[t]he habitat of saffron is in Kashmir, where people grow it principally to offer it to the
Saffron (color) Saffron (color) Saffron is an orange color, resembling the color of the tip of the saffron crocus thread, from which the spice saffron is derived. The first recorded use of "saffron" as a color name in English was in 1200. It is considered as the most important colour in Hinduism, in which it is known as Bhagwa. The color has some significance in Buddhism; it is worn by the monks of the Theravada tradition. It is also an important symbolic color in India, where it was chosen in 1947 as one of the three colors of the Indian flag after